Timeline

TANG DYNASTY (618—917) & KINGDOM OF WUYUE (907—978)

746 Qinglong town is founded on the bank of the Wusong River, now a western suburb of Shanghai.

944 Guangfu Temple is constructed, the first known temple on the territory of Shanghai.

SONG DYNASTY (960—1279)

1023 Huangpu River becomes navigable and merchant ships begin to anchor at Shanghai village (p. 59).

1037 Narcissus Hall temple (Shuixiangong) is built (p. 143).

1160 Temple of Collected Benevolence (Jishansi) is built (p. 52).

1264 Wenchang Temple is built (p. 348).

1269 Shanghai is reclassified as a market town, and a school (Guxiutang) opens near the town temple.

~1270 Chronicles describe Shanghai as a thriving port with a large merchant population.

YUAN DYNASTY (1271—1367)

1271 Temple of the Smooth Passage (Shunjimiao) opens (p. 45.

1277 Yuan administration establishes the Maritime Customs Bureau (Shibosi) in Shanghai, officially acknowledging Shanghai as an international port.

1280 Temple of Wenchang is rededicated to Confucius (p. 350).

1288 Tax revenue from Shanghai exceeds that of Qinglong.

1291 Shanghai is promoted to a county town (xian), and a magistrate is appointed to govern it (p. 75). Taiping Granary is built (p. 305).

1294 County college opens next to the Confucian Temple, to train staff for local administration.

1303 Yuan court bans overseas trade, harming Shanghai’s economy. The ban is lifted and reintroduced several times, as the Yuan dynasty declines.

1321 First candidate from Shanghai achieves the jinshi degree.

1357 Shanghai falls under the control of the warlord Zhang Shicheng for more than ten years.

MING DYNASTY (1368—1640)

1369 Sections of a defense wall are constructed east of Shanghai to thwart pirate attacks.

1374 Qin Yubo is canonized posthumously, becoming a City God of Shanghai (p. 27).

1375 Citizens’ Arch (Fuminfang 阜民坊) is built next to the county yamen (p. 211).

1397 County magistrate orders four memorial arches built in the street next to the yamen (p. 90).

1404 Huangpu River is dredged (p. 14).

1421 The Ming capital is transferred from Nanjing to Beijing; Shanghai experiences a loss of business and a decrease in population.

1460s The Liu family commissions the construction of three arches near their residence (p. 83).

1504 Local scholar and former official Tang Jin writes Shanghai’s first gazetteer.

1514 A military parade ground opens in the north of the city (p. 504).

1524 Draught and famine affect the Jiangnan region. Lu Shen builds a garden estate in the city (p. 71).

1525 To suppress coastal piracy, the Ming court bans sea trade and orders ocean-going ships destroyed.

1544 Draught and famine strike the region (p. 383).

1553 In the sixth lunar month, pirates attack and ransack Shanghai. After three months of construction, a defense wall is built around the city (p. 64). The Bureau of the Sub-prefect for the Maritime Defense (Haifang Daoshu) is established (p. 358). Family residence of Pan Yunduan, Ever-Spring Hall (Shichuntang), is built in the northern part of the city (p. 37).

1556 City wall repels an attempted pirate attack on Shanghai (p. 64).

1559 The construction of the Yu Garden begins (p. 32). Dew Fragrance Garden (Luxiangyuan) is built in the northwest of the city (p. 466).

1562 Xu Guangqi is born in a house on Qiaojia Creek (p. 211).

1572 Green Lotus Nunnery (Qinglian’an) is built (p. 468).

1577 Pan Yunduan begins the expansion of the Yu Garden (p. 32).

1584 Phoenix Tower (Danfenglou) is built on the city wall (p. 45).

1592 Another ban on marine trade is imposed after a Japanese attack on Korea. Daily Visit Garden (Risheyuan) is laid out in the southeast of Shanghai (p. 148).

1600 Buddhist temple Agarwood Chamber (Chenxiangge) is built inside the Yu Garden (p. 110).

1607 Xu Guangqi returns to Shanghai, beginning Catholic missionary activity in the region (p. 212).

1620s Also-A-Garden (Yeshiyuan 也是园) is built (p. 233).

1640 Shanghai’s first Catholic church, Hall of the One Savior (Jingyitang), opens in the Ever-Spring Hall (p. 432).

1641 Drought and famine lead to cases of cannibalism (p. 383).

QING DYNASTY (1644—1911)

1644 In April, a pro-Ming rebellion engulfs Shanghai (p. 321).

1645 Shanghai is occupied by bandits acting as Ming loyalists, and Qing-appointed magistrate is killed (p. 321).

1640s Memorial arch in honor of Xu Guangqi (Gelaofang) is constructed (p. 214).

