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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 " v1 ~* ^- }% m2 H4 Garchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider ! g4 W; F& K+ C! \) R! f- }6 wBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"' }) K6 ~& d# ^1 c+ }1 C2 { { city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.6 k: S8 d" U$ `5 Z' s According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty, ( l9 h/ o* i' K! [( Q3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of + J" |4 @# m/ S3 |' ]' JManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within ]# N) D3 {5 }6 i$ w, W hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among * P1 d; k- f8 ?! _each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera' r8 n4 C" r% W: M w4 q8 k and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is 6 a) q7 F; ]- charmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are0 M; v1 C' f- y: K3 ~8 O descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and; s4 q8 _. x0 z forms of culture emerged in hutong.

I" D, b% \7 i( o/ Q& } M9 T- Y was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great # E* r' a, U5 o4 Cimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,, Z1 s5 N' U8 F2 _* _$ I K and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong 2 X. i# U- A8 x% A9 ^has a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment' b. u! E+ _/ N+ j; K of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that0 V. \! k4 x/ j" c' R- g" h no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are ( r8 {# g& \3 C7 h- Ponly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a ! U: K1 f9 Y" G! k7 esort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government " _% m5 O5 D. F. g% s7 H4 [1 hwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move . {6 a; p5 T$ {9 A; U; J7 s7 sto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is / n% P1 z, N- m4 M2 k M- R"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,6 C+ ^7 d6 y: }) g1 ` this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are5 q$ ? q9 X1 |: J 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! E3 J4 E+ H; ]' j! |) r5 ]# S: } "progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make, w* ~+ L) J# {1 [ money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was 1 c' f5 c i2 ]4 y J, ja beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a + e0 n0 y* d4 [/ s! R4 Z) X' }; yparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across l+ A J4 l: i' W! T+ B( |3 h; [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* p) q% P R& M; [ importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for # U; ?( W3 v. F. Y# |development.

Hutongs + u# ^' a; ^8 p0 A7 }3 ein the old days were residential area where people actually lived 6 i- h2 C. g% N# s: G# z5 q7 r# R0 hthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions ( h$ w* x4 f0 i! \in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not , X% T7 ]0 B3 Q4 Phave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you# z# {. S2 O0 E y+ p5 s% k will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs. 8 j/ R+ l: [+ e( ~Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date4 n# q. K. |6 W' |9 v1 }5 }: r to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used , h; D) H% ~7 bto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses% O, P# E, [+ v8 ] support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically ' b. u3 q2 f& y, j/ m3 Gunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to' ^9 Q$ k$ T% n2 n) N" { live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,+ D; p# P5 M1 ^7 f8 C x: [ hutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the ) p# @2 v( N7 Vbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the! ]* v; [3 I, T2 m: \- n project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be: `5 [" k6 w6 O$ Q7 q renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong % |+ U8 Z' G! z6 f& L) SMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how5 }0 w! r7 S% q people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be - C( B- @/ d) v) U; Vtorn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished% x6 P1 A6 W: d memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". 8 D9 d; f1 L$ F6 GNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are 3 F5 h+ E6 T0 `: daligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially 3 M7 `; V$ Z/ N+ E! w0 ^* f2 Mnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image' ^+ W) I& ]. S3 r9 W* x. b of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these ' I) A4 U% w& B6 ]5 v1 pHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those ( b, ^8 ^! A9 W4 P3 lpeople who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they8 M0 z4 y& n' w0 v i' A may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some ' u, H" c3 i+ t' v; F( Aof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before8 y& s7 z+ _7 B# V: ]5 c "modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all ! d9 q, e- Y7 b7 @. R0 Bpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise9 g7 G1 x$ ^1 m% X# Z apartments are the way to go? No.& D5 X& k+ s" C+ j - P2 [4 A8 l" d7 r, c9 p - V1 ~1 D! a; `# \% |

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the 9 V% O' X+ z+ n# M: o) `/ ^0 [situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this $ t7 v3 t9 j2 T* Q( e0 u'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make- ]; y+ r! S1 f/ I- F/ B no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so% @2 [- J6 m5 G- @- Z5 d2 D) D fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant1 m, y/ C, M) R' W2 }. C; Q resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless( T4 M6 X; d7 e: m# N6 T$ E Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is 8 Z; B; c" W, E$ J+ v# u6 P3 Nunlikely 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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