How Did Shanghai Acquire Its Name?

Ge Jianxiong

Ge Jianxiong isa pressor，Ph.D.in History，doctoral supervisor，former directorthe ographyand the ography ，and director the .He currently servesasamember theSocial Science Committee theMinistry Education andaStandingCommitteemember the12th National Committee the People'sPolitical Consultative Conference.

ccording to local chronicles，the name \"Shanghai\"originates from its geographical position“on the upper reaches the sea.\" However，this interpretationis merely a literal guess based on thecharacters“Shang\"（meaning \"upper\"）and“Hai\"（meaning“sea\"）. The origin a place's name usuallyhasa more specific reason. In fact，Shanghai got its name because itemergedalonga small rivercalled“ShanghaiPu\"Inthis region，riversareten referred to as“Pu.\"For example，the Huangpu River Was originally just called “Huang Pu.\"Near Shanghai Pu， therewasanotherrivercalled \"Xiahai Pu.\"Thus，Shanghaiarose from thebanks Shanghai Pu.

There has long been a saying that the emergence foreign concessionstransformedShanghai froma small fishing village into aninternationalmetropolis overnight.However，the realityis far more complex.

As early as the 10th century， during the late Five Dynasties period to the early Northern Song Dynasty，a settlement named \"Shanghai\"already existed.At that time，it was under the jurisdiction Xiuzhou （modern-day Jiaxing） intheLiangzhe Circuit.

In the first year the Tiansheng era during the Northern Song Dynasty （1023 CE），historical recordsmentiona government fice called the“Shanghai Wu.\" In the Song Dynasty， local fices knownas\"Wu\"were established tooverseetaxcollection，andthe ShanghaiWuprimarilyhandled liquor taxes.This indicates that thetradevolume alcohol in Shanghai was already substantial. enabling the government to collectconsiderable tax revenue. Asaresult，establishinga

liquor distribution hub，indicating that its commercial activity wasalreadywell-developed anditstransportationnetworks wereconvenientenough toattracttrade inalcohol produced elsewhere.Thisclearly demonstratesthatShanghai's economyatthis timecouldno longer have been merely that a small fishingvillage.Rather，ithad already evolved into a relatively prosperousmarkettown.

dedicatedtaxficebecame both necessary and financially viable，astheadministrative costs could be justified by the revenuegenerated.Thereare two possible explanations：

First，local grain production had reached asignificant scale， allowingaconsiderableportion commercial grain to be diverted forbrewing.Second， Shanghai may have served as a Inthethird yeartheXianchun era the Southern Song Dynasty （1267 CE），historical records mention a certain Dong serving asthe“Jianzhen\" Shanghai.The title“Jianzhen\"referstothechief administrative ficial governing thetown.This confirms that Shanghai Town hadalreadybeen established byatleast1267CE. Atthe time，Shanghai Townwas under the jurisdiction Huating County，Jiaxing Prefecture，in the Liangzhe West Circuit.This is the earliest evidence documenting theadministrativeconnection between Shanghai and Huating （present-day Songjiang）.

In the 29th year the Zhiyuan era the Yuan Dynasty（1292 CE），Shanghai was elevated to county status，fallingunder the administration Songjiang Prefecture in the Jiangzhe Province. Thisupgrade to a county signifies that the region had gained substantialimportance-whether economically， demographically， or fiscally.The county seat remained in Shanghai Old Town （presentday Huangpu District's Old City"area）.Althoughitsdefensive walls were not constructed until the Ming Dynasty， the location itself never changed.It wasn't until 1933 that the county government relocated to Beiqiao and in 1992，Shanghai County wasabolished and mergedinto"Minhang District. Thus， the founding Shanghai as an ficial cityismarked bytheestablishment Shanghai County in 1292.

During the Yuan Dynasty， seven Maritime Trade Offices wereestablished nationwidetooversee coastal trade，one in Shanghai.Later，during the reign Emperor Kangxi the Qing Dynasty，customs fices were setup in the provinces Jiangsu，Zhejiang，Fujian，and Guangdong.Among them，the Jiang Customs House （Jiang Haiguan） was established in Shanghai County， responsible"for taxation，navigation administration，shipmanagement， andtradeaffairs forallvesselsat 24 coastal ports in Jiangsu.Many people assume that theJiang Customs House Was established onlyafter thearrival foreign powers，but in fact，it was set up asearly as the Qing Dynasty.Even before Shanghai became a treaty port，it had already developed into aprosperous countytown.

Theficialabbreviation Shanghaiis“Hu\"（滬），derived from theancient term“Hudu\"（ 滬瀆），thenameforthelower reaches the Wusong River near the sea.It is said that local fishermen used a bamboo-woven tool for fishing，similar to today's bamboo fish traps or line cages， which allowed fish to enter but not escape.This tool was called “Hu\"（扈）.By adding thewater radical“\"to“扈，thecharacter “滬\"（Hu） was formed.In simplified ，this became “滬”（Hu），nowthe ficial abbreviation for Shanghai.

In the past， Shanghai was also abbreviatedas“Shen\"（申），as seenin historical nameslike “Shen Bao\"（《申報》，a famous newspaper） and“Shen River\"（申 江）.Legend traces this back to theSpringand Autumn Period （770-476 BCE） when this region wassupposedly the fiefdom Huang Xie，Lord Chunshen （春申 君）the Chu State.Someeven claim that the Huangpu Riverwas created under his command，so it Was called“Shen River\"“Huang Xie Pu\"or“Xie Pu\" However，in reality， the Shanghai area had notyet fully formedasdry land during the Spring and Autumn Period.It was largely submerged underwater. How could Huang Xie have been enfefedin Shanghai？ His fiefdom was locatedin Suzhou andcouldnothaveextendedto Shanghai.Moreover， theformation the Huangpu Riveroccurred much later，not taking shape until the Ming Dynasty.People in the Ming Dynasty tended to attribute things to ancient origins，and later generationsalso believed that associating something with antiquity signified its long history. Thisiswhythename“HuangXie Pu\"has persisted over time.

Literati ten refer to Shanghai poeticallyas“Haishang\"（海 上，literally\"on the sea\"），and this term frequently replaces \"Shanghai\"in their poetry and prose.Forexample，thereis a book titled The Sing-Song GirlsShanghai （Haishang Hua Liezhuan）.In fact，\"Haishang\"is notanicialname，and the term “Haishang\"could technicallyapply to any coastal location. Generally， itisnotconsidereda formal abbreviation forShanghai.