The humanistic heritage of a city is often hidden in those seemingly ordinary neighborhoods. Recently, Xueyue Feng Yong Book Club 's "Why Shanghai" lecture series of lectures on "Five Roads of the Five Corners Field" was launched. Teacher Zhang Guowei, a Fudan school history expert, a senior media person, and a special researcher of the Fudan University Archives, told everyone about the origin of the name "Wujiaochang".
The five-corner field was formed in the late Tang dynasty and early Song dynasty. In the first year of Song Jingkang (1126), the famous anti-Jin general Han Shizhong garrisoned the Jiangwan Jingdeguan (then known as the Dragon Temple, where the Wan'an Primary School was once located, and has now been demolished), and the Han Shizhong marching bottle excavated in the guan is now in the Shanghai History Museum. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, Baoshan was established as a county, and Jiangwan was assigned to Baoshan. Since modern times, this place has undergone transformation, which is the epitome of Shanghai's century-old urban development and a witness to the glory years.
Why is the pentagram field called "five-corner field"? Which five roads does the pentagram consist of? With the passage of time, what kind of vicissitudes have the five roads of Wujiaochang experienced? How do we view this period of history?
Five roads in the Pentagon
Xiangyin Road
Xiangyin Road starts from Jungong Road in the east, passes through the Railway Heyang Branch Line, Xiangyin Branch Road, Xiangyin Road No. 2 Bridge, Yingkou Road, Guohe Road, Guoku Road, Guoji Road, and The West Wujiaochang Ring Road, with a length of 2990 meters. Because of its spanning the two townships of Xiangxiang and Yinxing, it is named "Xiangyin Road".
Xiangyin Road was built in 1922, expanded in 1935, and in 1946 the east section of Shenjiaxing was cut off to the military road. In 1947, the western section of Songhu Road was renamed Handan Road.
Handan Road
Handan Road starts from Yixian Road in the west, passes through East Sports Club Road, Songhuajiang Road, Handan Road Bridge, Guoquan Road, Guonian Road, Guoshun Road, Guofu Road, Guoda Road, Guoding Road, to Wujiaochang Roundabout, with a total length of 2640 meters.
Handan Road was first built in 1922, coal shavings pavement, once known as Xiangyin Road. It was expanded in 1930 and widened to 9 meters in 1935, paved with asphalt. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, this road was once renamed Weidmai Road. Wei Demai was a general in the U.S. Army and served as chief of staff in the Chinese theater during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. After the liberation of Shanghai, Wei Demai Road was changed to Handan Road.
The reason for the name "Handan Road" is derived from an important battle in August 1945, the "Battle of Handan", which was a self-defense counterattack operation conducted by the troops of the Jin-Hebei Luyu Military Region in the area south of Handan on the Pinghan Railway in the early days of the Liberation War.
Handan Road comparison between the past and the present
Songhu Road
Songhu Road starts from Wujiaochang Ring Road in the south, passes through Zhengtong Road, Songhu Road Bridge, Zhengmin Road, Zhengli Road, and north to the north side of Zhayin Road. Originally 1530 meters long, it has now been expanded.
Songhu Road, named after the route from Wusong to the public concession, was first opened in 1922. The northern section of the initial construction from Xiaojipu to Xiangyin Road via Xujin Bridge, coal shavings pavement. In 1926, the north section of The section from Gongjiang Road to Huade Road (now Changyang Road) was built (this section was merged into Huangxing Road in 1931). During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese invaders built jiangwan airport and circled the section north of Zhayin Road into the airport, which became the current section of the road.
Huangxing Road
Huangxing Road is connected to Ningguo Road in the south, starting from Changyang Road, passing through Zhoujiazui Road, Kongjiang Road, Yanji Middle Road, Songhuajiang Road, Guoquan Road, Guoshun Road, Guoding Road in the north, and connecting to Wujiaochang Ring Road, with a length of 3860 meters.
Huangxing Road was first built in 1926 as a section of road on the north side of The Road from Kongjiang Road to Huade Road (now Changyang Road), with a width of 7 meters and a coal-cut road surface, named Songhu Road. From 1930 to 1931, in preparation for the First National Games, a section of Xiangyin Road to Gongjiang Road was built, which was connected to Songhu Road in the south, and merged and renamed Huangxing Road, named after Huang Xing, the founder of Xinhai.
In 1950, the entire line was changed to a mud gravel road. In 1962, the north of Kongjiang Road was covered with mud and gravel asphalt, and the south was covered with black gravel. From July 1981 to January 1982, the asphalt concrete pavement north of Zoumatang was resurfaced with a width of 12 meters.
Siping Road
Siping Road starts from Liyang Road in Hongkou District in the south and enters Yangpu District through Dalian Road, with a total length of 4970 meters. The road was built in April 1930 and between 1941 and 1942, with a small train track on the east side. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the section south of the No. 3 Bridge was used as an airslide with a hangar, which was changed to a bus after liberation. It was rebuilt in 1955 and widened in 1982 to prepare for the Fifth National Games.
