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111-457: The Broadway Mansions ( simplified Chinese : 百老汇大厦 ; traditional Chinese : 百老匯大廈 ; pinyin : Bǎilǎohuì Dàshà , Shanghainese : Pahlowe Dusa ) is a nineteen-floor Art Deco five-star hotel in Shanghai, China . and was for over five decades one of the primary symbols of Shanghai. Completed in 1934, the same year as the 19 feet taller Park Hotel . Upon its completion it became

222-724: A US Congress sub-committee, "Broadway Mansion is the "brain" of all Japanese control in Shanghai. Here most of the important combined policy meetings are held." The Mansions was used as the headquarters of the Japanese Army Liaison Office. Before December 1941, the Japanese military government held weekly (and later bi-weekly) press conferences at the Broadway Mansions, and had offices there, including its transportation office. Foreigners who transgressed

333-424: A character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓   ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏   ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of

444-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst

555-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as

666-482: A main and a side building, is a hotel accommodating foreign tourists, businessmen, overseas Chinese." At that time the Mansions had 370 guest rooms (including some deluxe suites ) and 1,468 beds. In 1985 one visitor referred to the "Thirties fortress of Shanghai Mansions, its thick brick walls pocked by black windows. The General Manager of the Mansions from 1985 to at least 1999 was Tao Pei Tai (born 1 August 1946), who

777-711: A modern American skyscraper ". It commands possibly the best view of the Bund and Huangpu. Originally called "The Broadway Mansions", it was renamed "Shanghai Mansions" by the Shanghai Municipal Council in 1951, but reverted to its original name after China opened up again to the West. The Broadway Mansions has been owned and operated by the Shanghai Hengshan (Group) Holdings Company (上海市人民政府直属的上海衡山集团) since at least 1985. The Broadway Mansions Hotel

888-610: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as

999-573: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),

1110-490: A popular brothel in this period of American occupancy. While Edward Ward in 1947 considered the Mansions to be "one of the most modern luxury blocks of flats", Harrison Forman, noticing the changes in the Mansions since its halcyon days before the war, reflected on his return, "Now it looked rundown and motheaten." American Pulitzer Prize –winning journalist Keyes Beech described the Broadway Mansions as "a steel and concrete apartment hotel that shot eighteen stories up from

1221-696: A restaurant on the top of the building. Today the Broadway Mansions Hotel has six restaurants , and is famous for its Huaiyang cuisine . According to Professor Anne Warr, Despite the uncertainties of the 1930s, in particular the increasing Japanese control over Chinese territory, the growing influence of the Communist Party, and the corruption of the Nationalist Government, Shanghai boomed. The first American style Art Deco skyscraper appeared on The Bund just as

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1332-506: A roof top garden, and even a squash court. Initially the Mansions had 370 guest rooms, and also housed offices and shops. According to Fiona Shen, "part hotel, part apartment block, it also catered to that fixture of Shanghai economic life during the Concession period - the young, single expatriate - with its 99 stylish and compact bachelor pads ." Broadway Mansions Hotel was the first hotel in Shanghai that had an indoor parking facility,

1443-402: A structure that had four levels with 80 spaces. The phone system was built at the time of its construction, and its phone number (46260) has remained unchanged. The Broadway Mansions is considered "one of the finest architectural examples in Shanghai, and the ideal starting point for an art deco walking tour of the city, ... an unashamedly Gotham-esque structure with a commanding location to

1554-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌   'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊   'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,

1665-520: Is an example of the Art Deco or Streamline Moderne style of architecture that emerged in the 1920s and flourished in the 1930s The Broadway Mansions is a steel-framed red brick building "in the stepped skyscraper mode", that is 78 meters (256 ft) in height, with a total floor space of 24,596 square meters (264,750 sq ft). Steel-framed structures were used in Shanghai from 1916 onwards, originally for eight- to ten-story buildings, but by

1776-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with

1887-740: Is located at 20 Bei Suzhou Road (formerly 1 Broadway), Shanghai , in the North Bund area of the Hongkou District . It is at the northern end of the Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge). It is at the corner of Bei Suzhou Road, Huangpu Road, and Daming Road (formerly Broadway), and is less than 30 meters (98 ft) from the Suzhou Creek , close to its confluence with the Huangpu River . It is also bounded by Haining Road at