1650 Temple of the God of Earth (Dizang’an) is built in the east of the walled city (p. 140).

1660 The first immigrant merchants’ guild is formed (Guanshandong Gongsuo).

1666 Penglai Monastery opens (p. 320).

1668 One Grain Nunnery (Yisu’an) opens in the southwestern part of Shanghai (p. 522).

1680 In August, catastrophic flood washes off the southern portion of the city wall (p. 97).

1682 Garden of Ease (Yiyuan) is built in the south of the city (p. 190).

1684 The ban on marine trade is lifted and the coastal trade revives, growing steadily during the next 250 years.

1687 Rivers and Sea Customhouse (Jianghaiguan) is built inside the Little East Gate (p. 60).

1695 Shanghai’s first pharmacy opens outside the Little South Gate.

1710 Foundling Home (Yuyingtang) is built (p. 271).

1715 The Sea Merchants’ Guildhall (Shangchuan Huiguan) is built in Dongjiadu.

1719 Yamen of the Military Affairs of the Right (Youying Youjishu) is established (p. 360).

1720s The Lu residence is established in the south of the walled city (p. 225).

1724 Emperor Yongzheng bans foreign religions; Jesuits in China lose their property (p. 40).

1729 The office of the regional military supervisor (Daotai) is transferred to Shanghai (p. 137).

1731 Daotai’s yamen is built (p. 137).

1735 Temple of the Fire God (Huoshenmiao) is built (p. 166).

1736 Guild of Shaoxing natives (Zheshao Gongsuo) builds the Altar of the God of Wealth (p. 51).

1738 Shanghai’s first educational facility for children (Qimeng Shuyuan) is built (p. 71).

1748 The Church of the One Savior becomes Shenjiang Academy.

1760 Local merchants purchase the Yu Garden and donate it to the Temple of the City God (p. 33).

1763 Hermit’s Library (Shuyinlou) is built on Tiandeng Lane (p. 148).

1771 Zhu clan builds Respecting-The-Thought Garden (Sijingyuan) (p. 124). Ninghai Monastery (Ninghai Chanyuan) is inaugurated (p. 226).

1784 The pavilion on the lake in the Yu Garden is built (p. 34).

1788 Medicine Guildhall (Yaoye Gongsuo) is founded on Yaoju Lane (p. 253).

1797 Ningbo Guildhall (Siming Gongsuo) is established (p. 472).

1800 Hall of United Benevolence (Tongrentang) is founded (p. 257).

1802 My Garden (Wuyuan) is inaugurated (p. 336).

1814 Treatise on Honey Nectar Peach is published (p. 336).

1825 The Yu family residence Happy Harvest Hall (Yijiatang) is built (p. 203). Due to the silting of the Grand Canal, tax grain has to be shipped to Beijing from Shanghai (p. 305).

1828 Temple in honor of Huang Daopo (Xianmianci) is built in the center of the walled city (p. 346). Ruizhu Academy is founded (p. 233).

1832 In June, H. H. Lindsay and K. Gützlaff arrive to Shanghai and try to negotiate trade with local officials (p. 137).

1839 First Opium War begins.

1840 With Grand Canal unusable, Shanghai again becomes the only port for regional tax grain shipments.

1842 In June, British Royal Navy occupies and loots Shanghai (p. 360). City’s first public theater, Garden of Triple Elegance (Sanyayuan), opens on Sipailou Road (p. 91).

TREATY PORT ERA (1843—1943)

1843 In November, the British Consulate opens in the walled city; Shanghai is declared open for foreign trade (p. 125).

1849 Daotai gives away land to the north of the walled city to establish the French Concession (p. 139).

1850 First Western-style building – the Christ Church – emerges in the walled city (p. 280).

1852 City’s first mosque is built in Caoxiewan, south of Dongjiadu.

1853 In March, St. Xavier’s Catholic Cathedral is inaugurated in Dongjiadu. In September, the Small Swords begin the occupation of the walled city (p. 91).

1855 In February, the Small Swords are expelled from Shanghai (p. 91). Tongren Fuyuantang charity is created to relieve the refugee crisis (p. 258). The pavilion on the lake in the City Temple gardens is converted to a public tea house (p. 34). New Confucian Temple is built on Wenmiao Road (p. 348).

