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Fleeing from firestorms: government, cities, native place associations and refugees in the Anti-Japanese War of Resistance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

TOBY LINCOLN
TOBY LINCOLN*
Affiliation:
Centre for Urban History, School of Historical Studies, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
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Abstract:

This article explores the refugee experiences of three communities in Shanghai during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Social and political organizations worked together in different ways to send people safely back to different parts of China. I argue that this shows how migrant identities were trans-local and that urban identity in the first half of the twentieth century in China was never wholly confined within one city. Rather, networks of individuals and institutions worked together to handle the crisis caused by one of the most devastating invasions of World War II.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 38 , Special Issue 3: China's urban turn , December 2011 , pp. 437 - 456
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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40 Ibid., 7–10.

41 ‘Dier ci fu lu jieyin nanmin de baogao’ (Report of the second expedition to Shanghai to meet refugees), in Shijie hongshizihui Changtai banchu he Changzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi fenhui jiuji gongzuo baogao (The Relief Work Report of the Branch Offices of the Changzhou, Suzhou and Wuxi International Swastika Society and the Changzhou/Taicang Headquarters) (Shanghai Municipal Archives Q120-4-422), 3.

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44 Ibid., p. 2.

45 ‘Traffic on the railway disrupted’, North China Herald, 18 Aug. 1937; ‘Shijie hongshizihui Wuxi fenhui jiuji gongzuo jianbao shi yue’ (Simple Report of the Relief Work of the Wuxi Branch of the International Red Swastika Society (October)), in Shijie hongshizihui Changtai banchu he Changzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi fenhui jiuji gongzuo baogao, 54–68.

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48 ‘Shijie hongshizihui Wuxi fenhui jiuji gongzuo jianbao shi yue’, 54.

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50 ‘Shijie hongshizihui Wuxi fenhui jiuji gongzuo jianbao shi yue’, 65.

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52 Ibid., Section 2, 136.

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54 ‘Han zhonghua jidujiao qingnianhui jiri paiyuan jieguan ben hui suo shu ge shourongsuo’ (To the Chinese Young Men's Christian Association within a few days will send representatives to take over this organization's shelters), in Guangdong luhu tongxiang jiuji nanmin weiyuanhui baogao shu, part 2, 23.

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56 Ibid., pp. 2–3.

57 ‘Diangao Guangdong Wu zhuxi beinan tongxiang canzhuang bing qizhen you’ (Telegram to Guangdong Provincial Government Chairman Wu begging for relief of our refugees in this terrible situation), ‘Diangao xianggang ge tuanti tongxiang nanmin canzhuang bing qing xun ci sunzu you’ (Telegram to organizations in Hong Kong requesting speedy offerings of donations for refugees in this terrible situation), and ‘Diangao Guangzhou ge tuanti beinan tongxiang canzhuang bing qing sun ci sunzu you’ (Telegram to organizations in Guangzhou requesting speedy offerings of donations for our refugees in this terrible situation), in Guangdong luhu tongxiang jiuji nanmin weiyuanhui baogao shu, part 2, 12.

58 Ibid.

59 Guangdong luhu tongxiang jiuji nanmin weiyuanhui baogao shu, part 1, 3.

60 ‘Dian Xingjiapo Hu Wenhu xiansheng fenzhuang qiaobao tuanti zhaosun you’ (Telegram to Hu Wenhu in Singapore and copied to each countrymen's organization soliciting donations), and ‘Dian Sanfanshi qiaobao qi zhaosun you’ (Telegram to countrymen in San Francisco soliciting donations), in Guangdong luhu tongxiang jiuji nanmin weiyuanhui baogao shu, part 2, 13.

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64 Henriot, ‘Shanghai and the experience of the war’.

65 ‘Chao Wen yuanzhang Zongyao shang zhudu han’ (Copy of letter to Wen Zongyao, head of the Ministry) (6 Mar. 1942) (Shanghai Municipal Archives R1-16-746).

66 ‘Chao yuan qiancheng’ (Copy of the original petition) (11 Mar. 1942) (Shanghai Municipal Archives R1-16-746).

67 ‘Cheng wei ni zu yongzhuan chuan guisong tongxiang mianjie kenqing ciyu xiezhu yu Xingyayuan jiaobu bi huode chuanji you’ (Petition concerning plans to rent a special boat for the return of people to our native place, and an earnest request to the Asia Flourishing Society to grant assistance and to provide a boat for this) (23 Apr. 1942) (Shanghai Municipal Archives R1-16-746).

68 ‘25 May 1942’ (Shanghai Municipal Archives R1-16-746).