Discovery of the Legacy Building of Huahua Middle School
A magical discovery that gets to the bottom of it
Awaken the history under one’s nose
The discovery of the remains of Huahua Middle School is like a foggy, tortuous, and ultimately, a case-solving trip. No one expected that in the original Changning District Committee and Government of Yuyuan Road and the new United Textile Company opposite to Changning Financial Park today, there is such a landscape building with rich historical genes hidden. Sleeping history is sometimes awakened by some accidental opportunities. As a result, those historical figures who wore long gowns, but had the same alertness and thoughts as us, came to the front desk vividly and moved.
The whole process of "solving the case" can be described by three lines: "There is no way out when there is no doubt, and there is another village in the dark", "There are thousands of people looking for him, and suddenly when I look back, the man is there, and the lights are dim" and "I don’t know what to do unless I know the difficulty."
Timeline: October 2022
Shanghai University solemnly celebrated its centenary, continuing the red vein of "Shanghai University" that year. Mr. Kong Haizhu, the elder colleague of the Institute of Literature and the eldest daughter of Mr. Kong Yejing, a famous modern writer, graduated from the Chinese Department of Shanghai University in 1925. Her father worked as the teaching director in Huahua Middle School on Yuyuan Road in the winter of 1937, but I don’t know the exact address of this school. Because the author of this article wrote Yuyuan Road, he came to inquire about it. Although there seems to be contact in the study, I can’t find the source at the moment, and I have to turn to my fellow Lu Yan for help because of my busy work. If a historical researcher is like a case investigator. Then, Mr. Kong Haizhu is like the first informant, and Mr. Lu Yan, who provided the first batch of basic information, is the first clue provider, which gives a general direction for "solving the case". Among them, the "Huahua Yearbook" published in 1930, "Overview of School History" cloud:
Our school was founded by Mr. Li Dihua and Mr. Yu Nanqiu in the field of tourism aesthetics in the spring of the twelfth year of the Republic of China. In the winter of 15 years, the former principal failed to take care of both the school affairs and the Fudan academic affairs, so he asked Mr. Wang Buxian to take over. After Mr. Wang took office, he planned everything. With the increasing number of students, the dormitory was not enough to be allocated. The first school building was helped by Mr. Cai Renchu, the school manager, and it was successful, that is, the four-story school building at 353 Yuyuan Road today.
▲ This article mentions that President Wang Buxian intends to buy another few acres behind Huancuifang on Yuyuan Road to build the latest buildings in Europe and America.
▲ Huahua Middle School Plot is open. According to the "Shen Bao" report, behind Huancui Square, according to the AI map, Huancui Square consists of four western-style buildings and street buildings along the street in the direction of Yuyuan Road in the "Huahua Building" in the photo.
The newly-built "Huahua Middle School" is a beautiful western-style building. It was reported that year:
When school starts in autumn, it moves to Yuyuan Road and builds a new four-story school building. The school building is solid and spacious, and it is full of gardens, which is suitable for young students to study.
There is a playground attached to the middle school. In addition to the dormitory, dining hall, library and reading room, there are also laboratories for physics and chemistry.
▲ After the "Huahua Building" was completed in 1928, there were buildings facing north. On the right side, it should be Ruixing Square, which was completed in 1912 according to the Shanghai Housing Construction Journal, while on the left side, it was not visible to the west according to the space. Zhaofeng Village, which was completed in 1937, was marked by the Shanghai Housing Construction Journal. However, according to the advertisement of Zhaofeng Village "Exquisite Houses for the Top" which first appeared in Shenbao on October 18th, 1931, Zhaofeng Village should be built between 1929 and 1931.
▲ The "Huahua Building" that is clearly visible after AI technology processing.
In September, 1929, Shen Bao advertised that the 30-year-old Huahua Yearbook talked about President Wang Buxian’s strong tour of Nanyang. Huahua Middle School continued to develop after Qi Zhengcheng took over as principal.
Huahua Middle School in historical materials has two house numbers on Yuyuan Road, which are No.353 and No.1341 respectively. According to the current number, they are located in Jing ‘an District and Changning District respectively. According to the record of Shenbao, at the beginning of the completion of the new school building on Yuyuan Road in Huahua Middle School in 1928, there was no record of the house number, but it was only described as "the east head of Zhaofeng Garden on Yuyuan Road". On July 7, 1930, Shenbao first appeared at No.353 Yuyuan Road, Huahua Middle School. On March 16th, 1932, the number 1341 of Yuyuan Road in Huahua Middle School appeared for the first time. On December 23, 1937, the address of Yuyuan Road in Huahua Middle School appeared in the advertisement of recruitment manager in Shenbao for the last time. It can be proved that the school was on Yuyuan Road at the end of 1928-1937.
To confirm Huahua Middle School on Yuyuan Road, the first problem is to analyze the change of its house number from 353 to 1341. Therefore, we have to study the changing history of Yuyuan Road numbers under the background of public concession.
The house number of Shanghai Concession was re-compiled on a large scale from 1932 to 1935, but it seems that no one has made a detailed comparative study of the changes before and after, so that Shanghai road researchers have always regarded it as an "obstacle". Thanks to Ma Jun, a researcher at the Institute of History of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, for providing important paper information, which made me understand Mr. Gu Zheming’s research results and found the "law" for us:
There are mainly three prototypes of house number system in the world: "European traditional system", "distance system" and "hour hand system" The "European traditional system" divides the two sides of the road into single and even numbers, and assigns a number to every independent building along the street, and generally does not assign numbers to intersections and alleys. This system is suitable for situations with low building density and low frequency of building changes. The "distance system" came into being on the basis of the former. The core change is that each number occupies the same width, which means that the number of the house number should not only reflect the serial number of the corresponding building, but also reflect its distance from the starting point of the road. The "hour-hand system" is the rarest house number system, which is embodied in that there are no single or even numbers on both sides of the road. Starting from the starting point, the numbers are continuously numbered along one side of the road, and at a certain turning point, the numbers jump to the position directly opposite the other side of the road, and then they are continuously numbered in the original opposite direction until they return to the end directly opposite the starting point, that is, they circle the road clockwise or counterclockwise. （1）
Before 1930s, the public concession mixed "European traditional system" and "hour-hand system" in all areas. "Western-style houses" take the former, while "Chinese houses" take the latter. With the expansion of the public concession in 1899 and the continuous construction of cross-border roads in the early 20 th century, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology extended this numbering method to the east and west districts and some out-of-bounds roads. However, the confusion caused by the "Chinese-foreign separation, staggered and discontinuous" binary house number system makes people feel at a loss. Both tourists and citizens have different opinions, and even the postman often makes mistakes in delivery.
