Building “New Shanghai”: Political Rhetoric and the Reconstruction of the Shanghai Racecourse, 1949–65

Abstract

This article explores the communist reconstruction project that transformed the famous Shanghai Racecourse into the complex of public space that now includes the Avenue of the People, People’s Square, and the People’s Park. It examines the case of the Shanghai horse racing track as an example of the larger Chinese Communist effort to embed political power into Shanghai’s physical space. By demolishing colonial-era landmarks and refashioning them into public space, the CCP hoped to establish legitimacy and win the hearts and minds of the Shanghainese. By inscribing political promises into concrete structures in the center of Shanghai, the CCP attempted to infuse the daily activities of city dwellers with the new rhetoric of nationalism, patriotism, and internationalism. We argue that the racecourse reconstruction did contribute to the realization of these goals, as the urban corollary to land reform, which ostensibly transferred land and the built environment from the clutches of “old-society” rulers into the hands of the ordinary Chinese people. Ironically, however, the project still maintained and re-affirmed the spatial layout of the colonial city, highlighting how deeply the layered etchings of power are carved into the physical spaces of everyday life.

Keywords:

• nationalism
• patriotism
• internationalism
• political power
• transformation of space
• political rhetoric
• Shanghai racecourse
• PRC history

Notes

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2 Zhonggong Shanghai “Weiyuanhui dangshi ziliao zheng ji weiyuanhui” (Party Historical Materials Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee), ed., Shanghai renmin geming shi huace (Shanghai People’s Revolutionary History Album) (Shanghai: Renmin chubanshe, 1989), 381.

3 SHDAG, ed., Shanghai jiefang, 419.

4 Shanghai renmin geming shi huace, 392.

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7 Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991), 286; Robert E. Park, “The City: Suggestions for the Investigation of Human Behavior in the City Environment,” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 20, no. 5 (1915): 577–612.

8 Michel Foucault, “The Eye of Power,” in C. Gordon, ed., Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977 (New York: Pantheon, 1980), 148–49, and Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison (New York: Vintage, 1977), 198.

9 Paul Rabinow, Modern: Norms and Forms of the Social Environment (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 267.

10 James Holston, The Modernist City: An Anthropological Critique of Brasilia (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1989), 133–44.

11 Wang Mingming, “Kongjian chanshi de renwen jingshen” (The humanistic spirit of spatial interpretation), Dushu, no.5 (1997): 57–65.

12 Tian Yipeng & Qi Si, Danwei shehui dezhongjie: Dongbei lao gongye jidi dianxingdanweizhi beijingxia de shequ jianshe (The end of work unit society: community construction under the typical state system in North China’s old industrial base areas) (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2005), 71–79.

13 Ye Yajian, Kongjian chonggou de shehuixue jieshi: Qian Liangshan de licheng yu yanshuo (The sociology of spatial construction: Qian Ling Mountain history and narratives) (Zhongguo shuhui keshe chubanshe, 2013), 90–101; Mingzheng Shi. “From Imperial Gardens to Public Parks: The Transformation of Urban Space in Early Twentieth-Century Beijing,” Modern China, vol. 24, no. 3 (1998): 219–54.

14 Wu Hung, Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005); Chang-tai Hung, Mao’s New World: Political Culture in the Early People’s Republic (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2017), 25–74.

15 James A. Leith, Space and Revolution: Projects for Monuments, Squares, and Public Buildings in France, 1789–1799 (Toronto: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1991), chap. 2–6; Christina Lodder, “Lenin’s Plan for Monumental Propaganda,” in Matthew Cullerne Bown and Brandon Taylor, eds., Art of the Soviets: Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in a One-Party State, 1917–1992 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1993), 16–32.

16 Richard Belsky, Localities at the Center: Native Place, Space, and Power in Late Imperial Beijing (Cambridge, IL: Harvard East Asia Center, 2006).

17 Chen Yunqian, “Kongjian chongzu yu Sun Zhongshanchongbai – yi Minguo shiqi Zhongshan gongyuan wei zhongxin de kaocha” (Spatial Reorganization and the Cult of Sun Zhongshan: A study of the Minguo-era Zhongshan Parks), Shilin, vol. 1 (2006): 1–18.

