Zhang Jian (1853～1926), a native of Nantong, won the first prize in the examination in 1894. After the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan, he was indignant and advocated the development of industry and education in order to save China from danger; Later, my father became ill and returned to the south, leaving politics and focusing on industry, education, culture, water conservancy, transportation, urban autonomy and construction, and charity. Among them, he creatively managed the urban construction of Nantong and achieved extraordinary achievements. As a result, Nantong was known as "the first city in modern China".
Zhang Jian’s creative management of Nantong
1. China’s early modernization experiment
Zhang Jian was living in the chaotic era of the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the rule of the Beiyang government. “It seemed that He is the last and most noteworthy figure who ended two thousand years of old feudal thought. He is also a pioneer who moves towards a new society and enthusiastically serves the society." (quoted by Liu Housheng, Zhang Jian's close friend). Zhang Jian was an ambitious, pragmatic and enterprising man. After his return, he devoted himself to local construction. His social undertakings involved many aspects:
(1) Factory creation. Since 1895, Zhang Jian founded a series of important enterprises such as Dasheng Cotton Mill.
(2) Establish farming. In 1901, Zhang Jian founded the Tonghai Reclamation and Animal Husbandry Company to develop coastal tidal flats; Daxing farmland infrastructure, planning farmland water conservancy, establishing cotton production bases, and developing agriculture; later he established Dayoujin, Dazi, Dayu and Dafeng Waiting for Salt Reclamation Company.
(3) Develop transportation. Based on the idea that "road transportation is the mother of civilization and development", Zhang Jian opened up roads and river transportation, and founded the Dasheng Steamship Company in 1901. By 1918, the company had 20 small steamers, running on 10 routes centered on Nantong. On the road, the north-south water network was connected; in 1904, Tiansheng Port and its dock warehouse were built, and the Tongshen Line was opened to connect with Shanghai; in order to strengthen the connection between Tangzha and the port area, Zhang Jian also built the Gangzha Highway, etc.
(4) Repair water conservancy. There were frequent floods in the Nantong area, so Zhang Jian privately hired water conservancy experts from Sorg from the Netherlands, Beronde from Belgium, Haidli from Sweden, and Grave from the United States to discuss Nantong's water control strategy, use technology to control water, and build embankments and ridges simultaneously.
(5) Provide education. Zhang Jian said, "If you want to avenge the country's humiliation without seeking knowledge, you will have no qualifications; if you want knowledge without seeking to popularize education for the people, you will have nothing; if you want to educate the people without seeking teachers, you will have no guidance. Therefore, when establishing a school, it must start from elementary school, especially Start from normal school." The urban cultural and educational construction carried out by Zhang Jian mainly includes: self-financing the construction of Tongzhou Normal School in 1902, which was completed the following year; the Hanmolin Press in 1905; two specialized schools of commerce and medicine from 1909 to 1912; building a library in 1914, etc. .
In addition, Zhang Jian also revitalized commerce, improved the environment, promoted municipal construction, prepared to build power plants, electric light and telephone companies, etc., and gathered many achievements in Nantong, which blossomed and bore fruit and benefited future generations. In modern China, Historically, this was a remarkable "early modernization experiment."
2. Understanding of Zhang Jian’s early modernization experiments
(1) Zhang Jian’s idea of ??“saving the country through industry” is based on the development of productive forces
Zhang Jian believes: "The foundation of the world lies in agriculture, and today's priority is business. Without business, agriculture will lose nothing and achieve nothing." "If our country wants to develop commerce, it must first seek an increase in commodities; if it wants to increase commodities, it must have sufficient raw materials." , "Agricultural products are the raw materials for a variety of manufactured goods. If they are not multiplied, there will never be hope for the development of industry and commerce." Therefore, Zhang Jianshi advocated the coordinated development of industry and agriculture. Objectively speaking, the aforementioned establishment of industries, construction of water conservancy projects, reclamation of farmland, development of transportation and other undertakings have also improved local productivity levels. (2) The purpose of Zhang Jianxing’s education is to develop modern culture on the basis of traditional culture
Zhang Jian has made great achievements in cultural education. Dewey, an American educator, said: "Nantong is the source of education. I especially hope that it will become the center of education in the world."
