History of Jinan's Urban Development for a Century: Since the Opening as a Port

Author: Tang Mingde et al
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: After the Opium War, Western powers, armed with advanced ships and weapons, forced the weak Qing government into signing a series of unequal treaties, opening up "treaty ports" and compelling the closed doors of China, which had been shut for hundreds of years, to be forced open. China entered a period of humiliation as a colony and semi-colony, while also beginning the historical process of modern opening-up. Against this backdrop of history, a century ago, in 1904, in the ancient city of Jinan, which had weathered thousands of years of storms, a milestone event in the history of Jinan's urban development took place: a group of far-sighted Qing officials, with great courage, petitioned the court to open a commercial port independently. This marked the beginning of Jinan's modern history of opening-up and urbanization. A century of historical turmoil, a moment in an instant. On the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Jinan's opening-up, we take a probing look at this history since then, attempting to outline the trajectory of Jinan's urbanization process over the past century. After the Opium War, Western powers, armed with advanced ships and weapons, forced the weak Qing government into signing a series of unequal treaties, opening up "treaty ports" and compelling the closed doors of China, which had been shut for hundreds of years, to be forced open. China entered a period of humiliation as a colony and semi-colony, while also beginning the historical process of modern opening-up. Against this backdrop of history, a century ago, in 1904, in the ancient city of Jinan, which had weathered thousands of years of storms, a milestone event in the history of Jinan's urban development took place: a group of far-sighted Qing officials, with great courage, petitioned the court to open a commercial port independently. This marked the beginning of Jinan's modern history of opening-up and urbanization. A century of historical turmoil, a moment in an instant. On the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Jinan's opening-up, we take a probing look at this history since then, attempting to outline the trajectory of Jinan's urbanization process over the past century.