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
3 k( f$ i' O; U' D7 ?( i3 i2 oarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider& O2 y" L( q7 T J
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
9 T" ]. z( j, ]; D! Hcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
4 D, D% Q% o5 s8 q9 _( Z* j. rAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,, n0 b7 Q3 `( _. K! D7 }
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of& l9 X: r- F: V, t' Y+ r
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
- k' J5 U- T# W9 G8 V7 b( ]0 Nhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
) q2 J; c* p4 P% Y; a5 beach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
3 H# ]1 O. ~) m/ n7 ]and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
|* J' h; s c1 ]3 B, tharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are3 z& V, p4 V* k9 x4 H$ T' O4 }
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and1 |( s, W2 |4 R1 U5 n+ P N
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
: ~& X, ~6 T. c( d- b/ ewas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
4 S/ k2 E4 ?2 y$ l1 Wimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
i; _) G4 V6 k! Y0 D& w( hand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong7 J8 o# v( r+ H' B, ]) k
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment% w* j9 i/ ~) R, y* R/ d& I+ u9 f
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
" f0 d" J9 s& m' P' Xno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
& s- |4 ^0 K/ X# d6 Q; Xonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a2 L6 i# V0 P# j
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
: M' E4 x% i# |! A: X, Nwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
/ H7 F/ t! A* }- u5 f/ A0 L zto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
3 `* F5 N' o3 {"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,6 _7 q9 q0 E! F
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
9 W" b O( y, B. o8 K3 n, Istill 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 k8 W: F* E% P/ n4 \4 Q$ k* v"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make, ]; R; Z' ]/ W) J
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was9 ?+ z) f5 d" f3 {
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a8 D+ |6 g2 b: J2 `( R+ k. Q
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
, [+ l; h! T+ o: Z) Ithe 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+ _4 n" }: X1 z1 w/ q* limportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for) d2 K: ? d# j) K
development.
Hutongs1 b6 O: l1 g; v. T
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived0 f6 ]6 f) N- s, n
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
( w; J& D+ A8 q) Sin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
, ^, h& S8 O3 h4 a. a4 |have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you; h) d- i2 c: g L
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.+ i8 L2 ~6 M0 B/ K" F5 B" Q' r
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
+ a4 t2 N- }* N2 z. U5 Oto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used4 t* a+ h" v; F
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses, h* U: _0 p* \4 B" i, ~. H
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically5 R; D. j! F- m9 ]
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
$ s+ E! Z. P% d) elive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,4 M9 x# ?8 ]' j7 @( C5 q% C
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the* z' G' }3 I* k5 q
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
' |2 M: w2 V+ |7 b/ J0 Rproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
' y# f0 [, Q7 N* H8 H+ ]renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
! W ?( [- T" w) P/ xMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
: Z2 w* S- g- Npeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
" K) M% Y6 C! R$ X7 Ptorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
( Q& ^7 L+ u. u# mmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".# ^0 X* w1 f3 j5 z
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
4 M3 ~9 v* ]; w1 y- J laligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
. I" Z+ g2 b3 [8 K) x# r8 Q: K/ rnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image3 g; s1 @/ R8 @" \5 N4 s1 L2 N
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these& m1 [4 q! v1 R% `# o1 |# q
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those7 \% f! j c5 e, l1 d& K+ K
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
! K8 c1 a8 B" s, r* z& l+ Xmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some& O- C. K, ]7 `. Z3 Q
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
0 [/ I0 X4 r- J1 h0 {8 \% v"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
5 F% `8 m6 U9 }2 M; Y+ Y' \/ h" fpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise) Q% s4 W) u2 U, r; a
apartments are the way to go? No.+ A4 {! N; u- j# Z
3 h9 s K1 \6 ]+ \0 ~3 E( H$ m + q6 k1 u+ Y1 `; \2 N
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
6 I& D/ h8 N7 t; fsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
1 U5 M0 ]7 |6 R! w9 j. v+ n'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
+ `% [7 h4 }3 q5 h# r% W; eno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
% M& |0 p4 E# Z6 vfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant1 q& h! h/ f/ Q+ ~- O. o8 Q
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless& ^2 n1 N6 M( ^
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is6 G8 h2 ]5 Y4 L o v' g" V$ A
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|