Fragments of Shanghai in the Late Qing

Name: Fragments of Shanghai in the Late Qing
ISBN: 9787301308394

Xia XiaohongPeking University Press · ChinaAug 2025

4.0

Word count: 88K words
Chapters: 13
ISBN: 9787301308394

Report an error Find this book

Summary

After it opened as a treaty port in 1842, the Shanghai foreign concessions known as the "ten-mile foreign field" became a mark of China's humiliation under colonial rule, while their rapid rise in prosperity drew the attention of the world, and they can rightly be seen as a bridgehead of China's early modernization. Western culture, both material and spiritual, poured into China through Shanghai and was recognized and accepted by society at large.

Editor's review

This book focuses on late Qing Shanghai, examining the special space of the treaty port's foreign concessions within the process of China's early modernization. The author, Xia Xiaohong, has long worked in modern literature and cultural studies. Through detailed and nuanced archival research, the book presents the complex paths by which Western material and spiritual culture entered China through Shanghai. Its value lies not in simply listing historical facts but in revealing how the "ten-mile foreign field" coexisted as both a mark of humiliation and a bridgehead of modernization. The writing combines scholarly rigor with readability, suited to readers interested in modern urban history and Sino-foreign cultural exchange who wish to savor it in quiet reading. The book's attention to newspapers, images, and details of daily life brings macrohistory down to a tangible everyday level, offering both knowledge and ongoing reflection on the costs and gifts of modernization.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in late Qing and Republican-era Shanghai urban history and concession culture
Students and scholars studying modern Sino-foreign cultural exchange and early modernization
Readers who enjoy approaching history through newspapers, images, and details of daily life
Culture enthusiasts seeking to understand the historical origins of Shanghai's urban character

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic general history or chronological textbook of late Qing history
Casual readers who prefer strong plot-driven narratives and fiction
Researchers requiring extensive statistical data and quantitative analysis

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and introduction to grasp the author's central questions, then read chapters of interest selectively.
Mark cited sources such as newspapers and images as you read for easy follow-up verification.
Read alongside a map of Shanghai or a collection of old photographs to enhance the sense of space.
After finishing, sort out the two threads of "mark of humiliation" and "bridgehead of modernization" to form your own judgment.

About the publisher

Peking University Press China · Founded in 1979

Peking University Press is a comprehensive university press whose publishing areas cover classical literature, popular science, social culture, world history, Western philosophy, and culture. Its catalogue contains 6,031 titles, with representative books including A Dream of Red Mansions, Relativity: The Special and General Theory (15th Edition) (with Einstein's classic papers on unified field theory and other topics), Elements, Conics, The Aristocratic Families of the Eastern Jin, The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume I), The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume II), and The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Representative authors include Cao Xueqin, Zhou Ruchang, Albert Einstein, Euclid, Apollonius, Tian Yuqing, Schelling, and Xian Gang. The press has developed distinctive strengths in classical Chinese literature and in the translation of Western philosophical classics, while also covering scientific classics and social and cultural studies. As public information is limited, this description is based only on the books in the catalogue and offers no further extrapolation.

版权信息
序
上海旅游指南溯源
晚清上海赛马轶话
车利尼马戏班沪上寻踪
飞龙岛自行车琐谈
洋场水龙会变迁述略
上海道台跳舞会记
诞生张园的文明结婚新礼式
晚清上海报刊中的秋瑾祖父遗闻
黄遵宪与早期《申报》追踪
彭寄云女史小考
吴趼人与梁启超关系钩沉

FAQ

Is this a general history of the Shanghai foreign concessions?

No, it is not a general narrative history. The book takes a fragmentary, thematic approach, focusing on specific phenomena of Western culture entering China through Shanghai after the port opened, emphasizing archival detail and cultural interpretation rather than a complete chronological coverage of concession history.

Can I understand it without a background in modern history?

Yes. The author's writing is plain and the thematic structure lowers the barrier to entry. It is advisable to read the introduction first for background, and to look up unfamiliar names or newspapers as you go; this will not affect overall comprehension.

How should the word "fragmentary glimpses" in the title be understood?

"Fragmentary glimpses" refers to the book's presentation of late Qing Shanghai through specific fragments, case studies, and archival images rather than striving for panoramic coverage. This approach lets readers enter history through details and see the projection of macro-processes onto everyday life.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Xia Xiaohong Author · Chinese · 1953

Xia Xiaohong was born in Beijing in 1953. She is a former professor and doctoral supervisor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, retired in 2016, and now a distinguished professor at Henan University. Her research focuses on modern Chinese literary trends, women's lives, and social culture. Her scholarship emphasizes archival retrieval and the organization of historical sources, while also embracing biographical tracing and textual interpretation. Her works center on the transitional period from the late Qing to the early Republic, examining the thought and writing of figures such as Liang Qichao, and exploring the construction of ideas about women, women's education, and national common knowledge. She also situates figures such as Qiu Jin within the historical context of twentieth-century China. Her representative works include Reading Liang Qichao, Late Qing Literati Views on Women, Late Qing Women and Modern China, and Qiu Jin and Twentieth-Century China, as well as documentary compilations such as the supplemented collection of works outside the Yinbingshi Collection and source materials on late Qing and early Republican fiction theory, which provide a solid foundation for research in these fields.