The pressure of public opinion forced the board of directors of the Ministry of Industry to carry out a comprehensive reform of the house number system in the public concession from 1930 to 1935. After a long and difficult game and effort, on May 28th, 1930, the "Modified House Number Revision Scheme" submitted by the Committee was approved by the board of directors, and it was completely changed into a "distance system", and the revision followed three principles: 1. Single and even numbers were divided into two sides of the road; 2. The standard width corresponding to the unit number is 12 feet; 3. The number of the house inside the alley shall be assigned separately. Because it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to change house numbers from door to door, it takes six years for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to complete the revision of main road house numbers due to the annual budget. After the Ministry of Industry implemented a comprehensive reform plan in 1932, Yuyuan Road completed the replacement of the house number around 1932, and then it was basically finalized. According to this important node, the Address Book of Shanghai Celebrities (1916, 1919) provided by Zhang Jun, a historical research enthusiast, the Who’s Who in China in 1922, the Industrial and Commercial Directory of China in 1925, the Directory of Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Persons, the Catalogue of Shanghai City’s Business Lines and Roads after the house numbers were re-compiled in 1936, and in 1930. From the earliest 10 households registered in 1916, the largest single number is 87, and the largest even number is 20. By 1932, after the comprehensive reform of house numbers,In 1925, the school site of Xitong Girls’ College was No.18 B, which became No.404 after the reform. When the Li Yong Shang residence near Urumqi Road was bought in 1931, the house number was No.111, which became No.541 after the reform. The house number of Yuyuan Road registered by C.G. Jiadao, the former general director of the German General Association, was No.67 in 1924, No.201 in 1927 and No.30 in Lane 749 in 1934. The plot where Jiangning Building is located changed from No.211 in 1925 to No.753 after the reform. Lian ‘anfang changed from 368 in 1930 to 1352 after the reform, and Hengchangli changed from 400, 402 and 408 in 1930 to 1376 after the reform. Xiyuan Apartment is located at the west end of Yuyuan Road, from No.420 when it was completed in 1928 to No.1396 after the reform. Yuyuan Road conforms to the changing law of the house number reform of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which shows that the house number of Huahua Middle School should be changed from 353 before 1932 to 1341 after the reform in 1932, and the changing process of the house number also reflects the development of the increase of building encryption in Yuyuan Road. It can be said that it is a kind of "cold bench effort" to analyze and verify the texture changes in urban areas from various monotonous address books, who’s who, and even advertising addresses and telephone directories. This is also the quantitative geography research method used in the scene theory to judge the cultural characteristics of a region and the aesthetic differences between regions.
"Huahua Middle School" changed from No.353 Yuyuan Road to No.1341. Fortunately, No.1341 Yuyuan Road is near the parents’ home where the author grew up. It is a very familiar area, and the shops along the street are centered on Xinlianfang according to memories. Before 1949, Mei Xue Dock Restaurant (No.1327-No.1329), Wan Tai and Shopping Mall (No.1331) and #t Taihe # (No.1335) were on the east side, and Zhangtai Building Decoration (No.1343), Tangji Shui Mu Sanitary Materials (No.1344) and Yaohua Barbershop (1933) were on the west side. In the 1970s, from east to west, Taoyuan Restaurant (Huade Hotel after 1990s), Cigarette and Paper Shop, Wan Tai and Soy Sauce Shop were in order, and the west was Guanmen and Jialimei Barber Shop in order.
In the article "When I was a teenager at night", the author of this article once recalled:
We walked into the lane area of the Royal Hotel (the hotel has a public bathroom attached to it, so it is called the lane area, because the whole Yuyuan Road is full of elegant cement floors, between which, this sandy land, which is full of water in rainy days, is civilian, and there is a Dade twisting factory at the bottom of the lane area, and the door is often full of yellow sand and stones). The living room of "Fried dough sticks" is the place where our students from Yuyi Primary School run small classes. At that time, Yuyi Primary School was still an alley primary school in Zhaofeng Village, although the teaching quality was very good. Small classes were a way of learning in our time (early 1970s). After school hours, students living nearby could form a study group, semi-organized and semi-spontaneously, to do their homework together, help each other learn, and teachers would visit occasionally. I was the leader of the small class. "Fried dough sticks" mother is a very kind middle-aged woman. Every time she goes, she will make tea and bring water and take out candy to entertain us. Kindly, there is also the grandmother of "Fried dough sticks", an old man with a bodhisattva face, who sells chips in the Taoyuan restaurant in front. The small class is usually from 8: 30 to 10: 30 in the morning. The grandfather of "Fried dough sticks" gets up at 5: 00 in the morning. After the early shift in the restaurant outside, he will bring a washbasin back to the house to wash shirtless. When the mother of "Fried dough sticks" sees it, she squats aside to urge him to leave quickly. First, she feels that there are female students present. Second, she is afraid that he will affect our small class’s homework. When she is disobedient, she will even chip with her grandmother.Mother has a temper, but she always smiles and is very kind to our children. "Fried dough sticks" father, but never show his face, probably because when we run a small class, it happens that he goes to work, and his room is the attic where you can go up by putting a staircase in the doorway. It seems that once, the father of "Fried dough sticks" came home early for something, but he didn’t say hello to us, so the figure went upstairs in a hurry and closed the door, which made me more curious about the attic, as if there were some ulterior secrets hidden there. We never knew what the father of "Fried dough sticks" looked like.
