Shanghai : The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City 1842-1949 [Paperback]

Although Stella Dong works hard to convey the atmosphere of old Shanghai, what her book does not do is provide a clear history of the city. Dates are very confused and the narrative thread lost in favour of colourful stories. This is not a book to read if you are looking for a coherent explanation of the Taiping rebellion the Opium wars or the rise of communism around Shanghai.

Several reviewers have commented on the book's exhaustive research. That may be correct but I note that Dong cites only secondary sources in English.

Overall, readers wanting a more nuanced appreciation of Shanghai would do well to look elsewhere. Those who want a racy read might be happier but it is difficult to escape the feeling that this book only adds to the myths about Shanghai rather than improving our understanding.

The city of Shanghai, as described in this book, was an extraordinary mixture of extremes of conspicuous consumption and poverty, of etiquette and immorality, and of leisure and harsh working conditions. The book can be appreciated on different levels: as an adventure story, as a description of social conditions, or as a narrative of an amazing history. Although this is not a history monograph, it would be a good accompaniment to one as it gives the reader the feeling of witnessing events as they happen. And they happen! Many current international questions have to do with China: the developments described offer background on such matters as the status of Taiwan and trade ties with the mainland.

A note of warning: the reader should be well-armed with dictionaries because of the frequency of foreign (to Americans) words and phrases, many undefined in the text. Two examples are: nankeen (a kind of yellow cotton cloth) and ronin (here, outlaws). Also, the constant use of a British term (such as godown) when an equivalent term familiar to both British and American readers (warehouse) is available makes one suspect that the author enjoys offering what H. W. Fowler refers to as "puzzles for the common man".

As Dong's text explains, Shanghai rose to prominence in the late 19th century as a treaty port. Several nations-Britain, US, and France- had gained special status through a series of treaties and thus were allowed to conduct business as if the city were their own. And there were plenty of businesses to conduct--from the importing of opium to the exporting of tea and other goods. Each colonial group lived in its own area complete with its own customs and social hierarchies.

Likewise, with the increased affluence of the city, a wealthy Chinese class also emerged, though once again it tended to live and socialize only within its own boundaries.

With so many people making so much money and so few (legal) rules to follow, Shanghai eventually became a swinging city of sin. By the 1920's, the city became synonmous with sex, opium, jazz, brothels, and pleasure in just about any form. As Dong notes, while the sinners broke all legal rules, they still followed the social stratification of the city: the british patronized British brothels, the Chinese went to Chinese brothels and so on.

Of course, with the invasion by Japan and then the fall to the Communists, the good times ended in Shanghai and most of the colonials left. I felt that Dong could have kept the reader more abreast of Chinese history in the earlier parts of the book to make the latter events (e.g., why the country was so open to communism when a city like Shanghai was not) more understandable. In addition, she introduces certain colorful Shanghai characaters-the writer Emily Hahn for instance-and then loses them.
However, this book is a good, workmanlike introduction to a very interesting city in a very interesting time. I would recommend it to those readers looking for a general overview of the history of the city. If you want more depth, you may want to read this book in conjunction with more rigorous studies or simply look elsewhere.

When I first picked up this book I was a little skeptical. The title, `Rise and Fall of a Decadent City' seemed a bit over the top and I was afraid it was going to end up being three hundred pages of vice soaked sensationalism. As a resident of Shanghai I have discovered that the myth of old Shanghai often looms larger than the truth.

I was pleasantly surprised. The book was meticulously researched, well written and most important- interesting. Since this book is a history of Shanghai, China's most populous and prosperous city, you also inadvertently get a short course in modern Chinese history while your reading it. From the Taiping rebellion to the opium war and the Boxer rebellion- many of the great historical events in Chinese history are clearly laid out and explained in the context of how they influenced and helped to form Shanghai.

`Shanghai, The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City' is a very good piece of popular history and I highly recommend it.