閤 Away from Nanking road: Small Stores and Neighborhood Life in Modern Shanghai OR。 Hanchao Lu The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 54, No. 1. (Feb, 1995), pp. 93-123 Stable url: http://linksjstororg/sici?sici=0021-9118%28199502%02954%3a1%3c93%3aafnrss%3e2.0.c0%3b2-n The Journal of Asian Studies is currently published by Association for Asian Studies Your use of the jStoR archive indicates your acceptance of jSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http:/lwww.istororg/about/terms.htmlJstOr'sTermsandConditionsofUseprovidesinpartthatunlessyouhaveobtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JStOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, nd foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor. org Wed Aug 1512:57:38207
Away from Nanking Road: Small Stores and Neighborhood Life in Modern Shanghai Hanchao Lu The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 54, No. 1. (Feb., 1995), pp. 93-123. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-9118%28199502%2954%3A1%3C93%3AAFNRSS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N The Journal of Asian Studies is currently published by Association for Asian Studies. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/afas.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. http://www.jstor.org Wed Aug 15 12:57:38 2007
Away from Nanking Road Small Stores and Neighborhood Life in Modern Shangha g HANCHAO LU A CHINAS LEADING"TREATY PORT"CITY, Shanghai has long been stereotyped as the prime bridgehead for foreign encroachment on China and as the most westernized city of the country(Tang and Shen 1989: introduction). Recent scholarship in the West still refers to Shanghai as"the other China, ""in China but not of it, "a foreign city even in its own country"(Bergere 1981; Murphey 1992: 346; Clifford 1991:9). In the first half of the twentieth century, was the influence of the West Shanghai so strong that the city was alienated from the rest of China? Was Shanghai firmly in the grip of modernization, which in China was often associated with a tendency to change toward things Western? Or, alternatively, was Shanghai ome to a strong and vibrant current of traditionalism, a traditionalism that can be equated with continuity or persistence of things indigenously Chinese? The answers these questions can be very diverse, depending in large measure on the dimensions one chooses to examine. Most of our assumptions and judgments on this issue have been drawn from broad and sweeping political or economic perspectives with little attention paid to the everyday lives of ordinary people. How the common people continued to live their everyday lives is, I believe, most relevant to the question of the impact of modernity (or of the West)upon urban China This article invites the reader to look into ordinary neighborhood stores on the narrow alley where most Shanghainese lived. Nanking Road, the commercial center of the city, and its adjacent riverside(known as the Bund)with its business and municipal edifices have long been regarded as symbols of the city in much the ame way that the Manhattan skyline symbolizes New York, the Eiffel Tower,Paris or Big Ben, London. Nanking Road and the Bund-as the places where foreigners exercised their political and economic power and enjoyed special privileges, and as the places from which emanated modern, Western cultural influences--were particularly powerful symbols of the Western intrusion in China. However, the story of small neighborhood stores shows that Nanking Road and all it symbolized remained largely irrelevant to the daily lives of the common people of Shanghai Our stroll through the alleyways of Shanghai reveals the remoteness of Western Hanchao Lu teaches history at Georgia Institute of Technology In pinyin, Nanjing Road. Since"" was the original romanized street, I use Nanking Road rather than Nanjing Road in this article The Journal of Asian Studies 54, no. 1(February 1995): 93-123 o 1995 by the Association for Asian Studies, Inc
Away from Nanking Road: Small Stores and Neighborhood Life in Modern Shanghai HANCHAO LU ASc~1ivA.SLEADING "TREATY PORT CITY, Shanghai has long been stereotyped as the prime bridgehead for foreign encroachment on China and as the most westernized city of the country (Tang and Shen 1989: introduction). Recent scholarship in the West still refers to Shanghai as "the other China," ."in China but not of it," "a foreign city even in its own country" (Berghe 1981; Murphey 1992:346; Clifford 1991:9). In the first half of the twentieth century, was the influence of the West in Shanghai so strong that the city was alienated from the rest of China? Was Shanghai firmly in the grip of modernization, which in China was often associated with a tendency to change toward things Western? Or, alternatively, was Shanghai home to a strong and vibrant current of traditionalism, a traditionalism that can be equated with continuity or persistence of things indigenously Chinese? The answers to these questions can be very diverse, depending in large measure on the dimensions one chooses to examine. Most of our assumptions and judgments on this issue have been drawn from broad and sweeping political or economic perspectives with little attention paid to the everyday lives of ordinary people. How the common people continued to live their everyday lives is, I believe, most relevant to the question of the impact of modernity (or of the