1858 Hall of Effective Care (Guoyutang) is founded (p. 121).

1859 Zhejiang-Ningbo Guildhall (Zhening Huiguan) is built in the docks.

1860 French Jesuits regain control the old Catholic church in the Chinese City (p. 40).

1860 Shrine of the God of War (Guandimiao) relocates to the West Gate area (p. 432). Pure Heart Church (Qingxintang) is built outside the Big South Gate (p. 231). Lowrie Institute and Mary Farnham Girls’ School are founded (p. 231). In August, the Taipings attack Shanghai; during the defense, the Qing army burns down the Chinese docks.

1861 The New North Gate is carved through the city wall (p. 66).

1862 In January, Taiping rebels threaten Shanghai again.

1863 The British Settlement becomes the International Settlement jointly governed by western nations.

1865 Dragon Gate Academy (Longmen Shuyuan) opens (p. 339).

1867 Hall of Universal Care (Puyutang) is founded on Penglai Road (p. 329).

1868 The opera Rendezvous at the Nunnery, set in Shanghai, is first performed (p. 379).

1870 Convent of Cultivated Benevolence (Cixiu’an) is founded (p. 404). Fuyou Road Mosque is built (p. 52).

1873 To avoid disturbance in foreign-run areas, the city magistrate bans street parades (p. 27).

1874 Conflict over the Ningbo cemetery in the French Concession leads to an armed riot (p. 473).

1875 Liu Memorial Shrine (Liugongci) is inaugurated in the former Maoshan Temple.

1878 Zhang Huanlun opens China’s first primary school in his house on Meixi Lane (p. 314).

1881 The Guo family purchases the Hermit’s Library (Shuyinlou) (p. 148).

1882 White Cloud Temple (Baiyunguan) opens to the southwest of the walled city.

1883 Bankers’ Guildhall (Qianye Gongsuo) is built in the Chinese docks, outside the Big East Gate.

1894 A massive fire in the docks destroys most of the warehouses and residences.

1895 Longevity Palace (Wanshougong) is built (p. 332).

1897 Another Ningbo cemetery riot takes place (p. 473).

1900 French Concession expands and takes over the waterfront area northeast of the walled city.

1905 Civil service examinations are abolished and Dragon Gate Academy closes (p. 339). Actors’ Guild establishes the Pear Garden guildhall (p. 401).

1906 Small creeks in the old city are filled and paved with cobblestones (p. 52). Cotton Temple is destroyed by fire (p. 346).

1908 New Stage theater opens (p. 402).

1909 Qiaojiashan snack store is founded (p. 247).

1910 In June, a fire station with a watchtower opens at the Little South Gate (p. 177).

1911 In November, anti-Qing forces storm the county yamen and the Daotai’s yamen (p. 178). Shanghai Military Government is established (p. 66). Wanzhu Primary School opens (p. 514).

REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1912—1949)

1912 Demolition of the city wall and the filling of the defense moat begin (p. 66).

1913 In early July, during the dismantling of the city wall, a section of it collapses, injuring people on the site.

1914 Demolition of the city wall is completed, and a tram line is built around the Chinese City (p. 66). New Stage theater is rebuilt inside the old town (p. 409).

1915 Municipal Government building is built on Penglai Road (p. 332).

1917 The amusement center Emporium (Quanyechang) opens on Fuyou Road (p. 53). Xiaotaoyuan Mosque opens (p. 384).

1918 Construction of the Catalpa Garden (Ziyuan) begins (p. 190).

1922 In November, Albert Einstein pays a visit to the old town (p. 190).

1924 Temple of the City God burns down and is rebuilt from reinforced concrete with the financing from the Green Gang (p. 28).

1926 Penglai Market is built (p. 329). Lujia Creek is filled and becomes Lujiabang Road (p. 506). In April, Aldous Huxley visits Shanghai and writes about the old town (p. 97).

1927 A number of political meetings take place in the New Stage theater (p. 409). In March, Shanghai Special Municipality is formed (p. 409). In October, the New Stage theater is demolished (p. 409).

1928 National Products Exhibition is held under the auspices of the Kuomintang.

1929 Native guildhalls merge with the Chamber of Commerce and lose much of their influence.

1930 Monument to the revolutionary Chen Qimei is built near the Old West Gate (p. 399). In June, actress Claudette Colbert visits the Chinese City and praises it.

1931 The destruction of Xu Guangqi’s memorial arch ignites a preservation debate (p. 216).

1933 Lane compound Jixiancun is built in the place of the former Daotai’s yamen (p. 143).

1937 From August to November, the Japanese army bombs the Chinese-governed areas and begins the occupation of Shanghai (p. 301). In November, Jacquinot Safe Zone opens in the northern part of the Chinese City (pp. 410, 420).