This has always been a quiet life for us to run a small class in Taoyuan restaurant and "Fried dough sticks". Until one day, the big horn of the District Council opposite the Royal Hotel suddenly rang, which meant that something important had happened, and indeed, the conference was held. The children who were not familiar with the world were always curious and went to the door of the District Council. Suddenly, there was a commotion. People looked flustered and rushed to the Royal Hotel across the street. I didn’t know what happened, and I also ran into the Royal Hotel with the crowd puzzled. I only vaguely heard that someone hanged himself in the bungalow. Later, I vaguely heard that it was the father of "Fried dough sticks", a "company commander" who had served in the Kuomintang army, who committed suicide in the attic because he was repeatedly criticized for "being afraid of sin". Before committing suicide, he cut a lot of silks and satins. Several women chattered and talked, as if they were very saddened by those precious silks and satins, and with full class hatred, they blamed the "company commander" for being so poisonous that he didn’t even let go of silks and satins. I don’t know that he couldn’t commit suicide without those silks and satins. I didn’t see the real scene of suicide. Three months after things calmed down, "Pie" heard that he was insane because he saw his father hanging himself, and he said something crazy all day, while "Fried dough sticks" dropped out of school for a while and returned to school with a determined face. After a while, the mother of "Fried dough sticks" invited again and again, and the school agreed to resume holding small classes at his home. Several female students are not coming, although they are a little scared.I went to his house on the day I resumed my class, but every time I passed the attic in the aisle, I always hurried by and didn’t dare to look up. As a symbol of that special era, that horrible and paradoxical attic has always remained in my young heart and can’t be forgotten like a scar.
So, which building is Huahua Middle School? The street building No.1341 should have been demolished and rebuilt in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and now it is a row of six-storey buildings of Hanting Hotel. According to the floor tiles on the pavement, it can be found that the rebuilt building has retreated inward, with Binwu Coffee (No.1321), WABICOFE Coffee Shop (No.1327) and CHAO’S CHAOS clothing (No.1329) under it. Now TYAKASHA GALLERY), Hanting (No.1333) Gracina Fashion Life House (No.1341, now SNLQ SUNNIE LEE QUEEN and CHVTTERIE Xia Texi). With the "online celebrity" on Yuyuan Road, it has also become a online celebrity punch point. Today, I walked into the lane where the door was hung with the new United spinning plaque. Because the building retreated inward and the sense of space in childhood was different from that of adults, I now feel that the space inside is not as big as when I was a child. Revisiting the old place, a lane that we have been familiar with since childhood, has been beyond recognition in the expansion and transformation. Recalling that the "Royal Hostel" in my childhood seems to be an old building, I focused on the location of the "Royal Hostel" building for the first time, but repeated site surveys can be said to be nothing. Both the author of this article and other historical researchers believe that this plot has been demolished and rebuilt, and the beautiful building in the photo of Huahua Middle School is definitely gone, and there is no hope for it.So that the author of this article sighed at the end of "When I was a teenager at night":
At that time, Huahua Middle School can still see your face clearly in the old photos, but it no longer exists. As for why the building disappeared, it is unknown. Maybe the old building of the Royal Hotel that we saw when we were young was a part of it. Now, with this experience, it should be protected by hanging nameplates, but how many towers are misty and rainy.
既然华华中学的四层历史建筑已不复存在，对于这一地块的拆除，我也就并不可惜了。
如同电视剧《漂白》中的警察，线索断了，案子也只能搁浅了。
这里我们不妨插叙一下“华华中学”的革命历史。1937年1月，“华华中学”由进步团体“上海大学留沪同学会”接办，成为“秘密红色据点”。1920年代入党的早期共产党人高尔柏、林钧、许德良、孔另境分别担任接办后的两任校长、教导主任和训育主任，后任外交部副部长的韩念龙也曾化名当过该校教员。国共第二次合作期间，八路军在上海设立驻沪办事处，主任潘汉年将华华中学定为联络点，“苏州反省院”出狱的爱国人士先安顿在校内，再逐个安排工作。曾任上海市长的曹荻秋也曾带人来此住宿。“孤岛”时期，学校的特殊环境更为抗日救亡提供了便利条件。
▲前立者林钧，中立者孔另境
曾任上海书画出版社总编辑的黎鲁先生在所著《走出碎片化》（上海三联书店出版）“‘孤岛’前期的华华中学”一章中回忆到：
I remember that once he taught Marx’s theory of surplus value in great detail by using numbers. Originally, he was not clear about the word, but he understood it very well after listening to him. In 1938, it coincided with the 15th anniversary of the school’s founding. Both the school and the Student Self-government Association actively prepared commemorative activities and published a special commemorative issue. This task fell on me. President Lin wrote the title for this purpose. Teacher Kong Youjing gave me detailed guidance on how to typeset pictures, how to send them to the printing house and how to proofread various symbols. He personally gave directions one by one, which can be said to be the beginning of my decades of editing career.
In Biography of Kong Another Land, his daughter, Kong Haizhu, tells her father’s memories of that time according to his Dream-Seeking Notes:
At that time, the weather was very hot, the location of the school was quite remote, and there was frequent contact with the outside world. Fortunately, there was a tram in front of the door, and the tram company specially set up a "xx Middle School" station for them, which made it convenient for commuters (note: what should be mentioned here is what happened in the Yuyuan Road school building). There are meetings in the school all day, either for students of the school or for people from outside, such as lectures, seminars, plenary meetings, representative meetings and group meetings. At that time, almost all the leaders of national salvation in Shanghai were invited to give speeches. They praised the spirit of this school, but at the same time they attracted considerable attention from the outside world.
