Distorted Prosperity (Shanghai during the Concession Period)

Author: Lu Qiguo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-05-01
Features: This book is part of the "Cultural and Historical Series." To describe it as a long historical reportage would be an understatement—it is more like a historical scroll, showcasing a century of the Shanghai Concession period, a time of both (abnormality) and prosperity. The author uses a literary touch, with history as the coordinate and culture as the perspective, uniquely telling a story about yesterday's Shanghai. It includes panoramic descriptions, detailed depictions of specific moments, and unique reflections on historical events and figures. This book will allow you to experience Shanghai's "century of ups and downs" while also recognizing the historical traces of today's Shanghai from its past. A gap of over a hundred years may bridge many barriers formed by time, but the life's tremors, anxieties, sluggishness, and exuberance, as well as the imprints of suppression and exuberance, remain indelible.
The historical tunnel depicted by the author's pen is anchored at one end in over two hundred forty years ago, specifically in the twenty-first year of the Qianlong era (1756), where he tells us that the British Friedrich von Gützkow had already "fallen in love" with this city at that time. The other end is anchored on July 30, 1943, the very day Shanghai ended its concession system. However, after lamenting the fact that the Shanghai Concession, which had existed for nearly a century, had now ceased to exist in name, the author adds a grand theme of this long historical (historical reportage): in reality, the era of true "land return" has not yet arrived. To achieve genuine land return, the people of Shanghai and the entire nation will still have to make many sacrifices. Yet, when the author writes this, he abruptly concludes. This leaves readers with a sense of something unfinished.
But the vast temporal and spatial gap of a hundred years allows us, in the city's narrative, not only to see how the bustling Shanghai county gradually weakened in the footsteps of Western colonialists but also to glimpse the process of the city's (abnormal) prosperity. This undoubtedly helps us understand, familiarize ourselves with, and contemplate Shanghai. The author says quite aptly in one passage: "A gap of a hundred years may bridge the barriers formed by time, but the imprints of life's tremors, anxieties, sluggishness, and exuberance, as well as suppression and exuberance, are inseparable."
When looking back at this period of Shanghai's history, the author uses numerous photos with a sense of vicissitudes and rare glimpses, but he is not content with merely revealing the remnants that have faded into oblivion. Instead, he weaves together a panoramic view of modern Shanghai, which had been subjected to the exploitation of Western colonialists and had thus given rise to a myriad of social phenomena, using historical events as coordinates. This elevates his reflection: "At that time, Shanghai was like an unstable embankment. When the British first breached it with the establishment of the concession, in reality, that already unstable embankment was already close to collapse."
Literary reportage should not merely be a simple record of events or a descriptive text. Of course, it should not be like a flat mirror in life that merely reproduces a certain historical landscape. I believe it is precisely for this reason that "The Abnormal Prosperity—Shanghai During the Concession Period" should be considered a literary text that integrates reflection into its narrative, highlighting history through thought. With his erudition, the author has grafted history and literature together, and the rigor he demonstrates in writing this book reflects his scholarly spirit. Meanwhile, the dialectical language he employs in narration draws readers into a context that is both expansive and contained, with a balanced rhythm.