West) upon urban China. This article invites the reader to look into ordinary neighborhood stores on the narrow alleyways where most Shanghainese lived. Nanking Road,' the commercial center of the city, and its adjacent riverside (known as the Bund) with its business and municipal edifices have long been regarded as symbols of the city in much the same way that the Manhattan skyline symbolizes New York, the Eiffel Tower, Paris, or Big Ben, London. Nanking Road and the Bund-as the places where foreigners exercised their political and economic power and enjoyed special privileges, and as the places from which emanated modern, Western cultural influences-were particularly powerful symbols of the Western intrusion in China. However, the story of small neighborhood stores shows that Nanking Road and all it symbolized remained largely irrelevant to the daily lives of the common people of Shanghai. Our stroll through the alleyways of Shanghai reveals the remoteness of Western Hanchao Lu teaches history at Georgia Institute of Technology. '1n pinyin, Nanjing Road. Since "Nanking" was the original romanized name for the street, I use Nanking Road rather than Nanjing Road in this article. TheJournal of Asian Studies 54, no. 1 (February 1995):93- 123. O 1995 by the Association for Asian Studies, Inc
94 HANCHAO LU Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway 郾口 Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway --l Sidewalk Figure 2. The general layout of a lilong compound in Shanghai influence and the relative irrelevance of modern political power in some important aspects of the life of ordinary peopl Stores in Living Rooms Shanghais small neighborhood stores were, first of all, related to a particular type of residential structure known as the lilong fangzi(literally, alleyway house)or simply as the lilong. This was the single most common type of house in Shanghai by 1949 almost three-quarters of Shanghai's residential dwellings were lilong houses (Shanghaishi tongjiju 1989: 437-38). From the late nineteenth century to the middle of this century"at least 70 to 80 percent of Shanghai people lived in lilong houses Jia You 1982: 285). The lilong neighborhoods, which spread over every corner of the city, are the setting of our discussion about small stores The history of the lilong can be traced back to the middle of the nineteenth ury when the Small Swords(xiaodaobui)Uprising(1853-55)and the Taipin Rebellion(1850-64)drove thousands of war refugees to the safety of Shanghai' foreign concessions. Only about 500 Chinese lived in Shanghais foreign concessions in 1853. This number jumped to 20,000 in 1854 when the Small Swords occupied Shanghai's Chinese City, which was immediately adjacent to the foreign concessions In 1862, with the Taiping army approaching the area, reportedly 500,000 refugees flooded into the city(Kuai Shixun 1980: 347-59) The tide of refugees provided a basis for speculation in real estate. A new desig
94 HANCHAO LU Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway Branch Alleyway Figure 2. The general layout of a lilong compound in Shanghai. influence and the relative irrelevance of modern political power in some important aspects of the life of ordinary people. Stores in Living Rooms Shanghai's small neighborhood stores were, first of all, related to a particular type of residential structure known as the lilong fangzi (literally, alleyway house) or simply as the lilong. This was the single most common type of house in Shanghai; by 1949 almost three-quarters of Shanghai's residential dwellings were lilong houses (Shanghaishi tongjiju 1989:437-38). From the late nineteenth century to the middle of this century "at least 70 to 80 percent of Shanghai people lived in lilong houses" (Jia You 1982:285). The lilong neighborhoods, which spread over every corner of the city, are the setting of our discussion about small stores. The history of the lilong can be traced back to the middle of the nineteenth century when the Small Swords (xiaodaohzli) Uprising (1853-55) and the Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) drove thousands of war refugees to the safety of Shanghai's foreign concessions. Only about 500 Chinese lived in Shanghai's foreign concessions in 1853. This number jumped to 20,000 in 1854 when the Small Swords occupied Shanghai's Chinese City, which was immediately adjacent to the foreign concessions. In 1862, with the Taiping army approaching the area, reportedly 500,000 refugees flooded into the city (Kuai Shixun 1980:347-59). The tide of refugees provided a basis for speculation in real estate. A new design, the lilong, was invented to meet the need for housing. An individual lilong house