From the legendary experiences of these characters, we can find that Huahua Middle School is actually a secret revolutionary activity place under the cover of teaching staff. During the day, they use the classroom to publicize progressive ideas and train the anti-Japanese fire. At night, or during the gap between teaching, they take off their gowns and become the leaders of the "Armed Forces behind the enemy lines", and directly participate in military struggles. For example, Mr. Lin Jun was sent by the party in 1938. He took a group of advanced high school students from Huahua Middle School and a group of members of the East China People’s Armed Anti-Japanese Association to Zhuqiao, Pudong, and broke into the local "Fourth Brigade of the People’s Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps in the Border Region". He also cooperated with He Kexi, a military cadre in Simingshan Base Area in eastern Zhejiang, to secretly set up a "training class on anti-Japanese guerrilla work" in Shanghai, constantly enriching his strength, so that this team grew to more than 400 people and attacked Japanese puppet troops many times in Pudong and Chongming. Until he finally devoted himself to it and was killed in a military struggle. This is also a big era filled with smoke. China intellectuals participated in politics in a special way, that is, holding a pen in one hand and a gun in the other, which reminds people of poets and scribes such as Wen Tianxiang, Xin Qiji and Zhang Xiaoxiang in history. Many of them were versatile and eventually became military commanders. After the founding of New China, Han Nianlong became a general, ambassador and diplomat.
During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, Huahua Middle School, as the location of the wounded soldier hospital, the national salvation staff training center and the wartime service corps, was regarded as the anti-Japanese base camp by the Japanese secret service unit. Tian Li, a Fujian music teacher in Huahua Middle School, was arrested by Japanese plainclothes, and the school was searched by more than ten Japanese troops. Mr. Tian’s whereabouts are unknown. Perhaps it was this Japanese raid that led Huahua Middle School to abandon the new school building in the cross-border road-building area and move into the concession. At that time, it should be at the end of December 1937, after this incident, during the transition period, Yuyuan Road school building was still used for anti-Japanese and reception of revolutionaries.
Timeline: December 21, 2024-February 2025
The new United spinning company is preparing for its 40th anniversary. Secretary Wu Maochun, who is a history major, contacted the author to further explore the past lives in the plot of No.1341 Yuyuan Road, which rekindled the author’s research interest. When I came back from my first visit accompanied by Secretary Wu, I was puzzled once again by the photos of Huahua Middle School: Why did such a beautiful building evaporate out of thin air without leaving a trace? The author and Secretary Wu consulted the literature repeatedly and combed the historical changes of this plot in detail. During the research, we found the figure of national capitalist Zhang Rongchu, who established the central printing and dyeing factory on the basis of Huahua Middle School.
Here, we should first popularize the knowledge about the textile industry. According to the Journal of Shanghai Textile Industry, the textile industry can be divided into twelve categories: cotton textile, knitting, wool and linen, printing and dyeing, silk, yarn-dyed, white woven, handkerchief, towel, clothing, chemical fiber and textile machinery. At the same time, we should also introduce Zhang Rongchu.
▲ Zhang Rongchu is the right person with a long body.
In the biography of Zhang Rong, I found such a passage:
In addition to visiting Xu Caicheng, Zhang Rongchu also went to the friends’ home of Huiye Syndicate. Everyone analyzed the market situation in Shanghai, and thought that the goods in the market were in short supply at that time, and there were more social hot money, so it was safer in the concession, which was a good opportunity to develop industry. Everyone told Zhang Rongchu that as long as you dare to set up a factory, we will definitely support it.
Zhang Rongchu immediately went to his factories to find out the situation and found that the central printing and dyeing factory had been burned down during the Japanese attack, but there were still some machinery and equipment left. Yixin cloth factory has no loss, and 200 cloth machines are intact. Coincidentally, he found a four-story building and a vacant space in Huahua Middle School at No.1341 Yuyuan Road, and the middle school had already closed, so he managed to rent it, moved some machines of the Central Printing and Dyeing Factory, sent someone to repair it, changed the name of the factory to Central Fengji Printing and Dyeing Factory, and asked Han Zhicheng to be the manager. （2）
Zhang Rongchu was a national capitalist in modern times. He founded Central Printing and Dyeing Factory, Shanghai Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory, Rong Feng Cotton Mill, Chuansha Textile Factory and Linghu Chemical Factory. After the founding of New China, Zhang Rongchu chose to stay in the mainland of China, actively participated in the socialist transformation of private industry and commerce, served as a director of Shanghai Cotton Textile Branch and a member of Shanghai CPPCC, and died in Shanghai in 1972. In addition, Zhang Rongchu is a legendary figure.
Mr. Zhang Jungu wrote in the Biography of Du Yuesheng:
"Du Yuesheng often said that there were three wild horses among his students, and he couldn’t hold their reins himself. In fact, if he regrets what he says, he is really happy, because these three wild horses have the style of being a teacher. He saw himself from these three students a few years ago … with the greatest ability and the widest hands, especially surpassing Du Yuesheng, a teacher, and the three things that Shanghainese pay attention to: gimmicks, signs and styles. Zhang Rongchu, the favorite of Du Yuesheng and the backbone of Hengshe, is the first to be promoted. " （3）
After the "August 13th Incident", Shanghai fell. In order to avoid being forced to surrender by the Japanese army, Du Yuesheng transferred to Chongqing via Hong Kong, leaving his cronies Wan Molin and Xu Caicheng as representatives in Shanghai. At that time, there was a saying in Dumen that "there was a myriad of internal affairs and Xu Caicheng’s foreign affairs". According to Zhang Jitang, the grandson of Zhang Rongchu, most of the expenses of the staff staying in Shanghai Du Mansion were borne by their grandfather. Zhang Rongchu has three things worth talking about. First, it is recorded in Mr. Chen Cunren’s Life History of the Silver and Yuan Dynasties: at that time, his family was in Dadongmen Street in the city, and there were four silk and satin villages and farms. He often plays in his own silk and satin manor. There is an apprentice named Zhang in the shop, who has no salary. Apart from eating and living in the shop, he only receives 20 cents a month (about one-fifth of the silver dollar). Seeing that he has a piece of silver ocean next year, he is envious. At that time, the shopkeeper with the highest salary in the silk shop was only eight silver dollars a month, while the ordinary staff was only four or five silver dollars. While playing with the silver ocean, the little apprentice named Zhang said to Chen Cunren, "Now you are very proud, but if I work hard after I learn the essence, I will certainly be developed." By that time, I must earn more money than you, and I want to buy a rickshaw, so I will sit high on it. If you are lazy now and fiddle with a piece of silver ocean to show off, it will definitely not become a climate, and you may become a beggar. Then you can only help me push the cart and reach out and ask me for a copper coin … "Mr. Chen Cunren lamented: This apprentice named Zhang was Zhang Rongchu, a great industrialist on the beach later. Second, the "Sheng Pavilion" at No.54 Shaoxing Road (the former building of Shanghai People’s Publishing House) is rumored to be "heard at sea".Du Yuesheng’s former residence was actually bought by Zhang Rongchu in the name of his son after he changed hands with the Central Printing and Dyeing Factory for profit.
