Flowers of Shanghai: Research of Shanghai's Urban Culture from 1920s to 1930s

"Under a sunset mottled sky, the towering framework of Garden Bridge was mantled in a gathering mist. Whenever a tram passed over the bridge, the overhead cable suspended below the top of the steel frame threw off bright, greenish sparks. "(Mao Dun, 1957, p.9) This is a  paragraph of description from Mao Dun in his book "Midnight." It is a great chance to take a glance at the city Shanghai during the 1930s. Just like flowers blooming on the sea, Shanghai is famous for its unique urban culture in the historical and modernism parts. Especially for the time period during 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai became the most shining pearl of the eastern Asia. I guess this is the reason that when talking about Chinese cities, most of foreigner people may think of Shanghai. So in this paper, I will explore the spot lights and problems of Shanghai urban culture by analyzing the literature and urban daily life during the period from 1920s to 1930s. 

 Panorama of Shanghai Bund in 1930

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First of all, we need to understand why Shanghai urban culture is different from other cities in China. As the meaning of the name of Shanghai, it is the estuary of  the sea and it is also the window towards the outside countries. From the late Qing Dynasty, Shanghai was one of the  trading ports. The advanced technology were bought into the city. "As a result of Western presence, many of the modern facilities of Shanghai's urban life were introduced to the concessions starting in the mid-nineteenth century: These included banks (first introduced in 1848), Western-style streets (1856), gaslight (1865), electricity (1882), telephones (1881), running water (1884), automobiles (1901), and streetcars (1908)."(Fredet, 1993, p.240)  At the same time, the traditional Chinese culture was also an important part of the city. This special mixture made it possible to see the elegant ladies wearing in cheongsam walking on the Nankin Road while foreigners wearing suits driving in "shili yangchang" ("ten-mile-long foreign zone").

Shanghai is also the best place for entertaining during that period in China, or maybe the only one in the mainland. "By the 1930s, dance halls had become another famous or infamous hallmark of Shanghai's urban milieu" (Tu, p.56) The dance halls grew up rapidly and more and more citizens began to choose the dance hall after work. Another entertaining place is the cafe. In different from the popularization of tea house in Beijing, Shanghai looks more modern by its cafes.  A large amount of literature works indicated this cultural icon. For example, Tianhan's short play, "One night in a cafe," told a story happened in a small cafe. Also, the film industry made up the other part of the entertainment. "The city with the largest concentration of cinemas was Shanghai.(i.e., 25 percent of the national total) in 1927" (Zhang, p.48) And the profits from different cinemas, for example, "Peking Theater" "Central Movie Company," were more than 50,000 yuan in 1927.(Zhang, p.48)  The statistics showed that Shanghai people did really enjoy the big screen in the city.

"SHANGHAI IN THE 1930S" PARIS OF THE ORIENT

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During these golden ten years, the developing speed of this city is unbelievable. As Lee indicated in the paper, "By 1930, Shanghai had become a bustling cosmopolitan metropolis, the fifth largest city in the world, and China's largest harbor and treaty-porta city that was already an international legend ("the Paris of Asia") and a world of splendored modernity set apart from the still tradition-bound countryside that was China. "(Lee, 1999. P.75)  The unique historic issues and the location made up the Shanghai developing speed. 

However, when the whole city was developing rapidly, there were also a bunch of problems. First of all, it is hard to keep the urban traditional culture . As Bao claimed, "globalization is no longer a pure problem of economics, politics, or sociology,but a problem of cultural identity. This problem of cultural identity is closely related to the dramatic transformation of the time–space concept that globalization has produced."(Bao, 2008, p.558) Even though Bao concerned about the contemporary globalization issues, it still works in the past century. So it is hard to define the Shanghai urban cultural identity because that Shanghai has went through a lot of  culture forms.  It cannot be able to described in only one or two words. In the second places, within the development of the industry, the gap between upper and lower class was widen. Numerous of  workers were suffering in the low salary, high price of commodities and the sacrifice or discrimination from the upper class.  

In conclusion, during the years between 1920 to 1930, Shanghai became one of the most famous cities in the world by its unique culture, high developing speed and the advanced entertainment methods. The flowers came out outstandingly in Eastern Asia. However, within the conflicts between social classes, the scarification from the foreign countries, Shanghai did not kept its occupation in the world afterwards during the War-time. It is a pity for myself. But I believe that flowers of Shanghai will come out again more beautifully than the golden ten-year one day.

References

Bao, Y. (2008). Shanghai Weekly: globalization, consumerism, and Shanghai popular culture. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 9(4), 557-567. doi:10.1080/14649370802386461

Fredet.(1993), Histoire de la concession française, Jindai Shanghai fanhua lu [The splendor of moderTu Shimin, Shanghai shi daguan [Panorama of Shanghai], 56–57.n Shanghai] (Hong Kong: Shangwu Yinshu Guan), 240. 

Lee Ou-fan, L. (1999). Shanghai Modern: Reflections on Urban Culture in China in the 1930s. Public Culture, 11(1), 75.

Mao Dun, (1957). Midnight. People's Literature Publishing House.

Tu Shimin, Shanghai shi daguan [Panorama of Shanghai], 56–57.

Tian.H, (1920). Kafeidian zhi yiye ("A Night in a Café"). People's Literature Publishing House.

Zhang (2004). Chinese National Cinema, Routledge, ISBN.0203645839, 9780203645833, 344 pages