Siping Road was once named Xiangzha Road, which was named because it connected Yingxiang and Zhabei. Later, it was renamed after Chen Qimei, the elder of the Xinhai Revolution, as "Qimei Road". Chen Qimei served as the governor of the Shanghai Army after the restoration of Shanghai, and in 1913 he rebelled against Yuan Shikai, and in May 1916, he was assassinated in Shanghai. In May 1950, it was renamed "Siping Road", and the name of the road was derived from the Siping Campaign in the Northeast Liberation War.
One of the most basic characteristics of these five roads is that the word "ten" is added to a stroke to form a "talent" word.
The humanistic story of the five roads of the five corners of the field
Five Roads is younger than Fudan
Fudan University was founded in Jiangwan in 1922, when there was no wujiaochang. The concept of "five-pointed field" was born later and was widely used after the founding of New China. Its broad range is east to Jungong Road, west to Dabaishu, north to Yinhang Road, and south to Zoumatang. The five roads from which the name Pentagon Field originated were finally completed in the 1930s. Therefore, from the perspective of time, the pentagram is even younger than Fudan.
Before these five roads were built, it was called "New Shanghai" or "New China". The famous painter Zao Wou-Ki lived in this area when he was a child, and his memoirs do not have the three words "Wujiaochang", only "New Shanghai" and "New China". These two titles are related to the "Greater Shanghai Plan" during the Period of the Nationalist Government. In order to distinguish itself from the concessions, this area was once used as the downtown area of Shanghai planned in the "Greater Shanghai Plan", and people were given the expectation of prosperity and strength.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, nearby residents gradually called this area "Five Corners Field". After the founding of New China, Wujiaochang Township was established in 1950. In 1956, the Wujiaochang Office was established and merged into Jiangwan District. In 1958, it was assigned to Yangpu District, and in 1959, it was assigned to Baoshan County. In 1962, the office was abolished and the town of Wujiaochang was established. In 1984, Wujiaochang Town was transferred to Yangpu District. After that, Wujiaochang Town was divided into two, and Wujiaochang Town and Wujiaochang Subdistrict were established respectively. In April 2019, Wujiaochang Town was renamed Changhai Road Subdistrict.
Xiangyin Road is the first municipal road in Wujiaochang
Xiangyin Road is the first road with municipal significance in Wujiaochang. Xiangyin Road was opened in 1925, and the first municipal road was built in front of Fudan University. In December 1933, the Zhabei Huashang Bus Company opened a new No. 4 bus, which passed from Shanghai North Railway Station through the western section of Xiangyin Road (Handan Road) to Jiangwan Shanghai Municipal Government, and the road from the urban area to Fudan was officially opened.
There are three colleges and universities on this road (Handan Road): Fudan University, Liangjiang Women's Sports College, and Light Industry College.
PentagonAl Screening Station and Eagle Cinema
In the 1950s, there were no cinemas in Pentagon, only mobile screening teams for rural films that were popular at the time.
In 1960, the screening team rented the Second Army Auditorium at the intersection of Guohe Road and Xiangyin Road and began to broadcast movies at fixed points, and this simple auditorium was called "Wujiaochang Screening Station" and sold tickets to the outside world. In 1983, the "Xiangying Cinema" located on the south side of Xiangyin Road was completed, and "Little Light" finally ended its mission.
Huangxing Road: The road with the most cloud cover
In March 1932, the League of Nations Lytton's investigative mission visited Shanghai to investigate the Sino-Japanese dispute. In June 1937, Japanese Marines made a surprise visit to the Huangxing Road Bridge. In 1941, the Japanese army excavated an underground tunnel, and in 1970 it was discovered when digging an air raid shelter... Huangxing Road, named after the Founding Father of Xinhai, has witnessed the humiliation, quest and struggle of modern China.
Siping Road: One of the most humanistic roads
Xinlu Village (later renamed Xinlu Village) in the western section of Siping Road, originally located in the current Siping Road and Ouyang Road, was once the teacher's dormitory of Xinlu Normal College, xinlu normal college was later renamed "Municipal Teacher College", Dai Wangshu, Shi Jingcun, Sun Dayu and Chen Renbing successively taught or part-time classes at the school, living in Xinlu Village.
Tongji University in the eastern section was originally the main campus of the "Japan Junior High School". When the school was reopened in 1946, professors Li Guohao, Guo Shaoyu, Chen Quan, Feng Qi and other professors were all teaching in Tongji, and Mao Dun, Shi Fuliang, Ma Sulun, Tian Han, Hong Shen, Zang Kejia and Ma Yinchu were all invited to give lectures at the Tongji Auditorium.
On January 29, 1948, during the Tongji 1.29 Movement, the Kuomintang military and police surrounded Qimei Road and suppressed teachers and students in Tongji, causing serious bloodshed. Later, tongji auditorium was named "1.29 Auditorium".
These five roads connect new Shanghai with the old city and broaden the municipal space; these five roads bring together famous schools and have humanistic colors. Exploring the value of these five paths, whether it is for historical research or regional development, has significance that cannot be underestimated.
Editor: Wu Baixin
Source: XueyueFeng YongShu Society
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