Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
Born in 1868 in Suzhou, his father was a constable in Suzhou before the family migrated to Shanghai to open a teahouse. During his childhood, Huang contracted a bad case of smallpox. While his subordinates called him 'Grand Master Huang', behind his back everyone called him 'Pockmarked Huang'.<br/><br/> Huang went to work at his father’s teahouse, which was not very far from the Zhengjia Bridge near the French Concession. The bridge in those days sheltered a large population of hustlers and crooks. Huang Jinrong fitted right in, and organised many of them into a gang who later became his sworn followers. Aged 24, Huang passed the entrance exams and entered the French Concession police force, the Garde Municipale in 1892. Being strong, brash and capable, he did very well and became a detective in the Criminal Justice Section (Police Judiciaire).<br/><br/> With the exception of a brief sojourn to Suzhou, Huang served continuously in the Police Judiciaire for twenty years until his retirement in 1925 after several major scandals rocked the department. Although associated with gangs such as the Big Eight Mob, his public profile was always aligned with the police.
Born in 1868 in Suzhou, his father was a constable in Suzhou before the family migrated to Shanghai to open a teahouse. During his childhood, Huang contracted a bad case of smallpox. While his subordinates called him 'Grand Master Huang', behind his back everyone called him 'Pockmarked Huang'.<br/><br/> Huang went to work at his father’s teahouse, which was not very far from the Zhengjia Bridge near the French Concession. The bridge in those days sheltered a large population of hustlers and crooks. Huang Jinrong fitted right in, and organised many of them into a gang who later became his sworn followers. Aged 24, Huang passed the entrance exams and entered the French Concession police force, the Garde Municipale in 1892. Being strong, brash and capable, he did very well and became a detective in the Criminal Justice Section (Police Judiciaire).<br/><br/> With the exception of a brief sojourn to Suzhou, Huang served continuously in the Police Judiciaire for twenty years until his retirement in 1925 after several major scandals rocked the department. Although associated with gangs such as the Big Eight Mob, his public profile was always aligned with the police.
A hand-drawn map of the International Settlement and French Concession together with Nanshi, the Chinese Walled City, Shanghai, 1907.
The Shanghai French Concession (Chinese: 上海法租界; pinyin: Shànghǎi Fǎ Zūjiè, French: La concession française de Shanghai) was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1946, and it was progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<br/><br/> The concession came to an end in practice in 1943 when the Vichy French government signed it over to the pro-Japanese puppet government in Nanking. The area covered by the former French Concession was, for much of the 20th century, the premier residential and retail districts of Shanghai, and was also the centre of Catholicism in Shanghai.<br/><br/> Despite rampant re-development over the last few decades, the area retains a distinct character, and is a popular tourist destination.
The Shanghai French Concession (Chinese: 上海法租界; pinyin: Shànghǎi Fǎ Zūjiè, French: La concession française de Shanghai) was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1946, and it was progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<br/><br/> The concession came to an end in practice in 1943 when the Vichy French government signed it over to the pro-Japanese puppet government in Nanking. The area covered by the former French Concession was, for much of the 20th century, the premier residential and retail districts of Shanghai, and was also the centre of Catholicism in Shanghai.<br/><br/> Despite rampant re-development over the last few decades, the area retains a distinct character, and is a popular tourist destination.
The Shanghai French Concession (Chinese: 上海法租界; pinyin: Shànghǎi Fǎ Zūjiè, French: La concession française de Shanghai) was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1946, and it was progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<br/><br/> The Shanghai International Settlement (Chinese: 上海公共租界) began originally as a purely British settlement. It was one of the original five treaty ports which were established under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking at the end of the first opium war in the year 1842.<br/><br/> American and French involvement followed close on the heels, and distinct areas of settlement for the Americans and the French were drawn out to the north and south of the British settlement respectively. In 1854 a united municipal council was created to serve all three settlements, but in 1862, the French concession dropped out of the arrangement. The following year the British and American settlements formally united to become the Shanghai International Settlement.
A busy day on the French section of the Bund, known as the Quai de France and now as part of Zhongshan Donglu, in 1915.<br/><br/> The French Concession was established on 6 April 1849, when the French Consul to Shanghai, Charles de Montigny, obtained a proclamation from the Governor (Daotai) of Shanghai, which conceded certain territory for a French settlement. Its borders were expanded twice, in 1900 and 1914. During the 1920s, the French Concession was developed into the premier residential area of Shanghai.<br/><br/> In 1943, during World War II, the government of Vichy France announced that it would give up its concessions in China. The French concessions of Tianjin, Hankou and Guangzhou were handed over to the Wang Jingwei Government on June 5, and the last, the Shanghai French Concession, was handed over to the Wang Jingwei Government on July 30.<br/><br/> After the war, neither Vichy France nor Wang's Nationalist Government were universally recognised as legitimate, but the new post-war government of France acknowledged that it was a fait accompli in the Sino-French Accord of February 1946. This accord, signed by Chiang Kaishek's ruling Kuomintang led to Chinese troops pulling out of the northern half of French Indochina in exchange for France relinquishing all its foreign concessions in China as well as the colony of Kwangchowan (Guangzhouwan), the latter being attached to French Indochina.
An apparently quiet day in French Concession Shanghai. Rue du Consulat (now Jigling Lu) and the Quai de France (now Zhongshan Donglu) in 1915.<br/><br/> The French Concession was established on 6 April 1849, when the French Consul to Shanghai, Charles de Montigny, obtained a proclamation from the Governor (Daotai) of Shanghai, which conceded certain territory for a French settlement. Its borders were expanded twice, in 1900 and 1914. During the 1920s, the French Concession was developed into the premier residential area of Shanghai.<br/><br/> In 1943, during World War II, the government of Vichy France announced that it would give up its concessions in China. The French concessions of Tianjin, Hankou and Guangzhou were handed over to the Wang Jingwei Government on June 5, and the last, the Shanghai French Concession, was handed over to the Wang Jingwei Government on July 30.<br/><br/> After the war, neither Vichy France nor Wang's Nationalist Government were universally recognised as legitimate, but the new post-war government of France acknowledged that it was a fait accompli in the Sino-French Accord of February 1946. This accord, signed by Chiang Kaishek's ruling Kuomintang led to Chinese troops pulling out of the northern half of French Indochina in exchange for France relinquishing all its foreign concessions in China as well as the colony of Kwangchowan (Guangzhouwan), the latter being attached to French Indochina.
Shanghai in the 1930s, with the Shanghai International Settlement and Shanghai French Concession.<br/><br/> Map of central Shanghai. Printed by the British War Office / US Army Map Service.