Nanshi District (, was a district located in central

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

until its merger with

Huangpu District, Shanghai Huangpu District () makes up the eastern part of Shanghai's traditional urban core and is today the most central of Shanghai's 16 districts. Huangpu district is the seat of municipal government, includes key attractions such as The Bund (Shangha ...

on 13 June 2000. It had an area of , of which was water, and population of as of June 2000.

Location

The former Nanshi District, literally "southern city", was the historical core of Shanghai. It included the old, walled city as well as the nearby docklands on both sides of the

Huangpu River The Huangpu (), formerly romanized as Whangpoo, is a river flowing north through Shanghai. The Bund and Lujiazui are located along the Huangpu River. The Huangpu is the biggest river in central Shanghai, with the Suzhou Creek being its ...

. Shanghai County was established at the beginning of the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. A city wall was built to repel the

Wokou ''Wokou'' ( zh, c=, p=Wōkòu; ; Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ; ; literal Chinese translation: "dwarf bandits"), which translates to "Japanese pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 17 ...

, and this Ming Dynasty wall defined the extent of urban Shanghai for the next few centuries.

History

In 1842, the area north of the old city was established as the British concession in Shanghai, which later became the

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the 1863 merger of the British Concession (Shanghai), British and American Concession (Shanghai), American list of former foreign enclaves in China, enclaves in Shanghai, in which Brit ...

. At the time, the concession was referred to by locals as the "northern city" while the walled Chinese city was the "southern city". From this reference was later derived the name ''Nanshi'' (). Upon the defeat of Japan at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a unified municipal administration was established over urban Shanghai for the first time since the mid 19th century. In 1945, after the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

government took control, the old city was divided into the Third District (Yimiao District) and the Fourth District (Penglai District). In 1959 these were merged to form ''Nanshi District'' (with a small part of former Yimiao District merging into Luwan District).

Location

History

References

See also