▲ Shaoxing Road was originally named Aimaiyu Limited Road, which was changed to Shaoxing Road in 1943. Zhang Rong’s first family was registered at No.74 Shaoxing Road in 1945. Looking at the map of 1947, No.74 Shaoxing Road was changed to No.54, but it was the same building (photo by Zhang Jitang).
However, Zhang Rongchu did send Du Yuesheng a Cadillac bulletproof car specially made in the United States in exchange for the favor of "Master". On one occasion, Zhang Rongchu’s "wild horse" closed the bank of an iron buddy, which made Du Yuesheng, a loyal man, disgusted and asked Zhang not to see him again. Knowing Du Yuesheng’s temper, Zhang Rongchu felt nervous, but soon came up with a clever plan. He ran to Wan Molin, a close confidant of Du Yuesheng, and said, I will buy something that will not only make my husband change his mind, but also make him see me every day and never forget my benefits. Wan Molin thought he was talking nonsense. Zhang said, "I went to the largest automobile factory in the United States and ordered a brand-name insurance car, bulletproof glass and armored steel plate, and the brand was designated Cadillac." And I want to embed a bronze medal in the back of the driver’s seat, engraved with’ Master’s gift, birthday chapter and honor’. My husband goes out in this car every day, and he will see my name every day. " Sure enough, a year later, a brand-new custom-made car was parked at the door of Du Mansion. Du Yuesheng was the last one to know, but after reading it, he walked into the house with a serious face and said to his good friend Gu Jiatang, "What qualifications do you think I have to take an insurance car? Why should I take an insurance car? Did I offend someone? I am afraid that someone will’ do’ me? " Knowing that Gu Jiatang had been bought by Zhang Rongchu, he laughed: "Brother Yue Sheng, you worry too much! Who doesn’t know that your tree is sheltered from the wind at Huangpu Beach, and who doesn’t want to avoid the wind and rain and the sun under your big tree? " Come out to mix is to have a big style, Du Yuesheng advised by Gu Jiatang, also take it.ZhangRongChu nature can carry Du Yuesheng brand again. Third, Mr. Zhang Jitang, the grandson of Zhang Rongchu, narrated in "Family Affairs, State Affairs and Things in the World": In October 1939, a Japanese military officer came to Lian ‘anfang, Yuyuan Road, to talk with his grandfather Zhang Rongchu, claiming to be No.76, Jisifei Road. I wonder what medicine he sells in the gourd. A few times later, they told me their purpose. It turned out that they wanted to arrest a doctor living in the French Concession and asked him to make a house call to lead out the Concession. Zhang thinks that doctors may be anti-Japanese, so how can they help the Japanese aggressors? He told the Japanese officer that he would go to Hangzhou tomorrow and call the doctor the day after tomorrow. After the Japanese army left, Zhang immediately mobilized his family, rented a house on Huanlong Road (now Nanchang Road), and moved his family to the French Concession within half a day. Later, Zhang learned that No.45 Aimaiyu Limited Road was completed and sold, so he bought it for 4,000 taels of gold in the name of his son and prepared to give it to his master Du Yuesheng. This is No.54 Shaoxing Road today, which has been rumored as "Du Yuesheng Mansion" and was once the seat of Shanghai People’s Publishing House. The Japanese army headquarters also coerced Zhang to cooperate with Japan Yufeng Cotton Mill to restore Shanghai Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory, but Zhang politely declined. The Japanese army used the excuse that Shanghai Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory was an "enemy production" and forcibly occupied it. In a word, although Zhang Rongchu is a Shanghai style, he still has national integrity at the critical moment. However, Zhang Rongchu was listed as an "economic traitor" after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and was blacklisted by the Kuomintang on the eve of liberation. Both of them were rescued by Du Yuesheng. After 1949, under the persuasion of Li Jishen, Zhang Rongchu returned to the mainland from Hong Kong, and the film "The City that Never Sleeps" was filmed according to its prototype, and was later approved as a "big poisonous weed".In the special era, Zhang Rongchu naturally suffered a lot and died in 1972. According to the article "Moving Story" quoted by Mr. Shou Yousen by Mr. Zhang Jitang, the grandson of Mr. Zhang Rongchu, it is known that Mr. Zhang Rongchu lived at No.4 Lian ‘anfang on Yuyuan Road and set up a factory at No.1341 on Yuyuan Road before 1949, and moved away from No.54 on Shaoxing Road after 1949, and rented the fourth and fifth floors of Jiangning Building at No.753 Yuyuan Road, Chen Guangfu House at No.1075 Yuyuan Road and No.361 Yuyuan Road successively.
