可疑的繁盛——日军阴影下的都市女性文化探析

Wartime Shanghai (1937–1945) was a crucial period in women’s Yue opera history, during which the opera took roots in the city and was transformed into a modern art form. The opera established itself as a dominant presence in the city’s popular entertainment in the first half of the 1940s and gained national and international influence in the 1950s and 1960s with its masterpiece plays such as The butterfly lovers and Dream of the red chamber. The rise of women’s Yue opera in wartime Shanghai was more a ramification of long-term developments in urban migration, urban cultural transformation, and women’s integration into society that ran through the entire Republican even the early PRC periods. Translated and revised from Huadong Shifan Daxue Xuebao 华东师范大学学报 (Journal of East China Normal University), 2008, (2): 56–67     

从零售革命到消费革命:以近代上海百货公司为中心

Following the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America, the market was flooded with manufacturing goods. To promote sales, the department store that stressed a “low profit, high volume” model appeared in Shanghai. Sellers lowered prices to encourage purchases, and used rapid and high volume turnover to make up for lower profits. To speed up turnover, department stores invented various devices to increase sales, including intensive media advertising, open and comfortable store spaces, and free and attentive services. The new sales philosophy and tactics not only brought about a breakthrough in the retailing, but also reshaped consumer life and urban culture. The Shanghai department store evinced the social and cultural meaning of consumption in its building and inner design, its application of new technology, and its promotional activities and products display. A consumer lifestyle centering on the department store also remolded the Shanghai society. __________ Translated by Yang Kai-chien from Lishi Yanjiu 历史研究 (Historical Research), 2008, (5): 76–93     

追寻现代性:民国上海言情文化的历史解读

The rise of the melodrama as a literary and theatrical genre appears to have had a co-relation with the rise of industrial cities in modern times around the globe from Europe, North America, to East Asia. In China, this phenomenon manifested itself in the yanqing (lit. speaking of feelings) genre that dominated the popular culture scene in Shanghai in the most part of the twentieth century. While the yanqing genre was an expression of particular Chinese modern experiences, it also provided a channel for these local experiences to partake in and enrich a global experience of modernity. This study shows how yanqing arts helped ordinary Shanghai residents deal with changing patterns of gender, love, and family relations in the fast-growing and modernizing city. Through such re-examination of the yanqing culture this study tries to shed new light on some important questions in modern Chinese history and help correct traditional elite views of this history. Translated from Shilin 史林 (Historical Review), 2006, (4): 70–79 Parts of this article have been presented at the international conference, “As China Meets the World: China’s Changing Position in the International Community, 1840–2000,” held at Vienna, May 15–19, 2004; and “The First Modern Chinese Social History Conference,” held in Qingdao, Shandong, August 2005. It is modified by the author when translated into English.     

革命与生意——以辛亥革命时期的上海为例

From 1911 to 1913, in big streets and small lanes, in famous parks and thriving stores, and in tea houses and grand restaurants located in such cities as Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing and Wuchang, numerous business opportunities were born out of the Revolution of 1911. By using the political giants and military leaders around Shanghai, business firms skillfully dealt with the difficulties of the continually changing political situation and managed to keep their businesses afloat, succeeding in their response to the consumption demands of the public. It can be argued that the Revolution of 1911 played a distinct role in the development of businesses in Shanghai during that time. __________ Translated by Zhong Chen from Shilin 史林 (Historical Review), 2008, (3): 137–150     

Early capital cities

The early capital cities are the key symbols of early Chinese civilization. By comparing the Erlitou site, Shang city in Zhengzhou, Shang city in Yanshi with Niuheliang site, Mojiaoshan site, Shijiahe site, Taosi site, and Wangchenggang site, the characteristics of the early capital cities could be drawn: First, it should have palace or palace city in big sizes; Second, the palace or palace city should be surrounded by living quarters for noble families, working areas for melting bronze, and quarters for sacrifice. __________ Translated by Chen Bo from Wenwu 文物 (Cultural Relics), 2006, (6): 56–60, 87     

1820年代华亭-娄县地区各行业工资研究

The issue of wages has been ignored in previous studies of economic history in late imperial China. Focusing on Huating County and Lou County (today’s Songjiang County of Shanghai), this article explores the wages in agricultural, industrial, commercial, and service occupations of this area in the 1820s. The findings, though primary, are helpful to our understanding of incomes in early-nineteenth-century China. Translated by Yang Kai-chien from Qingshi Yanjiu 清史研究 (Studies in Qing History), 2008, (1): 5–20     

中国传统工商业城市在近代的衰落

Resulted from different causes, the majority of traditional cities in modern China underwent a decline in various degrees. The causes of the decline of Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Yangzhou which have started to develop their new industry and commerce since mid-Qing Dynasty lies in such aspects as: the lose of transportation superiority in modern China; the fatal destruction caused by Taiping Revolution; the affects of the rising of Shanghai; the recession of traditional economy and slowed development of new economy; and the conservatism in thinking and ideas etc. Translated by Huang Bangfu from Xinan Minzu Daxue Xuebao 西南民族大学学报 (Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities), 2007, (4): 1–11     

The popularization of bicycles and modern Shanghai

Taking the popularization of bicycles in modern Shanghai as an example, this article discussed the interrelationship between the development of instruments and the users by analyzing the expansion of city space, formation of the city time rhythm, changes in consumption mode of different social classes, and the competition of various transportation tools, etc. The influences on the transformation of social life in Shanghai and other cities of China were also revealed.     

Neoliberalism and the Aestheticization of New Middle‐Class Landscapes

Abstract: If according to Terry Eagleton (The Ideology of the Aesthetic 1990:28), the aesthetic is from the start “a contradictory, double‐edged concept”, how are seemingly innocent acts of viewing and consuming aesthetically pleasing landscapes implicated in the neoliberal politics of urban restructuring? Using contemporary Shanghai as a case study, this paper critically examines the role of the aesthetic in the politics of exclusion and urban segregation in post‐Socialist Shanghai where the restructuring and commodification of erstwhile public welfare housing have led to the rapid development of private “middle‐class” gated enclaves. A central objective of this paper is to excavate the underlying cultural politics of neoliberalism and demonstrate how the aestheticization of urban spaces in Shanghai has become increasingly intertwined with and accentuated by neoliberal ideologies and exclusionary practices in the city. Imbricated in the pristine neighborhoods of Shanghai's gated communities are the fault lines of social division and class distinction that are rapidly transforming urban China.     

近代城市贫民阶层及其救济探析——以天津为例

With the development of industry and commerce after Tianjin’s opening as a treaty port, the urban poor were in an unfavorable situation in controlling the social resources. Facing a large number of urban poor, the state represented by government officials of various levels and the civil society represented by local gentry-merchants have clearly recognized the widened gap and increased opposition in all social strata and communities while the disintegration was close to cross the bottom line. It will affect the social harmony and cause unrests. Therefore, under their advocacy and support, all kinds of relief and charity institutes come into being and play a positive role in balancing the social wealth, helping the lower class, improving the social justice and maintaining the stability of social order. Translated by Luo Hui from Shilin 史林 (Historical Review), 2006, (2): 77–84