Songjiang, Shanghai


Songjiang is a suburban district of Shanghai. It has a land area of and a population of 1,909,713. Owing to a long history, Songjiang is known as the cultural root of Shanghai.
Songjiang Town, the urban center of the district, was formerly the major city in the area. It is now connected to downtown Shanghai by Line 9 of the Shanghai Metro.

History

The prehistoric coastline of the East China Sea was much farther inland, at Xinzhuang near Songjiang's current eastern border with Minhang District. It was only gradually that silt from the Yangtze River filled in downtown Shanghai about 2000 years ago and then Pudong and Chongming Island over the last 1000 years.
Modern archaeology has established a chronology of the main cultural groups who lived in the present area of Songjiang District in Neolithic China: the Majiabang in the 5th millennium ), the Songze in the 4th millennium), and the Liangzhu in the 3rd millennium. The Majiabang were among the first harvesters of rice and kept domesticated pigs while still frequently hunting deer. The Liangzhu possessed a high stratified society that almost certainly represented one of the earliest states in East Asia. The Liangzhu site at Guangfulin in Songjiang has been developed into Guangfulin Relics Park, an expansive museum and tourist attraction.
Traditional Chinese historiography only recorded these people as among the Baiyuethe "Numerous Southern Barbarians"until the growth of the siniticized Wu Kingdom at Suzhou in the 1st millennium. During the Spring and Autumn period at the end of the Zhou and under the Warring States, the area of present-day Songjiang passed from Wu to Yue to Chu before the unification of China under Shi Huangdi of Qin in the 3rd century.
In the Three Kingdoms period that followed the end of the Han in the 3rd century, Sun Quan's Wu Kingdom helped develop and further signify the area. Another boost came from the completion of the Grand Canal under the Sui, linking Songjiang with Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo in the south and Suzhou, Luoyang, Xi'an, and Beijing in the north. By the mid-Tang, the region had developed enough that it was organized in 751 into Huating County, the first county-level administration within modern-day Shanghai.
In the 1250s at the end of the Southern Song, the 10-year-old Songjiangese girl Huang Daopo fled her hometown and an arranged marriage to live with the Hlai on Hainan. She returned around 1295 with new strains of cotton, an early cotton gin, and other advances to cotton cultivation and processing that made the sandy lands of eastern Huating County so much more prosperous that Huang was later deified out of gratitude. By the mid-Qing, as much as ¾ of Songjiang's farmland was devoted to cotton. Under the Yuan, this new wealth saw Huating elevated to prefectural status and renamed Songjiangfu. This is sometimes considered the origin of China's modern textile industry. It was also under the Yuan that the city first had enough Hui to establish Shanghai's first mosque.
In 1404, headwaters previously emptying into the Wusong were rerouted by local officials, diminishing the size of Suzhou Creek and expanding the Huangpu River to its modern importance. Songjiang was better fortified under the Ming in response to attacks by the Japanese "Wokou" pirates, who sometimes raided and sometimes occupied to the town. The Ming also saw the Jesuitswho counted the influential Shanghainese official Xu Guangqi among their convertsestablish the town's first known church. Owing to the importance of Portuguese and Latin at the time, the town's name was romanized Sumkiam.
Following Dorgon's 21 July 1645 edict mandating the queue, the people of Songjiang rose up against the Qing to protect their hair, viewed as a symbol of virility and filial piety. Li Chengdong retook the city and massacred its population on 22 September 1645. Nonetheless, Songjiang remained the primary metropolis of the area of present-day Shanghai as late as the mid-19th century, when its name was typically romanized as Sungkiang. It continued to serve as the prefectural capital under the "Right" Governor of Jiangnan based in Suzhou and then later under the governor of Jiangsu at Jiangning. Unlike the foreign-held area of Shanghai, however, it fell to rebels during the Taiping Rebellion's Eastern Expedition. About a hundred Europeans under Frederick Townsend Ward failed to retake the town in June 1860. After gathering more Westerners, over 80 Philippine "Manilamen", and several pieces of artillery, a second assault in July 1860 retook the town with heavy losses. Out of about 250 men, 62 were killed and about 100 wounded, including Ward. Songjiang was then used by Ward, Henry Andres Burgevine, their Ever-Victorious Army, and Cheng Xueqi's division of the Huai Army as a base for raids and attacks on other Taiping positions under Li Xiucheng throughout the "Battle of Shanghai".
Despite Shanghai's greater importance by the beginning of the 20th century, its international settlement meant Songjiang was still used as the formal center of Chinese government for the region. Under the Republic of China, the Zhili clique leader Sun Chuanfang's Songhu or Songjiang Special Administrative District covered most of what is now Shanghai Municipality, extending as far north as Chongming Island.
During World War II, Japan occupied Songjiang from 9 November 1937 until 1945. Afterwards, both the Nationalist and Communist regional government was moved to Shanghai proper, leaving Songjiang a comparatively rural county. The city's many ancient religious structures and examples of traditional architecture were seriously damaged during the 1960s and 1970s amid the Cultural Revolution. Following the PRC's Opening Up Policy, Songjiang restored its more important religious buildings and developed into a college town hosting several large universities. In 1998, it was elevated to its current status as an urban district.

