1937 Osaka Asahi Shimbun 'Battle of Shanghai' Map of Shanghai, China

A scarce pre-World War II map of Shanghai, China, issued by the Osaka Asahi Shimbun in 1937 or Showa 12, during the Battle of Shanghai (August 13, 1937). Centered on the riverfront Bund Distract, this map covers the heart of modern Shanghai including the International Settlement and French Concession. Larger scale regional maps appear in the upper left and lower right corners.

Second Sino-Japanese War in Shanghai

Chinese scholars point to this map as a 'War Map' illustrating the events associated with Pre-War Japanese aggression in Shanghai. The map illustrates the period between the first and second stage of the Japanese takeover of Shanghai. The first stage lasted from August 13 to August 22, 1937, during which the Republic of China National Revolutionary Army attempted to drive Japanese troop presence out of downtown Shanghai. The second stage lasted from August 23 to October 26, 1937, during which the Japanese launched amphibious landings on the Jiangsu coast and the two armies fought a Stalingrad-type house-to-house battle, with the Japanese attempting to gain control of the city and the surrounding regions. The third and final stage, ranging from October 27 to the end of November 1937, involved the retreat of the Chinese army in the face of Japanese flanking maneuvers, and the ensuing combat on the road to China's capital, Nanjing.

The War in General

The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. Some disagreement exists with regard to when the war officially started, since two different so-called 'Incidents' can be used to mark the beginning of hostilities. Historically, July 7, 1937 has been used as the date when the war began, when Chinese and Japanese troops began exchanging fire at the Marco Polo (Lugou) Bridge constructed along a main access route to Beijing. This exchange of fire escalated to an all-out battle and led to Japanese forces capturing both Beijing and its port city of Tianjin. Other scholars, and since 2017 the Chinese government, trace the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War to the Mukden Incident and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931. This 'incident' was based on Japanese charges that their rights in Manchuria, which had been guaranteed following the Russo-Japanese War, had been infringed, when, in all likelihood, the Japanese simply saw an opportunity to easily capture an essentially limitless supply of raw materials, a new market for their manufactured goods, and a chance to create a 'buffer zone' between Japanese occupied Korea and the Soviet Union. After five months of fighting, the Japanese created the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932 and installed Puyi, the last Emperor of China, as its ruler. Even though there is some debate over when the war started, the result is essentially the same: years of war, famine, atrocities, and death followed. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Second Sino-Japanese War is usually folded into the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II, which accounted for the majority of casualties during the Pacific War, numbering over 4 million Chinese and Japanese military personnel and between 10 and 25 million Chinese civilians. Although there is some debate on when the war began, consensus reigns supreme when it comes to the end of the war. Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the Allies, signed on September 2, 1945, bringing an end to the largest Asian war of the 20th century.

Shanghai International Settlement

The Shanghai International settlement was created in 1863 when the British and American Shanghai enclaves merged. These concessions had been granted to England and the United States as part of the Unequal Treaties that followed the Opium Wars. From about 1854 the settlements were governed by the Shanghai Municipal Council, a British dominated board of government officials and powerful merchants. The board issued restrictions limiting Chinese habitation on International Settlement territory and oversaw the construction of public services, including Trams, a sewage system, highways, and port buildings. The International settlement expanded several times in the late 19th and early 20th century. It became an enclave of peace and prosperity when the Japanese invaded Shanghai in 1937 but this abruptly came to an end with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and subsequent invasion of the International Settlement in 1941. After the war the International Settlement lands were returned to Chinese sovereignty.

Shanghai French Concession - 上海法租界

On April 6, 1849, Lin Kouei (麟桂), the Chinese governor of Shanghai, granted French Consul Charles de Montigny (1805 - 1868) a proclamation ceding extraterritoriality to France in order to establish a trading colony. The Concession initially occupied a narrow collar of land around the northern end of the Chinese City, south of the British settlement, an area of 66 hectares. It was subsequently expended several times. A further small strip of riverside land to the east of the Chinese City was added in 1861, to allow for the Quai de France, docks servicing shipping between China and France. Between 1899 and 1900 the French Concession further expanded, nearly doubling in size with new territory extending west of the original grant. It expanded again in 1914, reaching as far west as modern Huashan Lu (Avneue Haig). By the 1920s, the western part of the French Concession had become the most desirable residential area of Shanghai, popular both with foreign nationals and wealthy Chinese. The concession was mistakenly bombed during the chaotic 1937 Battle of Shangahi, fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). In 1943, the French Concession was handed over to the Japanese puppet Wang Jingwei Regime by Vichy France. The turnover was officially ratified after the war by the Sino-French Accord of February 1946, signed by the French Ambassador and Chiang Kai-shek. Today the French Concession, with its tree lined boulevards and French colonial architecture, remains Shanghai's most desirable neighborhood.

Publication History and Census

This map was published by the Japanese newspaper, Osaka Asahi Shimbun to illustrate the events of the Battle of Shanghai for the Japanese public. Although widely published at the time, the map has since become scarce on the market.