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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 8 i1 ]2 ~$ W( iarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider & }. N, b4 D, t9 ]3 i) P/ JBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian" ) l @/ ]/ {& a: P# N; ]city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. % |0 I+ {8 h: F& lAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,. Z) c Z1 _* f 3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of" w6 B3 j) ]( I3 d. F Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within# D, u4 _- ?, b. e7 B hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among ' e! b8 d5 x9 C' b7 veach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera' P! T8 M# t8 R" X) R, e% E/ G and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is r) Z3 p- O; S" D9 ^3 h* Sharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are. ?& Y4 k/ W" V4 q! |$ M$ z& O descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and ( m5 M2 I& l: s% h4 Pforms of culture emerged in hutong.

I0 n3 D. K, k. j" n2 U8 G was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great 3 L* c) U3 _& L" A4 n) X. y4 iimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,/ C$ O4 S- H7 Y7 H and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong 2 k0 Z9 g6 i3 f' Lhas a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment) X3 n- u& M. S of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that# l! T, w+ k& \% p- _# w9 w8 ` no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are 6 }" s. N H* q8 t, h* Ponly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a . r7 E) n) w# c! h; U5 Bsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government 4 b4 o# j5 I& y% S( y+ Qwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move ) E. \1 z4 J$ ]5 H$ c1 V+ Uto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is; Q( @1 [) |' U( g2 Z. a5 Q "modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, u; l+ J% @5 w7 i) ~) e this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are ) G4 F4 R/ x( K6 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 7 Q3 v( L! a- U) C _- Q"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make$ H3 D/ Q- g5 p6 A8 {5 i money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was ?4 L+ W9 b" j# }% Pa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a; y) _: w/ K, N( P4 s$ {' C parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across9 j- P4 q, V# b9 W( a) b! V 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 cultural8 V' y; r5 S, o9 U importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for 0 v2 P7 S) f- q. p `: vdevelopment.

Hutongs# Z0 C9 ?0 p! v% n' o in the old days were residential area where people actually lived7 U* M, h- x2 I there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions " F C' A/ i9 n6 e# Win hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not9 R: b% R2 k I9 g* f( V6 Z' D have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you ! F4 [! M$ d' _, d& f& }will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. 0 k- a' l0 O' s1 B. ~- o1 jFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date, X) [# }. }3 Q" @6 s- ]. E to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used* ^2 R% p& }, B to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses 6 o' i \4 }* Ssupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically % \$ S3 H q2 a* b" Munfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to ' q- W: C) w7 |5 |live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,8 _0 m! ^* H% e" q4 u hutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the3 Y7 T4 S, \$ C9 w balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the1 M) i8 _, m* a) q- y2 ~5 T j project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be0 G0 G6 z) w* }$ Q renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong $ [+ ]4 B& [0 ]2 O) V t9 L+ bMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how ) b+ u- p0 I4 N y8 bpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be 1 P9 \, V* n/ u+ j: |( ]: Ptorn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished ( O) n' [" f* D' R R) |memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". 0 ?$ q8 X: u+ R( f% v7 `4 UNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are9 U `! w6 T: j& `; h# I aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially + {; E+ G& ?) L3 hnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image2 a7 I+ W( H' S2 m of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these- v: d# b1 S5 Y% x- E: V/ N Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those 8 w& W/ `3 N# P* S! P( upeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they - ~# A, z; T6 j0 Z# g* d, W4 Qmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some( m: [# v" m6 [/ h; U+ R of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before : t/ ^# X Z& P% R3 n& ~9 C"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all # ^8 u9 h \0 h3 J. ?( Upeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise' ~4 U3 j+ K, k. e) S% G* t apartments are the way to go? No. * v, a7 a- `4 q$ c4 h2 N G - Q! X6 U L G4 r1 b- {. x; Y 3 u$ B1 P |+ e7 O( _

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the 1 T6 ~. P H4 c+ e% j& }situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this ! ^8 K' Q# I' w% h. I4 H* Y& Y'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make / {, L$ _% D' ]5 i g6 R9 s# z4 Cno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so 3 L* \7 `: ~) a6 N6 hfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant& E" A+ e9 M+ W! f$ Y( X( m0 x$ O, ~ resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless + N/ Y$ ]( A# l2 FBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is" b2 u# w; ]9 z9 ]: w 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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