Duolun Road (;

Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan langua ...

: ''Dulen Lu''), formerly Darroch Road (), is a historic street in

Hongkou District , formerly spelled Hongkew, is a district of Shanghai, forming part of the northern urban core. It has a land area of and a population of 852,476 as of 2010. It is the location of the Astor House Hotel, Broadway Mansions, Lu Xun Park, and H ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

, China.

Location

Laid in 1911, the road is 550 metres long. Both ends of the L-shaped road join to North Sichuan Road near

Lu Xun Park Lu Xun Park, formerly Hongkou (Hongkew) Park, is a municipal park in Hongkou District of Shanghai, China. It is located on 146 East Jiangwan Road, right behind Hongkou Football Stadium. It is bounded by Guangzhong Road to the north, Ouyang Road ...

and

Hongkou Stadium Hongkou Football Stadium () is a football stadium in Shanghai, China. Located in Hongkou District, the stadium has a maximum capacity of 33,060. It is the first ever football stadium to be built in China. The stadium was re-built in 1999, over t ...

. The road is today reconstructed as a

pedestrian street Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

History

Darroch (Duolun) Road was built by the

Shanghai Municipal Council The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdictio ...

, the municipal authority of the

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdictio ...

. It was an "

extra-settlement road {{No footnotes, date=January 2021 300px, A map of the western districts of Shanghai in 1933, showing the extra-settlement roads area in the upper left. The extra-settlement roads ( zh, 越界築路) in Shanghai were roads constructed by the Shangh ...

" (), built outside the boundaries of the International Settlement, but over which the Settlement authorities had extraterritorial jurisdiction. It was named after John Darroch, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

missionary to China who had been received by the

Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, w ...

of the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. A primarily residential street, the golden age of the road was in the 1920s and 30s, when it attracted writers and other prominent residents, giving it a reputation as a vibrant centre of thought and literature. In 1943, during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

, the puppet government collaborating with the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese occupation changed the road name to "Duolun", after a county in

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

. It became an ordinary residential street, until a revived interest in

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

-era history led at the end of the 20th century to it becoming a popular tourist and shopping destination, and the closure of the street to traffic.

Notable residents

In the early 20th century, many writers and celebrities lived in the area around Darroch Road. Among them were famous writers such as

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...

, Guo Moruo,

Mao Dun Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese essayist, journalist, novelist, and playwright. Mao Dun, as a 20th-century Chinese novelist, literary and cultural critic, and Minis ...

Ye Shengtao Ye Shengtao (28 October 1894 – 16 February 1988) was a Chinese writer, journalist, educator, publisher and politician. He was a founder of the Association for Literary Studies (), the first literature association during the May Fourth Movement ...

, and Wang Zaoshi, as well as members of the influential League of Left-Wing Writers including

Ding Ling Ding Ling (; October 12, 1904 – March 4, 1986), formerly romanized as Ting Ling, was the pen name of Jiang Bingzhi (), also known as Bin Zhi (彬芷 ''Bīn Zhǐ''), one of the most celebrated 20th-century Chinese women authors. She is known ...

, Sha Ding and

Qu Qiubai Qu Qiubai (; 29 January 1899 – 18 June 1935) was a leader of the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1920s. He was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. Early life Qu was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu. His family lived in Tianxiang Lou () l ...

. The League itself was founded on Darroch Road. High-ranking political and military leaders

H. H. Kung Kung Hsiang-hsi (; 11 September 1881 – 16 August 1967), often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He married Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married Preside ...

Bai Chongxi Bai Chongxi (18 March 1893 – 2 December 1966; , , Xiao'erjing: ) was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China (ROC) and a prominent Chinese Nationalist leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Musli ...

Tang Enbo Tang Enbo (, birth name was ,(1898–1954) was a Kuomintang, Nationalist general in the Republic of China. Life Early life and war with Japan Born in 1898 in Wuyi, Zhejiang, Tang Enbo was a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, an ...

and

Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to: * Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty * Chen Yi (Kuomintang) Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...

also lived there.

Architecture

Duolun Road is representative of the historic architecture of the 20th century in Shanghai. A number of larger private residences were initially built by Chinese industrialists, and many were later purchased by political and military personalities. Prominent private residences include the Islamic-style influenced former residence of

H.H. Kung Kung Hsiang-hsi (; 11 September 1881 – 16 August 1967), often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He married Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married Pres ...

; No. 210, which was for a time the home of

(and

Pai Hsien-yung Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai (; born July 11, 1937) is a Chinese writer from Taiwan who has been described as a "melancholy pioneer". He was born in Guilin, Guangxi at the cusp of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pai's father was the Kuomintang (KMT) ge ...

); and the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

neoclassical former residence of

. ''Fitch Memorial Church'' (called "Hongde Tang" (鸿德堂) in Chinese), named after George Field Fitch (費啟鴻) is a unique mixture of Chinese and western architectural styles, the only such mixed-style church to survive in Shanghai. The former campus of China Art University (中华艺术大学), in traditional style, was also where the League of Left-Wing Writers was founded. In the surrounding blocks, there is a well-preserved area of dense '' lilong'' housing (including both

Shikumen Shikumen (, Shanghainese: ''zaq⁸ khu¹ men⁶,'' IPA: ᴀʔ¹¹ kʰu¹¹ mən²⁴ is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s. At the height of their popularity ...

and newer styles), showcasing the typical urban texture of Shanghai-style residential architecture.

Regeneration and Duolun Museum of Modern Art

In order to counter degrading infrastructures and to rejuvenate the area, the local government launched a project of regeneration at the end of the century. A project began in 1998 to conserve and restore the historic buildings and turn them into museums, galleries, cafes or craft shops. In the project the local infrastructure was upgraded and new cultural elements such as street sculptures were added to the new pedestrian street. The sites of important historical events and residences of prominent historical people would be made more accessible and open to the public. A museum of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

(Duolun MOMA) was also part of the project. Pedestrianisation was completed in 1999.

References

External links

Duolun Museum of Modern Art
{{coord, 31.2620, 121.4823, display=t Streets in Shanghai Tourist attractions in Shanghai Hongkou District