How Shanghai and the Soviet Union parted ways How Shanghai was independent of the Soviet Union
Shanghai, the economic and financial center of China, has a GDP of 432 trillion yuan. Since the 20th century, Shanghai's economic aggregate has been ranked first among cities in Chinese mainland.
However, Shanghai's history was not as significant as it is now. More than 200 years ago, Shanghai was just the confluence of the Wusong River (Suzhou Creek) and the Huangpu River, an ordinary county town in Jiangsu Province, with an area of only 2 square kilometers within the city walls.
Despite this, Shanghai has developed into an international metropolis due to its strategic location and continuous efforts.
In 1843, this small county town forgotten by history, after being opened up as a treaty port, rose rapidly, and it took only 10 years to replace Guangzhou and become the country's largest foreign port.
In 1927, parts of Shanghai broke away from the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province and became a municipality directly under the central government. Since then, Shanghai's status as a municipality directly under the central government has been maintained to this day and has never changed.
In the 50s of the last century, the area of Shanghai was only 636 square kilometers, which is only one-tenth of the area of Shanghai now. What is even more interesting is that the "Shanghai County", which bears the name "Shanghai", still belonged to Jiangsu Province until 1958 and has no jurisdictional connection with the city of Shanghai.
The formation of Shanghai has gone through twists and turns, and its affiliation with Jiangsu Province was not achieved overnight. It was not until 1958 that Shanghai County was officially included in the city, which rapidly expanded the area of Shanghai by nearly 10 times, and then formed its current size.
So, how did Shanghai gradually develop from a subsidiary city of Jiangsu to a municipality that can keep pace with other provinces? Let's take a look back at the evolution of Shanghai.
First of all, Shanghai was part of Songjiang Prefecture in Jiangsu Province during the Qing Dynasty, as well as half of Taicang Prefecture. This is the historical origin of the "Shanghai and Suzhou family". However, over time, Shanghai has grown in status as an important commercial and cultural center.
This provided an opportunity for Shanghai to break away from Jiangsu Province and become a municipality directly under the central government. In the early 20th century, Shanghai became the economic center of China, attracting a large number of people and investment.
In 1927, Shanghai was established as a special city, which broke away from the administrative jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province and became an independent city in China. At this stage, Shanghai has begun to have the conditions to be on an equal footing with Jiangsu Province.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Shanghai became a municipality directly under the central government, officially breaking away from the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province. Since then, Shanghai has developed rapidly, gradually developing into a modern metropolis and an important economic, cultural and technological center of the country.
In short, Shanghai has gradually developed from a subsidiary city of Jiangsu to a municipality directly under the central government, and has undergone many administrative changes and historical events. This process is also an important witness to Shanghai's economic development and urbanization process.
Although Songjiang Prefecture and Taicang Prefecture were independent at the end of the Qing Dynasty, they both originated from the four administrative divisions of Suzhou during the Tang Dynasty and later. The first time was in the Tang Dynasty, when the state could govern the county, and at that time Suzhou almost covered the vast area of the south bank of the Yangtze River estuary and the northern part of Hangzhou Bay, and was the only Xiongzhou in the Jiangnan region of the Tang Dynasty (the Tang Dynasty was divided into seven classes, and "Xiongzhou" was the second class).
With the continuous economic growth of the Jiangnan region, Suzhou in the middle of the Tang Dynasty has developed into a prosperous place, showing the scene of "the floating pipe blowing in front of the building and the boat sailing outside the door".
At that time, Suzhou had jurisdiction over six counties, including Wu County and Jiaxing County. In 751 AD, Suzhou was divided into Huating County from parts of three counties including Jiaxing County.
During the Tang Dynasty, there was a change in the administrative division of Suzhou, and Huating County was born. This county is the earliest county-level administrative unit in Shanghai.
Between the Tang and Song dynasties, Huating County underwent an important administrative split. Due to the Anshi Rebellion, China's economic center gradually shifted to the Jiangnan region.
