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98-512: The Shanghai French Concession was a foreign concession in Shanghai , China from 1849 until 1943, which progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The concession came to an end in 1943, when Vichy France under German pressure signed it over to the pro- Japanese Reorganized National Government of China in Nanjing . For much of the 20th century, the area covered by

196-590: A consequence, a French concession was to exist alongside the International Settlement until World War II. The International Settlement began with the 138 acres of the British settlement, which was increased to 470 acres in 1848. The addition of the American area and a number of subsequent additions brought the total area to 5,584 acres. Including the 2,525 acres of French Concession, the total area

294-601: A court nominally headed by a Chinese official but "assisted" by French consular officials, and using an adapted version of Chinese procedural rules. The International Mixed Court was abolished in 1930 and replaced by Chinese courts under the judicial system of the Republic of China. The French consulate also has the French Consular Police under its command. While the French Concession began as

392-546: A day-to-day governance was carried out by the Municipal Administrative Council ( conseil d'administration municipale ). The council's offices were originally on rue du Consulat , the "high street" or rue principale of the original concession. In 1909, a new building was completed on Avenue Joffre . This building is now part of a shopping centre. Security in the Concession was maintained by

490-737: A front and a back terrace ( shaitai , 晒台 ). The ground floor were equipped with kitchens ( zaopi jian 灶批间 ). At the back of the house, a "back wing" was added, as well as the tingzi jian ( 亭子间 ) or "pergola room", located above the kitchen and below the terrace. This was typically small, with low ceilings, and faced north, making it the least attractive room in the house. They were usually used for storage, or as living quarters for servants. Numerous new type shikumen have survived. Some well known examples include Jianye Li (now revamped into an upmarket hotel, commercial and residential complex), Siming Cun , and Mingde Li located on Avenue Joffre. In Chinese, shikumen developments are typically named with

588-463: A further expansion to the concession. The government of Yuan Shikai agreed, giving France police and taxation powers over the so-called extra-settlement roads area, in return for France agreeing to evict revolutionaries from the area under its jurisdiction. This agreement proclaimed in 1914, gave the French Concession control over a significantly larger area between the Old City and Xujiahui, 15 times

686-522: A large number of residential buildings for the new Chinese residents of the city. At first, these tended to be wooden buildings that were cheap and quick to build. These wooden buildings were built as terraces, and usually name with " Li " ( 里 , Shanghainese : li⁶ ) as suffix. These were the first " lilong " buildings in Shanghai. Within 10 months from 1853, 800 dwellings of this type were built. Because of their flammability, this type of construction

784-441: A late period. The defining characteristic of a shikumen building is the prominent main gate - which also gives rise to the name "shikumen". Typically, this gate is located on the central axis of each dwelling, with twin doors made of heavy wood, painted glossy black. Typical width is around 1.4 metres, with a height of around 2.8 metres. The doors usually possess brass or iron knockers. The original documented name for such buildings

882-510: A middle-class neighbourhood, the area became dense slums due to the influx of refugees in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The entire neighbourhood was razed progressively in 2012–2014. Cité Bourgogne ( Bugao Li ), located on South Shanxi Road, is a typical old type shikumen development despite being built in the 1930s. The neighbourhood includes 87 two-storey brick veneer residences with a red brick exterior. The trunk lane

980-536: A military garrison for the French Concession. As a treaty power which had been granted extraterritorial jurisdiction , France exercised consular jurisdiction in the French Concession. Cases involving French nationals were heard by the French consular court. Matters involving Chinese nationals, or nationals of non-treaty powers, were heard in the International Mixed Court for the French Concession,

1078-417: A narrow front yard. The name "stone gate" references these strong gateways. Each residence abuts another and all are arranged in straight side alleys called longtang ( Chinese : 弄堂 ; pinyin : Lòngtáng , Shanghainese : lon⁶ daon⁶ , IPA : [loŋ¹¹ dɑ̃²⁴] , sometimes written as 衖堂 ). The entrance to each alley is usually surmounted by a stylistic stone arch . The shikumen is a cultural blend of

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1176-753: A proclamation from Lin Kouei (麟桂, Lin Gui), the Circuit Intendant ( Tao-tai / Daotai , effectively governor) of Shanghai, which conceded certain territory for a French settlement. The extent of the French Concession at the time of establishment extended south to the Old City 's moat, north to the Yangjingbang canal ( Yang-king-pang , now Yan'an Road ), west to the Temple of Guan Yu ( Koan-ti-miao , 关帝庙) and

