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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! H" C9 C, y2 V8 Y. B, E architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider# S/ G/ ^. E& ^! S0 T5 c) m Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"% j$ q' `: h5 j1 @ X6 b city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. 8 O/ | G' y7 fAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty, 4 U: u6 @3 Q8 v ` u- T! Y$ r/ ~3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of 2 @( G( ~. k ^+ mManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within / H* }- v# v, g, Q, [! `hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among * ~- ^- {. C) z. U' x2 Seach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera 7 P3 L0 D- R: N4 p6 R) m: oand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is; {* h9 h0 t* _3 V harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are; P; {! j& Z8 y& I descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and& B! Y. W& G3 u b3 d forms of culture emerged in hutong.

I, G( \ \9 o, ~4 @8 j was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great3 b Q+ m# x9 B* o! U: N! _7 V impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,1 u" v8 _6 d, f+ ] and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong" I6 n5 p- g9 X, w4 F W I+ N% r has a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment$ v, o2 v) L5 I+ R8 N of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that * m5 v/ S! J; u+ z3 r Pno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are $ E5 Q+ l# C6 s/ Sonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a6 m$ M& O( R& c% Z sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government 9 T$ E# e- T! pwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move ; Q& t: {$ L& w5 Fto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is2 t+ E* { ~( }9 H9 i# d$ e "modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, + R% A) q& {1 q. ^" a. w7 q2 i" x* |this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are0 T6 j% R) w- C; ?$ d 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 ; I( P* o5 H/ T6 ?) i1 z; b"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make3 A/ q( @! d& _: b& w' d: B money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was / R* P/ Z" a+ x. Z1 ~8 M, Ra beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a' {0 v+ {( u7 z4 Q parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across / ?( h" r; ^* M3 Z4 S8 [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 & A' N# g5 e2 l# h/ pimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for+ O, G8 c1 v1 g! V development.

Hutongs( L& ?' Y9 ~9 R \9 v in the old days were residential area where people actually lived; l5 i8 h; h8 o there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions0 x& x: E5 O* |" Q/ K1 T* ^/ o in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not 9 N; P$ I i7 U* @have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you2 K! f9 K w. f5 z' C5 v will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. ( H6 z: h% Y4 U/ yFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date! ^$ v; R% V$ _6 g to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used ' w) U' W: [# E6 h. m' |9 Yto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses 7 x/ `# e- i" Q( d4 o* usupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically/ q5 @0 P% o+ c" Y) [% j unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to2 s& Z" s0 J) o( m# u live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, 1 r% ^/ ~) W; ?5 e1 ]# Jhutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the : e" D3 _* ~. D. w( i: F' x) gbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the4 c& H& D& n& w% g$ b0 E9 B {( p project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be% e+ e9 x. ~. h3 S/ b+ p) m% f8 ? renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong # F+ A' F( J* T8 RMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how : g" ?0 d5 x3 p/ R9 \1 |7 Q% Z' rpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be 2 |( z! T8 d5 {- U4 e( [ ]torn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished: i% z/ w7 E# u4 m" w% z memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".' C! Y( h* g P+ C6 k Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are7 S5 J1 d2 u# g! s1 [" W aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially 2 a/ P% ]: U2 L0 C" @$ Q2 znon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image 8 L: {5 k3 T0 u4 K5 h7 |- a* `' ~1 Pof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these 2 B' j" K. ?! k% O$ HHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those 6 k9 _" V) a' W1 f1 ppeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they ' L' d0 M9 H* J4 P0 qmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some( D2 ~ `* `, a* H of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before ' Z) Y4 @# e8 m- J9 c5 ?/ C; e"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all - U6 ?* Z# I1 z# F# ]7 J) Rpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise 7 U' Q6 D) `: J, y. n2 g. vapartments are the way to go? No. $ S0 k5 D' X6 H6 X- G 8 |% P1 g! f/ I7 C 5 U: K3 X+ ~# T; E O

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the( Q m. Y9 I- S& _ situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this & w1 ~- Z4 z% V' o'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make L; R: p: B" h+ h. ~! |no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so ! r5 H o7 X3 K+ {- C$ K1 y& h6 gfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant 0 P* K8 B4 K: b5 ]4 z _resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless* G( ^- |" L, Z; I Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is # n; _9 C/ \. zunlikely 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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