STORES AND NEIGHBORHOODS IN MODERN SHANGHAI 95 Kitcher (Tingzijian) Back Living room Back bedroom Front Living room Front Bedroom Sidewalk oor Second Floor Figure 3. The floorplan of a front-row lilong house was a U-shaped, two- or three-story brick building with two wings connecting to the central part of the house and a small courtyard in front between the wings Obviously, this design was derived from traditional Chinese houses, especially the ourtyard house or quadrangle house(Blaser 1979: 5-14; Knapp 1990: 11-13). TE innovation here is that the lilong house was never built as an individual structure but always in a cluster: a few units of lilong houses were built to form a row, and a few rows comprised a compound(figure 2). Within the compound, paved alleyways between the rows provided access, light, and ventilation. It is said that the row design was derived from the terrace-house of Europe(Wang Shaozhou 1989: 75 Chen and Zhang 1988: 162; Gao 1990: 223-24; Zhang Jishun 1993) The lilong design outlasted the early influx of refugees and with various modifications continued to be built to house Shanghais growing population. Wings were removed from the U-shaped design and what had been originally the central part of the house was built as a single unit( Gao 1990: 225-26; Jia 1982: 286-87 From the 1920s on, some newly built lilong started to feature such modern amenities as sanitary fixtures(bathrooms with a bathtub and flush toilet) and a gas supply for cooking and hot water. These houses were called"new-type alleyway hous (xinshi lilong) to distinguish them from the old lilong, which usually did not have modern sanitation or gas. The latter were commonly called shikumen(lit., a wooden door within a stone framework), a name derived from the design of the front door of the houses(Wang Shaozhou 1989: 77; Wang and Chen 1987: 6; Chen and Zhang 1988: 160-65). The small stores we will discuss were most popular in the old-type long neighborhoods, although they were also found in the new-type lilong neighborhood:
STORES AND NEIGHBORHOODS IN MODERN SHANGHAI 95 Front Bedroom Figure 3. The floorplan of a front-row filong house. was a U-shaped, two- or three-story brick building with two wings connecting to the central part of the house and a small courtyard in front between the wings. Obviously, this design was derived from traditional Chinese houses, especially the courtyard house or quadrangle house (Blaser 1777:5-14; Knapp 1970: 11- 13). The innovation here is that the lilong house was never built as an individual structure but always in a cluster: a few units of lilong houses were built to form a row, and a few rows comprised a compound (figure 2). Within the compound, paved alleyways between the rows provided access, light, and ventilation. It is said that the row design was derived from the terrace-house of Europe (Wang Shaozhou 1989:75; Chen and Zhang 1988:162; Gao 1990:223-24; Zhang Jishun 1993). The lilong design outlasted the early influx of refugees and with various modifications continued to be built to house Shanghai's growing population. Wings were removed from the U-shaped design and what had been originally the central part of the house was built as a single unit (Gao 1990:225-26; Jia 1982:286-87). From the 1920s on, some newly built lilong started to feature such modern amenities as sanitary fixtures (bathrooms with a bathtub and flush toilet) and a gas supply for cooking and hot water. These houses were called "new-type alleyway houses" (xinshi fifong) to distinguish them from the old lilong, which usually did not have modern sanitation or gas. The latter were commonly called shikzlmen (lit., a wooden door within a stone framework), a name derived from the design of the front door of the houses (Wang Shaozhou 1787:77; Wang and Chen 1787:6; Chen and Zhang 1788: 160-65). The small stores we will discuss were most popular in the old-type lilong neighborhoods, although they were also found in the new-type lilong neighborhoods
96 ANCHAO LU A lilong compound, as shown in figure 2, always has a front row(or, in some cases, a few front rows) facing the street. Those living in units inside the compound had to pass through the front yard to enter their living room. However, the front row units had no yard, and the living rooms of these units could be entered directly from the sidewalk (figure 3). These living rooms were often used for business purposes rather than for housing; most often, they were used as small stores or shops Establishing a store in a lilong neighborhood usually followed a pattern: a man (store owners were usually male)managed to save or borrow enough money a front unit in a lilong compound; he would then move his family into the floor and turn the living room into a small store. As Shanghais population cor mainly of immigrants from other parts of the country, this living arrangement was obviously efficient: it simultaneously solved the problems of residence and employment (Informants I-2, I-5, I-7) The rent for a lilong house varied by neighborhood and by the quality of the house itself. Although the front units had the advantage of being suitable for use as a store or shop, rent for such houses was not necessarily higher than that for units inside the compound. In some cases, the rents for front-row houses were slightly higher than for those inside, varying from 10 to 20 percent(1-5, I-11). The reason for the small disparity in rent was that front-row houses were less comfortable to live in. Street-facing units had no yard, suffered from noise and dust from the stree and were easy targets for thieves and burglars. In a way, the owners of these stores tolerated a less comfortable life in order to earn a livelihood. Yet, being without a living room was not considered a big deprivation in Shanghai. To this day, to use the"living room"as a living room is considered a luxury(I-10, 1-12) These were small stores in every sense: a normal living room in a lilong house is a rectangular room of about 20 to 30 square meters of floor space, although a few adjacent"living rooms"were sometimes put together(i. e, the walls between the rooms were dismantled), resulting in a fairly large store(I-5). The stores were