UID5538
帖子
阅读权限80
在线时间 小时
精华
威望
日志
相册
注册时间2006-2-27
最后登录1970-1-1
|
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
, K7 P5 U1 v7 ~( p* K1 t/ H4 P* warchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider, ^) G3 p9 ^1 E% Y8 Z5 R: Z2 D
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"6 g" \3 t$ {1 a7 O+ a# H
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
( J' K% U. [ Y5 o+ ?According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,% V" _- x, B3 F t. ~2 k& b
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of6 s0 V, E0 X+ @; A& \/ u
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
" o* j! F6 t4 {. z1 Ehutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among0 I5 D: V8 e7 g$ F
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
* z) o1 M) z% Y) U% N$ Qand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
[$ K/ m, J$ S' Q9 r( i Xharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
6 d( ?0 }+ U4 ]" kdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and4 \$ Q/ m4 Q& @7 y% v5 E
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I1 V- [7 m- V* g! O( m! B
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
?. c0 c# s, Nimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,# E& H# b; m" x
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
1 V9 _% g5 t5 u, Rhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
! v# U4 b; O; `: ?2 cof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
* P' Y7 w: X5 J: U+ y p, q2 Gno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are) E1 ]. g5 r& ^3 t% A7 y* R
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
5 _% ^, K1 l" tsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government0 P( t: D! ?$ r o3 U, j1 X9 z
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
$ [' B7 N; r$ C$ S9 oto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is9 ?/ \4 C2 u1 o, I
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,2 o% m5 g* A/ e4 u: [4 N
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are& E, C& s" _6 |: C8 f
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
1 h+ C) U, M( r2 O"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
9 W8 e- h J: N, Umoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
% K* r, i7 @% [3 I- _a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a! s# i& Z: e- G1 p- z
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across2 Q K4 A6 d5 l2 ?! ]' W; _
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
" I1 `, l. b( d8 D4 Y5 |2 h) z1 Qimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for: k) ~1 \0 X7 k+ c
development.
Hutongs+ x' ~9 B( z' Y' X; o- `( _
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
5 E0 }$ F; O$ X$ C* K! ]' Qthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
8 J% N3 l' ?; g" win hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not! n* p( \$ T# ^3 a& c
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you" L ~4 b: Z# N' y
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.( H' i# B" H& ^3 H
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date l+ e1 _( D L( C# s2 b7 A6 ]. G
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
0 x$ ?. b1 L, {, d4 R0 o c( Hto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
! Y, P4 c$ w; E0 j" f# h6 Nsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically/ L! S1 ` ?5 ]0 O
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to4 y$ g* t6 m |6 W& T
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
9 p2 D) T! E7 s! t V2 X. ~1 vhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
0 D" p+ b# o2 x v6 P4 Obalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the, @# v$ Z( L& C- s$ A7 z
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
" W6 w1 |! D5 }9 H. F; j0 |renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong) D9 |- n0 g; T* X! _
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how; J) l/ _! T/ K7 F/ \
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be& F1 [) P2 V( J g+ l6 s G
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished6 T2 i( J: _4 M- x6 o; W
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
7 X+ W+ N) D& w4 q# J3 m! nNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
0 H& ?1 u- t0 J8 naligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
% W5 [ _' @' l4 M A E* onon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image3 A% w% x" m3 y9 Y* E
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these+ w% x7 Y0 L1 a+ ~* [/ }! X5 ?
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
7 W c! S- W& W% ?& Z6 Opeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they- t/ o9 p6 {) O5 J0 }
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some8 n# g# v/ U; D) I
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
$ Y+ B5 I1 A1 N; b' F/ [" Z"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
& I, y& ~0 M& R" f' zpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
" r! w1 m$ F7 `8 Bapartments are the way to go? No.
; R3 w$ B; L$ i" Q& u N4 M: D8 d, L; c- S8 _
3 I* _/ H" f% k) {0 e2 T
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the, L2 E. Q( ^" W6 L% S
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this/ l+ Y' B; u3 h( C8 ~( d6 l
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
! R5 x. R. I" N gno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
G+ A& B0 b! F$ V) d: Afast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant, ]" m' f' S M
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless; }2 f. V* M: X+ v) L. m
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is/ T' p. X+ A# O; ?( `/ w
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|