18 Wu Hung, Remaking Beijing; Chang-tai Hung, Mao’s New World, 25–74.

19 Robert Bickers, “Moving Stories: Memorialisation and its Legacies in Treaty Port China,” The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, vol. 42, no. 5 (2014): 826–56.

20 Chang-tai Hung, Dibiao: Beijing de kongjian zhengzhi (Landmarks: Beijing’s spatial politics) (Xianggang Niujin daxue chubanshe, 2011), 1–55.

21 Austin Coates, China Races (China: Oxford University Press, 1984), 22.

22 Coates, 23.

23 Sun Yatsen, Jianguo fanglue: Jindaihua Zhongguo da cehua [Strategy to build the nation] (Zhengzhou: Zhengzhou guji chubanshe, 1998), 471. During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese government also formulated a “Plan for the construction of Greater Shanghai,” but it was never realized. See Wang Ronghua, ed., Shanghai da cidian (Shanghai dictionary) (Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 2007) vol. 1, 633.

24 Xin Shanghai baoshe (New Shanghai newspaper office), “Xin Shanghai xinnian jinianji: Da Shanghai” (New year commemorations of the New Shanghai: Greater Shangahi), 1930, SHDAG, Y15-1-66, 45–72, 81–84; Shanghai chengshi guihua zazhi biancuan weiyuanhui (Committee for the compilation of Shanghai journal of urban planning), Shanghai chengshi guihua zazhi (Shanghai journal of urban planning) (Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 1999), 67; Wang, 633. Zhonggong Shanghai lishi shilu, 129.

25 Charles Musgrove, “Building a Dream: Constructing a National Capital in Nanjing, 1927–37” and “Defining Beiping: Urban Reconstruction and National Identity, 1928–1936” in Joseph Esherick, ed., Remaking the Chinese City: Modernity and National Identity, 1900–1950 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999), 121–38; 139–58.

26 On Twentieth Century projects to, and discourses about, creating “new” cities, see David Strand, “New Chinese Cities,” in Esherick, ed. Remaking the Chinese City, 211–24.

27 Yang Kuisong, Zhonghua renmin gongheguo jianguo shi yanjiu (Research on the early years of the PRC), (Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 2009), 1–3.

28 Xiong, 7.

29 Advertisement: Shanghai xinchun da saima” (Shanghai spring horserace), Shenbao, 14 February 1945, 1.

30 “Shanghai shi canyi hui” (Minutes of Shanghai City Council), 13 September 1946, 124, 146, 247, 257, 366, 367, 267 and 1947, 124, 146, 247, 257, 364, 367, 267 all discuss the restitution of the racecourse, in SHDAG, Q109-1-1034.

31 Shenbao, ed., Shanghai shi renmin shouce (Shanghai resident handboo) (Shanghai: Shenbao chubanshe, Nov. 1946), 4–5.

32 “Yi jian che guoqi de jiufen” (A dispute over the tearing down of the national flag), Taishan, vol. 1 (1946): 2. Cited in Xiong Yuezhi, “Cong Paomating dao Renmin Guangchang: Lishi bianqianyu xiangzheng yiyi” (From Racecourse to People’s Square: Historical change and symbolic meaning), Shehui kexue, vol. 3 (2008): 2.

33 Incidentally, British national Byron Constabe re-registered the name Shanghai Race Club, and used it to promote his project “The Royal Enclosure” as a business in Shanghai. While the Club runs no races, it does conduct social events with a stated goal of introducing Shanghai consumers to the tradition of English racing and the finest English race horses. The new Club’s website can be viewed at http://www.theshanghairaceclub.com/ (accessed 14 Oct 2018). See also Charley Lanyon, “One British Entrepreneur revives Shanghai Race Club for China’s Aspiring Classes,” South China Morning Post, 24 Oct 2013.

34 “Cong Paomating dao Renmin Guangchang: Shanghai Paomating shouhui yundong” (From Racecourse to People’s Square: The movement for the return of the Shanghai racecourse), Zhonggong yanjiuyuan jindai shi yanjiusuo jikan, vol. 48 (2005): 99.

35 Huang Yuejin, ed., Shanghai Renmin Guangchang (Shanghai People’s Square) (Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 2000), 11.

36 Zhonggong Shanghai shiwei dangshi yanjiushi (Party History Research Office of the Shanghai Municipal Committee), ed., Zhonggong Shanghai lishi shilu, 1949–2004 (Shanghai Communist Party historical records, 1949–2004) (Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe, 2004), 52.

