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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: M% s4 ?. j4 F' qarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider( G$ y3 M$ G) o. e Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian" 4 u8 T! ~5 a- }* j4 z. j1 D5 ocity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. ' N' j4 i f# ]' \! x8 }According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,. W* ?, `5 g9 e* W% y; {8 B 3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of' S1 z- g0 _* K, K5 f9 x# u Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within : _1 G$ G* W: j' Qhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among9 X0 M! n3 l8 O, Q" |% S; E each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera 1 _( P% {0 }$ w7 nand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is $ L- P( ^5 H: s9 ^; p" j6 {/ jharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are + H# K9 E, V: P* Ydescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and- f# b7 I6 [1 C7 b4 X forms of culture emerged in hutong.

I : N" g% q5 [* W" E8 g) T/ ~was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great6 m* Q4 I8 a8 d) ^" ~ impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished, $ ~. s4 w1 M, V$ s! tand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong: ?1 E, S, R7 d% x; @0 z5 d has a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment # h! u( N) W A' ]5 yof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that! ~0 s/ Q0 Y' [" X no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are, d5 ~# K) H2 M" _1 A( X7 r only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a" p$ J- v; R' C/ Z- F' I% y1 n0 e sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government 7 }2 V- u# v7 @# ~want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move+ U8 d5 n9 q. e: W" F, b to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is ' Y& x4 m1 O2 J; P9 ^"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, 1 P4 c; R9 E7 X: C( sthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are 0 _# f5 w+ W$ q" X L4 ^& Xstill 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) c2 H. |% g7 s3 z w "progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make0 x# H' W8 T( c8 F0 o money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was. f; h6 b+ Y5 m5 B' R4 _ a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a: X- e& z) P! ]8 g, ~. e$ F parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across, w' M# G$ t5 M+ q4 t6 ? 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# J- F, |8 {/ u7 x) u7 E importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for& a2 n O' v* a) w8 m. F development.

Hutongs 0 h3 {$ r* O, F I9 V! J8 Sin the old days were residential area where people actually lived 2 a, C1 Z& `; E2 `6 D5 P) z% b) [! ]there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions1 F* S" m- `9 d7 L in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not . h; ]0 X, I h! ~( G- whave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you 2 H0 F9 h0 J( q* V8 B& qwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. 7 r# H7 J" j# TFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date ) M/ \$ n |; S" oto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used 3 G% K2 z! P( \) ]$ W9 ~3 q$ zto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses6 v9 z+ E; L) C support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically $ P9 v* ?1 F/ q1 junfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to 7 L V) B; o) c' Clive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, ) ~; @2 t5 d% \ G! _# m9 f& Rhutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the" R/ R+ I, D$ @ balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the) J. w1 e8 G8 ~0 f project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be3 M* P* l G C3 C* K& l: W& N renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong; D3 h( t z1 a; Y9 }8 I; c Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how + v# N, i$ g8 I5 ipeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be9 P- s/ W A: n0 Y# o7 I8 H torn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished8 [7 u! W' H, g1 P2 I memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". % t3 Z& H, i- r8 q7 f! M2 L; `, fNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are5 A4 k) d4 a0 G$ H* W r* ~ aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially 2 ~, W$ ?( W' Y. x" j( Nnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image9 P4 l5 P4 n s3 S& \1 p0 `) ~. _! D of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these 6 b, @' W2 A: ?2 qHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those % c# f& `; y/ _& y7 z+ N9 x6 }8 z& [people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they Q6 P [% E3 X |9 P0 c1 F8 }may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some, B3 j5 c: A E! E of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before) h+ k0 J1 L1 i; _, z8 s "modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all 1 D, H8 C3 i; [ ?$ [5 ipeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise 8 x" O2 k- N h) sapartments are the way to go? No. $ \" ^- e7 {+ Q8 ?; Y/ O0 ] ( @8 [+ R" x% u$ B1 k& t 1 V! [+ a8 h- M: D4 }3 v- l1 Y

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the8 s( q' t" g6 s* N& V! t8 Z% ^* k- O" M situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this 8 {2 ]. D6 I! k) ?( n2 w, d'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make + R8 B9 e& z4 q; M9 i4 Sno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so, @7 @. r; e! w2 Z# _; i fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant ' E$ _, `- F! ], F3 s, Uresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless7 U3 p8 n7 X& c0 ~# r \7 @ Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is( F! I! j' I# b' ?1 d5 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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