1998-794: Is not the most luxurious hotel in Shanghai." On 23 February 1967, a "grave incident" occurred at the Shanghai Agricultural Department, that became known as the Shanghai Mansions Incident. During the period of the Shanghai Revolution (or January Revolution) of January 1967, which led to the short-lived Shanghai People's Commune , on 20 February, men "were sent to the Shanghai mansion to urge the [striking] workers to go back to their agricultural production posts." On 23 February 1967, an " expatriate rebel group which had set up headquarters in

2109-813: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at

2220-623: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c.  100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to

2331-547: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,

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2442-599: The Reorganized Government of Wang Jingwei ) had its Foreign Affairs Bureau on the fourth floor of the Broadway Mansions. In an unsuccessful attempt to increase the number of Japanese ratepayers and thus gain a majority on the Shanghai Municipal Council , which governed the International Settlement, a Japanese joint stock company purchased the Broadway Mansions in 21 March 1939 at a considerable loss to its owners for $ 5,000,000, with

2553-769: The Shanghai Concession . Beginning in the 1880s, the area of contemporary Yangpu District began industrializing, with the Shanghai Machinery and Papermaking Office ( Chinese : 上海机器造纸局 ; pinyin : Shànghǎi Jīqì Zàozhǐ Jú ) opening in 1882, and the Yangshupu Waterworks opening in 1883. In 1890, the Shanghai Machine Weaving Office ( Chinese : 上海机器织布局 ; pinyin : Shànghǎi Jīqì Zhībù Jú ), one of China's first modern textile weaving factories,

2664-715: The University of Shanghai for Science and Technology , Second Military Medical University , the Shanghai University of Sport , and Shanghai Ocean University . Both the Lycée Français de Shanghai and German School Shanghai share a "Eurocampus" in Yangpu District, which opened in 2019. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Yangpu District has increasingly developed away from labor-intensive industry towards commerce and high technology:

2775-490: The Waibaidu Bridge by the advancing Communist forces. There about two hundred foreigners trapped within the Mansions during the battle, who were terrified for their safety. Peter Townsend recalls: "When you go out on the parapet of Broadway Mansions a bullet whistles above your head and you duck and crawl back on your hands and knees." Journalist Edwin Palmer Hoyt, whose apartment was in the Broadway Mansions, described

2886-883: The Yangpu Bridge , the Xiangyin Road Tunnel  [ zh ] , the Dalian Road Tunnel  [ zh ] , and the Jungong Road Tunnel  [ zh ] . A fourth tunnel, the Yinhang Road Tunnel is currently under construction. The Inner Ring Road and Middle Ring Road traverse through Yangpu District. The industrial wharves along the Huangpu River which service the industrial centres of Yangpu are being phased out by residential developments on

2997-405: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Yangpu District The name Yangshupu, formerly romanized as Yangtzepoo or Yangtszepoo , is Chinese for " poplar bank " and refers to the creek ( simplified Chinese : 杨树浦|河 ; traditional Chinese : 楊樹浦河 ; pinyin : Yángshùpǔ Hé ) running through

3108-459: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across

3219-462: The 1930s, for up to twenty-four stories. The building's floor plan was modeled after the Chinese character for the number eight, which is a symbol of luck and prosperity. The facade of the Broadway Mansions was one of its distinctive features. The design of the Mansions was "influenced by modernism ", and like "most apartment buildings in Shanghai featured a simple and modern style of exterior". According to Peter Rowe and Seng Kuan, after describing

3330-482: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3

3441-520: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of

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3552-568: The American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines in discussing accommodation in Shanghai indicated: "Broadway Mansions? No. That's out. It is ... mostly empty and in darkness. Some Japanese military are there, that is all. It is a British property, Shanghai's newest and best apartment hotel. Another indemnity is accumulating." Within a year most of the Mansions was rented to Japanese tenants. According to testimony presented to

3663-695: The American economy collapsed and Shanghai was about to enter its most dynamic decade. At the end of the 1920s as Europe and America went into financial depression, shiploads of unemployed foreigners arrived in Shanghai seeking their fortune. In three years, Shanghai’s foreign population almost doubled, from 36,500 in 1930 to 70,000 in 1933. Architects abandoned the Beaux-Arts styles of earlier decades and whole-heartedly embraced Art Deco and Modernism. ... During this period, clashing concepts of nationalism , imperialism and internationalism were reflected in

3774-466: The American wives and black market speculators with military personnel", who all cursed the Chinese, including both the Communists and Chiang Kai-shek . Along with the decline in value of the Chinese currency, both gambling and opium-smoking increased, as did concerns about what to do with their White Russian mistresses should the Communists triumph and evict them from China. The Mansions also hosted