Significant features

Some of the notable features in Songjiang District include:
  • Songjiang New City is a major new-town development located within Songjiang District. It was developed as part of Shanghai's One City, Nine Towns plan. The New City will encompass an area of when completed, and will have a total population of 500,000 residents. The New City reflects Garden City design principles, with a large proportion of land allocated to green-space and parks.
  • Thames Town is a residential and commercial development located within the Songjiang New City that both imitates and is influenced by classic English market town styles. Some of the architecture has been directly copied from buildings found in England.
  • Songjiang University Town is a major higher education sector located in the district. It is the largest higher education sector in mainland China.
  • Shanghai First People's Hospital has a campus located within the Songjiang New City.
  • Shanghai Film Studios are located in Songjiang District.
  • InterContinental Hotel Shanghai Wonderland is built against the walls of a former quarry, and partly underwater: it claims to be the world's first underground five-star resort.
Cultural sights in Songjiang include:
The People's Government of Songjiang, Shanghai is located on No. 1 Yuanzhong Road.
The Shanghai Women's Prison is in Songjiang District.

Transport

Songjiang District is located approximately from Hongqiao International Airport and from Pudong International Airport. Songjiang is currently served by one metro line operated by Shanghai Metro, one suburban line operated by China Railway, and two tram lines.

Metro

Songjiang District has six subdistricts, eleven towns and three special township-level divisions.
NameChinese Hanyu PinyinShanghainese RomanizationPopulation Area
Yueyang Subdistrict岳阳街道Yuèyáng Jiēdàongoq yan ka do112,6715.65
Yongfeng Subdistrict永丰街道Yǒngfēng Jiēdàoion fon ka do93,33024.53
Zhongshan Subdistrict中山街道Zhōngshān Jiēdàotzon se ka do98,88826.34
Fangsong Subdistrict方松街道Fāngsōng Jiēdàofaon son ka do414,54814.76
Guangfulin Subdistrict广富林街道Guǎngfùlín Jiēdàokuaon fu lin ka do414,54819.05
Jiuliting Subdistrict九里亭街道Jiǔlǐtíng Jiēdàocioe lij din ka do414,5486.79
Chedun town车墩镇Chēdūn Zhèntsau ten tzen167,68745.30
Dongjing town洞泾镇Dòngjīng Zhèndon cin tzen57,86124.51
Jiuting town九亭镇Jiǔtíng Zhèncioe din tzen147,39826.13
Maogang town泖港镇Mǎogǎng Zhènmo kaon tzen41,62657.62
Sheshan town佘山镇Shéshān Zhènsau se tzen32,29555.70
Shihudang town石湖荡镇Shíhúdàng Zhènzaq wu daon tzen44,01144.28
Sijing town泗泾镇Sìjīng Zhènsy cin tzen94,27923.98
Xiaokunshan town小昆山镇Xiǎokūnshān Zhènsio khuen se tzen51,60630.52
Xinbang town新浜镇Xīnbāng Zhènsin pan tzen33,62744.75
Xinqiao town新桥镇Xīnqiáo Zhènsin djio tzen155,85631.43
Yexie town叶榭镇Yèxiè Zhènyiq zia tzen80,10472.49
Sheshan Resort佘山度假区Shéshān Dùjiàqūsau se du ka chiu42,58364.08
Shanghai Songjiang Export Processing Zone上海松江出口加工区Shànghǎi Sōngjiāng Chūkǒu Jiāgōngqūzaon he son kaon tseq khoe ka kon chiu60,7972.98
Songjiang Industrial Zone松江工业区Sōngjiāng Gōngyèqūson kaon kon gniq chiu60,79743.69