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
% D! i5 I) _, y) q" c! y1 aarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
' C) m: Q6 Y/ iBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"9 G) a( [' {7 [! s( y$ O# B0 g' Y5 q
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
2 r* ? z) @9 \$ C- W; gAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,' {% _) U& Z) b$ E8 i4 P
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
1 M+ p: ]& \4 k kManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within- }- d: i, z' l: h. f
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
' s& y+ ~7 o* Meach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
! V3 S j9 W" ^ k! C: m8 V5 r/ i8 iand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is7 h2 c" m4 v' L, r: K
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are3 z2 C. P' d" ?' G# h
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and4 ]! r3 K) ?3 s% W3 h' U" `0 k
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I4 P! |9 c6 ^8 T& Y& F
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great5 |7 `: C3 R' L/ N
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,3 N* y7 G5 e. \: L4 f6 K4 U
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
; d+ U# r5 C4 w: F9 Ghas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment$ Y5 m& d( s+ t. f; f/ K
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
9 i9 Z7 l R% L& p$ q0 t0 Wno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
4 h" q2 ~: \9 P% b7 F3 ?only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a$ J9 O2 m- I( ^5 M: f$ |
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
. n/ O/ D7 [4 E$ R n+ d- dwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
3 \4 p' O" Y; Q1 U" r/ S9 \, gto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
; j" U, ?" [/ D; {9 M"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
7 O& [7 X; M9 Mthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
7 U( ?% Q& O5 B' g1 Pstill 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
! H, l* B4 `2 t* w# ~"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
; x t( D+ I. l7 t, J& Wmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was7 _/ R0 J- H5 l5 }( m+ w: \, q! X
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a) J" ?7 Z S) e0 U7 ^/ K% A
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across u& G/ v" @, I4 ~+ p K+ ^+ A
the 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
% p G7 Z$ u7 v( p8 R8 r, n* q, v1 Oimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for* I- Q3 B1 }6 w5 c
development.
Hutongs
4 X- ^% c K1 l lin the old days were residential area where people actually lived! ~% s, B9 B5 R" b; \4 M5 ]8 E* p
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions1 I3 U% v' A% {0 ~/ m3 z4 W; g: ]
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not# X3 H* _, Q" j. [
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
6 W5 H" t/ C4 T; f; Wwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.. Z0 k, y: k- ^; H
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date x4 I* I& o; P6 o" n
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used$ J0 c! Y6 ]) m! m
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
$ |; Z4 s3 d" ]/ Vsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically4 p1 X% X6 m1 N: n% H' C" r0 d' R
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to* m! a2 ]' r; f! ]8 c, F2 d
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
/ w( G8 g; o! L' b+ Dhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the5 u# U% B0 T) m) M
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the9 _' x& I1 \8 ^
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be3 d# T1 ?( l& \6 w: G: m
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
4 O/ C& E, j4 r- o f+ CMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
- R. y' ~- W4 v. i8 upeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
/ R% I6 c1 q" Gtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished& P. U0 G+ @, e: d3 n
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
: B9 F/ Y7 m- `1 C7 [Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are9 B# @9 k% l. u; v: [7 P+ k, }
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
) c& t- d" w+ ^/ ?" ?0 D7 anon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
! y7 P- a; M+ g2 d* D( D6 u# _of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
: U. q2 A/ y$ b( C4 i2 kHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those1 }3 P' O; [: X; A( A
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
6 {( }+ F' N6 A) [+ J; Kmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
7 M5 u" Z4 C4 A/ n# {* W3 D$ qof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
/ D. ^) }+ t- S& Q3 ~$ X2 M"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
# g) U7 L! ]- R5 B5 i( k& Kpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
5 t- Y9 c9 S p8 {1 R- x5 a* n- _( vapartments are the way to go? No.
; {7 i4 r7 ~& |9 q O( k6 J4 c' J+ d, V
( {; [ Z! W$ C+ V
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
. y% a! X: ~' s2 j3 j% lsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
( t+ L' ~3 W, p, N'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
% ]: W8 b# k) u$ J4 w1 q- Fno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
) `" \& e" K+ }: n1 c; w* e; \fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
% n1 {6 `$ w/ G' eresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
7 y4 c' F# ]" \Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is0 E" }% y$ N- `# ?: T# |2 ^
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|