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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 ; A' ]1 r& Z [8 Aarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider! ^7 |& l" s, a- x9 e' M Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"5 `3 x2 M1 Y7 n) y8 n5 n city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.0 N; \( u, n$ P5 S& _6 e0 k r According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,* s% G( i- m! `4 O% ~" f! v 3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of ' A& {2 h8 I& t7 H7 JManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within - \+ L+ W7 H0 Z& D- Khutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among ; z$ K/ A3 f% i, r$ G/ j- Weach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera8 |4 C d3 }5 u% p6 {9 j& j. h and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is / u) p% ^" P- w! w4 }harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are ; P Q: W: @' ]+ m" p8 H: Idescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and/ F/ B/ O3 d* e3 d- I7 q1 V forms of culture emerged in hutong.

I : b2 S! o% @/ I j1 M0 Zwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great # G- x/ w* y) V# z gimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,* M6 ~( n5 c9 H$ R# R- u. k and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong) R4 N4 a4 O# ?! c6 ?* T% \/ a has a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment - `$ S) O4 n$ f1 Q4 Tof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that `" s3 @' \: l( v; z! D5 ~ no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are3 d& Y9 {& ^9 C+ _ only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a 9 A+ w( ?2 k, h$ e. zsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government. r0 y; u( O) N' R7 R" X3 @ j want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move, R6 M7 z i1 K, C/ u to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is4 p1 B4 z$ U8 D& }4 K "modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, 6 j( |7 S2 T: f$ u6 u; d) ithis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are# f2 Q( p. W" {9 Y$ p$ X 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 to1 H* S7 U8 z, f l+ ]3 P' s "progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make ( W$ B l3 I0 y$ \. J! Hmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was |1 U" C4 g1 y5 J; C/ Ga beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a ( B# I2 S$ j" N: g) n, Fparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across `2 \8 Y1 q, x) W7 tthe 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 ^0 f. y# ^2 D1 @$ @importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for7 Y; z) l, F6 \5 T" e development.

Hutongs4 D' r F5 Z0 Q% e4 N$ h in the old days were residential area where people actually lived# f$ q0 m& i6 D, A9 i) K there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions m) ^. H: ]+ C+ `" ^; Qin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not 1 ^; L; A" t! {! o; t! U; u, S: Qhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you " Z# T" @& G. x1 H) Jwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.3 b: Z* T9 c9 \( L Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date5 U, z! t8 X4 r& t to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used ! c5 `5 p3 H! v& p! n6 B" ito hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses u+ A& y" z( n2 ~3 Q# g# n support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically ) {" ^5 S% X% h* ^4 Hunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to ( J2 z7 U _8 g4 ^5 d0 E1 Ylive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, : J5 a7 M0 z/ g, c* p# nhutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the; w3 W; A& G4 B# _' u1 C1 w5 @ balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the ) B3 |) \: p5 ]8 i2 Y l% k9 mproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be/ V% m$ P- j& E* `# z9 m2 o: G renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong3 L! _- o/ a, U Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how $ |' w5 \! d4 I0 D, |$ Kpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be 2 C/ }$ e& I0 A3 _7 ?, F4 c- q( i( ztorn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished * {% q# F* {! X% P8 a0 o( w( q# V# tmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".- P" ~+ t4 S3 [+ s) G" D Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are $ l/ U2 p, S. m" V% aaligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially2 S' ~- I$ g9 F8 a4 s2 p0 |$ R4 U non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image! V9 u) `) a/ J( i% j- w; t of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these2 Q$ s: c; N: y C; }0 N* j- S4 U Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those # U2 g1 r ~2 h Y. ypeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they * M a$ ~" n( a8 ?" S% Ymay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some; G: |4 X4 m4 n$ Y* s: o) } of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before ! b$ m* F z% h# R# N"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all 8 |; B5 ~- M, q' k; ~- O+ Wpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise! n% f& b8 b- `# x9 Z0 L2 t+ p apartments are the way to go? No.: v! |! S+ s: S1 b* F # u, H5 p; c! k) P4 a0 Z2 i # [0 W- z4 o7 q& `6 l+ x) ~

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the N2 s0 y# f/ @, V6 H% ~ situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this $ B0 F0 j- ?0 S/ g2 ~% Q'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make! G1 p# A7 g: ` no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so; l+ d: x+ h3 O6 S fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant+ Q7 g; K6 l8 @7 L/ p( d resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless , Y+ B5 u7 [6 g# ^0 B C7 @Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is 0 l% z6 ]6 B. m6 Hunlikely 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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