从跑马厅到人民公园人民广场:历史变迁与象征意义

From Racecourse to People's Park and People's Square: The historical changes and the symbolic meaning

Shanghai Racecourse was established at 1850, it was finally transformed into People's Park and People's Square in 1951. The Racecourse was originally just a simple recreational center. However, with the change of its own function and the trend of thought, it changed into a casino of cheating and murder, a place of discrimination against Chinese, a stage for the imperialists to show off their power and violence and a symbol of all evil things. The appeal to change the Racecourse echoed to the demand of opposing imperialism, taking back the concession, desire for civilization and democracy. From 1930s to 1950s, even though great change took place in the ruling party and the political power, there was an obvious continuity in the domain of thought and ideology. __________ Translated by Li Dan from the version submitted to the symposium of “Cultural succession and historical memory” held at Sichuan University, Oct. 17–18, 2007