1274-480: A settlement for the French, it soon attracted residents of various nationalities. In the 1920s, with the expansion of the French Concession, British and American merchants who worked in the International Settlement often chose to build more spacious houses in the newer part of the French Concession. One legacy of this Anglophone presence is the American College on Avenue Pétain (now Hengshan Road ), and

1372-657: A shikumen residence in Shude Li , and its second conference in another shikumen residence in the French Concession . The Communist Youth League first operated out of a shikumen residence on Avenue Joffre . Shikumen neighbourhoods were also often used for less salubrious trades. The lanes Huile Li and Qunyu Fang , on Foochow Road (now Fuzhou Road), formed the epicentre of Shanghai's red light district before 1949. Gambling and opium dens commonly appeared in shikumen neighbourhoods, along with fortune tellers. By

1470-530: A subculture inspired by other eras that China was under foreign domination. Secret societies controlled drug trade, gambling, and prostitution in Shanghai. Western outlaws also created organized crime groups, in one instance creating an "orientalist mini crime empire" in 1930s Shanghai. From the 1919 Karakhan Manifesto to 1927, diplomats of the Soviet Union would promise to revoke concessions in China, but

1568-455: A suffix of Li ( 里 , "neighbourhood"), Fang ( 坊 , "ward"), Long ( 弄 , "lane") or Cun ( 邨 , "village"). The first two are traditional suffixes for names of urban precincts, in common use since at least the Tang dynasty . Where an English name was used, " Terrace " was a common suffix. The first part of the name typically derives from one of three sources. The first kind takes the name of

1666-479: A total of 19 established national concessions. In these concessions, the citizens of each foreign power were given the right to freely inhabit, trade, perform missionary evangelization, and travel. They developed their own sub-cultures, isolated and distinct from the intrinsic Chinese culture , and colonial administrations attempted to give their concessions "homeland" qualities. Churches, public houses , and various other western commercial institutions sprang up in

1764-405: A trunk lane leading off the street, and branch lanes leading off the trunk lane. Cars became more popular, so the trunk lanes were typically designed to accommodate cars. The heyday of the "new type" shikumen was in the 1920s. From the 1930s they were replaced by newer building types, including newer types of lilong residences, as well as larger modern apartment buildings, before the civil war and

1862-477: Is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s. The term 石库门 is derived from the Shanghainese dialect 石箍门, 箍 meaning "to frame or encase." 石箍门 referred to the characteristically "stone-framed door" of the tenement houses. At the height of their popularity, there were 9,000 shikumen-style buildings in Shanghai, comprising 60% of

1960-458: Is about 2.5 wide, and there are numerous branch lanes. The lanes are noted for their main gateways, modeled after traditional Chinese pailou gates. Cité Bourgogne is well preserved in situ as a municipal heritage site, and remains mostly residential. The largest shikumen neighbourhood which survives in a mostly original state is Jianye Li ( 建业里 ), also heritage protected. A new type development located on West Jianguo Road and Yueyang Road,

2058-607: Is that new style buildings are three storeys high. They were built of reinforced concrete , rather than brick veneer. Some were equipped with modern sanitary equipment, and natural lighting became a key concern. Developments are typically laid out with a main, trunk lane, with houses arranged along branch lanes leading from the trunk lane. With the advent of motor cars, the trunk lanes were usually built wide enough to accommodate cars. Instead of one lane with one or two rows of houses, new style shikumen were typically developed in large blocks. Standard triangular gables and party walls replaced

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2156-605: The French Concession Police or La Garde municipale de la Concession française . Just as the British employed many Indian police in the International Settlement, the French deployed many personnel from its nearby colony of Annam . A militia, the corps de volontaires , was first raised in the 1850s to protect the Concession during the Taiping Rebellion . From 1915 a battalion of Tirailleurs Tonkinese (colonial infantry) from French Indo China provided

2254-677: The Japanese controlled puppet Nanjing government . Italy surrendered its special treaty rights, including its concession at Tientsin, and rights in the international settlements at Shanghai and Amoy (Xiamen) in its peace treaty with the Allies in 1945. Additionally, there were more concessions were planned but never completed. Shikumen Shikumen ( simplified Chinese : 石库门 ; traditional Chinese : 石庫門 ; pinyin : Shíkùmén ; lit. 'Stone Warehouse Gate', Shanghainese : zaq⁸ khu¹ men⁶, IPA : [zᴀʔ¹¹ kʰu¹¹ mən²⁴] )

