On September 20, Professor Xiong Yuezhi, Researcher at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, doctoral supervisor of history at Fudan University and East China Normal University, President of Shanghai Association of Historians, Vice President of Shanghai Association of Historical Annals and Vice President of the Association of Chinese Historians, joined the 5th Think Tank Lecture sponsored by Shanghai Academy and undertaken by the College of Liberal Arts under Shanghai University, with Wheat Financial. Professor Li Youmei, First Vice President of Shanghai Academy, addressed and chaired the activity.

Professor Li Youmei chairs the Think Tank Lecture

In her speech, Professor Li Youmei said, Shanghai’s culture features inclusiveness in every aspect. Dominated by the spirit of contract, Shanghai culture respects diversity and personalization, and is characterized by a rational and easy going nature. By 2040, Shanghai will develop into an excellent global city, and Shanghai’s culture will serve as a solid cultural foundation.

Professor Xiong Yuezhi gives the keynote speech

Professor Xiong Yuezhi started from the characteristics of Shanghai’s culture in ancient times, reviewed the evolution of Shanghai’s culture in modern times, analyzed the features of Shanghai in modern times, and summarized the factors of formation and cultural characteristics of Shanghai’s culture. He said that Shanghai was upgraded from a town to a county in the Yuan Dynasty as grains and other materials were transported from south to north via the sea route. Besides official transport, seaborne trade was also busy along Jiangsu and Zhejiang from the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. Shanghai is where the Yangtze River flows into the sea. As Qinglong Town, Jiangyin, and other ports declined with the eastward movement of the estuary of the Yangtze River, Shanghai rose as the main port for foreign trade in the Yangtze River Delta. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, salt, gauze, and cotton cloth became important economic products in Shanghai. Developed trade and commerce stimulated consumption. Lu Ji, the economic thinker and scholar in the Ming Dynasty, proposed the “theory about the benefits of luxury”, saying businessmen were enthusiastic about consumption and liked luxury houses and clothes to demonstrate their social status, which improved the business atmosphere in the city as well. So, Shanghai’s culture is closely related to business, and the focus on business is an important aspect of Shanghai’s culture.

Shanghai’s culture took shape after Shanghai was opened as a commercial port. With the influx of people from other places, Shanghai quickly became an “immigrant society” where native and non-native people mingled with each other. The cultural diversity and inclusiveness of the “immigrant society” promoted Shanghai’s prosperity.

According to Professor Xiong Yuezhi, Shanghai’s culture also features a self-criticism mechanism based on “dual identification”. Shanghainese have never avoided criticism, but developed a sound mechanism for cultural self-criticism. They often feel happy when non-natives say they don’t behave like Shanghainese”. So, the self-criticism mechanism of Shanghai’s culture makes Shanghainese always on the alert and introspective. On the contrary, if they always think their culture is excellent, the culture will gradually decline.

Finally, Professor Xiong Yuezhi summarized Shanghai’s culture. He considered that Shanghai’s culture is the urban culture of Shanghai that is based on the urban culture in the areas south of the Yangtze River during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, dominated by immigrants and integrated with the elements of western culture in modern times. With the absence of the traditional gentry function and in pursuit of profits, it highlights personalization, serves the public and is flexible and changeable.

Activity site

At the Think Tank Lecture, students of the College of Liberal Arts under Shanghai University also had in-depth exchanges with Professor Xiong Yuezhi on issues like the interaction between Jews and Shanghai’s culture, the current position and future influence of Shanghai’s culture and the contradiction between the openness of Shanghai’s culture and the restrictions imposed by the household registration system.

Article by Xiang Jinmei

Photos by Xiang Jinmei, Zha Jianguo