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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) ?+ H2 o+ o3 |! l architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider* l+ K1 |5 ~4 V5 h' X" ]. S Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian" % W$ {; q) L. E! `1 gcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. % d7 l7 U9 n. g. L& PAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty, # u9 Y! N' f# Q# m: l# P3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of - j* q. r; K; p4 b, D9 M- L6 JManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within : ^6 C( e3 c; Y5 Y& L" i5 nhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among * U6 n2 S: {/ h- f$ f8 k5 G2 h. ceach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera: [; h8 r5 `/ W, `$ K" U- Y( i4 P& T' w and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is8 P9 h8 Z, O6 Q; n5 G* ?# l4 R# N harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are % b, r3 N; l9 Ndescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and ?7 I) p/ b! y# s) I+ z forms of culture emerged in hutong.

I, s; c) t. U' Y0 s7 C2 |7 R was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great3 g1 i- |$ z% k U$ E! H" H impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished, ) s' |! W* ?8 [4 Land we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong6 e. K0 a9 L0 \" K has a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment 8 d# h1 j% V7 ^, N9 c2 H6 ^of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that9 ~' n8 ?) n' q9 s* R no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are0 [, H5 c! ?( s3 M2 l9 ] only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a ! e! n! b+ L- R. `# o2 D/ B' \( Tsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government a' w: R D# H want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move2 n& y) e% D8 d' p to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is # {5 C0 y4 N% K; B* h8 A) A"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, $ T: i, l( C: O9 N5 Q/ A0 ?! hthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are+ @3 f n: n8 _: u 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; B" x7 j7 m9 W/ S "progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make8 D" ~2 i0 I. f6 ~6 Y3 o money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was# y. b6 {- p1 j5 @" E- y) W* R1 n, l a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a9 |6 Z0 y. C6 K6 f) y parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across 5 e8 R7 X* Y+ {2 athe 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$ S* ^% @0 z6 b importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for, ]* B4 I& B+ P! f3 ] development.

Hutongs 7 K5 m* w- I% G5 U) T' uin the old days were residential area where people actually lived4 b$ y: C7 o$ N3 A3 f6 w2 z3 Y there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions 1 ]: @! ?, i; w5 t3 c$ qin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not ; Q* c. ^" |6 e$ ~, shave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you ; r3 t) e8 E) g( q8 rwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.: b7 t/ X4 ]: \2 L2 A Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date; X; |# W5 b4 A6 E+ D3 t to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used . j1 r1 C6 c* k8 F I6 dto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses 8 y8 J5 f; O; l2 W a" msupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically ) f& |! J5 f( N9 H+ [" V+ W, k, Sunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to1 ~, H$ D r' K& n: k live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, 9 A( h) E. v [8 u `% }$ Whutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the + f9 q% q9 }! ybalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the& d* X& i0 ^# w; O* A T& G# f7 p: z project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be ; A5 n. y" Z# i- {renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong6 O& I% j, q$ f! K1 Q Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how 4 Y6 |# s7 t' x1 Lpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be ! h$ g4 s+ G3 C! z1 Ytorn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished & a1 y+ E# t. G9 Smemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". : z( K+ k3 |( P# FNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are- X8 @' u& I& K7 v# ]1 K: u! W aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially& [5 m) C: B: i) w2 h6 R+ R non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image( P6 B. u( ^4 l9 H: n/ ?( r of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these% S( T4 K: M0 F2 L7 @1 N L2 Z% i Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those * s9 ~8 F% ~2 v7 r" k A* {people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they / q* F9 B+ r' c. l) @% vmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some( k; G, F* [, ^" l! e2 J7 R of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before " m Q- o! E6 j# g2 U- V"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all0 b& h% E& s' G! w0 ^6 ~ `. h9 B1 ~5 } people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise. Q( f, R3 k2 T( a) L8 Y5 k0 z apartments are the way to go? No. 0 [, G6 X& Z+ C' f+ Y5 K : R$ [9 ]8 N+ v5 `! F- c7 h' e ; L' W; O' y1 z: }) [2 R

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the6 T8 z+ Q" d4 y/ b2 F P situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this. M/ d! h- g; x1 I 'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make3 C- V! U N$ A K; r: [ no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so - O4 W f% P5 ~$ ]& `fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant ; h! H* T* d2 n' d7 B: b6 |resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless 8 h2 F+ A+ `0 x+ u; D! TBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is 6 h* e/ b" G! `# U. {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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