3885-479: The Broadway Mansions at 11.00am on 17 August 1937, with all non-Japanese residents were ordered to evacuate from the Broadway Mansions by Japanese military sailors, often at the point of a bayonet . Soon the Japanese flag fluttered over the Broadway Mansions, to the great delight of Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who toured Shanghai in April 1938. The Mansions became a de facto Japanese possession. The Journal of

3996-524: The Broadway Mansions was occupied by officers of the U.S. Military Aid Group in China (MAGIC) and their dependents, with 400 billets being provided at the Mansions. The ground floor hosted a small American army hospital. American fighter pilot Bill Dunn, one of the first to occupy the Mansions in August 1945, recalled: "In Shanghai we were billeted at the Broadway Mansions, a beautiful European-style hotel. There

4107-485: The Broadway Mansions, at that time home for 200 U.S. servicemen and their dependents, demanding the American military (which they likened to the British imperialists and the Japanese aggressors) leave China. The American-owned China Weekly Review attributed the cause of the Chinese hostility to the "outrageous conduct" of American military police and other Army and Marine" personnel. Also immediately after World War II ,

4218-595: The Broadway Mansions, ... one of the Far East 's finest hotels, waited on hand and foot by servants", making it "the most decorous press club in Asia". Journalist Richard Hughes joked that "Most of the correspondents lived there, incestuously". The bar was located in the penthouse on the 17th floor. The parties held in the Foreign Correspondents' Club were notorious. While there was intense fighting in

4329-560: The Bund alone), was one of the oldest architectural firms in the world, and was founded by British architect William Salway (1844–1902) in Hong Kong in 1868. British architect Clement Palmer (1857–1952) joined the firm in 1883, while structural engineer Arthur Turner (born 1858) joined the next year. Palmer and Turner became partners in 1891. In 1912 they established a branch in Shanghai managed by British architect, George Leopold "Tug" Wilson (1881–1967). Palmer & Turner designed many of

4440-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components

4551-552: The Communists in an hour if the latter had wanted to do so." The hoisting of the red flag with five yellow stars of the People's Republic of China on the roof of the Broadway Mansions on 27 May 1949 signified the final conquest of Shanghai by the People's Liberation Army. After the surrender of Shanghai to the People's Liberation Army on 27 May 1949, and especially after the declaration of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949,

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4662-696: The Japanese rules of the territory occupied by Japan were held for questioning in the Mansions. After December 1938, as a result of a meeting of Japanese military authorities and the Japanese-appointed puppet regime Reformed Government of the Republic of China led by Liang Hongzhi in Nanjing , which led to the formation "the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Anhui Opium Suppression Bureau (Su Zhe Wan jinyanju) on

4773-595: The Kuomintang's defense of Shanghai against the invading People's Liberation Army . Eventually, just over one thousand Nationalists defended the Broadway Mansions, where they had entrenched themselves on the upper floors, where they could shoot from the windows and from the roof. From the roof of Broadway Mansions, just above the Foreign Press Club, the Kuomintang snipers could rake the approaches to

4884-511: The Mansions for a year between 1976 and 1977, described the Mansions as "a mastodon among the low buildings that surround it; walls, plumbing, closets are all solid." Referring to the Mansion's popularity, Masi indicated: "Depending on the time of year, this large room is half empty or crowded with tourists. The Dasha, which is known in English as Shanghai Mansions, for long stopovers . By 1978

4995-524: The Mansions hosted the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, which had been founded in Chongqing on 18 May 1943, in its upper four floors, and billeted its members and their families, until soon after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in October 1949. American journalist John Robinson Beal explained: "It's easy to understand why the correspondents prefer Shanghai. One lives comfortably at

5106-472: The Mansions was also known as the 'Golden River Hotel', which The Times journalist James Bertram (1910–1980) described as "an elaborate Western-style hotel-cum-apartment-house that has survived the war years and the Japanese occupation without visible change." In 1956 British novelist and film producer Rubeigh James Minney, who visited Shanghai in 1956, referred to the Shanghai Mansions' store on

5217-483: The Mansions was used increasingly as a hotel for visitors from Third World countries, thus improving the accommodation situation in Shanghai. An American academic who stayed at the Mansions in the summer of 1982, said: "With its somewhat shabby decor, the hotel lobby at Shanghai Mansions was a hangout in the evenings for the African and Middle Eastern students of Shanghai." By 1984, "The Shanghai Mansions, consisting of

