Postcards of the past, snapshots of history
Print Edition
Postcards have long been regarded as trip mementos. A new exhibition in Minhang shows us how important they also can be as keepsakes of history.
More than 200 vintage postcards depicting the life and times of Old Shanghai are on display in Chunshen Cultural Square on Mingdu Road. The exhibition runs through December 15 and is free to the public.
“Scenes of the Old Town” features postcards depicting scenes of every day life and vistas of the Huangpu River, Suzhou Creek, the Bund and Nanjing Road.
“Besides seeing buildings that stood on the Bund for almost 100 years, I found images of monuments that used to be there as well,” said Deng Chu, a Shanghai resident who lived during the 1930s, as he pointed to a postcard showing a war monument destroyed during the World War II.
Song Jue, a Minhang Museum staffer who organized the postcard exhibition, said the display is meant to remind people of the past.
“Few people now know about this history,” she said. “Besides the familiar international buildings, there used to be many bronze sculptures on the Bund.”
The exhibition is divided into six parts, presenting different facets of Shanghai from the end of the 19th century through the beginning of the 20th.
“The Land and People” segment presents old Shanghai wedding ceremonies, funerals and clothing fashions of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It also shows commercial shipping of that era on the Huangpu River.
A second segment, “Huangpu Riverside,” encompasses images of buildings on the Bund and the colonial architecture in Shanghai. “Suzhou Riverside” comprises postcards showing the old Russian Consulate, Shanghai Post Office Building, Garden Bridge (Waibaidu Bridge) and the Broadway Building.
“On Nanjing Road” takes viewers back to the pawnshops, teahouses, markets and restaurants that used to line the famous commercial street.
A “Traffic” segment shows the old Shanghai harbor, railways and sedan chairs, while “City Scenes” surveys the public park on the Bund, the Chenghuang Temple, Yuyuan Garden and Longhua Temple.
“It’s exciting to see the Shanghai entrance to the old city, the business street of Old Shanghai, the large number of rickshaws and Chinese porcelain stores,” said Li Fangfang, a senior citizen who visited the exhibition.
More than 4,000 people have visited the exhibition since it opened two months ago, according to Song. Most of them are residents in Minhang — many of them people who once lived in the city center.
“At the same time, many newer residents are interested in this exhibition,” Song said. “They are people who want to know more about Shanghai’s history.”
All the postcards come from the Shanghai History Museum. The display has been shown in various districts of Shanghai.
“Most of the 200 postcards were donated by Zhe Fu, who lives in Hong Kong and collected the postcards from overseas,” said Gu Yanyuan at the Shanghai History Museum.
It’s not only the pictures themselves that hark back to earlier times. The messages written on the postcards also give a glimpse of the people who lived here decades ago.
With the opening of the Shanghai harbor to the outside world in the late 19th century, large numbers of foreigners came to the city. Their footprints remain.
“The postcards were an important means of sending greetings back home,” Gu said. “Zhe collected many of the cards from families overseas.”
The exhibition is one of a series of cultural events sponsored by the Minhang Museum.
Song said an exhibition of the Maqiao ancient culture will be mounted at the beginning of next year, followed by an exhibition of traditional Chinese musical instruments.
“Both of the new exhibitions will be resident displays in the museum and will be free for the public,” she said. “The museum wants to contribute to promoting the history, traditions and culture of our district.”
Date: Through December 15, 9am-4:30pm (closed Mondays)
Venue: Chunshen Culture Square, F2 (85 Mingdu Rd)
Tickets: Free
Tel: 5460-4660
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