The Jiangnan region became the main financial force of the imperial court and was densely populated. In this context, Suzhou has naturally become one of the busy areas for government affairs. In order to adapt to this situation, during the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Later Tang Dynasty separated the Kaiyuan Mansion (later known as Xiuzhou) from Suzhou, and the administrative office was located in Jiaxing County, with jurisdiction over three counties including Huating.
By the Song Dynasty, the dense waterways of Huating County had facilitated the development of the shipping industry and the rise of the town of Shanghai, located at the confluence of the Huangpu and Wusong rivers. As a result of this administrative split, Suzhou was divided into two, and Xiuzhou Linghuating County was separated from the jurisdiction of Suzhou and became an administrative region as important as Suzhou.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the area of Suzhou and Xiuzhou (Jiaxing) during the Northern Song Dynasty was divided for the third time, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces were established to govern the Jiangnan region. Kaiyuan Mansion was changed to Jiaxing Road, and Huating County was upgraded to Songjiang Mansion.
In 1290, Songjiang Prefecture was divided from Huating County with Shanghai Town as the core of "Shanghai County", which was the first time that the word "Shanghai" appeared as an administrative division.
Since then, the original Suzhou has been divided into two prefecture-level units, Songjiang Mansion and Jiaxing Road, which were at the same level as Suzhou (then called Pingjiang Road), and two county-level units in Huating and Shanghai were split into Songjiang Mansion.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jiangnan's position as the economic center was further consolidated, and the last split of Pingjiang Road, Songjiang Mansion and Jiaxing Road during the Yuan Dynasty took place. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Taicang Sanzhou was separated from Kunshan County in Suzhou Prefecture, and was at the same level as the county and was administered by Suzhou Prefecture.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Taicang was upgraded to Zhili Prefecture, which was at the same level as the prefecture, with three counties and one scattered prefecture under its jurisdiction, and directly belonged to Jiangsu Province. At the same time, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Songjiang Prefecture also carried out the adjustment of administrative divisions, and precipitated Qingpu, Jinshan and other counties.
By the time of the Opium War, Songjiang had developed into a large government with seven counties and one office, and had become an important cotton textile and shipping town in Jiangsu Province. However, despite this, the status of Songjiang Prefecture cannot be compared with Suzhou and Jiangning, the two traditional economic and political centers of Jiangnan.
After the last split, Taicang Prefecture was officially separated from Suzhou Prefecture, and Songjiang Prefecture basically constituted the jurisdiction of today's Shanghai Municipality, except for Taicang County.
Before 1840, there were Santing, Sanzhou and Ten Counties in the Shanghai area, which belonged to Songjiang Prefecture and Taicang Prefecture respectively. Subsequently, in modern times, Shanghai County became a treaty port, and concessions were established in this place one after another, and Shanghai's position became increasingly prominent, and it began to gradually break away from the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.
After the Opium War, the British asked the Qing Dynasty to open the southeast coast as a treaty port, and among the many cities in the south of the Yangtze River, the British finally chose Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, which did not have a prominent political and economic status.
Due to its unique geographical location, Shanghai County is located at the confluence of the Wusong River and the Huangpu River, and has become a natural harbor for river-sea intermodal transportation, making it stand out among many cities in the south of the Yangtze River and become the center of Shanghai.
Compared with traditional Jiangnan cities such as Suzhou and Hangzhou, as well as Huating County, the center of Songjiang Prefecture, Shanghai County is closer to the coastline and is more convenient for the development of maritime ** and transportation.
In 1843, due to the geographical advantages of Shanghai County, it was opened up as a treaty port. Since then, a large number of British have poured into Shanghai, and foreign-related affairs have gradually increased. The lack of diplomatic awareness of the Qing Dynasty made them reluctant to make contact with foreigners, so they granted the management rights to the British, allowing them to establish a cargo port and consulate along the Huangpu River.
However, the Qing Dynasty still adhered to the mentality of going to the kingdom and was unwilling to let the British Consulate be on an equal footing with the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, they found a piece of land with an area of about 0The 5 square kilometers of tidal flats, leased to the British to establish consulates and cargo ports, was the first concession in the Shanghai area.