▲ After 1949, the present appearance of Mr. Chen Guangfu’s residence borrowed by Mr. Zhang Rongchu happened to be the location of the "Yuyuan Elegant Collection" where we often activities. According to Mr. Zhang Jitang, his grandson who lived here as a child, the house has a main building and an annex building, and the second floor is connected by a bridge. It is very fun for us to chase after each other. The garden is very big, but the Chen family has been away for three years and it is almost deserted. The grass is full of grasshoppers and crickets, and the trees are full of cicadas. We boys drill behind the bushes and climb waist-high weeds, imagining that it is a wild Yuan Ye and a battlefield of war.
Back to the historical scene, Zhang Rongchu returned to Shanghai from Huzhou in 1937. At that time, his family still lived in the senior residence of Lian ‘anfang on Yuyuan Road, which was completed in 1926. Huahua Middle School at No.1341 was opposite Lian ‘anfang. At that time, although the printing and dyeing factory was polluted, it was very profitable and attracted investment from all walks of life. Zhang Rongchu thought of setting up a factory, and he passed by here every day. It was expected that he would take a fancy to the vacant buildings and plots opposite. However, the process of building a factory and starting construction was not smooth. "Zhang Rongchu Biography" wrote:
Central Fengji Printing and Dyeing Factory was located in Huahua Middle School on Yuyuan Road. Due to environmental pollution, it was strongly opposed by nearby residents, especially foreign nationals, and it had to be closed after one year. Central Fengji Printing and Dyeing Factory was sold to Han Zhicheng, who renamed it Jiuxin Printing and Dyeing Factory. Zhang Rongchu got 970,000 yuan and added another 80,000 yuan. I bought the former American Overseas Chinese Club at 54 Shaoxing Road. Become your own residence. （4）
According to the "Shen Bao" on October 13, 1938, the central printing and dyeing factory was forced to stop because of noise problems:
The Central Fengji Woven Printing and Dyeing Factory, No.1341 Yuyuan Road, is surrounded by residential areas. Because it has been working every night for the next month, the noise of the machine is disturbing, the public works office has repeatedly advised and ordered it to stop working after 12 o’clock in the evening, and the factory has failed to comply because of its peak business. As a result, it was surrounded by barbed wire by the police at 7 o’clock yesterday morning and forced to stop working. It is reported that the factory has been shut down.
Yuyuan Road is a dual spatial structure in history, with modern garden houses and new lanes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, and behind it is the pattern of Jiangnan water towns with long rivers and shanty towns built along the river, which is more suitable for printing and dyeing enterprises to produce pollutants and obtain labor. Although No.1341 is located in the cross-border road-building area, many foreign nationals, including rewi alley, a famous international friend, live at No.4, Ruixingfang, Lane 1315, next to the post. Naturally, the living environment cannot be destroyed, whether because of pollution or noise, or both, the printing and dyeing factory has been shut down.
On October 13th, 1938, The News reported:
Yuyuan Road Central Printing and Dyeing Factory was arrested yesterday and blocked.
English Damei Evening News cloud, No.1531 Yuyuan Road (note: the largest number of Yuyuan Road is not up to No.1500, or refers to Zhuanbang Road behind it) Central Fengji Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory, because of working day and night in residential areas, the noise is endless, bituminous coal is flying everywhere, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology warned it not to follow. On Wednesday morning, it sent an arrest to the patrol room for the engineering department of the bureau to make No.1341 of the factory work. The small hotel next door was also blocked because it was connected with the factory.
There is another story about this matter. According to relevant information, Secretary Wu Maochun wrote in the article "Zhang Rongchu and No.1341 Yuyuan Road": The Central Fengji Printing and Dyeing Factory, which was opened during the enemy-occupied period, was prosperous and prosperous from the day it opened, and it was added to the long night shift after 12 pm in September 1938. However, due to the shortage of funds for the simultaneous construction of Rong Feng Cotton Mill by Zhang Rongchu, Zhang Rongchu had to tear down the east wall of the central printing and dyeing factory to make up the west wall of Rong Feng Cotton Mill. Finally, under the pressure of customers going to the Central Fengji Printing and Dyeing Factory at No.1341 Yuyuan Road, they had to start the emergency plan of "risks" and let a foreigner write to the patrol room: "The factory next door is working day and night, so I can’t sleep well. I should order this factory to stop working and move to the suburbs." In the end, the customer advised Zhang Rongchu’s doorman to say, "You should tell Mr. Zhang that this matter should be done quickly, otherwise it will affect production." Soon after, the foreigner wrote another letter, agreeing not to ask the Central Factory to move, and the patrol room immediately removed the barbed wire. As a result, Zhang Rongchu spent the crisis between Rong Feng Cotton Mill and Central Fengji Printing and Dyeing Factory.
It seems that the closure of the central printing and dyeing factory is like a "trick" written and directed by Zhang Rongchu. The so-called "all is fair in war" can also be seen as the business means of this capable person.
Two reports in Shenbao and News also confirmed the fact that Yuyuan Road belongs to a cross-border road-building area. In 1933, the cadastral map was still marked as No.26-8,1341, Fahua District, Huajie, and the surrounding plots were also owned by Chinese. However, in 1938, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology still exercised its power to intervene because of the environmental problems in this area, and the Japanese gendarmerie also openly went to Huahua Middle School here to search for anti-Japanese elements, which fully reflected that this area was an anti-Japanese. According to the report in Shenbao, the new school building is located in a remote area, and the traffic is inconvenient. After coordinating with the bus company, in 1929, the No.3 and No.7 buses specially set up stops at the entrance of Huahua Middle School to facilitate students’ arrival, and the No.20 trolley bus passed by. In 1933-1934, Bus No.7 withdrew and passed by Bus No.1 instead. After 1936, the No.3 bus disappeared. According to the report in Shenbao on November 9, 1937, Huahua Middle School in Yuyuan Road, due to the war, most students didn’t arrive at school, which caused the class to be irregular last week. However, although the school is located in the western area, it is not in danger of stray bullets, so it has been in class as usual and restored to its original state. However, with the approaching of the war and the arrest of music teacher Tian Li, Huahua Middle School may eventually be evacuated to No.4, Lane 384, Fuzhou Road in the concession.