of course, open to anyone who walked in but, since they were located in residential areas, the majority of the customers were local residents. In fact, a great many of the customers lived in the same block in which the stores were locate Among the most common stores in these neighborhoods were those that sold grain, coal, cotton fabrics and goods, groceries, hot water, condiments, snacks fruit, wine, meat and vegetables, and other products. Other shops offered such ervices as tailoring, barbering, repair of household items, and currency exchange and there also were laundries, tea houses, and public bathhouses. In short, in Shanghais lilong neighborhoods, the merchandise and services most closely related to daily life could be purchased within a block of one's home(I-3, I-4, I-12) For example, the neighborhood stores along a section of Hart Road(today Changde Road) between the intersections of Bubbling Well Road(today's Nanjing Road West)and Avenue Foch( today's Yan'an Road Central)(see Table 1; Shi Songjiu 1989: 353-92)included everything from a dentist to a blacksmith to a wineshop In this typical lilong neighborhood, with several lanes, each leading to an entrance to a compound, residents could do virtually all their shopping for daily necessities within a few steps of their homes without crossing the street to the other side of e block(1-3, 1-9, I-5) Ao The types of stores listed in table 2 were not too different from those on Hart ad, but they were located in a very different type of town: Waigang, Jiangsu Informants are cited by code; see the List of Informants in table 4
A lilong compound, as shown in figure 2, always has a front row (or, in some cases, a few front rows) facing the street. Those living in units inside the compound had to pass through the front yard to enter their living room. However, the frontrow units had no yard, and the living rooms of these units could be entered directly from the sidewalk (figure 3). These living rooms were often used for business purposes rather than for housing; most often, they were used as small stores or shops. Establishing a store in a lilong neighborhood usually followed a pattern: a man (store owners were usually male) managed to save or borrow enough money to rent a front unit in a lilong compound; he would then move his family into the second floor and turn the living room into a small store. As Shanghai's population consisted mainly of immigrants from other parts of the country, this living arrangement was obviously efficient: it simultaneously solved the problems of residence and employment (Informants 1-2, 1-5, 1-7).~ The rent for a lilong house varied by neighborhood and by the quality of the house itself. Although the front units had the advantage of being suitable for use as a store or shop, rent for such houses was not necessarily higher than that for units inside the compound. In some cases, the rents for front-row houses were slightly higher than for those inside, varying from 10 to 20 percent (1-5, I- 11). The reason for the small disparity in rent was that front-row houses were less comfortable to live in. Street-facing units had no yard, suffered from noise and dust from the street, and were easy targets for thieves and burglars. In a way, the owners of these stores tolerated a less comfortable life in order to earn a livelihood. Yet, being without a living room was not considered a big deprivation in Shanghai. To this day, to use the "living room" as a living room is considered a luxury (1-10, 1-12). These were small stores in every sense: a normal living room in a lilong house is a rectangular room of about 20 to 30 square meters of floor space, although a few adjacent "living rooms" were sometimes put together (i.e., the walls between the rooms were dismantled), resulting in a fairly large store (1-5). The stores were, of course, open to anyone who walked in but, since they were located in residential areas, the majority of the customers were local residents. In fact, a great many of the customers lived in the same block in which the stores were located. Among the most common stores in these neighborhoods were those that sold grain, coal, cotton fabrics and goods, groceries, hot water, condiments, snacks, fruit, wine, meat and vegetables, and other products. Other shops offered such services as tailoring, barbering, repair of household items, and currency exchange, and there also were laundries, tea houses, and public bathhouses. In short, in Shanghai's lilong neighborhoods, the merchandise and services most closely related to daily life could be purchased within a block of one's home (1-3, 1-4, 1-12), For example, the neighborhood stores along a section of Hart Road (today's Changde Road) between the intersections of Bubbling Well Road (today's Nanjing Road West) and Avenue Foch (today's Yan'an Road Central) (see Table 1; Shi Songjiu 1989:353-92) included everything from a dentist to a blacksmith to a wineshop. In this typical lilong neighborhood, with several lanes, each leading to an entrance to a compound, residents could do virtually all their shopping for daily necessities within a few steps of their homes without crossing the street to the other side of the block (1-3, 1-9, 1-5). The types of stores listed in table 2 were not too different from those on Hart Road, but they were located in a very different type of town: Waigang, Jiangsu '~nformants are cited by code; see the List of Informants in table 4