2352-503: The Second Sino-Japanese War completely disrupted the property market in Shanghai. It was common for families who could not afford the rent on a whole house to sub-let some of the rooms. They were known as "second landlords" ( 二 房东 , èr fángdōng ) (as opposed to the head-landlord ( 大 房东 , dà fángdōng )). "Second landlords" often lived in the same shikumen residence with their tenants. The phenomenon blossomed after

2450-654: The Wang Jingwei Government on 5 June 1943, with the Shanghai Concession following on 30 July. After the war, neither Vichy France nor Wang's Nationalist Government were universally recognised as legitimate, but the new post-war government of France acknowledged that it was a fait accompli in the Sino-French Accord of February 1946 . This accord, signed by Chiang Kai-shek 's ruling Kuomintang led to Chinese troops pulling out of

2548-591: The attack on Pearl Harbor , afterwards they invaded and occupied the Shanghai International Settlement and Hong Kong . Shanghai's status as a safe haven ended, as Jews who sought refuge in the city from 1933 to 1941, were forced into the Shanghai Ghetto in 1943, most survived the war due to the deeply established community with Chinese residents before 1941. In 1943 Italy surrendered its treaty rights in cooperation with

2646-641: The mainland period of the Republic of China. The Asia and Pacific theatre of the First World War would be another major incident changing the ownership of concessions in China with Japanese expansion. Concessions were partially curtailed in the Washington Naval Treaty and the Nine Power Treaty attempting to reaffirm the sovereignty of China. Many foreigners arrived in the cities aiming primarily to get rich. During

2744-448: The 1990s, only to be later replaced after public outcry. The old French Club building and its gardens, which used to be a sports field in the early days, were removed and became the base of the high-rise Okura Garden Hotel. After the 2000s, the government enforced more stringent development and planning controls in this area. From 1914 until its abolition, the French Concession covered the north-eastern part of today's Xuhui District and

2842-718: The Chinese Eastern Railway in 1929 . At the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), the standing army in the Japanese concessions would be used against the Chinese forces. However the inland concession of Chongqing was abandoned by the Japanese as they began the invasion. World War II would spell the end for the concessions in Tianjin, as well as extraterritoriality as a whole. While Japanese forces avoided attacking foreign concessions prior to

2940-539: The Chinese areas, leaving the foreign concessions alone. Residents of the Chinese areas moved into the French Concession in large numbers, reaching 825,342. Concessions in China The concessions had extraterritoriality and were enclaves inside key cities that became treaty ports . All the concessions have been dissolved in the present day. The emergence of foreign concessions in Imperial China

3038-634: The Chinese government of 23 national concessions to eight nations in 10 Chinese ports. In addition to the 23 formally established concessions, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States were granted rights to concessions in several treaty ports but these rights were never exercised. On the eve of World War II, four Powers still possessed concessions: Great Britain (two, at Canton and Tientsin); Japan (three, at Hangchow, Hankow, and Tientsin); France (four, at Canton, Hankow, Shanghai, and Tientsin); and Italy (one, at Tientsin). For his part, Kurt Bloch listed

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3136-590: The Daotai Lin’gui agreed in 1849 that a French settlement be established on a strip of land between the Chinese city and the British settlement. The American consul George Seward was dissatisfied with the fact that the British and the French had obtained the best plots of land in the area, and after lengthy deliberations, the Americans established their own settlement in Hongkew northeast of Shanghai , although it

3234-567: The French Concession was developed into the premier residential area of Shanghai. In particular, the expansive and initially sparsely populated "New French Concession" obtained under the second expansion of 1914 became popular for foreign nationals of all nationalities, and later well-to-do Chinese residents as well, to build houses on larger plots of land than they could obtain in the more crowded original concessions. As demand grew, numerous apartment buildings at varying levels of luxury were built, as well as some shikumen residences to meet demand from

3332-533: The French Concession, Vice Admiral Jules Le Bigot  [ fr ] , then commanding the Naval Forces in the Far East, sat on a folding chair in the middle of the street in front of their vehicles and forced them to negotiate to finally let only an unarmed supply convoy pass. On 4 December 1937, Japanese unarmed convoys were allowed to cross the concession. As early as 1941, the occupation of Shanghai by

3430-550: The Jiangnan region. Shikumen residences had a much smaller footprint than traditional courtyard residences, and were accessed by narrow lanes. They were also cheaper to build than Western-style houses. Although more expensive to build than the wooden terraces they replaced, they were sturdier and so attracted higher rents. They were first built in the British concession (later part of the International Settlement; and still later,

3528-646: The Qing dynasty, in the years following the conflict. It also led the foreign powers to station barracks and troops in the existing concessions, especially Tianjin, and increased the immigration of entire families to the concessions. Wars that changed the ownership of existing concessions between the foreign powers included the Triple Intervention (1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). The foreign concessions continued to exist during

