Shanghai: The Modern Experience of Japanese Intellectuals

Author: (Japan) Liu Jianhui
Translator: Gan Huijie
Author Country: Japan
Editor-in-Chief: Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-12-01
Features: Shanghai is becoming an increasingly charming city. Its history is unique and rich in, and the study of Shanghai's history has also attracted the attention of overseas scholars. In China's Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as in the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, and other countries, the study of Shanghai's history is considered a "hot" field and a "prestigious discipline." Many overseas universities offer related courses, have held numerous academic conferences on Shanghai's history, and published various works on the subject. Renowned scholars in Western sinology hubs such as Harvard (U.S.), Berkeley (U.S.), and the Sorbonne (France) are all researching Shanghai's history. According to incomplete statistics, since the 1980s, there have been over 300 doctoral dissertations on Shanghai's history published overseas, and more than 50 formally published works. The study of Shanghai's history has become an extremely important field within the research of modern Chinese history.
Shanghai History Studies Translation Series selects classic works by top overseas scholars on the modern history of Shanghai, combining readability and academic rigor, translated by domestic experts. Overseas scholars offer unique perspectives, exclusive materials, and original insights, presenting a fresh interpretation of Shanghai's history. The content covers a wide range of topics, including the provincial governor, police, prostitutes, industrialists, expatriates, hometown associations, fire brigades, and the people of Shandong, among others. From the perspective of Japanese intellectuals before and after the Meiji Restoration, what was Shanghai like? The author, after conducting extensive research, concludes that pre-Meiji Shanghai was both a "transit hub" for Western information entering Japan during the late Edo period and the closest gateway for Japan to reach the West and modernize. In contrast, post-Meiji Shanghai was merely a "base" for Japan's expansion onto the continent and a nearby "paradise for adventurers" for many Japanese who dreamt of "leaving Japan."
Excerpt:
Prologue: "Two Shanghais, a deceptive city, that man was Shanghai'd"—For many readers, this phrase may seem completely incomprehensible. In fact, it originates from English, meaning that the man was tricked onto a ship and forced to become a low-ranking sailor. If you look up the word "Shanghai" in a dictionary, in addition to its explanation as a port city in China, it is also used as a verb, meaning to trick someone into serving as a sailor by first getting them drunk and then forcibly taking them aboard the ship. This usage also appeared in Japanese. For example, in the works of the active novelist Tani Jokichi during the early Showa period, there is a short story titled The Man Shanghai'd (1925), set against the backdrop of Kobe Port, depicting the beginning and end of a foreign shipbuilding kidnapping case. It is almost a literal illustration of the dictionary's explanation.
The name of a city being used as a verb is unique in the world. Perhaps this fact better than any other demonstrates the "bewitching" nature of Shanghai, once dubbed the "Devil City," more than any other world-class metropolis at the time, such as New York, London, Paris, or Tokyo, with a more vibrant and perhaps even overly intense energy. Today, people describe a certain period of Shanghai in the first half of the 20th century as an "adventurer's paradise," a "land of joy," or the "Paris of the East," giving it various dreamlike nicknames and calling it a city where everyone can realize their dreams and desires—a city that has attracted the world's attention.