37 Liu Shufa, ed., Chen Yi nianpu (Chronicle of Chen Yi’s life) (Renmin chubanshe, 1995), vol. 1, 575.

38 Xiong, 11.

39 Shanghai renmin geming shi huace, 381.

40 René Vallon died when he fell from a great height onto the Shanghai racecourse on May 7, 1911. Shanghai Shi Renmin Zhengfu Gongwuju (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Works), Shanghai shi Renmin Zhengfu Wenhuaju (Shanghai Municipal Government, Culture Department), “Guanyu chaichu Fuxing gongyuan jiu Huanlong jinian ta gaijian Lu Xun xiongxiang de pifu” (Reply regarding the destruction of Fuxing park’s Vallon monument and replacing it with a bust of Lu Xun), 9 August 1951, SHDAG, B172-4-234, 6–14.

41 Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu (Shanghai Municipal Government), “Guanyu chaichu fandongpai canliu beishi shi zhishi zunzhao de tongzhi’ (Notice regarding compliance with the order to destroy reactionary remnant momuments), 12 May 1951, SHDAG, B172-4-234, 5–6.

42 Shanghai Shi Renmin Zhengfu Wenhua Jiaoyu Weiyuanhui (Shanghai Municipal Government Culture and Education Committee), “Guanyu benshi ge qu fandong yiji chuli yijian de han” (Opinion letters from all over the city on handling reactionary remnants), 24 December 1952, SHDAG, B172-4-234, 8–11.

43 Zhang Ning, 97–136; Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui (Committee for the compilation of Shanghai People’s Government annals), ed., Shanghai zhengfu zhi (Shanghai government annals) (Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 2004), 806, 807–11.

44 Gongqingtuan Shanghai Shi Gongwei ban’gong shi (Shanghai Communist Youth League office of the Working Committee), “Guanyu xiujian renmin guangchang tuanyuan qingnian ying jiji canjia de tongzhi” (Notice that Communist Youth League members should enthusiastically take part in the effort to People’s Square reconstruction), 7 September 1951, SHDAG, C21-2-137, 1.

45 Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu Waishichu he Dizhengju (Shanghai Bureau of Foreign Affairs, Shanghai Bureau of Land Administration), “Shanghai Shi Renmin Zhengfu, Dizhengju cheng Shanghai Shi Junshi Guanzhi Weiyuanhui,” (Petition to Shanghai Military Administration Committee from the Bureau of Land Administration), 18 August 1951, SHDAG, B1-2-728. Cited in Fan Gendi, ed., “1951 nian shouhui Shanghai Paomating cailiao xuan” (Collected materials on the 1951 return of the Shanghai Racecourse), Dangan yu shixue, 2 (2001): 25–6.

46 Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu (Shanghai Municipal government), “1951 nian 9 yue renmin guangchang jianshi guanli weiyuanhui diyici quanti weiyuanhuiyi jilu” (September 1951 min of the People’s Square Construction Supervisory Committee’s first all-committee meeting), SHDAG, B1-1-1090, 1–6.

47 Zhonggong Shanghai lishi shilu, 52.

48 Shanghai jianshe, 4.

49 Huang, 12–13.

50 “Zai women weida de zuguo li: liangqian duo ge qingnian tuanyuan xiujian Shanghai renmin guangchang” (In our great country: More than 2000 Youth League members rebuild Shanghai’s People’s Square), Ningbo dazhong (Ningbo Masses), 15 September 1951, 4.

51 Huang Yuejin, ed., Shanghai renmin guangchang (Shanghai’s people’s square) (Shanghai: Shehuikexue yuan chubanshe, 2000), 12–13.

52 A set of residential houses on the eastern side of People’s Avenue was demolished in 1952, so that the eastern access point could be enlarged in the shape of a loudspeaker. In 1953, 90 privately owned buildings were demolished, so that the thoroughfare could be widened. From then on, the 560-meter-long and 100-meter-wide People’s Avenue ran unimpeded. Shanghai Shi Gongwuju (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Works), “Xinjian renmin guangchang gongyuan 1952 nian gongcheng jihua renwu shu” (Assignments for the 1952 construction project to rebuild People’s Square and Park) December 1952, SSDAG, B326-5-3, 6.