3626-542: The Soviets secretly kept tsarist concessions such as the Chinese Eastern Railway , as well as consulates , barracks, and Orthodox churches. This led Chiang Kai-Shek —who pushed foreign powers such as Britain to return some of their concessions from 1925 to 1927—to turn against his former Soviet ally in 1927, seizing Soviet legations . The Soviets would later fight an armed conflict to keep control over

3724-608: The Zhujia Bridge ( Tchou-kia-kiao , 褚家桥), and east to the banks of the Huangpu River between the Guangdong-Chaozhou Union ( Koang'tong-Tchao-tcheou kong-hoan ) and the mouth of the Yangjingbang canal. The French Concession effectively occupied a narrow "collar" of land around the northern end of the Old City, south of the British settlement. At an area of 66 hectares (986 mu ), the French Concession

3822-489: The concession sat immediately to the west of the original grant. In 1902, the French introduced from France London planes ( le platane commun ) as a roadside tree on Avenue Joffre (present-day Huaihai Road ). Now popular as a roadside tree throughout China, because of its history it is known in Chinese as the "French plane". Meanwhile, from 1860s, the French Concession authorities (like the other concession authorities) had begun constructing " extra-settlement roads " outside

3920-651: The concession. The first such road was built to connect the west gate of the Old City to the Catholic stronghold at Zi-ka-wei ( Xujiahui ), to allow French troops to quickly move between the concession and the Catholic Church land located in the area. Controlled by concession authorities, extra-settlement roads effectively gave France and the other treaty powers a form of control over land extending outside their formal concessions. In 1913, France requested police powers over its extra-settlement roads, effectively meaning

4018-777: The concessions also maintained their own military garrison and a standing army. Military and police forces of the Chinese government were sometimes present. Some police forces allowed Chinese, others did not. There were economic inequalities between the concessions and surrounding areas outside. European powers had citizens employed inside of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Despite the service being sovereign to China, Europeans often influenced taxes levied and tariffs imposed upon foreign concessions—often to their own benefit. Foreign entities also benefited from imposing their own local taxes inside of their nation's respected concession. Several wars would lead to

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4116-431: The concessions that were established later had a more definitive treaty basis and their development as well as the extension of their boundaries has been regularized by agreements with the Chinese government. An inventory of all the concessions along with a survey of their status done by W. C. Johnstone in 1937 shows that, aside from the two international settlements at Shanghai and Kulangsu (Amoy), there had been grants by

4214-466: The concessions. In the case of Japan, its own traditions and language naturally flourished. Some of these concessions eventually had a more advanced architecture of each originating culture than most cities back in the countries of the origin of the foreign powers. Over time, and without formal permission, Britain, France, Japan and the United States established their own postal systems within their concession and trade areas. Following Chinese complaints over

4312-533: The creation of colonial concessions taken from Qing China. These included the First Opium War (1839–1842), Second Opium War (1856–1860), Sino-French War (1884–1885), First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), and Russian invasion of Manchuria (1900). The Eight Nation Alliance 's suppression of the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) would lead to participants being rewarded with concessions taken from

4410-464: The death of two elderly residents. Architectural historians classify shikumen into two types, the "old type" and the "new type". The old type was predominantly built from the 1860s until the end of the First World War , while the new type prevailed from after the First World War until the development of shikumen ceased after 1949. Old type shikumen is further divided into an early period and

4508-425: The development is composed of 260 residences, all of which are two storey red brick buildings. This development is noted for its use of traditionally Chinese matou gables, and arched doorways. In 2003, the original residents were relocated, and the buildings were somewhat controversially renovated to become serviced apartments and to house restaurants and other commercial uses. Shangxian Fang ( 尚贤坊 ), located on

4606-399: The development of smaller, but better equipped, "new type" shikumen. "New type" shikumen were three storeys tall instead of two, and were equipped with modern sanitary equipment. Great emphasis was placed on natural lighting, with most shikumen orientated towards the south, and an internal staircase skylight or atrium to supplement the front and back courtyards. Developments became larger, with

4704-410: The early 1950s, it was calculated that there were more than 9000 shikumen buildings, comprising 65% of residential housing stock by area in Shanghai. While constructions of new residential buildings decreased this percentage over time, most shikumen neighbourhoods remained unchanged in their crowded state until economic reforms in the 1980s and 90s began the wave of demolition and reconstruction which, by

