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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 3 x- Q2 a' `) k9 j7 e( Z2 d8 Garchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider+ C* _1 K, K! s- Y* k Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian" 2 l7 }/ b7 C# z. _- w( ]4 N, Zcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.. u; M0 x; Y( j According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,8 [+ p1 E& [" n. s/ p8 l 3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of # W/ h" G- S+ K; YManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within d1 p% e8 K" J4 ` hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among & _) S* W0 ^9 [5 E0 H* a6 O2 i; e _each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera 3 g2 u0 L3 H. L+ j# Y/ i5 hand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is 5 p3 A4 ^3 E. v- Zharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are, D4 X8 A+ C: v( V descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and8 c% y; y* p9 H$ m" W. w: a! \, @3 M forms of culture emerged in hutong.

I 6 j, W7 D* _7 j. j+ nwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great. j* D& F6 V0 t! V( g6 m; V. Q4 m impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished, ( z9 t2 ] I/ N5 N( [. [! g0 }3 \) a) wand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong 9 x% Y! n4 E& i$ Chas a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment ) Y+ b6 I$ _$ p) p0 W$ j+ O. Qof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that, G3 H( @ [9 `4 E# M no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are - F- M8 f) R) ]only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a 4 \. a( y! f! P6 U5 M! zsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government/ } q$ G* k; h1 K b2 C1 Y want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move4 z0 ^3 v/ u+ ~' l. W to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is& q N- w; F! b/ u1 ^7 Q "modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, _- @3 q9 h( _# Mthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are 2 b1 h7 s/ |0 ^0 b. B7 Vstill 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 : a. F; W, [ M" g p"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make 8 N* D+ K# `2 ]- k# l( h' U; Gmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was 2 T. P3 [1 _; o. f/ m4 ua beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a 9 o% \( n- w! D2 s3 B% ~) U- Hparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across& M" S) @! T2 s6 {" X u9 Z 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# @& Q/ _$ A: ~, e0 ]2 B importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for4 v7 W; m! \# n1 n3 ~, T1 l development.

Hutongs) z2 Z% Y( v) j& n- q, u3 O in the old days were residential area where people actually lived 6 X1 \; E: b5 ?7 xthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions% f# C# K, P* s6 N in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not) b( e }: \3 _0 ?3 z1 i. W have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you # E* {1 y2 S2 xwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. ! Z- ^0 ]) e) C: @9 I$ T0 RFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date; o% C `2 @3 a( I) P6 z! ]; f to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used 0 \0 M, s0 J# ]to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses 6 A0 G$ W5 o4 F( b1 o: dsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically 4 W( j' u& i" U" uunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to ' k/ k; \% h; ~3 F. xlive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, m$ |1 M/ V6 O- ?5 y hutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the5 d9 ^% F# _1 m- F* m balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the 2 x- G {* g9 aproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be; n- b5 I2 }" T: I9 t renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong1 p9 s# Z& v: F& }$ ] Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how . b* w) t2 Y6 d" v$ Q* kpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be 4 o- N7 b- a- K0 d- d0 ptorn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished( f) U+ q! f: k+ m5 r memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".8 G# n. b) \ K; `" o+ j Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are, V; F- `. V+ K) K3 J3 I% M/ U aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially , n$ Z* Q9 _: ?, B, O9 Xnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image2 Z4 u: e, n9 n- j0 G of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these ' k5 M. |* ?/ t) m0 S: gHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those) J" i1 N# e( f- b @ people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they ) n( j; V1 Q: \6 r7 w |0 t# G9 }) smay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some) P7 k0 e7 m% D" w- l4 @' d of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before 9 n) s- c% r8 {"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all" i8 k: y& P9 j( ]' U' D. e* Y people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise 4 R7 [( {- m1 r5 a: O2 sapartments are the way to go? No.+ M7 v; B* b1 }& J9 K, \ & M- N! B! N3 a* C8 ^9 [6 R6 X4 N " i/ \% N# l# y9 d

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the 3 h6 Y$ `; S G" s3 c: \6 Lsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this 1 K" P) G8 k* a7 d+ \2 B'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make; d7 M% g3 H- ^; y" l no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so6 b4 h( e* h' y( J; n9 d fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant5 r5 T; j( \, W; V) {* C resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless 8 U+ v$ |3 B, x- a" P0 jBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is ' r0 t2 r2 x: i$ 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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