53 The damaged granite was paved in 1979. Shanghai chegshi guihua zhi, 63, 304.

54 Yuan Nianqi, Shizi jietou (Crossroads) (Xuelin chubanshe, 2004), 112.

55 G. Yang, email message to author, 12 July 2016.

56 Many local records and reference works list incorrect dates for the construction of People’s Park. See Shanghai Gongwuju, Yuanchang Guanlichu (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Works, Office of Parks Administration), “Pijian renmin gongyuan zongji” (Summary of starting work on People’s Park), December 1952, SHDAG, B326-5-3, 7.

57 Shanghai Gongwuju (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Works), “Yuanchang guanli chu 1949 nian gongzuo nianzhong zongjie” (Parks Administration office 1949 year-end work summary), 21 Jan 1950, SHDAG, B257-1-14, 8.

58 Shanghai jianshe bianji bu (Shanghai construction editorial department), Shanghai jianshe 1949–1985, (Shanghai construction 1949–1985), (Shanghai kexue jishu wenxian chubanshe 1989), 81.

59 Shanghai Gongwuju (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Works), “1950 nian gongwuju gongzuo zongjie” (1950 public works work summary), 19 Jan 1951, SHDAG, B257-1-26, 8.

60 Shanghai jianshe bianji bu (Shanghai construction editorial department), Shanghai jianshe 1949–1985, (Shanghai construction 1949–1985), (Shanghai kexue jishu wenxian chubanshe 1989), 81.

61 “Pijian renmin gongyuan zongji,” 2, 9.

62 Shanghai Shi Gongwuju Yuanchang Guanlichu, “Pijian renmin gongyuan zongji,” 7.

63 “Xinjian renmin guangchang gongyuan 1952 nian gongcheng jihua renwu shu,” 14.

64 Even as the new state did take Soviet advice on the Tiananmen effort, Beijing mayor Peng Zhen vocally expressed his opposition to regularly relying on Soviet models. See Hung, Dibiao, 1, 53–54. See also, Tan Gang, “Xingxiang suzao yu zhengquan gonggu: jianguo chuqi Nei Menggu muqu de xingbing fangzhi gongzuo” (Reshaping physical appearances and consolidating power: the effort to cure venereal disease in Inner Mongolia during the early PRC period), 21 shiji (February 2014): 141. On disputes between Soviet experts and Chinese city planners, resulting in lack of concrete Soviet influence in many places, see Hung, Dibiao, 4–13.

65 Shanghai chengshi guihua zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui (Committee for the compilation of Shanghai urban planning annals), ed., Shanghai chengshi guihua zhi (Shanghai urban planning annals) (Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 1999), 88–89.

66 Shanghai chengshi guihua zhi, 587; Shanghai Shi Gongwuju (Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Works), “1949 nian 9 yue zhi 12 yue da shijian ji,” (1949 September–December record of major events), January 1950, SHDAG, B257-1-7, 1–13.

67 “Xinjian renmin guangchang gongyuan 1952 nian gongcheng jihua renwu shu,” 2.

68 Zhang Jishun, Yuanqu de dushi (Disappearing metropolis: Shanghai in the 1950s) (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe: 2015), 83–132.

69 Liu, 614–15.

70 Liu, 614–15.

71 “Fa diguozhuyi xibao Zhongguo ren xuehan de da duchang: paomating” (French imperialist gambling house sucks the blood and sweat from the Chinese people), SHDAG, H1-21-8, 11; “Jiefang Taiwan xuanchuan gongzuo zhanlanhui zhaopian: guoqu de Paomating” (Pictures from the liberate Taiwan propaganda work exhibition: the former Racecourse), SHSDAG, H1-15-17, 47.

72 Hung, Mao’s New World, 75–110.

73 Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu (Shanghai Municipal Government), “Huadong ji Shanghai shi ge jie renmin qingzhu 1952 nian guoqingjie choubei weiyuanhui (caoan)” (Committee to prepare for the Huadong and Shanghai all-peoples 1952 National Day celebration (draft measure)) 29 September 1952, SSDAG, B55-1-1, 1–3.

74 Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu (Shanghai Municipal Government), “Huadong ji Shanghai shi ge jie renmin qingzhu shoujie guoqingjie dahui zhihuibu mingling” (Order, first session of the Huadong and Shanghai all-peoples’ National Day celebration command), 26 September 1950, SHDAG, B1-2-3656, 1–5.