4802-451: The early 21st century, has left only a few shikumen developments intact. In Xuhui District alone, it has been calculated that shikumen residences had decreased from 2.68 million square metres in 1949, to 0.25 million square metres by the late 1990s. The forced demolition of crowded and stable shikumen communities gave rise to controversies, such as a 2005 incident where a developer resorted to arson to persuade residents to leave, resulting in

4900-579: The elements found in Western architecture with traditional Lower Yangtze architecture and social behavior. Traditional Chinese dwellings had a courtyard, and the Shikumen was no exception. Yet, to compromise with its urban nature, it was much smaller and provided an interior haven to the commotions in the streets, allowing for raindrops to fall and vegetation to grow freely within a residence. The courtyard also allowed sunlight and improved ventilation into

4998-467: The existence of numerous jurisdictions, criminals could commit a crime in one jurisdiction and then easily escape to another. This became a major problem during the Republican period, with the rise of the post–Imperial Warlord era and the collapse of central authority in the 1920s and the 1930s. Crime often flourished, especially organized crime by different warlord groups. Some efforts were made by

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5096-415: The first floor are located behind the cijian . Behind the hall and the cijian is the back courtyard ( houtianjing 后天井 ), which is about half the size of the front courtyard. The well, which provided water for the house, was located here (though later houses were connected to tap water instead). At the back of the back courtyard are back buildings, usually used as the kitchen, toilet and storage room. On

5194-531: The first phase of the Chinese Civil War in the 1920s, the concessions saw a sharp increase in immigration both from surrounding Chinese territory, and from the West and Japan. The population of Chinese residents eventually surpassed foreigners inside the concessions. With international travelers, culture took on an eclectic character of many influences—including both language and architecture. This effect

5292-409: The foreign concessions of Hankou (now part of Wuhan ), and some can still be seen there today. Shikumen terraces can even be found as far afield as Beijing, where the two shikumen lanes Huakang Li and Tai’an Li, dating from the 1920s, are undergoing restoration. Shikumens are two or three-story structures resembling Western terrace houses or townhouses , distinguished by high brick walls enclosing

5390-415: The foreign powers to have the different police forces cooperate and work together, but not with significant success. The image of gangsters and Triad societies connected with the major cities and concessions of the period is often due to extraterritoriality within the cities. Underdeveloped economies under a foreign government led many laborers without opportunities to be recruited by triads, who developed

5488-724: The foreigners out as much as possible and the first British consul, Captain George Balfour , could not even find a house for the consulate upon his arrival in 1843. The British finally decided to locate themselves in the northern suburbs of the walled Chinese city and they asked the Daotai , Gong Muiju, to designate an area for their establishment there. This dovetailed with the Daotai's intentions, since following two violent incidents between local Chinese and foreigners, he had endeavored to limit contacts between Chinese and foreigners. This

5586-467: The former French Concession remained the premier residential and retail district of Shanghai, and was also one of the centers of Catholicism in China . Despite re-development over the last few decades, the area retains a distinct character and is a popular tourist destination. The French Concession was established on 6 April 1849, when the French Consul in Shanghai, Charles de Montigny , obtained

5684-419: The former French Concession. The Russian community had a large presence on commercial streets such as Avenue Joffre and contributed to the development of the music profession in Shanghai. The Chinese population in the French Concession swelled during the Taiping Rebellion , reaching about 500,000 just before the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War . During World War II, Japanese forces initially occupied only

5782-466: The freeholder or related party: for example Siming Cun is named after the Chinese name ("Siming Bank") of the project's main sponsor, the Ningpo Commercial & Savings Bank ; similarly, Meilan Fang takes one syllable from each of the two owners' names - brothers Wu Mei xi and Wu Si lan . The second kind takes the name of a nearby road or landmark, for example Bao'an Fang is named after

5880-485: The ground floor rooms for storage, and live in the upper floors. Chemical and dye dealers were common. Even light industry was found within shikumen communities, such as sock factories and cosmetics factories. Even more common (and common even today in surviving and renovated shikumen lanes) are grocers, restaurants, inns and bath houses. Densely populated shikumen neighbourhoods provided camouflage for revolutionaries. The Chinese Communist Party held its first conference in

5978-526: The increasing number of Chinese residents. Vibrant commercial areas also developed, helped by the influx of White Russians after the Russian Revolution. During the Battle of Shanghai , the Chinese bombed the concession twice by mistake and killed several hundred people. When the Japanese took Shanghai in battle, their troops crossed the International Settlement unopposed, but at the entrance of