5328-634: The Mansions: "The Broadway Mansions, which seems to be so constructed that the wind always whistles through it (which is very cheering on a hot summer day), seems to have been shown quite frequently in American newspapers". Gary Jones wrote, "the 22-floor ocher-brick structure is now dwarfed by twinkling skyscrapers that have sprung up in recent years, and yet still exudes a menacing solidity and here-to-stay confidence. According to its official website, Broadway Mansions Hotel has accommodated hundreds of leaders and government delegates from different nations around

5439-504: The Metropole Hotel and Hamilton House, also designed by Palmer & Turner about the same time: "A similar approach to both architecture and place making was taken almost simultaneously by B. Flazer, with the curved symmetric stepped-back facade of the Broadway Mansions. ... The firm of Palmer and Turner was to continue with curvilinear plan forms in the organic layout of the large Embankment Building of 1933. The Mansions had

5550-740: The Shanghai Mansions, staged an assault on the Revolutionary Committee's economic department". On 24 February 1967, the evening the Shanghai Commune was renamed the Shanghai Municipal Revolutionary Committee at the instigation of Mao Zedong , "the committee sent some 'representatives' on a 'fact-finding investigation' to ... the Shanghai Mansion, the site of an apparently large but undetermined colony of returnees from

5661-464: The architecture. Internationalism from New York permeated Shanghai in the form of skyscrapers and the latest Hollywood movies, while Japanese imperialism filtered into every corner. The Broadway Mansions was designed by Mr. B. Flazer, and the structural engineer who supervised construction was John William Barrow, both of the architectural firm of Palmer & Turner . Palmer & Turner, who designed many of Shanghai's major buildings (13 buildings on

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5772-410: The area around Wujiaochang now boast ten large commercial centers and the research and development zone on Dalian Road hosts the regional headquarters of Siemens and Continental AG . As of 2020, Yangpu District administers 12 subdistricts . Yangpu District is connected to the neighbouring Pudong New Area across the Huangpu River by one bridge, three tunnels, and six ferry lines. These include

5883-603: The area beside present-day Lanzhou Rd (formerly Lay Road) from the Qiu River in the north to the Huangpu River in the south. Yangshupu District was established in 1945, but the Shanghai Municipal Government contracted the name to Yangpu in 1950. As with most of modern Shanghai, the territory of Yangpu has been formed by sediments deposited by the Yangtze River over many centuries. It

5994-585: The area. The inland part of the former International Settlement in the area made up part of the Shanghai Ghetto . In December 1944, Yangshupu District was established with an area of 7.7 km (3.0 sq mi). Following the Communist conquest of Shanghai in 1949, the area was developed. Yangpu District's boundaries expanded in 1956, 1960, and 1984. The area was especially used for heavy industries. The district's present territory west of

6105-536: The bank of Soochow Creek, an American pillar of plenty", but indicated that "the best thing about the Broadway Mansions was the view". In May 1949 the Broadway Mansions was still the tallest apartment building in Shanghai, but described as a "building with dull red brick". From 25 May 1949, during the Chinese Civil War , one of the few significant battles in Shanghai was, what foreign residents called, "The Battle of Broadway Mansions", where for two days there

6216-656: The board was Harry Edward Arnhold (born 16 January 1879 in Hong Kong), a Briton of German ancestry who had been educated in Britain, the chairman of the Sassoon-controlled Arnhold & Company, a former Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (1923); and the sometime chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC). The primary developer and financer of the Broadway Mansions

6327-701: The buildings on The Bund , including the Neo-Renaissance style Union Building (1916), its first work in Shanghai, and the first building in Shanghai to use a steel structure; the Neo-Renaissance Mercantile Bank of India, London and China building (1916); the Yokohama Specie Bank Building (1920s); and the neo-classical HSBC Building (1921–1923); the adjacent Greek Revival neo-classical Customs House (1927). Wilson had supervised construction of

6438-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between

6549-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant

6660-405: The circumstances changed dramatically for the residents of the Broadway Mansions. According to Ross Terrill, "Foreign journalists drifted out of China to other assignments. The Foreign Correspondents Club in Broadway Mansions unraveled. Its Chinese staff were paid off; waiters were given leftover mustard . ... Today there are no dances, but you can get a good view" from the roof. On 20 June 1949

