1927 Shen Shiqiu Map of Shanghai, China

This is a scarce c. 1927 map of Shanghai by the artist and book publisher Shen Shiqiu (沈士秋). It is one of the few Pre-war maps of Shanghai printed by a Chinese rather than Japanese publisher. The map details the central concession area shortly before the 1932 Japanese invasion. The various concession areas are highlighted, with orange indicating the International Settlement and purple the French Concession. An inset in the lower right details the main British Concession area and the Bund. Smaller insets detail the course of the Huang Pu River to is juncture with the Yangtze.

Shanghai 1910 - 1932

The 1910s-20s were a golden age for Shanghai, at least in the Concessions. While China was ruled by Chiang Kai-shek, Shanghai was dominated by several consolidated foreign trade Concessions. Under the strict administrative control of the Concessions, the city became a cosmopolitan haven in the midst of political unrest and a center for global trade and finance. The Concessions occupied what is today central Shanghai's most desirable land, hugging the Huangpu River and Wusong River (Suzhou Creek). These extraterritorial European, Japanese, and American enclaves had modern housing, fine roads, streetcars, elegant shops, clubs, and more. It was a place of excess, art, and extravagance, where fortunes could be made by the enterprising - and lost by the foolish. Moreover, lacking the moral constrains that limited social life in Europe and America, Shanghai became nexus for the opium trade, sexual excess, gambling, and other vices. This ephemeral world came crashing down on January 28, 1932, when the 'Shanghai Incident' or 'January 28 Incident' pitted the Republic of China against the Empire of Japan. Responding to Chinese student protests against the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Japanese Navy bombarded Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek sent the Chinese army in to defend the Shanghai students, threatening to escalate the conflict. The League of Nations, fearing all-out war, united to demand a ceasefire, which was signed. Nonetheless, most consider The January 28 incident to be the opening salvo of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1938 - 1945) which ultimately merged into World War II.

Shanghai International Settlement

The Shanghai International Settlement was created in 1863 when the British and American Shanghai enclaves merged. These concessions had been granted to England and the United States as part of the Unequal Treaties that followed the Opium Wars. From about 1854 the settlements were governed by the Shanghai Municipal Council, a British dominated board of government officials and powerful merchants. The board issued restrictions limiting Chinese habitation on International Settlement territory and oversaw the construction of public services, including trams, a sewage system, highways, and port buildings. The International Settlement expanded several times in the late 19th and early 20th century. In addition, they constructed and administered Extra-Settlement Roads into the surrounding country, which further allowed for informal expansion. It became an enclave of peace and prosperity when the Japanese invaded Shanghai in 1937 but this abruptly came to an end with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and subsequent invasion of the International Settlement in 1941. After the war the International Settlement lands were returned to Chinese sovereignty.

Shanghai French Concession - 上海法租界

On April 6, 1849, Lin Kouei (麟桂), the Chinese governor of Shanghai, granted French Consul Charles de Montigny (1805 - 1868) a proclamation ceding extraterritoriality to France in order to establish a trading colony. The Concession initially occupied a narrow collar of land around the northern end of the Chinese City, south of the British settlement, an area of 66 hectares. It was subsequently expended several times. A further small strip of riverside land to the east of the Chinese City was added in 1861, to allow for the Quai de France, docks servicing shipping between China and France. Between 1899 and 1900 the French Concession further expanded, nearly doubling in size with new territory extending west of the original grant. It expanded again in 1914, reaching as far west as modern Huashan Lu (Avenue Haig). By the 1920s, the western part of the French Concession had become the most desirable residential area of Shanghai, popular both with foreign nationals and wealthy Chinese. The concession was mistakenly bombed during the chaotic 1937 Battle of Shanghai, fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). In 1943, the French Concession was handed over to the Japanese puppet Wang Jingwei Regime by Vichy France. The turnover was officially ratified after the war by the Sino-French Accord of February 1946, signed by the French Ambassador and Chiang Kai-shek. Today the French Concession, with its tree lined boulevards and French colonial architecture, remains Shanghai's most desirable neighborhood.

Of Special Note

The cartographer has highlighted three areas of special interest, annotating them with text blocks: the Xujiahui Observatory, the Jiangnan Arsenal, and the Weather Signal Station.

Xujiahui Observatory

The first, appearing in the lower left, is the Xujiahui Observatory. Established by the Jesuits under the Qing administration in 1872, the Xujiahui Observatory was considered at the time the finest observatory in Asia. During the Concession Period the observatory served as both weather station and an electrical substation. It now houses the Shanghai Meteorological Museum.

Jiangnan Arsenal

The second is the Shanghai Arsenal, also known as the Kiangnan or Jiangnan Arsenal. The Arsenal appears on this map with accompanying text block at bottom center. The Arsenal, which opened in 1865, was a major Qing center for China's Self-Strengthening Movement (1861 - 1895). In the late 19th century, it was the largest manufacturer of weaponry in Asia. The Qing hired foreign craftsmen to teach Chinese laborers gunsmithing, shipbuilding, and cannonry. In 1868, the first Chinese steamship was produced here. On a more peaceful note, the Qing contracted Englishman John Fryer to translate more than 160 foreign works of literature into Chinese. By the time this map was issued, weapon work at the arsenal had declined, but the shipbuilding department became independent in 1905 and the facility was renamed, as here, 'Shanghai Arsenal.' It remained active until the 1930s.

The Weather Signal Station

The Weather Signal Station appears here in the Pudong district, with is accompanying text, which roughly translates,

There are two signal stations. One is at Huangpu Beach, which reports the weather and time on a daily basis. It is called a weather signal station. The other is at Lujiazui. Signal station.

Huangpu Beach here refers to the Bund Meteorological station, established in 1884. When this map was issued, it was an affiliate of the French Concession.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by the Chinese artist and bookseller Shen Shiqiu (沈士秋) and published in Shanghai by the New Asia Geoscience Society (新亞輿地學社). Although undated, the cartography closely resembles the Latest Pocket Map of Shanghai published by the Zhonghua Book Company in 1927, so we have used this date. The map is rare, and we note only one other known example, located at the Academia Sinica, Taiwan.