According to the Survey of Modern Shanghai Industry and Commerce compiled by Shanghai Archives (I), after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Tongfeng Factory developed rapidly. In 1947, it had a capital of 1.2 billion yuan and nearly 1,000 employees, with Cao Lanxin as the chairman and Han Changsheng as the general manager. The factory opened the third factory at No.1341 Yuyuan Road. Due to lack of funds, the third factory was shelved and never started normally. In July 1949, it was finally leased to Dade Printing and Dyeing Factory. Zhang Rongchu sold the printing and dyeing factory. According to the historical records, it was once Jiuxin Printing, Bleaching and Dyeing Finishing Factory. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the third branch of Tongfeng Printing and Dyeing Company expanded its production here in 1947, but although Tongfeng Printing and Dyeing Company settled in No.1341, it did not actually start work.
▲1947-1949 Catalogue of Shanghai Line Numbers, the part of Dade Printing and Dyeing Factory is the location of Huahua Building.
According to the Catalogue of Shanghai Hanghao Road, which was finally published in 1949, plot 1341 of Yuyuan Road is marked with Tongfeng Printing and Dyeing Company, Dade Printing and Dyeing Factory and Royal Hotel, which can confirm this statement.
▲ Plot No.1341 in 1988, the building with the number 4 is the location of Huahua Building.
According to the information provided by xinlianfang, the plot No.1341 was followed by Dade Printing and Dyeing Factory in 1949-Dade Xinji Printing and Dyeing Factory in 1956-several enterprises were merged to become Shanghai Dade Twisting Factory in September 1959-it was renamed Shanghai Yarn-dyed Twisting Line I in 1966-Shanghai Yarn-dyed Weaving Factory closed in 1986, so it was an opportunity that Xinlianfang Company moved from No.24 Bund in 1988. Up to now, it is still a large state-owned enterprise with entity operation and integrating foreign trade, exhibition and workshop.
At the scene of Xinlianfang, the author, Secretary Wu, his childhood friend who came back from America, and Mr. Huang, a classmate who lived above the Royal Hostel, recalled and searched together. Our attention is still trying to find out whether the old building of the Royal Hostel is still on the floor, because we suspect that it may be a relic of the Huahua Building.
▲ Looking at the "Royal Hostel Buried in the Middle" from an aerial perspective
After repeated observation from different sides, floors and perspectives, we confirmed the "Royal Hotel" which was "buried" by adding stories, expanding, building and changing the facade, but carefully observing its architectural structure style, it was not like "Huahua Building" at all, but rather like the workshop of textile enterprises in those days. We can’t confirm that the old building of "Royal Hotel" is "Huahua Building", so we have to leave with regret. Once again, the clues to solve the case were interrupted.
After returning home, the author of this article, who has not given up his heart, is bored to read the 1930 edition of Huahua Yearbook, which was originally too busy to read because of its many miscellaneous contents. I really want to thank these enthusiastic young people of Huahua who set up their own school that year. Without the school yearbook carefully edited by them, they would not have been able to obtain rich original documents about the school that year, and because the yearbook was painstakingly edited under the guidance of teachers, it is highly authoritative. By carefully comparing the historical data and pictures of Huahua Middle School, the author suddenly found that Huahua Middle School on the map runs north-south rather than east-west, so that the possibility that the East-west "Royal Hotel" is "Huahua Building" can be completely ruled out, and the eyes suddenly opened up, as if after a long and boring experiment, the mistake was suddenly discovered, and the attention was immediately released and shifted. Just like solving a case, investigators think in the wrong direction, and it is also a dead end to think hard again. Eliminating the wrong direction is a victory. It takes no effort to get it. It’s a simple accidental epiphany, but it pays off.
▲ A sketch near Zhaofeng Park in 1930 shows the school building of Huahua Middle School in the north-south direction.
▲ In 1930, Huahua Yearbook added a lintel to the main entrance, engraved with "Xi Xian Tang". I wonder whether to learn from the "Huai Shi Tang" of St. John’s University to commemorate the former president Wang Buxian.
▲ In the floor plan of Huahua Building in 1930, Yuyuan Road has an entrance, but 22 is marked as the south main entrance engraved with Huahua Middle School, facing the 23 rd playground, and the arrow points north.
▲ In 1936, the entrance to the south main entrance of Huahua Building, and the rebuilt "Xixiantang" lintel that appeared in Huahua Yearbook in 1930 seemed to be visible, and the Zhaofeng Village in the west was revealed at this time.
▲ Group photo of grade one students in Huahua Middle School in 1930.
Subsequently, the author carefully studied the photos and drawings of Huahua Building and the Huahua Yearbook (6) published in 1930 with a magnifying glass, and found that although Huahua Building has an entrance and exit gate on Yuyuan Road, the main entrance engraved with the words "Huahua Middle School" should face south to the playground inside (the north arrow in the topographic map notes, 22 is the main entrance, 23 is the playground, and the main entrance is facing the playground). From this point of view, it is becoming more and more clear that this building is likely to be in another location, that is, the location of Dade Printing and Dyeing Factory and the AB building of the new networking company, and it is facing an empty space that may be the playground of that year. Once again, the author can’t wait to run to the scene. It is found that the historical features can’t be identified from Yuyuan Road along the road and Xinlianfang, but from Zhaofeng Village and another side, it is found that the geographical position of this building of Huahua Middle School remains unchanged, and its skeleton is still clearly visible. Its four-story height and eight partitions can still be identified today. This buried building is actually the building of Huahua Middle School in the past, but its style has completely changed.
▲ Looking at "Huahua Building" from the east, four floors and eight partitions are still there.
