從跑馬廳到人民廣場：上海跑馬廳收回運動，1946-1951

Abstract

This paper examines the Nationalist and Communist regimes' efforts to acquire the Shanghai Racecourse after World War Ⅱ. The Racecourse, comprising a 71-acre Recreation Ground and the surrounding 16-acre race track, was purchased and managed by heads of British firms as a sporting facility for the foreign community. It had long been regarded as one of the symbols of imperialism in Shanghai, and horse racing a ruse to seduce the Chinese into gambling. Under the auspices of the foreign-controlled Shanghai Municipal Council of the International Settlement, the Racecourse managed to remain outside the purview of the Chinese administration for more than three quarters of a century. However, the Settlement was handed over to the Chinese in 1943. After the war, the Shanghai Municipal Council was gone and so were Britain’s gunboat policies. The Nationalist municipality, led by Mayor Wu Guozhen (K. C. Wu), thus started a campaign to acquire the Racecourse, a campaign continued by the Communist-run municipality after 1949. In 1951 the acquisition was finally completed and the area was transformed into what we know today as People's Square and People's Park. It is generally considered that 1949, the year of the founding of the People's Republic of China, was a turning point for foreign businesses in China, as the new ”revolutionary” Communist government soon adopted measures forcing them to leave. By focusing on the acquisition of the Shanghai Racecourse, this paper argues that the real watershed for foreign institutions in Shanghai in particular and in China in general should be seen in broader terms: the recovery of the International Settlement by the Chinese in 1943 and the erosion of British power and influence throughout Asia after World War Ⅱ. The situation steadily worsened for foreigners and finally reached the final stage in the 1950s. Continuity across 1949 itself, however, was particularly obvious in two ways. First, was the consistency of the Nationalist and Communist regimes' strategy in the acquisition campaign. Both regimes used similar populist language and moralistic discussions of imperialists and their rotten ”gambling” institution, thus revealing many of the same assumptions about the prerogatives of imperialism and sovereignty. And second, was the assembling of materials to create a myth of imperialist thievery, which also straddled 1949. Beginning in 1946 both the media and government officials made great efforts in digging out anecdotes, hearsay, and records about how the foreigners had obtained the land illegally. These bits and pieces of information were put together to finally become a plausible story in the 1950s. It was then quoted repeatedly by wenshi ziliao (cultural and historical materials) and formed a myth about the Racecourse that still flourishes today.