Citation:
Abstract:
There are debates as to when the period of “modern China” began. If one is to rely upon the popular perception that China became modern as a result of the influence of western modernity (usually by force), then the defeat of the Qing Empire in the Opium War in the mid-eighteen century marked the beginning of modern China. Shanghai was one of a few coastal cities in which the defeated China was forced to allow foreigners to enjoy extraterritorial rights in their new treaty ports. Thus, Shanghai had changed drastically from a small town into the most important port in Asia, where the world’s largest trading and banking city were located. A series of wars (e.g., Sino-Japanese War, Civil War) and political campaigns (e.g., Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution) disrupted the city’s growth, but since its treaty port era there has not been any city in that is more economically viable than Shanghai.