| Origin of "Hu" and "Shen" |
| Founding of the City |
| Modern Age |
| Historic Transformation |
| Origin of "Hu" and "Shen" Shanghai is called in Chinese ``Hu'' for short and ``Shen'' as a nickname. About 6,000 years ago, the western part of today's Shanghai dried up into land and its eastern part became a piece of land about 2,000 years ago. During the Spring-Autumn and Warring States Periods (770-221 BC), this area was once the feoff of Huang Xie, the Chun Shen Governor of the State of Chu. So, ``Shen'' comes from the title of the governor. During the Jin Dynasty (4th-5th centuries), fishermen living along the Songjiang River (today's Suzhou Creek) and the coast of the East China Sea created a fishing tool called ``Hu.'' By combining the name of the fishing tool and the then term for estuary of big rivers, they coined a Chinese character ``Hu'' to name the place as it sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the longest river in China. 
Shanghai began as Huating County, an administrative district established in AD 751. In 1267, Shanghai Town was set up on the west bank of the Huangpu River. In 1292, the then central government approved the establishment of Shanghai County in this area, which has been widely deemed as the official beginning of the city of Shanghai.
Historic Transformation |
In the 16th century (or the middle period of the Ming Dynasty), Shanghai became the national center of textile & handicraft industry. In 1685, the central government of the Qing Dynasty set up its customs office in Shanghai. In the mid-19th century, the city evolved into a major trading port and gateway to inland China. On May 27, 1949, Shanghai was liberated by the People's Liberation Army of the Communist Party of China from the Kuomintang rule and began to write its chapter in the history of the development of New China.