6771-567: The city, as role reclaimed, the Nanpu Bridge located downstream. While acknowledging that "the view to the river from the rooftop terrace ... is breathtaking", one 1993 guidebook warned, "Unfortunately, its location can become a drawback in the evening, as the sonorous horns of the river barges pose a constant challenge to sleep." In 1995 the Shanghai Mansions was evaluated by the State Tourism Bureau, and named one of

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6882-438: The considerable hesitation of H.E. (Harry) Arnhold, the chairman of the board. At that time The China Weekly Review reported: "One of the most luxurious hotels in Shanghai, Broadway Mansions has 156 hotel suites, 56 apartments, and eight offices and stores." Many non- missionary foreigners were interned at the Broadway Mansions after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, and

6993-406: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from

7104-401: The countryside." These 'counter-revolutionary" forces were suppressed, and the ring leaders were punished. However, after this incident "they continued to deploy large numbers around the Shanghai Mansions day and night, beating up public security personnel." During the Cultural Revolution , the Mansions was renamed the Anti-Imperialism Building by Chinese Red Guards . By 1973, the Mansions

7215-588: The defeat of the Kuomintang : "The rot of the Kuomintang was definitely showing, nowhere more tragically than on Soochow Creek, just below the windows of the Broadway Mansions Hotel, the press hotel for the correspondents. From the windows of their comfortable apartments, they could look out at the steaming mass of humanity crowded beneath." Townsend reported during the final stages of the battle, "They're hanging on at Broadway Mansions ... for nothing." According to Brown and Pickowicz, "The thousand or so Nationalists defending Broadway Mansions could have been subdued by

7326-425: The dominant landmark in the Shanghai landscape: The announcement of the metropolis has also changed. It is no longer the magnificent art deco silhouette of the Shanghai Dasha [Shanghai Mansions] or the Waibaidu metallic bridge which marks the beginning of the center city and the Bund but, much further upstream, the Yangpu stayed-girder bridge . Completed in 1993, it has become the huge waterway entrance into

7437-416: The early 1920s, journalist turned revolutionary Chen Duxiu remarked in the New Youth magazine that the area of Yangshupu had become industrialized. By 1927, the area hosted 57 foreign factories, and a thriving textile industry. In 1929, the Wujiaochang farmers' market ("Pentagon Plaza") was constructed in the north. Later, during the Japanese occupation from 1937 to 1945, barracks and houses were built in

7548-426: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see

7659-494: The entire 8.3 square miles (21 km) of the International Settlement, and had about 30,000 Japanese residents, while there about 20,000 other foreigners in both the International Settlement and French Concession combined. The area was dominated and controlled by the Japanese military. After the surrender of non-foreign Shanghai in November 1937, the International Settlement north of the Suzhou Creek, became almost exclusively Japanese in population. The Japanese military commandeered

7770-439: The fifth floor of the Broadway Mansions. ... They were empowered to control the import and distribution of opium , to enforce licensing conditions for opium hongs and smokers, and to collect revenues from opium sales. ... All fifty-eight licensed opium hongs in Shanghai ... had to pick up their opium requisitions from the bureau on the fifth floor of the Broadway Mansions." The Reformed Government (and its successor,

7881-490: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over

7992-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including

8103-475: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility

8214-406: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during

8325-464: The ground floor: "On the ground floor there is a very superior general store", where, "the atmosphere was much more elegant: by contrast one might say it was on the Harrods level." In 1965, the Mansions was described as "the huge ugly building in Shanghai". Belgian journalist Jacques Marcuse concurred with that assessment, describing the Mansions in 1967 as "that tall yet squat ugly building". while in

8436-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d.  782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what

8547-465: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d.  208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,

8658-767: The majority of British buildings along The Bund until their new client, Sir Victor Sassoon tilted them towards Art Deco and Modernism at the end of the 1920s, and such buildings as the Art Deco Sassoon House (1926–1929); the Yangtze Insurance Building ; the Broadway Mansions (1934); and subsequently the Old Bank of China Building, Shanghai (1937). The Broadway Mansions is "a brick patterned Art Deco apartment block ...[that] would not have looked out of place in Manhattan ", and

8769-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,

8880-478: The new Broadway Mansions which, abandoning all restraint ... lifts its optimistic head from its broad substantial shoulders and shouts to the settlement." Canadian Gordon Sinclar, described the Mansions "as posh an apartment house as anything in Toronto or Montreal ." One travel guide described the Mansions as "a 22-story brick ziggurat ". Harold Conant, who lived in Shanghai for ten years from 1931, depicted