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6076-404: The lane entrance. Few old type shikumen neighbourhoods survive. Xingren Li , built in 1872, was regarded as a characteristic old type shikumen development. It was located on East Beijing Road, and composed of 24 two-storey residences, which varied in size between three-bay wide and five-bay wide styles. The main lane was 107.5 metres long, and the end walls featured Guanyin dou -style gables. It

6174-513: The late 1930s, shikumen buildings were already on their way out, overtaken by newer styles of lilong residences, and large apartment buildings. Commercial property development in Shanghai virtually ceased during the Second World War and the Chinese Civil War that followed it. After the end of the war 1949, shikumen construction ceased completely, replaced with planned construction of residential buildings on collectivist principles. In

6272-489: The loss of postal revenue and the lack of customs inspections, all of them were abolished at the end of 1922. The Shanghai International Settlement became a major place of refuge for European immigrants, notably from Slavic and Baltic regions, and American travelers and displaced persons. Each concession also had its own police force and different legal jurisdictions with their own separate laws. Thus, an activity might be legal in one concession but illegal in another. Many of

6370-415: The main gate is the front courtyard ( tianjing 天井 ), flanked by wings ( xiangfang 厢房 ) of the house on the left and right. At the centre, facing the courtyard is the hall, or ketang jian ( 客堂间 ). This large room typically has an area of about 12 square metres, and is used like a modern sitting room or living room. On either side of the hall are the cijian ( 次间 ) or "secondary rooms". Stairs to reach

6468-494: The more elaborate matou or Guanyin dou styles, with concrete tops. Exposed brick was used for external walls. The main gate frame also switched from stone to brick and painted stone cladding. The architectural style became far more Westernised overall. Each dwelling was one to two bays wide. Two-bay wide houses "inherited" only one side wing, while one-bay wide houses discarded wings completely. Stairs became less steep. The new second floor typically contained bedrooms, along with

6566-471: The nearby Community Church. Shanghai saw a large influx of Russian émigrés in the wake of the 1917 Russian Revolution . This raised the Russian population in the French Concession from 41 in 1915 to 7,000. This number increased to 8,260 by 1934 after the Japanese occupation of northeast China , where many Russians worked on the Chinese Eastern Railway . Two Russian Orthodox churches can still be seen in

6664-462: The nearby Temple to the Bao'an Situ. The third type uses an auspicious words: such as Jixiang Li ("auspicious"), Ruyi Li ("happiness") and Ping'an Li ("safety"). The Chinese name for Cité Bourgogne , Bugao Li , is both phonetically similar to the French name and has an auspicious meaning of "stepping upwards". The names are typically inscribed, along with the year of construction, on the arch above

6762-475: The north was the British concession, later part of the Shanghai International Settlement . The British and French quarters were separated by several canals: in the east, this was "Yangjingbang", a creek flowing into the Huangpu River. These canals were later filled in and became Avenue Edward VII in the east and Avenue Foch in the west, both now part of Yan'an Road . To the south, the French Concession

6860-486: The northern half of French Indochina in exchange for France relinquishing all its foreign concessions in China. The former French Concession remained largely unchanged during the early decades of Communist rule in China. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, however, largely unregulated re-development of the area tore apart many old neighbourhoods. For example, the London planes on the former Avenue Joffre were removed in

6958-439: The outside world. This made them popular with the upper end of the residential property market. The early period shikumen also possessed more features of traditional Chinese architecture: on the external façade of the terrace there are often typically Chinese matou ("horse head") style or Guanyin dou (" Guanyin hood") style gables ; the main hall uses floor-to-ceiling windows; decorative boards below eaves; and grid windows on

7056-430: The pre-merger Huangpu District ), but quickly became popular throughout the Old City and Chinese zones, and came to become the predominant form of residential construction in Shanghai. The high profit attracted a whole swathe of property companies to enter the shikumen market. From the 1910s, various innovations were made to the shikumen in response to social change. With a burgeoning middle class , designers increased

7154-522: The rooms. This style of housing originally developed when local developers adapted Western-style terrace houses to Chinese conditions. Migrant labourers from surrounding provinces entered Shanghai in large numbers with the establishment of Shanghai as a treaty port in 1843. The 1853 Small Swords Rebellion and the Taiping Revolution drove more migrants and refugees into Shanghai. With the upsurge in demand, property developers began to build

7252-480: The side wings. However, in contrast to later shikumen buildings, the gates of early period shikumen were not elaborately decorated, and were simply framed in stone. In terms of layout, the shikumen of this period were arranged in lanes of about 3 metres wide - narrower than later buildings - and the attention to orientation, and organization of trunk lanes and branch lanes, both features of later shikumen, were also absent. In terms of internal lay-out, immediately within