75 Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu (Shanghai Municipal Government), “Shanghai shi renmin qingzhu 1958 nian guoqingjie guanyu shiwei youxing de qunzhong zuzhi gongzuo de tongzhi” (Notice, regarding organizing mass demonstrations for the Shanghai people’s 1958 National Day celebrations), SHDAG, A29-2-68, 1–2.

76 In the first few years, National Day propaganda was the responsibility of the Municipal Propaganda Bureau, but starting in 1955, the editorial bureau of the “handbook of current events” (Shishi shouce) took charge of formulating that year’s propaganda outline. See Shanghai Shi Weiyuanhui Xuanchuanbu (Shanghai Municipal Committee Propaganda Department), “Shishi shouce bianji bu Xuanchuanbu guanyu muqian guojixingshi he women de renwu de xuanchuan tigang” (Handbook of current events Editorial Department, Propaganda Department, outline of current propaganda duties related to National Day), 24 April 1955, SHDAG, B56-2-3, 34–43.

77 Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu (Shanghai Municipal Government), “Qingzhu Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo di san jie guoqingjie xuanchuan tigang” (Propagnda outline for the celebration of the PRC’s third National Day), Sept 1952, SHDAG, B1-2-3656, 6–13.

78 Huadong ji Shanghai ge jie renmin qingzhu disanjie Guoqingjie choubei weihui (East China and Shanghai preparatory committee for all-people’s celebration of the third National Day), “Guanyu Tan zhengwei zai guoqingjie youxing de jianghua caogao” (Draft of Comissar Tan’s National Day demonstration speech), 29 Sept 1952, SHDAG, B55-1-1, 5.

79 Guoqing lianhuan bangongshi (National Day get-together office), “Renmin Guangchang Guoqing lianhuan juti banfa” (Concrete measures for the People’s Square National Day get-together), 28 Sept 1953, SHDAG, B55-1-2, 13.

80 Liu, 651.

81 Shanghai shi renmin zhengfu (Shanghai Municipal Government), “Guanyu shiwei youxing de qunzhong zuzhi gongzuo tongzhi” (Notice regarding work with mass organizations for the demonstration), 20 Sept 1958 SHDAG, A29-2-68, 1–2.

82 Shanghai dianshitai (Shanghai television broadcasting), “Guanyu ‘Wuyi’ ‘Wusi’ jiemu anpai he jianguo shizhounian jieu gongzuo xiaojie” (Brief summary of the work for the tenth anniversary of the founding of the PRC and for May First and May Fourth), 9 April 1959, SHDAG, B92-2-537, 1.

83 Jiefang ribao she (Liberation Daily), ed., Guojizhuyi yu minzushuyi (Internationalism and nationalism), (Shanghai: Xinhua shudian, 1950), 8, 13–14.

84 Shanghai Shi Zonggonghui Wenjiaobu (Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, Culture and Education Department), “Guanyu qingzhu bayi jianjun fanmei qinlüe Chaoxian, Taiwan shiwei youxing zongjie” (Summary of the demonstration in celebration of army day and against the US invasion of Korea and Taiwan), 14 August 1950, SHDAG, A22-2-20, 87.

85 Liu, 610.

86 Zhonggong Shanghai lishi shilu, 56

87 Zhonggong Shanghai shiwei dangshi yanjiushi (Party History Research Office of the Shang- hai Municipal Committee), ed., Zhonggong Shanghai lishi shilu, 1949–2004 (Shanghai Communist Party historical records, 1949–2004) (Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe, 2004), 237.

88 Records of all events taken from Zhonggong Shanghai Shiwei Dangshi Yanjiushi (Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party Party History Research Office), ed., Zhonggong Shanghai lishi shilu (1949–2004) (Annals of the Shanghai Communist Party), Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe, 2004. In 1954, a May First demonstration and parade was organized but the details are unclear. See Liu Shufa, ed., Chen Yi nianpu, vol. 1, 659. Whether May First or October First demonstrations and parades were organized is unclear in the records, which omit these two years. Records from 1951, 1957–1960, 1962–1964 are similarly unclear.

