Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation
At the Crossroads of Empires – Middlemen, Social Networks, and State-Building in Republican Shanghai - Stanford Scholarship Online
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content.

At the Crossroads of Empires: Middlemen, Social Networks, and State-Building in Republican Shanghai

Nara Dillon and Jean C. Oi

Abstract

To a degree uncommon among Chinese cities, Republican Shanghai had no center. Its territory was divided among three (sometimes more) municipal governments integrated into various national states and empires. No government building or religious institution gave Shanghai a “center.” Yet amidst deep cleavages, the city functioned as a coherent whole. What held Shanghai together? The authors of this book's answer is that a group of middlemen with myriad connections across political and social boundaries created networks which held Republican Shanghai together.

Keywords: Chinese cities, Republican Shanghai, territory, municipal governments, national states, empires, government building, religious institution, center, middlemen

Bibliographic Information

Print publication date: 2007 Print ISBN-13: 9780804756198
Published to Stanford Scholarship Online: June 2013 DOI:10.11126/stanford/9780804756198.001.0001

Authors

Affiliations are at time of print publication.

Nara Dillon, editor

Jean C. Oi, editor

Show Summary Details

subscribe or login to access all content.