7350-494: The site of the main hall of the International Institute of China of Gilbert Reid , is another heritage protected shikumen precinct, which is now being renovated to become "shikumen hotels". Other re-developed shikumen precincts include Xintiandi , where the buildings were extensively reconstructed, and Tianzi Fang , which has been redeveloped for small businesses with an artistic bent, while largely preserving

7448-479: The size of the original grant. As a nod to the more numerous Chinese residents in the new territory, two seats were given to Chinese members on the Administration Council. Encouraged by the successful expansion by the French, the Shanghai International Settlement also requested the grant of administrative powers over its own extra-settlement roads area in 1914, but this was refused. By the 1920s,

7546-580: The start of the Second Sino-Japanese War: with refugees rushing into the unoccupied concessions from the Chinese zones in Hongkou and Zhabei , and further afield, there was dramatically increased demand for housing in the concessions. "Second landlords" used increasingly creative ways to sub-divide rooms and build add-ons and lean-tos in the courtyards and on the terraces. Shikumen residences became known for being crowded and disorderly. It

7644-415: The style of traditional Chinese houses, but with a much condensed footprint. There are typically 3 to 5 bays to each dwelling, and two storeys. They used the traditional litie ( 立帖 ) (or "brick nogging") style of brick veneer for load-bearing walls. The houses possessed walls of equal height at the front and back, so that each dwelling (despite being part of a terrace) was an enclosed whole, separated from

7742-598: The total housing stock of the city; however, the proportion is currently much lower, as most Shanghainese live in large apartment buildings. Shikumen is classified as one type of lilong residences, sometimes translated as " lane houses " in English. In 2010, "construction techniques of shikumen lilong architecture" was recognised by the Chinese government on the national non-physical cultural heritage register (no. VIII-210). Shikumen houses were also introduced to other port cities in China. For example, many were built in

7840-533: The troops of the Japanese Empire forced tens of thousands of Chinese to take refuge in the concessions. The Bataillon mixte d'Infanterie coloniale de Chine (BMICC), many of whose troops were Annamese (Vietnamese), provided security. In 1943, during World War II , the government of Vichy France announced that it would give up its concessions in Tianjin , Hankou and Guangzhou . These were handed over to

7938-480: The west and east Siwen Li (in the process of being demolished), north Shude Li , and Daqing Li , built in 1915. One of the few old type shikumen developments to be preserved largely intact is Bugao Li , or Cité Bourgogne (built in the 1930s), in the former French Concession. New type shikumen were typically built from 1919 to the 1930s. They were also called "reformed style" shikumen residences. The main structural difference between new type and old type shikumen

8036-580: The western part of Huangpu District (the former Luwan District ), occupying the centre, south, and west of urban Shanghai. A small strip extended eastward along the rue du Consulat , now the East Jinling Road, to the Quai de France , now East-2 Zhongshan Road , which runs along the Huangpu River to the south of the Bund . To the southeast of the French Concession was the walled Chinese city . To

8134-598: The whole, each dwelling preserved the main features required for traditional Chinese day-to-day living, while saving the land required. Most early period old style shikumen have been demolished or rebuilt. Representative examples include the Xingren Li , built in 1872 (demolished 1980), and Mianyang Li and Jixiang Li , both located near the Shiliupu dock area. Late period shikumen were mostly built between 1910 and 1919. The three-bay wide frontage with two side wings

8232-464: The width of lanes between terraces, but the width of each dwelling decreased - from a three-bay hall and two side wings (as was standard in the 19th century) to a two-bay or one-bay hall, and one side wing. Decorations became more elaborate: the main doors of the houses acquired the characteristic elaborate lintels, featuring architraves , archivolts and pediments . By around 1919, increasing population pressures and an increasing wealth gap encouraged

8330-521: Was " shigumen " ( 石箍門 , Shanghainese : zaq⁸ ku¹ men⁶ ), which in Shanghainese Wu meant "gate framed with stone", but over time corrupted into the similar-sounding " shikumen ". Each individual dwelling displays typical characteristics of traditional Jiangnan architecture, while the layout of the development as a whole is adopted from Western terrace houses . Early period old type shikumen were built between 1869 and 1910. They retained more of

8428-424: Was about a third of the size of the British settlement at that time. A further small strip of riverside land to the east of the Old City was added in 1861, to allow the construction of the quai de France , to service shipping between China and France. The French Concession's first significant expansion was agreed in 1899 and proclaimed in 1900, allowing the French Concession to double in size. The area newly added to

