"'A sandbank five hundred years ago, building outside the building five hundred years later', this statement vividly expresses the current past of Hankou . In fact, the substantial change in the appearance of Hankou's urban areas and representative living methods came from the end of the 19th century to the time before the War of Resistance Against Japan."
days ago, Jianghan University's digital construction and blasting project, which focuses on modern cities and construction directions, focused on modern cities and construction. Chen Gang, a teacher at the college, published a new book "Modern Hankou Social Transformation and Housing Form Development 1889-1938" (Published by Wuhan Publishing House ), discussing the transformation of urban space and residential forms in Hankou since modern times, that is, from the traditional houses of "front shops and back houses" to the modern commercial houses of "bottom shops and houses" along the rivers. At the same time, "town-style houses" that are close to the modern living style have emerged.
Chen Gang is an old Wuhan and a scholar who studies modern architecture and local cities. He has a special emotion for his hometown. He lived in Hankou since he was a child, and his childhood life left many memories in his heart. When he was a child, he went to kindergarten and those familiar hawking sounds, and traveled with his aunt in the streets and alleys of Jianghan Road. These scenes are described in the book.
Chen Gang's grandfather was a foreign company employee. As the third generation of Wuhan people, he has a strong interest and deep affection for Lao Hankou. Based on his personal life experience in his early years, Chen Gang searched historical documents and led students to visit and shoot on-site on-site visits and filming in the old Hankou district. Through the true and realistic discussion, he finally wrote about the living style and changes in the living environment of the old Hankou people.
Chen Gang introduced that Hankou before the opening of the port in 1861 was a Hegang Market Town, which was fundamentally changed until the late Qing Dynasty. The housing form at that time was a traditional house with "front store and back house style", which was mainly distributed in the Hanzheng Street area of the old city of Hankou, Hanzhen.
This type of residence often has a "pattern-style courtyard" or " Sishui Guitang " layout, with shops facing the street in front and sleeping part behind; most of them are east-west and compact in layout. Most of the people who use this type of residence are businessmen who live in Hankou for business.
11 Revolution Before the War of Resistance Against Japan, it was an important period of modern transformation of Hankou society and a period of rapid changes in urban space in Hankou. Driven by the urban economy, the traditional residential houses in Hankou's Chinese circles gradually gave way to the "bottom shop and home style" living style. The growth of Hankou population during this period also made the "front shop and back house"-style houses in the early Hankou Chinese community increasingly unsuitable for the reality of tight urban land use.
During this period, the Chinese border in Hankou opened up new urban roads, and a new form of residence was formed along the streets on both sides, that is, the owners separated the upper and lower floors and rented them out. Urban managers required commercial housing on the street, with an outstanding balcony upstairs and left three rooms with facade composition.
Hankou points are a microcosm of Hankou's folk house culture in the past century, and are also a combination of Western low-rise townhouses and traditional Chinese multi-entry courtyard buildings after the opening of Hankou. As a product of East-West architectural cultural exchanges, its construction time began around 1900 to basically end before the fall of Wuhan in 1938.
is the most representative "lidian" of the living style during that period, mainly distributed in the model area of China and foreign residents' residential areas. This type of residence, especially in the late stage, mainly supplies employees from the middle class in the city. Therefore, the residence corresponds to a staff culture based on modern occupational characteristics, which is close to the modern urban living style.
Wuhan urban history experts analyzed that in 1889, Zhangzhidong supervised Hubei to build railways and develop industry and commerce, and other measures that are conducive to the development of modern cities, especially after building Zhanggong , the urban area has greatly expanded, and the development speed of Hankou cities has also become faster. 1889-1938 was a critical period for the formation and development of Hankou cities in modern times. Due to the rapid modern transformation of its urban economy and social form, the original urban space and its living methods have undergone a leapfrog transformation. Lao Hankou citizens were the first to enter a new living method and living environment before many cities and regions in China at that time.
This article was originally published in the Yangtze River Daily, written by Wan Jianhui/photo.
