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, its4 \9 o) e/ M: d
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider6 @ H" m# \1 g. W( H$ G/ c
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
: O* ]' w! c [& jcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
; h7 ?# o( z/ W9 mAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
& B! i# Y0 L! y+ O( D" o3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of7 G! z3 \$ ]- `; t
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
, H& y- h5 L9 |hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among+ }/ r6 J0 @' ^, Z. k
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
1 W3 l3 t6 y+ J5 O3 yand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is/ a; \0 [6 P) n9 |% z5 H
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are2 y+ R4 z8 X" z( j3 x3 b
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and2 x& B, N7 B, L6 p, k
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I8 q" L5 N: ]6 K! T$ ]/ H
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
$ F; [' u& T* S* z( N" ^impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,$ c/ \( `+ i( V% b! K, G) i
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
- X/ j C) r- vhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment8 V4 z1 P: s! J. c7 W# }# M9 P2 M
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
* u2 R. |8 }% ~no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
4 K6 z0 B2 U, Z- w5 v" p0 i7 qonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
' f( F( U0 n& r+ U( d) fsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
9 J* E! S" f: E. p. ?want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
' |# C# J% \ t2 {: fto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
/ r3 ~0 ~. ^) K% A( V; M- d; _! u8 E"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
, s. Y7 p# `/ n$ ethis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
7 N( J6 I5 m! s" `# Rstill 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
6 i* {: K! B% v# e, r; v8 m"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make- o$ Q0 n, O" H3 o- n$ `' h* n
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was" t% l% R1 H) N1 |$ t) I8 v" U
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
9 p" d1 W. G" n, fparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
7 y/ j8 L2 T+ B4 G7 i4 xthe 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; ?9 |' P) [) ~4 N: d5 R6 D" W
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
- B/ O" a# H6 \2 n' cdevelopment.
Hutongs" `# T5 b; P) K. ?- _
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
9 t# }5 Z; M- y, }' Fthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions% b& j" a3 c$ v: e n) R1 @! a
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
: Y7 ^% W& {; t, f' d) ehave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
, D6 s% e0 X- p# c8 E. ywill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.$ K5 U, B6 \, j/ A* E
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
) Y5 G* p& y( L/ U2 s) O& ^to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
: r, |" W. E# C% dto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
, F2 ?, a+ v# D0 S7 ?support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically" @7 K7 s1 L2 H
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to5 x- a4 m2 @5 H, b) i
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
4 J8 Z- a U% p& X% ^hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the9 X0 ?; W! x* R& ]3 R3 G
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
2 ^7 @% B) x$ k Eproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be. d% X! x: h9 G+ _- Z# ^3 J# W: v1 K
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
x H0 s) b; oMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how/ c3 V4 e/ y. i8 g6 `; v5 @8 j
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be- j# j" w& W' @
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
# e2 \: t$ p& k# d% B4 Kmemories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".* ~3 S, u8 A; X# b( I
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are$ [! {4 |- `$ n
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
5 _3 C5 d Z* }/ Z* D& F7 ]non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
7 E8 Q8 l" P- b. Y# Gof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
: r0 C. i, S" E# Q, u# h, WHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those% z. r1 }8 s4 J- F* J
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they9 F$ B* {; o/ G
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
9 ?& m* u. s6 ~8 Y# Cof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
* N* V' x- s; F' `$ ?9 J! Z/ z"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
% i3 o7 j0 n4 P2 p8 K" mpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
7 N; Z A! m0 I7 P7 B* `* Yapartments are the way to go? No.% T' ?) t8 f1 M; O0 i* _7 X1 O
" R: Q9 h) z% A+ D
' l! b/ a4 ^. H4 L0 t' O" {/ D
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
# s+ T# ~/ O3 L, Usituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this. c+ _( l& h. [+ V4 z3 }8 n5 W
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
6 v7 g+ @* }. s) e4 k+ R% Rno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
8 q! T( [6 c! K; n4 m; Z& r% mfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant1 b1 N, ?: {/ D% i, G) ]
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
6 l+ k0 ~6 X; _4 gBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is% x8 l% Q" W$ v- n8 H1 G+ F& D
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|