Songjiang District

History

About 7000 years ago, people living in Songjiang created four types of unique culture: Majiabang Culture, Songze Culture, Liangzhu Culture and Guangfulin Culture, which laid a solid foundation of multicultural characteristics of Shanghai Culture. Songjiang was formerly known as Huating County (华亭县) and was part of Jiangsu province.

In AD 751, during the mid-Tang Dynasty, Huating County was established at modern-day Songjiang, the first county-level administration within modern-day Shanghai.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Huating County was raised to prefecture status and changed its name to Songjiang Prefecture (松江府).

Under the Republic, the Songjiang Special Administration District extended as far as Chongming Island in northern Shanghai.

In 1998, the current Songjiang District was established.

Climate

It has a humid subtropical climate and experiences four distinct seasons. Winters are chilly and damp, and cold northwesterly winds from Siberia can cause nighttime temperatures to drop below freezing, although most years there are only one or two days of snowfall. Summers are hot and humid, with an average of 8.7 days exceeding 35 °C (95 °F) annually; occasional downpours or freak thunderstorms can be expected. It is also susceptible to typhoons in summer and the beginning of autumn, none of which in recent years has caused considerable damage. The most pleasant seasons are spring, although changeable and often rainy, and autumn, which is generally sunny and dry. It averages 4.2 °C (39.6 °F) in January and 27.9 °C (82.2 °F) in July, for an annual mean of 16.1 °C (61.0 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 34% in March to 54% in August, it receives 1,895 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extreme temperatures within the municipality range from 40.8 °C (105 °F) on 7 August 2013, down to −12.1 °C (10 °F) on 19 January 1893.

Cultural Significant Features

As the cultural root of Shanghai, Songjiang preserves brilliant and unique prehistoric, ancient and modern cultural significant features.

In the prehistoric period, there formed Majiabang Culture, Songze Culture, Liangzhu Culture and Guangfulin Culture in Songjiang. The recent unearthed farming and working tools as well as rice and animal remains proved that people living in Songjiang at that time had already known how to plough the farming land, which pushed the primitive agricultural society forward to a more civilized one.

At the beginning of the 21st century, discoveries in Songjiang Guangfulin Cultural Relics made great contribution to archaeology. Firstly, it clearly divided the primitive society into types like Songze Cultural, Liangzhu Cultural and Guangfulin Cultural, which was considered to be the cultural relics of New Stone Era in Taihu area; secondly, immigrants from the Yellow River were conformed to be the first group of immigrants coming Shanghai; thirdly, there were towns in Shanghai dating back to as far as Zhou Dynasty; fourthly, two unique types of houses in primitive society were found: stilt house and ground house.

As time passed by, there were two important periods in the ancient Chinese society: the Western Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, characterized by the following four significant cultural features:

1.Originality

Excellent cultural environment in Songjiang cultivated a great number of elites, represented by litterateurs like Lu Ji and Lu Yun in the Western Jin Dynasty, Chinese painters like Dong Qichang in the Ming Dynasty and writers like Tao Zongyi in the Yuan Dynasty. They all created revolutionary and practical theories into their fields, making great contribution to the further development of Chinese art and literature, and were known to us for their originality and creativity.

2.Inclusivity

There were many kinds of art and literature schools in Songjiang, and three historical immigrants from the northern part of China, respectively taking place at the end of Jin Dynasty, mid-Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, brought along northern culture and stimulated the cultural kindness and inclusivity of Songjiang. In addition, when the five biggest religions in China are growing bigger and bigger and get along with each other in Songjiang, they learned from not only other religions but also unique culture in Songjiang and formed their special characteristics, which shows the cultural inclusivity in Songjiang culture.

3.Guidingness

A famous art and literature school---Yunjian rooted and gained its fame here. Yunjian school represents both ancient literature and modern ones, combing practical ideas with ideal ones, which has a profound influence on the development of ancient Chinese poetry, painting and calligraphy. Its representatives are Chen Zilong, Chen Wen, Mo Shilong, Dong Qichang and Lu Ji.

4.radiativity

From the beginning of ancient Chinese imperial examinations at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Songjiang had cultivated all together 521 Jinshi, successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations, which was a rare scene in the Chinese examination history. These successful candidates, being high government officials, all made great contributions to the country. Songjiang also has great influence on the development of newspaper, cotton manufacturing and agriculture.

Significant Features

Some of the notable features in Songjiang District include:

Cultural sights in Songjiang include:

Government and infrastructure

The Shanghai Women's Prison is in Songjiang District.

Transport

Songjiang District is located approximately 25 kilometers (16 mi) from Hongqiao International Airport and 70 kilometers (43 mi) from Pudong International Airport.

Metro

Songjiang is currently served by one metro lines operated by Shanghai Metro one suburban line operated by China Railways:

Subdistricts and towns

Songjiang District has six subdistricts, eleven towns and three special township-level divisions.

Notable people

Birthplace:

Heroes: Hou Shaoqiu, Jiang Huilin, Xia Yunyi, Chen Zilong, Xia Wanchun;

Statesmen: Gu Yong, Lu Xun, Xu Jie;

Litterateurs: Lu Ji, Lu Yun, Chen Jiru, Qian Fu, Gu Qing;

Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Artists: Shen Du, Dong Qichang, Zhang Nanheng, Zhang Zhao, Shi Zhecun, Cheng Shifa;

Craftsmen: Zhu Kerou, Huang Daopo, Ding Niangzi;

Experts: Tao Zongyi, Zhu Shunshui, Chen Yongkang;

Educators: He Dong, Ping Hailan, Ma Xiangru.