The International Architecture Expo Group on the Bund in Shanghai was once a British concession. In 1848, France and the United States also began to divide the concession in Shanghai. These concessions were located outside the county seat of Shanghai and were built and managed by the Great Powers themselves.
Due to the lack of sufficient diplomatic concepts in the Qing Dynasty, the great powers were granted privileges such as taxation and justice in China. As a result, these concessions became completely independent of the Qing Dynasty, becoming the first areas to become "independent" outside of Songjiang Province and Jiangsu Province.
Initially, only foreigners were allowed to live in the concession, and Chinese could enter but not live there. However, by 1853, the Taiping Rebellion and the Xiaodaohui Uprising posed a threat to the Shanghai area, and a large number of Chinese refugees poured into the concession for refuge.
This led to a surge in the population of the concession, which at most exceeded 500,000.
As a result of the Taiping Rebellion, a large number of refugees poured into the concession to work and consume, which made foreign merchants profitable, but also made the management problems within the concession increasingly prominent.
Therefore, in 1854, the great powers set up a first-class organization such as the "Ministry of Industry Bureau" in the concession to manage the construction of the city. In order to better coordinate management, Britain and the United States merged their respective concessions into public concessions, which made the municipal construction of the Shanghai concession greatly developed, and even some modern facilities that had just appeared in Europe and the United States, such as streets, sewers and street lighting systems.
As a result, the Shanghai Concession presented a scene of prosperity no less than that of the West.
In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the Shanghai Concession extended far beyond the county seat, and the prosperity poured into the county seat of Shanghai, which was still controlled by the Qing Dynasty and governed by Jiangsu Province. As the concession flourished, the Qing dynasty gradually recognized Shanghai's geographical advantages.
After the rise of the Westernization Movement, Shanghai County became the center of sports, and Western-style enterprises such as Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau landed in Shanghai County one after another, opening the prelude to China's modernization.
As a result of the promotion of Huashang Electric Company, the population of Shanghai County soared, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty, it had exceeded 500,000 people, making it the most populous place in the south of the Yangtze River. As the population and industry flourished, the need for city walls diminished day by day.
In 1912, Shanghai County demolished the city wall and built a new road, connecting the Chinese boundary and the concession into one, forming a more open Shanghai to the outside world, forming a whole geographically.
After the Chinese boundary of the old city wall of Shanghai was connected with the concession, the population flow put forward higher requirements for municipal construction and urban management. The old system of the Qing Dynasty could not meet the management needs of this modern industrial city.
*After its establishment, an exploration of the urban management system was launched across the country. Special Cities: **Under the Abolition of the Prefecture and the Preservation of Counties, Songjiang Prefecture and Taicang Zhili Prefecture were abolished, and the 12 counties under their jurisdiction were directly under the management of Jiangsu Province.
Jiangsu Province has actively promoted institutional reforms, trying to set up a "city" division modeled after Japan to meet the needs of industrial and commercial clusters of more than 50,000 people, and set up city councils for autonomous management.
Under the influence of the "Provisional City and Township System of Jiangsu Province", Shanghai County began to set up four urban areas: Pusong, Zhabei, Yangjing and Shanghai. However, two years later, Beiyang** feared that local autonomy would lead to the expansion of local power, so it quickly halted the pace of urban autonomy.
In this context, the province could not directly manage so many "counties", so a "dao" similar to the "state capital" in the Ming and Qing dynasties was set up under the province to manage these counties.
Originally, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the counties of Songjiang Prefecture and Taicang Prefecture were divided into a new division: Huhaidao. The jurisdiction of this new division was almost the same as that of present-day Shanghai (except for Taicang County and the north bank of the Yangtze River).
After the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916, China entered a period of warlord warfare, but the exploration of urban management models did not stop. In 1921, the Kuomintang promoted the merger of Panyu and Nanhai counties in Guangdong Province to form Guangzhou City, becoming China's first "organized city".
Since then, Beiyang has changed the "provincial-provincial-county" system to a "provincial-city-county" two-level system. This administrative model was briefly emulated by Beiyang** in the management of Shanghai, and Beiyang** established Songhu City in 1925.
