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A Hutong Discussion

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发表于 2007-4-24 05:08:00 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
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 ! _! |# v# w9 s) R/ P" v' jarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider# e* A8 X0 I8 ^: _4 `2 E2 j. Z Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian" ( C4 F+ M3 Q2 L Ncity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. 3 N$ O3 j: e/ K) q5 ]2 S, lAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,1 v7 g5 L8 a, p. _* g 3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of, R$ ?2 s6 N7 d Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within/ @1 W& n+ m% \5 L& E5 R hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among4 A$ Q6 y" D1 z4 i2 N' g each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera / ^6 C0 ^, t' K" o4 oand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is& T) H# b% |. P harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are7 _- S U4 A, r: i: f, } descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and 9 V) v+ V, p- m" h& pforms of culture emerged in hutong.

I " X9 }$ E* v7 `* H5 ~) gwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great 0 x. v: d; Z0 b" Zimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished, " o" \: N* X4 X) S. R$ X# land we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong & O8 m5 z; O' t; P5 vhas a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment 7 n8 v2 d3 e1 ]of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that / M8 \5 U f7 T' m# t Ino hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are( d) _! W* e! d' X/ {+ k only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a' u8 |* v1 `2 g' _ sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government6 A" e( z1 K% b, V; Y8 J$ z want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move % Z" P1 m2 E% ~to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is 9 z% A; w. f6 k1 p( f. I3 N. f" K"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,- R' ^9 o+ m. o, b this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are 0 r( }" Q3 q/ q0 Hstill 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 & U+ e0 n0 J# p* N# J, k"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make / f7 \$ l! z; ?- ~* dmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was# v7 q5 Q8 W# d a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a% X3 b1 g; Z5 X0 h5 n" J parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across + G7 E+ C; `( A5 E- Rthe 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 6 b' p4 L" u% a6 A# limportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for1 G* r& M0 G6 l+ }6 u, A development.

Hutongs - j) o$ y V( R7 ~) V; ?- ^in the old days were residential area where people actually lived 6 ~6 _" G' _& C8 |& t/ R& ?2 {3 vthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions " x, @- `) e) m0 S. lin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not : |5 \# v/ _- j) I; {5 D9 c/ mhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you& C: v4 {" i3 w* o6 r( a Q will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. - R7 N0 W) }( M$ l3 b/ x# s1 DFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date U8 \4 W5 r4 T H% Oto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used 2 O: n: e- l. x, @: c5 g- Dto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses ) s$ w! h# w- o& b {support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically" U6 b$ {5 u: M r unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to p6 ~% o, h N3 Q2 q5 B( flive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,. O! E- d3 L- Q1 I3 a3 H# R hutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the5 r. ~' U- T/ ]% j/ z balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the , M/ x" h9 p- w3 dproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be" S* {+ g* ~( Y2 v% L+ V4 v1 J; V$ ? renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong $ A6 H- ~. q6 R8 `# F4 [3 G0 KMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how 8 T, n# `9 X: ]$ Tpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be 8 p0 Z% C! b) Ntorn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished * p) O9 ?8 k7 Imemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". 1 l7 I5 r$ b$ T0 |$ M6 A; P% b/ d! }Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are0 B2 g; }, n0 t5 E, u: c8 l! s aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially 9 {' t7 S2 e ynon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image( ^. v/ L+ s2 X0 y, D { of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these& r* F: R2 `0 k6 K) s6 W) J7 N( e Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those 0 E) v) h, f4 \* z) ]! N4 qpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they ) Y) C" J' f8 V* l/ y1 Qmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some - V$ p s$ r" ~* oof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before% ?) {2 d7 c$ }3 W! k! _ "modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all' W0 c- e, K, _ people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise / p' K. C5 t, Capartments are the way to go? No. " S# Q V* c% P2 P # X( Y3 R8 _. }" ~ # k- C6 x. x- v

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the , v, S" I8 m& Q3 nsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this% V4 P) ~9 s. Z" i4 u7 c' T 'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make 1 `. P# H3 D3 Q' V6 f: c- Ano money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so2 A6 g+ J- _9 l# N1 { fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant, q7 E- Y8 \8 W. Y- {' L resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless: ~. p5 S6 |4 A8 P Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is6 @* l! Y, n6 o/ b+ N! O unlikely to happen too. Sad!
发表于 2007-5-22 20:37:00 | 显示全部楼层
Excuse me. May I use ur discussion in my dissertation about Beijing Conservation?
Thx a lot!!
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