▲ Take a long shot of "Huahua Building". The left part is the original building that has been expanded to the playground, and the right part is the expansion part.
The author of this article excitedly called and told Secretary Wu that the "Huahua Building", a historic building with a history of nearly a hundred years, is the office building you taught. There are five criteria for judging: 1) the north-south direction of Huahua Building marked in the location map and plan of Huahua Yearbook and the south-facing main entrance engraved with the words "Huahua Middle School" (Note 22) are facing the playground (Note 23), and the arrow direction is facing north; 2) The open area for building the school building of Huahua Middle School mentioned in Shenbao is behind Huancui Square. According to the completed photo of Huahua Middle School in 1928 (AI map), it can be seen that there are existing buildings on the north side of Yuyuan Road, which is supposed to be a Huancui Square composed of four western-style buildings and street-crossing buildings, so the possibility that the playground is located on the north side of Yuyuan Road is ruled out. 3) Take Ruixingfang, which had a building in 1912 (what we can see today may be a rebuilt building) and Zhaofeng Village, which was built around 1930, as reference objects; 4) The location of "Huahua Building" in the floor plan of each era has not changed; 5) After a field visit, it can still be found that the location of Huahua Building remains unchanged, the height of four floors and eight partitions remain unchanged, and the interior is still the functional pattern of the school building in that year.
▲ The new Lianfang building along the street of Huahua Building has become a online celebrity punch point on Yuyuan Road.
Believe it or not, the building is there and the history is there.
Before 1949, there were many factories in Yuyuan Road, except the garden houses of dignitaries, the new alleys of middle-class and well-off families, the sides of the road, the alleys and the back roads. This is a neglected aspect of Yuyuan Road in Wutong District. Shops along the street, high-end houses in the middle and small and medium-sized enterprises behind them seem to be rare in the concession, but they are common in Yuyuan Road, which fully proves the complexity of the road as a cross-border road construction area. The natural growth process of Lane 1341, which is a "snail shell as a Dojo", mixed factories, businesses and houses is a microcosm of the development of our city, and its changes have witnessed Chinese’s catching up with modern civilization. This is the meaning of the discovery of "Huahua Building" and what it means.
▲ Today’s satellite map of the area near the new United Spinning.
Timeline: February 17, 2025
With the vicissitudes of time, the discovery process of "Huahua Building" can’t help but make people sigh: the building is more solid and longer than people, and it also proves the contemporary value of historical research. Combined with the literature research of field investigation, we have salvaged the complete history of plot 1341 from the clearing to today for nearly 100 years, including 10 years of Chinese secondary education (1928-1938), 1 year of Shanghai University revolution (1937-1938), 50 years of national textile industry development (1938-1988) and nearly 40 years of foreign trade reform and opening up. The significance of the discovery of the legacy building lies in the following: First, for Shanghai University, the only historical building site related to the red context of Shanghai University has been found. 2. For Changning District, a potential red site and excellent historic buildings have been discovered. Third, for the new United Spinning, understanding past lives has greatly enriched the history of the 40th anniversary of the new United Spinning. Fourth, Yuyuan Road, which has become a national tourist and leisure block, has provided a great bright spot for its further upgrading and development. 5. Plot No.1341 has a superior geographical position. If possible, this considerable area on Yuyuan Road, which is so rich in land, can also be used as a "relic" as a development project to develop a very attractive public space by linking with adjacent historical buildings, and promote the economic development of Yuyuan Road and Changning District through the development of cultural tourism and business industries.
Relevant parties hope to further seek the evidence of "Huahua Building" from the architectural drawings, and inspire the author of this paper to find a valuable information: in 1933, the map of Yuyuan Road (boundary 62-8, No.28 Baobei 12 map of Fahua District) and "Huahua Middle School" stood out in the eye, and finally the discovery of "Huahua Building" was completed as an ironclad case. The building of the Royal Hotel also appeared on the drawings in 1933, indicating that it is also a historical building.
"Huahua Building" stands up to now, which is undoubtedly a historical monument. I look forward to seeing its style again.
Connecting the "fragmented" history of a scene in series, it is possible to see a whole while approaching the original ecology of history infinitely, and to see historical figures walk through it with their own marks and hobbies.
At that moment, it seemed that you really met history.
（2025-1-26）
References:
1. Gu Zheming’s Repair of Spatial Inequality: A Study on the Changes of House Number System in Modern Shanghai Public Concession, Shilin, No.5, 2022.
2. Biography of Zhang Rong, edited by Li Huimin, Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 2006, p43,51.
3. Zhang Jungu’s Biography of Du Yuesheng China Encyclopedia Publishing House, 2010, p661.
5. Huahua Yearbook, Central South Press, 1930, 1940.
7. Other references:
Kong Haizhu’s Biography of Kong Another Land, Chinese Publishing House, Beijing 2020;
Zhang Jitang’s Family Affairs, State Affairs and Things in the World, Aomori Culture in Hong Kong 2024;
Chen Cunren’s Life History in the Silver and Yuan Dynasties, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000;
Out of Fragmentation by Li Lu, Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore Press, 2019.
8. Thanks to Mr. Lu Yan, Ms. Kong Haizhu, Mr. Wu Maochun, Mr. Ma Jun, Mr. Zhang Jun, Ms. Li Luxin, Mr. Shou Yousen, Mr. Huang Weiqi, Ms. Li Yingjun, Mr. Li Leqi, Mr. Ma Xiaojun and Yuyuan Yaji for providing relevant information and help.
(The core content was published in Wenhui Scholar on February 13, 2025)
Brief introduction of the author
Elvis Tsui
Urban culture research scholar. He is the author of Yuyuan Road, Yuyuan Road and the Centennial Edition of Yuyuan Road, which is a unique study of Shanghai Road history, and Shanghai TV Station has adapted it into three documentaries.
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Go to the end in the alley, and the market will become a play in a hundred years.
Original title: "Xu Jinjiang | The mysterious discovery that wakes up the history under the eyes"
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