With the advancement of the Northern Expedition, Beiyang ** quickly collapsed, and in 1926, the Northern Expeditionary Army recovered the British Concession in Hankou, and the people moved to Hankou, and established the Hankou Special City directly under the management of ***.
Special municipalities are different from provincial municipalities that are under provincial administration.
In 1927, the Northern Expeditionary Army occupied Shanghai County, but because the foreign powers were too strong, this time they failed to recover the concession as they did with the liberation of Hankou. However, at this time, the total industrial assets of Shanghai County, including the concessions, accounted for about 40% of the country's total industrial assets, the number of workers accounted for about 43% of the country's total, and the industrial output value accounted for about 50% of the country's industrial output, supporting half of China's industry at that time.
Moreover, the population has exceeded 1.5 million, far more than any other city at that time. Faced with such a situation, the people decided to set up a "special city" in Shanghai and put it directly under the jurisdiction of ***.
In April 1927, the Kuomintang abolished the division of the Huhai Province and let the counties be reclassified under the direct jurisdiction of the province. In July, the Nationalists announced that a total of 630 square kilometers of Shanghai's county, concession and surrounding areas and a population of more than 2 million people would be formally separated from the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province and a special city of Shanghai would be established.
The jurisdiction of the Shanghai Special City is basically equivalent to the area of Shanghai County in the former Songjiang Prefecture and Baoshan County in Taicang Prefecture, and has obtained a piece of coastline from Chuansha County in the east.
Shanghai was divided into two, each with its own important position, which created a conflict of interest with Jiangsu Province. ** It is hoped that Shanghai will become an independent "special city", while Jiangsu Province wants the name Shanghai to be retained.
As a result, the establishment of the Shanghai Special City became very complicated, and the management of the border between Shanghai and Jiangsu Province became chaotic. In order to retain the name "Shanghai", the southern part of Shanghai County still belongs to Jiangsu Province.
This led to the division of "Shanghai" into two, one part belonging to the city of *** and the other part to Shanghai County in Jiangsu Province. As a result, the Shanghai County Government had to move south from Laiyichang (now Shiliupu, Huangpu District) in the territory of "Shanghai Special City" to Beiqiao (now Beisong Highway in Minhang District) in "Shanghai County, Jiangsu Province".
In addition, the most densely populated concession in the Shanghai Special Municipality is not actually under the administration of the city. As a result, the actual jurisdiction of Shanghai Special City only includes the northern part of Shanghai County in the former Songjiang Prefecture and the southeastern part of Baoshan County in Taicang Prefecture, with an area of 495 square kilometers and a registered population of only 110,000.
In 1928, the purple area was listed as a planned urban area in the map of Shanghai Special City, but it was not included in the city. Since then, Shanghai has officially "become independent" from Jiangsu Province and has obtained the special city system with the same administrative status as Jiangsu Province.
In 1930, the People's Republic of China passed the "City Organization Law", which clearly stipulated that areas with a population of more than 1 million should be set up as municipalities (or municipalities directly under the central government) directly under the management of Shanghai, which further consolidated the status of Shanghai directly under the central government.
However, the good times did not last long, and the "January 28" incident in 1932 shrouded Shanghai under a dark cloud, and five years later, Japan directly launched a war of aggression against China, and in November 1937, Shanghai completely fell, except for the concession, Shanghai was occupied by Japan.
It was not until four years later, on December 7, 1941, that the Pacific War broke out, Japan declared war on Britain and the United States and other countries, and the concession also fell under Japanese control. The whole of Shanghai fell under Japanese colonial rule.
The fascist actions of Shanghai during the Japanese occupation sparked widespread revolt around the world. In January 1942, China, the United States, Britain and other countries jointly established the Anti-Fascist Alliance, and China became an important member of the alliance.
In order to win China to go all out to fight against the Japanese fascists, in October 1942, Britain and the United States signed an agreement with China** to return all concessions in China to China.
In 1945, the Anti-Japanese War was won. The People's Republic of China took over the entire city of Shanghai and gave it the status of a municipality (municipality directly under the central government) directly under its management, on an equal footing with Jiangsu Province.