8991-478: The north of the Bund." Soon after its opening, the Mansions was described as a "prominent, tall white structure", Professor Lancelot Forster was enthusiastic in his assessment of the newly completed Broadway Mansions in 1936. After describing its contemporary, the Cathay Hotel, which "seems to point to loftier things, ... defying the smug security of the earth as it soars upwards, and yet not so blatantly as

9102-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted

9213-481: The rear, and Wusong Road South on the west. It is across Daming Road from the Astor House Hotel . Before the mansions were constructed, a building owned by the British firm Shanghai electric construction company stood on its site. Construction for the Broadway Mansions was started in 1930, and completed by October 1934, and cost $ 10 million (Mexican) (approximately US$ 3.4 million at that time). The Mansions

9324-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on

9435-661: The remaining 11 foreigners residing in the Broadway Mansions were ordered to leave to make room for political and military workers. By 1950 the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Government Information Office, had its headquarters in the Broadway Mansions. On 1 May 1951, the Shanghai Municipal Council , who had assumed ownership in 1945, renamed the Mansions as "'Shanghai dasha' or the Grand Building of Shanghai", or as more popularly known in English, "the Shanghai Mansions". Apparently, in 1957,

9546-495: The river was formed after the incorporation of Wujiaochang District from Baoshan County in 1984. In 1992, Yangpu's territories south of the Huangpu River were designated part of the Pudong New District . A number of prominent universities are situated in Yangpu District, such as Fudan University , Tongji University , the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics , the Shanghai University of Electric Power ,

9657-404: The rural areas of China during the escalating Chinese Civil War , this "did not prevent the parties in the foreign correspondents' club atop the eighteen-story Broadway Mansions, where dancing went on under gaily colored lights." "on its top floor foreigners and their White Russian mistresses used to dance the sultry Shanghai nights away." At these parties, "White Russian mistresses mingled with

9768-481: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted

9879-413: The same year, Sally Backhouse, after describing "slab-like buildings that towered above the rest, holed by myriad windows and grimy with dirt, like dry old discolored cheese", indicated that "the largest of these was the famous 'Broadway Mansions', in capitalist days a block of luxury flats and rented buildings." Another resident described the Mansions in the mid-1960s as a huge hotel, but "Shanghai Mansion

9990-467: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊

10101-706: The subsequent evacuation of its Japanese tenants and occupants, the Shanghai Municipal Council assumed ownership of the Broadway Mansions. The Council leased part of the Mansions to the foreign correspondents and the remainder to the United States military, where it became the headquarters for the American Military Mission that advised Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government of the Republic of China . The first five or six floors of

10212-405: The tallest apartment building in Shanghai and remained so for several decades. Located near the confluence of Suzhou Creek and the Huangpu River , as well as the northern end of The Bund , it was built by the architectural and engineering firm of Palmer and Turner , and its completion in 1935 heralded the commencement of the high-rise building era in Asia. It was Shanghai's "closest approach to

10323-497: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to

10434-833: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes

10545-465: The twelve national best star hotels. By 1996, the Mansions was again renamed - this time a reversion to a name similar to its original name - the Broadway Mansions Hotel, reflecting the increased openness to the West as a result of the reforms of Deng Xiaoping , and the shift from providing long-term residential apartment accommodation to that of a hotel. At that time the Mansions was described as "rather dull compared to other Shanghai hotels". The Hotel

10656-522: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of

10767-576: The vicinity around this time. In 1404, the Huangpu River shifted to its present course, entering the Yangtze River around Wusong . Toward the end of the Ming dynasty , villages along the river flourished, engaging in agriculture, banking, textiles and water-borne trade. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking opened Shanghai as a treaty port, and in 1863, part of present-day Yangpu District was included in

10878-526: The waterfront. Yangpu District has 15.5 kilometers of bank along Huangpu River, which is the longest among all districts in Puxi . As of July 2019, 5.5 kilometers of jogging and cycling lane has been built along the bank. Yangpu is currently served by five metro lines operated by Shanghai Metro : Line 4 , Line 8 , Line 10 , Line 12 and Line 18 . Jiangwan Stadium is located in Yangpu District along with its associated athletic complex. Yangpu District