1940 In June, the Jacquinot Safe Zone closes (p. 410).

1941 Japanese Intelligence Bureau opens a branch in the Chinese City (p. 454). In December, the Japanese occupy foreign-run areas of Shanghai.

1943 In January, the extraterritoriality is ended and foreign settlements are abolished.

1945 In September, Japan surrenders and the occupying troops are withdrawn from Shanghai.

1949 In May, the Communist troops enter Shanghai and take the power.

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1949—PRESENT)

1950 The Chinese City area is divided into Yimiao and Penglai districts.

1954 The ancient Narcissus Hall (Shuixiangong) is gutted and mostly demolished (p. 143).

1956 The “Socialist Transformation” campaign ends most private businesses. A five-year renovation of the Yu Garden begins (p. 35). Temple of the Fire God (Huoshenmiao) is torn down (p. 169).

1958 The Great Leap Forward policy results in famine; the Shanghai municipality is expanded to include suburban farmland; many urban residents are forcibly relocated to distant provinces. Henan Road is extended to cut through the old town (p. 500).

1961 Propaganda feature film Peach and Plum Blossom in Spring, set in the old town, is released (p. 498).

1964 Temple of the City God is attacked, antique incense burners and effigies destroyed (p. 28). Streets with superstitious-sounding names are renamed.

1966 The beginning of the Cultural Revolution leads to massive displacement of families, expropriation of housing and destruction of historic architecture (pp. 19, 482). Red Guards vandalize the Agarwood Chamber (Chenxiangge) and destroy relics inside (p. 113).

1967 Yu Garden is renamed Red Garden (Hongyuan) (p. 22).

1970 Ming-era burial site of the Lu clan is unearthed in Pudong (p. 71).

1976 The death of Mao Zedong ends the Cultural Revolution.

1978 President Deng Xiaoping initiates economic reform in China.

1980 Longevity Palace (Wanshougong) on Penglai Road is removed to build a school (p. 332).

1983 Agarwood Chamber is restored (p. 113).

1984 Old buildings of Plum Creek Academy (Meixi Shuyuan) are torn down and modernized (p. 314).

1988 Small-scale renovations are carried out on several blocks of Penglai Road (p. 330).

1992 Large-scale redevelopment begins to erase traditional housing in Shanghai. Dajing Pavilion is rebuilt and expanded at the northern edge of the former Chinese City (p. 67).

1993 Mummies of the Gu clan members are unearthed (p. 264).

1994 Large block in the northern part of the old city, between Wujia Lane and Zihua Road, is demolished; it remains a construction site to this day (p. 524).

1997 East Fuxing Road is widened and straightened, old housing on both sides torn down and modernized.

1999 “Shanghai Old Street” is launched, and the neighborhood around the City Temple becomes a designated tourist zone (p. 99). Confucian Temple is extensively rebuilt and expanded (p. 351).

2001 Northeastern corner of the old city is evacuated and demolished to make Gucheng Park (p. 47). Bankers’ Guildhall in Dongjiadu is torn down and rebuilt at Gucheng Park (p. 65). Thirteenth-century Consort Pavilion at the southern edge of the old city is dismantled and stored in the Confucian Temple (p. 374).

2003 White Cloud Temple (Baiyunguan) is demolished at its original location and built anew next to the Dajing Pavilion (p. 67). The surrounding neighborhood in the northwest of the old city begins to be torn down.

2004 Shiliupu riverside neighborhood is torn down.

2005 During the demolition of housing in the northwest of the old town, a section of the Ming-era city wall is unearthed and then dismantled (p. 67).

2007 South Henan Road is widened and old housing on its both sides torn down (p. 383).

2008 In preparation for the World Expo 2010 the demolition of Dongjiadu area begins.

2011 Demolition zone on the southern edge of the old city expands north (p. 229).

2015 Street food market on Sipailou Road closes and becomes a traffic channel (p. 92). Appliances market on Dong Street is closed (p. 130). Wet market on Ninghe Road is forced off the street, making way for car traffic (p. 241).

2017 South Guangqi Road is widened for traffic; a remainder of a Ming-era gate is revealed (p. 247).

2018 The area around Jinjiafang is vacated and prepared for demolition (p. 442). Plans for the redevelopment of the neighborhood around Wutong Road are announced (p. 45).

2019 In January, plans are announced for the redevelopment of most of the southeastern quarter of the old town, including Qiaojia Road and adjacent streets.

2021 The demolition of Houjia Road historic neighborhood (NE quarter) is nearly completed; the demolition of Qiaojia Road (SE quarter) begins.