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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! ?/ |4 A& e2 J: v architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider ; e; |( ]; H4 W/ p; r9 DBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"& S0 ?6 r" k3 N+ e9 Q% j city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.( G8 t$ J2 n6 h; Q2 q7 Y7 x, \ According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,% v' V7 l' y: d% r, V; ^ 3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of: r+ F- Y- G5 H1 I0 W/ r: s! y* a3 _2 j Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within 3 o% v' G5 E6 |9 b# hhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among 9 H. \* L9 G/ seach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera 5 j T! k; d, Y, j5 V: Hand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is v+ n: F k9 n! Eharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are$ i" r* Z# F$ r4 ]9 S* A' S! W6 O descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and 3 T2 i1 Y, o- f4 zforms of culture emerged in hutong.

I) m- c! o- ~/ p/ J6 k: V" ` was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great" W$ v* o; O* W% g impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,8 q( f- @( x! I& O* T and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong" ^# ^3 S; ]5 v has a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment7 U* q5 {4 g, x$ ^ A4 i" k of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that 6 s, R$ e3 u/ u# \* S! vno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are ) t6 b% }" @/ G2 p. i0 o4 conly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a * c* a0 M5 z, }( I1 Hsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government 5 P: v8 H" |: n3 q7 j$ n& j4 W5 D" Gwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move1 y3 W$ l) N0 v. F* v" M" w to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is \8 H! |' L. }( Z5 R"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, ! p2 ?8 M! T3 M1 jthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are . V- V1 x2 s7 q/ F1 j8 sstill 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# D3 G6 y, A, h& {* m "progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make3 k* c5 t% S4 A8 Z1 q8 u8 G+ E money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was 5 p; a1 o' n5 G2 h4 x% h2 d& P9 Xa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a- P" Y, Z- T P3 u parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across 1 D# W/ Q6 j2 Z- M3 z; D# i/ ethe 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 cultural3 s7 f4 Z" ]+ q/ V9 ^ ~% A importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for ! n# N: _% S8 \" J9 E/ Adevelopment.

Hutongs ) I5 D7 m! q' Z* @" l. k" i# E9 {in the old days were residential area where people actually lived ( @+ u* V% \( y8 P0 s# pthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions 9 d) d4 \" y. V. }4 x* D- lin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not " ~: G) u/ ?* w) j$ t. xhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you n2 m* C2 b& B/ z) ~7 q will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. . r9 ?, k7 b8 ~+ h* vFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date 2 X0 X( ^7 J; z* K! |; Wto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used+ X0 i; u. E7 |4 c2 {/ h+ p! V to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses / ~; F% E& s; `2 \support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically / S9 M" O" a" j% n+ g+ V ^) dunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to - A1 e- N" j7 b+ I7 Y3 j/ c llive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, ' P9 O4 i2 X: t" b ehutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the G. W) X) z! V& p$ V balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the 7 i9 e. g: Z8 |8 O9 u$ j, Q8 R' }project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be H: v" y' l6 Z$ X4 Z9 orenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong2 d$ a7 k) w8 y* I$ J1 k! o; ~ Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how - M/ P9 i5 T8 speople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be4 c3 W# m1 ?0 g5 ^3 h torn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished 9 y" e# M* X7 H6 ]1 F) {6 hmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".0 O) }2 `$ T* ~# W4 `) w Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are1 h% K9 C2 T$ q! G) Y" z" I' H: T aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially ' Q7 @5 V$ d7 C8 K% u! |1 {non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image 9 c& e- O' [8 a* H3 w# ^" @$ lof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these 4 K y; v) ?' rHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those: n2 b R( o3 _, u people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they 4 g4 b' e% V Nmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some* u$ h r& ~ L0 j$ q% J C of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before% F! ~* n6 m4 d( p5 Q' } "modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all0 s# v* C _; f6 I people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise: r; u5 q4 {0 h2 J; E: W apartments are the way to go? No. 4 X7 x4 ]! J/ @, i3 I 1 W% o0 }- g! i, G2 K" F 5 M$ l$ K' {$ I: \+ X0 v7 P+ v

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the7 B. G3 \8 S# {8 O situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this , d- j" h& | p- O" @' }4 G'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make 7 ]& `. w' E M& Ono money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so ) ~! [9 U( g" ?* [( Qfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant ( \3 |, x) D. f5 ?" jresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless' T0 b6 ~# C3 p" | Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is 5 u" ]8 c6 d5 D% d* k& lunlikely 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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