8526-528: Was an indirect offshoot of the 19th century unequal treaties following China's defeat against Great Britain in the Opium Wars. The 1842 Treaty of Nanjing between China and Great Britain stated that "British Subjects, with their families and establishments, shall be allowed to reside, for the purpose of carrying on their mercantile pursuits, without molestation or restraint at the cities and towns of Canton, Amoy, Foochow-fu, Ningpo and Shanghai", but nothing

8624-412: Was banned by concession authorities in Shanghai. However, with a burgeoning property development market in Shanghai, developers adapted these wooden terraces into the Shikumen. They used the traditional Chinese " litie " technique of wooden frame and load-bearing brick veneer construction, and for each residence used the traditional three-sided courtyard or four-sided courtyard layouts commonly found in

8722-613: Was bounded by the Zhaojiabang canal (now filled in as Zhaojiabang Road and Xujiahui Road). The chief French official in charge of the French Concession was the Consul-General of France in Shanghai. While the French initially participated in the Municipal Council of the International Settlement, in 1862 a decision was made to exit the Municipal Council to preserve the French Concession's independence. From then on,

8820-440: Was demolished in 1980. Another notable now-demolished development was Siwen Li , located on Xinzha Road. This late period old type shikumen development occupied 4.66 hectares, with 48,000 square metres of floor space. There were a total of 706 residences of two or three storeys. Most of these buildings were one-bay wide, without modern sanitary equipment. The house gates were noted for intricate baroque style lintels. Originally

8918-424: Was eventually to reach 12.66 square miles. Additional foreign concessions were set up in other treaty ports especially following the 1858 and 1860 Anglo-Chinese treaties, and from the mid-1890s to 1902, following the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901). While the settlements at Shanghai had been set up in cooperation with the local authorities and with the tacit, but not explicit, consent of the central Chinese government,

9016-587: Was exemplified in the Shanghai International Settlement and the multi-concessions in Tianjin. Writings from the time period indicate that both the Prussians and Russians were seen as acting culturally British. The wealthy built opulent buildings with multiple European and Chinese inspirations. Some Chinese entrepreneurs became very wealthy and hired foreign designers and architects. In major cities like Shanghai and Tianjin, due to

9114-479: Was formalized in 1845 with the delimitation of a segregated area north of Yangjingbang, a creek that ran north of the Chinese city. Later that year Gong Muiju and Balfour concluded an agreement called the Land Regulations ( Shanghai zudi zhangcheng ), which set forth the institutional basis for the British settlement. Following the British example, Charles de Montigny , the French consul at Shanghai, and

9212-472: Was not clearly stated in the English-language version of the treaty. The Qing rulers, by wishing to confine the "barbarians" to an officially designated special zone, hoped to resurrect the old Canton system , that is, a system that strictly confined foreigners to a segregated zone that also was off-limit to Chinese subjects. At Shanghai, there was initially an attempt by imperial officials to keep

9310-561: Was not to be delineated until 1863. In September of the same year, the British and American settlements were amalgamated into a single Foreign Settlement. A Municipal Council, officially known as "The Council for the Foreign Community of Shanghai", was established. Local French representatives had agreed to amalgamate the French settlement with the other two but this was not accepted by the French Government and, as

9408-583: Was not uncommon for a single shikumen residence to be inhabited by dozens of families. A famous satirical comedy of the time, set in one of these houses, was called " The 72 Tenant Families " ( 《七十二家房客》 ). Although designed to be residential, other types of enterprises often operated from shikumen buildings as well, hidden within longtang developments. These include money lenders, traders, scribes, factories, entertainment venues and even schools. For example, one larger shikumen development, Xingren Li , featured more than 20 money lenders. Often, traders would use

9506-604: Was reduced to one- or two-bay wide, with one side wing. The back courtyard was reduced, but more attention was paid to natural lighting, and the laneways were widened. More Western architectural details found favour: bannisters, doors and windows, staircase, pillar capitals and arch buttresses all used Western decorative styles. The lintel of the main gate also became increasingly elaborate, decorated with semicircular archivolts, triangular pediments or rectangular architraves. Late period old type shikumen are far better preserved than early period examples. Representative examples include

9604-567: Was said, including in the supplementary treaty of the following year, about separate residential areas for foreigners in those ports, let alone their right to govern themselves. However, the imperial commissioner who had negotiated the supplementary treaty reported to the Qing emperor that by signing the treaty he had successfully arranged that in the treaty ports "the boundaries of an area should be designated which foreigners are not allowed to exceed" ( yiding jiezhi, buxu yuyue ), an intent however that

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