What level did Shanghai belong to in the Republic of China, looking at the world?

There is a sentence in the movie 800 that impressed me deeply: "If there is heaven, then this is hell." 1938 when the Japanese invaded Shanghai, except for the concession, the whole Shanghai was in ruins, just like purgatory on earth.

Legend: 800 stills

But even in the ruins, we can still see a corner of the bustling Shanghai in the 1930s in the movies. The concession by Suzhou River is still neon-lit, singing and dancing, and it is a bustling metropolis. And all this, it is hard to make people feel that this is China in the 1930s.

During the Republic of China, Shanghai was known as "Paris of the East" before it was occupied by the Japanese army. So what was the level of Shanghai at that time? How does it compare with other cities in the world?

Shanghai in 1930s and 1940s was the most prosperous city in the Republic of China?

We can see how much Shanghai surpassed other cities in China through a set of data.

From the perspective of urban population and hardware scale:

193 1 year, the population of Shanghai is 3 1 10000, ranking first in the country and fifth in the world. 1949 when Wuhan was liberated, the population of the three towns in Wuhan was only1020,000, while Shanghai was 5 million at that time.

1937, Shanghai's power generation 1 1 100 million kwh, accounting for 45.5% of the country's total power generation.

As exaggerated as the size of the city is Shanghai's economic strength:

1933, Shanghai's industrial output value was 730 million, accounting for 66% of the national 12 industrial city's output value. Tianjin, which ranks second, has only 74 million.

In 1930s, Shanghai was the largest gold trading center in Asia and the third largest securities trading market in the world.

At the same time, China's first sound film "The Singing Girl Red Peony" was also shot by Shanghai Star Company. During this period, the films released in Shanghai almost monopolized the whole China film market.

Legend: Singing Girl Red Peony Stills

During this period, Shanghai was at the forefront of the intersection of Chinese and Western civilizations. People wear fashionable clothes, men wear suits and ties, and it is common for women to wear cheongsam, long skirts and stockings. Planes, cars and trams facilitate the travel of Shanghai residents. You can buy LU ZHOU LAO JIAO CO.,LTD Co., Ltd., "Watsons" brand electric fans and "Camel" brand cigarettes in Shanghai, and you can buy any goods from China and even the whole world.

With a large number of westerners doing business and settling in Shanghai, English, Greek, Gothic, Russian ... Western-style buildings with different styles have sprung up in Shanghai, forming a unique style in China. Before liberation, the urban construction area of Shanghai had reached 86 square kilometers.

Legend: Old photos of Shanghai in the Republic of China

It can be said that Shanghai was the only city with modern pollution in China at that time. (non-derogatory)

But behind the bustling Shanghai is exploitation and oppression.

The prosperity of Shanghai comes not from Shanghai itself, but from the concession. Xu Wenqiang's biggest dream in Shanghai Beach is to buy a house of his own on Joffrey Street. Joffre Street is just the place where ordinary citizens live in the French Concession.

China people living in Shanghai are mostly at the bottom of society, and Zhang Leping's San Mao Wandering can also tell the leopard from a glimpse. According to Mr. Zhang Zhongmin's data in The Wages and Life of Working Class in Modern Shanghai, in 193 1 year, the monthly nominal wages of male workers in China and Shanghai are only 17.9 yuan, female workers 13.2 yuan and child workers 10.2 yuan.

Legend: Child Labour in Shanghai during the Republic of China

Yes, child labor was legal in Shanghai in the 1930s. Almost all workers worked 30 days a month, with an average daily working time of 14 hours. In addition, such wages are only data on paper, but the reality is that most workers are also exploited by foremen, stewards and local green gangs.

During this period, the average annual expenditure of Shanghai workers' families reached 453.48 yuan. You can imagine how poor the actual living standards of most people are. Correspondingly, the cost of a banquet by the Consul General of the French Consulate is about 20,000 yuan.

And relatively speaking, workers in Shanghai are "citizens". A large number of refugees, gang children and uneducated people are untenable in Shanghai. Every day in Shanghai, a large number of civilians starve to death or freeze to death on the streets.

Legend:1940101On October 27th, 74 people froze to death in the streets of Shanghai.

Shanghai and the world?

Shanghai stands out among China cities, but can it compare with international metropolises?

The answer is no.

As mentioned earlier, 1937, the power generation in Shanghai is 1 1 100 million kwh, and that in London is 126 million kwh. The difference is about 1 1 times.

Economically, 1937 Shanghai's per capita GDP is about 108 USD. At this time, the per capita GDP of France is 1 126 USD, and that of Britain is 1 180 USD, with a difference of about 10 times. Compared with new york, Paris and London, the difference is more than 20 times.

Legend: new york 1929

Legend: Shanghai 1936

General comments:

During the Republic of China, the prosperity of Shanghai, the oriental Paris, had little to do with China. Its prosperity was created by the concessions established by western powers. Countries in the Concession trampled on the laws of China and set tariffs at will, and the China government could not intervene at all.

This is called concession. In fact, it can be said that Shanghai in this era is just a relatively "modern" colony established by the great powers to better carve up China.

References:

Zhang Zhongmin. The wages and life of the working class in modern Shanghai —— An analysis centered on the investigation in 1930s [J]. Research on Chinese Economic History, 2011(02): 3-16.

Qian huafo. Thirty years in Shanghai [M]. Shanghai Bookstore, 1984.

Local chronicles of Shanghai