In order to adapt to the expanding development trend of Shanghai, in 1947, Shanghai was transferred from Jiangsu Province to Dachang District. As a result of this adjustment, the area of Shanghai has increased from 495 square kilometers to 618 square kilometers, with a population of more than 3.3 million.
Although the 1948 map of Shanghai reflects the city's development and expansion needs to a certain extent, it is not enough to cover the Dachang area. In addition, the chaotic management of the border between Shanghai and Jiangsu Province still exists, which poses a huge challenge to Shanghai's future development and management.
In May 1949, Shanghai was liberated in the victory of the Liberation War, and the people continued to maintain their status as municipalities directly under the central government. At the same time, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Songjiang Prefecture (excluding Shanghai) and Jiading and Baoshan in the south of Taicang Prefecture were set up on a total of nine counties, which were under the management of Jiangsu Province.
The status of this prefecture is similar to that of the "government" in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the original two-level system of "province-county" was changed to "province-prefecture-county" system.
In the early years of the People's Republic of China, Shanghai's population grew rapidly, from 5 million after the Liberation War to 6.9 million in 1957. This has led to a shortage of non-staple foods** and difficult living conditions for the population.
In order to solve these problems, in 1958, the three counties of Shanghai, Baoshan and Jiading in the Songjiang Prefecture were transferred to Shanghai, and the Songjiang Prefecture was abolished. Subsequently, six counties, including Songjiang, were assigned to the Suzhou Prefecture, but later these counties and Chongming Island in the former Taicang County were reassigned to Shanghai.
In the process, Shanghai's population and administrative area have undergone significant changes.
In 1958, the Shanghai map included 10 counties, expanding its area nearly tenfold to 5,910 square kilometers. In recent years, land reclamation projects have brought Shanghai to 6,340 square kilometers and is still expanding.
After the reform and opening up, the continuous advancement of urbanization process has made these counties included in Shanghai successively become "districts". For example, in 1992, Shanghai County and Minhang District were merged to form the new Minhang District.
In 1998, Songjiang County was abolished and Songjiang District was established. By 2016, Chongming County was changed to Chongming District, and the whole area of Shanghai was transformed into a district, forming today's situation.
Su Hu Ben family, Songjiang Mansion has a long history. Huating County was founded in the Tang Dynasty and was the earliest organized unit in Shanghai, and has now become Songjiang District. From this point of view, Huating County can be called Shanghai's"Mother County"。
However, since the beginning of modern times, Shanghai County has been set up as a commercial port, and the Great Powers Concession has been established, forcibly separating part of Shanghai County from Jiangsu Province to make it"Independence"。
This history is the history of the suffering of the Chinese nation, but it is also an important process of Shanghai's rise.
Shanghai's Bund, a special location that once set an example in the concession, led to Shanghai's rapid rise to become one of the most influential metropolises in the country and in East Asia.
In 1927, Shanghai took the initiative to separate from Jiangsu Province and shouldered the important task of promoting the development of the whole country. However, Shanghai's achievements did not depend entirely on the assistance of the Great Powers.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shanghai is no longer an era of concessions, but it is still an important center of China and even the world economy. In 1958, Shanghai absorbed 10 counties from Jiangsu, and finally determined that the border between Shanghai and Jiangsu Province was near the cities of Taicang and Kunshan.
Although Kunshan and Taicang are not part of Shanghai, their economic performance is very eye-catching. Among them, Kunshan is proud of the first place in the top 100 counties in the country, and Taicang is also close behind, ranking seventh among the top 100 counties in the country.
Kunshan and Taicang ranked among the top 10 counties in the country in 2021, although Shanghai has become independent from Jiangsu, but under the mutual influence of Shanghai and Jiangsu, the north bank of the Yangtze River Delta composed of "Shanghai-Suzhou-Xichang" is the most economically active and developed region with the highest per capita GDP.
The development process of Shanghai fully demonstrates the city spirit of "embracing all rivers, pursuing excellence, being open-minded and wise, and being modest", and also embodies the indomitable spirit of struggle and the entrepreneurial spirit of hard-working and hard-working of the Chinese nation.
Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street is crowded and lively.