89 “Paomating nei hongqi si hai Hushi qishiwan ren da youxing” (Red flags everywhere in the Shanghai Racecourse during the 700,000-person demonstration) Ningbo shibao (Ningbo Times), 3 Oct 1950, 1.

90 Onodero Shiru, Guoqi, Guoge, Guoqing: jindai zhongguo de guoqizhuyi yu guojia xiangzheng (National flag, National anthem, National Day: Nationalism and national symbols in modern China), trans., Zhou Junyu, (Beijing: Shuhui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2014), 296.

91 Elizabeth J. Perry, “Moving the Masses: Emotion Work in the Chinese Revolution,” Mobilization, vol. 7, no. 2 (2002): 111–28.

92 Huang, 19.

93 Huang, 19.

94 Han Xiaoli, “Geming yu jieri: kangzhan shiqi Shanxi geming genjudi de jieri wenhua jianshe” (Revolution and festivals: the cultural construction of festivals in the Shanxi base areas during the war of resistance), Zhonggong dangshi yanjiu, vol. 4 (2014): 104–15.

95 B. Shen, interview by author, 27 May 2016.

96 Chang-tai Hung, “Mao’s Parades: State Spectacles in China in the 1950s,” China Quarterly, vol. 190 (June 2007): 411–31.

97 Huang, 14–15.

98 Shanghai renmin qingzhu 1953 nian Guoqingjie choubei weiyuanhui zhihuibu lianhuan bangongshi (Shanghai office of the preparatory committee command for 1953 National Day celebration get-together), “Guoqing lianhuan gongzuo de chubu zongjie” (Summary of the first steps in the work related to the National Day get-together), 23 Sept 1953, SHDAG, B55-1-3, 85.

99 “Guoqing lianhuan gongzuo de chubu zongjie,” 85.

100 Zhongguo Xin Minzhuzhuyi Qingnian tuan Shanghai shi weiyuanhui (China New Democratic Youth League, Shanghai committee), “1953 nian renmin guangchang guoqing lianhuan de zongjie baogao” (1953 National Day get-together at People’s Square, summary report), 28 Oct 1953, SHDAG, B55-1-3, 25–26.

101 Records of all events taken from Zhonggong Shanghai Shiwei Dangshi Yanjiushi (Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party History Research Office), ed., Zhonggong Shanghai lishi shilu (1949–2004) (Annals of the Shanghai Communist Party), Shanghai jiaoyu chu-banshe, 2004. Details on every page number, see related footnotes.

102 Shanghai renmin qingzhu Wuyi Guoji Laodongjie bangongshi (Office of the Shanghai people’s celebration of May First International Labor Day), “1955 nian wuyijie shirong buzhi gongzuo jihua” (Plan to decorate the city for the 1955 May First holiday), 29 April 1955, SHDAG, B56- 2- 3, 77–79. “1955 nian wuyijie shirong buzhi gongzuo jihua,” 77–79.

103 Shanghai renmin qingzhu Wuyi Guoji Laodongjie bangongshi (Office of the Shanghai people’s celebration of May First International Labor Day), “Guanyu buzhi jige zhuyao gaolou dasha jufu biaoyu de qingkuang cailiao” (Materials concerning decorating important buildings with slogans), 28 April 1954, SHDAG, B56-2-2, 7–9.

104 Li Xiaocong, “Xingzhi yu yixiang: 1500 nian yilai Zhongguo chengshi kongjian de chuancheng yu bianhuan” (Design and Intention: Legacy and Change in Chinese Urban Space over the past 1500 years), in Dushi fanhua: 1500 nian lai de dongya chengshi shenghuo shi guoji xueshu yanjiuhui lunwenji (Flourishing Cities: Collected papers from a Symposium on the History of East Asian Urban Live over the past 1500 years) (Fudan daxue wenshi yanjiuyuan, Harvard East Asia Department, 2009), vol. 1, 293.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peidong Sun

Peidong Sun is Associate Professor of history at Fudan University. She is the author of Fashion and Politics: Everyday Clothing Fashion in Guangdong Province during the Cultural Revolution (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2013) and Who Will Marry My Daughter? The Parental Matchmaking Corner in the People’s Square of Shanghai (Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press, 2012; 2013).

Aminda Smith

Aminda Smith is Associate Professor of history at Michigan State University. She is the author of Thought Reform and China's Dangerous Classes: Reeducation, Resistance, and the People (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013).