In Shanghai, I can't tell where is the concession and where is the border of China. It's easy to teach you the difference!

Shanghai's position in modern China is unique. If modern China is really experiencing "great changes that have never happened in thousands of years", then Shanghai is undoubtedly the first stop of this great change. As a trading port city, the customs difference between Shanghai and the mainland is enough to form two different "worlds". Luo Zhitian quoted Liu Dapeng, a native of the inland province of Shaanxi, as saying that "China is gradually becoming a foreign world", and this "foreign world" is first reflected in Shanghai's urban development and literary imagination. 1842, Shanghai opens. Since then, its fate has become quite intriguing: it is the intersection of East and West, and it is also the place where two civilizations collide. Soon, it became the most modern city in China, and in constant contact with the West, it reshaped its urban appearance.

When a kindred spirit friend invited Lu, the narrator of the new Shanghai, to "visit Shanghai", Lu replied that "the fashionable world of Shanghai, like my brother's ancient road, may not be suitable". In Lu's view, the traditional literati in China who "don't seek glory or Wen Da" are out of tune with Shanghai's modern temperament. Sure enough, his good friend was "furious" after traveling in Shanghai and had to flee back to his hometown. Lawyer China, who started a business in Hong Kong, applied to be an official in Anhui, but had to stay in Shanghai for a few days, because "in China, only Shanghai, influenced by foreigners, has some civilized atmosphere; I used to live in barbarism as soon as I entered the mainland, and this beautiful world is gone. " According to Sun Baoxuan in Qing Dynasty, the atmospheric difference between the inland cities around Shanghai and Shanghai has reached almost 50 years, while the atmospheric difference between the northern mainland and Shanghai has reached a hundred years.

Leo Oufan Lee used "modernity" to mark the uniqueness of Shanghai in his works. "Shanghai modernity" is quite rich in aspects. In his view, the buildings symbolizing western hegemony emerge one after another here: banks and office buildings, restaurants, churches, clubs, cinemas, cafes, restaurants, luxury apartments and racetracks. "They are not only geographical symbols, but also concrete symbols of western material civilization. The influence of this intimate contact on literature is obvious, and "urban experience" has become one of the literary motifs of writers in this city. Significantly, the modern printing, modern publishing and media industries that provide the most basic material support for these wonderful urban texts are also given by western civilization.

When summing up Shanghainese's acceptance of modern western material forms, Tang Zhenchang drew the following rules: "At first, you were surprised; After that, you will be different; After that, you are envious; After that, you are effective. " Shanghai's urban literature seems to have experienced a similar experience change, from the "shocking" experience of "western scenery" in novels in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China to the modern appearance of Shanghai with appreciation and envy by writers of the New Sensation School in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1940s, mature Shanghai writers consciously used western elements as one of the materials to construct the city's character in their novels. These texts, especially the rich novel texts, isomorphically construct a wonderful "Shanghai Legend".

Concession: humiliation and admiration in the face of "western scenery"

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, if you are a foreign tourist and come to Shanghai for the first time, the programs arranged by local relatives and friends must include the following items: eating western food, visiting the concession, taking a carriage, and watching the Water Dragon Club when the time is ripe.

The description of concession in Shanghai novels in the late Qing Dynasty is complicated. On the one hand, the existence of the concession itself is a disgrace to China; On the other hand, many scholars in the late Qing Dynasty sincerely praised the ability of westerners to manage concessions and maintain urban order. Officialdom joke When a man complains to his friend that he has stayed in Shanghai for more than a month and still can't tell where the concession is and where the border of China is, his friend tells him: "Blind beggars clearly know that" where one foot is high and the other foot is low, there will always be the border of China; The smooth road will always be a foreign concession. " Lu believes that this reflects the different characteristics of China and the West. He repeatedly declared in "Crowd" and "Crowd" that foreigners have a long-term vision and often build roads because they "save money, the roads are smooth and pedestrians are convenient", while China people only have.

Mei Bo, a good friend of Lian Gang from the mainland, couldn't help feeling "relaxed and happy" when she saw the beautiful scenery in Shanghai. But the problem came at once: there are several public chairs by the river. Mabel wants to sit down and have a look at the river. A friend in Shanghai told him that these chairs were set by the concession authorities. People from any country can sit on them, but only China people can't. Moreover, "the places where Shanghai residents wander are like parks and gardens. Even if it is the door of a foreign company, China people can't go in and out from the front door, only from the back door. " Here, the concession, as a representative of the western image, has been fully displayed in Shanghai popular novels: it is progressive and civilized, but it is not suitable for China people. In China, this is another world.