UID5538
帖子
阅读权限80
在线时间 小时
精华
威望
日志
相册
注册时间2006-2-27
最后登录1970-1-1
|
The following is a hutong discussion promoted by me on a Chinese history oriented forum:
Me:
As Beijing has been the capital of China for more than 800 years, its
1 o& e O& i5 xarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider/ I# D" h6 t. h1 ]) I9 ?
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"1 A- P% q; o5 p& \" H
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
: R! ?6 }5 c# F7 Z. y5 Q, ?According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
# v) K* @; K% y' k3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of% w$ L5 P. Y& V F8 S0 z2 [
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within- [! i4 R" v6 W/ q/ V
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among1 q0 F; @" b5 Q# c
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera& N; z8 U6 v1 S
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is# J! a$ S u, F V; Q6 [4 P0 @- i; a
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are9 T M- b2 h: b
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and" [/ \) ~- |, y/ q/ z
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I3 r5 \% W5 }' o u
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
% ?# H/ N0 ]4 L, s9 X/ qimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,4 H3 } v1 n( V( B# W# f
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
) C1 n" Y8 L$ T7 U" zhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment" r$ q5 _ L0 w* ]
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
" A& p, I" x# U2 ^8 `: `' Bno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
% ~) g: u. b; P9 }, k8 U6 yonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a* A. @$ R+ P8 D! q0 u, B, i2 A
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
1 [' [9 a7 f; m6 n4 wwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move8 y7 U4 S1 n, @
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is+ w1 J: x% g9 Y7 N/ M3 x$ J6 s
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
+ q7 c P4 e0 Z( u1 kthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are- H. ?3 H6 n+ A. @
still living in compact apartment cells, Olympic Games will still be held in Beijing if four-combinations still stand.
Kimchee:
I think it's ashame how historical sights are destroyed due to
. X0 v- m/ O( v0 H"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make0 l' s+ w& |" q! L3 s/ m4 E
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
; ^& Q$ r( V/ _5 ]* ]a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
4 D1 Z Q! J8 k( ?parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
) O& V( r8 \" F, p2 Lthe street is still there, but I thought it was a crime to do this.
Ashura:
While I do agree and support the perservation of properties of cultural; y) [' M+ c. i, I5 ?4 C1 ^
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
5 X9 o, o% J' F4 l6 \; udevelopment.
Hutongs9 r# O6 w6 e+ r3 ]$ l5 }7 |% ^2 ]8 ~/ ^
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
. S1 D& M0 S" _+ }! ]4 t" ethere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions5 o+ E- l" a( ]; X
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not* I+ [$ {1 O7 `" M/ I4 I
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you# I% ^" Y6 l6 j& T
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.$ Y, A& e6 H( f! v
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
- d- U" z: \& E# j" F! D2 Pto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used! u+ P$ Y" m! _* f1 r2 |$ x
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses2 K4 A! j K+ R8 X+ E
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
' ]( N* R2 A l2 f$ A" Ounfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
1 I; E P7 v$ w& j: M- g$ llive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
/ Z7 p: F! _ p" ^hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the4 s% G+ W' O6 n( v( z$ ^& }4 t
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
3 K) J. n& Y9 X# q0 L& W9 ^project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
% M. i5 w }: L6 b' v7 Brenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong7 a/ ]. V" l m# t
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
* F- \ ~* A; |" I9 F" S1 |2 Zpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be- _* r8 ~+ N( g; `
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished0 V+ ^! }& t9 f. R( L
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
' V# p$ V4 Y0 a# UNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are, y) ~& [& t6 Z3 g
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
! k. S- X) y: l; a! @; G, bnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
9 j8 Q- m" I; n1 P0 G# p% A9 @8 Rof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
# A' ^, |9 F. uHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those. v5 j9 ]! w% Y' h! L4 b1 @
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
j& ]/ N9 s: }* ^: `4 d' Lmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some' `+ _, |# U$ g/ v
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
2 M2 V$ ?+ H4 b/ E7 D' A1 t"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
) x- o, d C/ P) T" opeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise/ o; w1 ^% s3 ~9 ]: I
apartments are the way to go? No.
5 e: @( t$ d! e7 Z; _4 s: Y" r
9 _( Y( N1 |( y7 d, ` 7 L. {9 q& i8 ~, I8 I& I/ H3 g
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the* p( K1 C; C* H, M
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this; T- g" k. V# @5 E3 ` r7 l6 n
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
- x# K( c" | o, l( Xno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so; H* `' d9 M! k* ]
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant f4 G& K9 I! p* @4 \" v4 e
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless6 X7 r7 o/ g% e' c8 t2 T
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
, Y, ^, {+ `1 ]1 f2 S+ tunlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|