10989-465: The world. Some of these include: 31°14′40″N 121°29′10″E  /  31.24444°N 121.48611°E  / 31.24444; 121.48611 Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century

11100-651: The years before the Second Sino-Japanese War , " Honkew 's only outstanding building was the Broadway Mansion." On its completion, "this monumental pyramid was one of Shanghai's two tallest buildings." From its inception, it "had been a headquarters for Japanese commercial activity", due to its proximity to Shanghai's Little Tokyo, comprising the Yangpu and Hongkou districts. In 1932, Little Tokyo comprised 4.25 square miles (11 km) out of

11211-758: Was "originally built in 1934 as an exclusive residential hotel by the British". The Mansions was built by Ye Guang Estate Property Company, for the Shanghai Land Investment, Company controlled by Sir Victor Sassoon . Additionally, Sassoon owned the Cathay Mansions , another apartment building in the French Concession. Along with the two other tallest buildings in Shanghai, (the Palace Hotel and Sassoon House ), these skyscrapers were all owned by Baghdadi Jews. The chairman of

11322-530: Was Dr. Maurice Benjamin who had "financed and built much of the Shanghai coast". Benjamin, who was one of the more prominent landowners and businessmen in Shanghai, considered an expert on real estate, was also a leading board member of the Shanghai Land Investment Company, and a former member of the Shanghai Municipal Council (1920–1921), According to Maisie Meyer, "Broadway Mansions was hailed as Maurice Benjamin's masterpiece." In

11433-464: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing  [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by

11544-458: Was also Deputy General Manager of Hengshan Group Holding Co., the owner of the Mansion. In 1989 a double room in the Mansions was US$ 50 per night. One 1991 Chinese travel guide extolled the service ethic of the Mansion: "The Shanghai Mansions adheres strictly to the guideline of "guests first, service first, courtesy first and tidiness first". However, after September 1993 the Mansions was no longer

11655-437: Was established. In 1899, 10.89 km (4.20 sq mi) of what is now the south of modern Yangpu District was partitioned to become part of the International Settlement. Additional factories were constructed soon after in the area, especially along Yangshupu Road. Textile, paper-making, and shipbuilding industries were established by the early 20th century in what was then organized as part of Hongkew (now Hongkou ). By

11766-483: Was fierce fighting in the vicinity of the Broadway Mansions between the forces of the Kuomintang and the People's Liberation Army . From 30 April 1949 retreating Nationalist soldiers took possession of the Broadway Mansions, the nearby Central Post Office and the Embankment apartment complex. One hundred regulars from the army of the Republic of China commanded by a major, occupied the Broadway Mansions, as part of

11877-528: Was only one problem: the rooms had no beds. Japanese officers had been billeted there, and they didn't use our type of bed, just sleeping mats. We got in touch with the hotel manager, who soon had a flock of Chinese setting up beds for us." About this time the manager was Michael Alexis Melgunow, a White Russian émigré , who had previously been the head chauffeur . After the alleged rape of two Chinese girls by American marines, approximately 5,000 anti-American Chinese university students marched on 1 January 1947 on

11988-405: Was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of a component—either

12099-427: Was partially renovated in 2003. The Broadway Mansions has been owned and operated by the Shanghai Hengshan (Group) Holdings Company (上海市人民政府直属的上海衡山集) since at least 1985. The current president is Mr. Mu Xiangyang. The Hengshan Hotels and Resorts owns five other hotels in Shanghai, including the Astor House Hotel , across the road from the Broadway Mansions. The Broadway Mansions was the first hotel in Shanghai to have

12210-684: Was probably in the shallows of the East China Sea as late as the Tang dynasty . During the Northern Song , the Wuyu River ( simplified Chinese : 吴淤江 ; traditional Chinese : 吳淤江 ; pinyin : Wúyū Jiāng ) entered the sea somewhere around modern Wujiaochang ( simplified Chinese : 五角场 ; traditional Chinese : 五角場 ; pinyin : Wǔjiǎochǎng ). Daoist and Buddhist temples are known to have been established in

12321-531: Was renamed in English the Shanghai Mansions Hotel, but retained its Chinese name. By 1973 the Mansions was the third-choice accommodation provided for Overseas Chinese: "If there isn't enough room at these two hotels, then Overseas Chinese are put into the sky scraping Shanghai Mansions Hotel overlooking the Bund. During the 1970s the Mansion was also the primary residence for "foreign experts". Edoarda Masi, an Italian language teacher, who lived at

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