Zhang Jian paid great attention to the invitation and training of talents in urban culture. For example, when he was selecting the director of the museum, he said: "The person who is qualified for this job must be a gentleman who is fond of ancient art and has a strong interest in art. He is also determined to do this." In terms of reforming drama, Zhang Jian also A lot of work was done.
He established China's first drama school - "Nantong Linggong Academy", built the "Gengsu Theater"? A modern theater with a capacity of 1,200 seats, invited Mei Lanfang and other famous Peking opera artists to perform in Nantong, and hired Ouyang Yuqian as director , presided over school affairs; built "Mei Ou Pavilion" in memory of Mei Lanfang, Ouyang Yuqian and other drama activities in Nantong. In addition, in 1910, Zhang Jian met Shen Shou at the Nanyang Encouragement Association in Nanjing; in 1913, in order to develop women's education and promote arts and crafts, an embroidery school and a training center for female workers were established in 1914, with Shen Shou as director; Nantong Embroidery was founded 7 years later He organized a bureau and asked Shen Shou to serve as director; later, branches were set up in Shanghai and New York to promote art and revitalize industry, and assisted Shen Shou in writing the "Xuehuan Embroidery Manual".
(3) Zhang Jian creatively carried out urban construction
Cities are the carriers of people’s production and life. The ancient Tongzhou City was built in 958 and has a typical state-city pattern; in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the east-west The gates on both sides have developed. While Zhang Jian was setting up industry in Nantong, he also creatively carried out urban construction. He chose the industrial zone at Tangzha in the western suburbs of the city, the port area at Tiansheng Port on the Yangtze River, and Langshan in the southern suburbs of the city as a garden private residence and scenic spot. The three are each about 6 kilometers away from the old city, and are connected by roads. It forms a spatial pattern of "one city and three towns" with the old city as the center. The towns are relatively independent, have clear division of labor, reduce pollution, and can each develop reasonably. This model of one city with multiple towns and fragmented layout is extremely creative.
Zhang Jian repaired roads, built museums, and built Wushan Park. He spared no effort to carry out urban construction, and managed the city with a poet's feelings, striving to provide a place for people to live and work in peace and contentment. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, he built urban parks in the city. In 1918, they were expanded into five small parks in the east, south, west and middle. They were called "five parks to the north of the five mountains, five to five facing each other"; "one garden in one town, one by one." Collection"; in 1914, a park was also built in Tangzha Industrial Zone.
He carried out reasonable expansion of the old city of the city, built public administrative facilities and service industries such as commercial finance, entertainment and leisure, catering and hotels outside the south gate of the main urban area and Taowu Road, and built a large number of commercial and financial services, entertainment and leisure, catering and hotel services on the banks of the Hao River. Build schools, museums, libraries and other cultural and educational institutions, open up new development space for the city in new areas, activate the city appearance, and attach great importance to the creation of urban landscapes.
In order to promote urban construction, Zhang Jian also consciously cultivated Nantong’s chief architect, Sun Zhixia, who can also be called one of China’s first modern architects who grew up in the local area, leaving behind many Chinese and Western architects. architectural design works.
(4) Zhang Jian’s concept of overall coordinated regional development
Zhang Jian’s idea of ??developing Nantong is not only based on the urban concept, but seeks the overall coordinated development of cities, towns, and rural areas. The idea of ??regional development. The proposed Tong, Tai, and Yan economic zones and the plan to develop Wusong predate today's Suzhou-Wuxi-Chang economic zone by more than half a century.
In Zhang Jian’s thoughts on regional overall development, “villageism” needs to be elaborated. The establishment of the Reclamation and Animal Husbandry Company is of great significance. It cannot be regarded as just the construction of water conservancy and the transformation of land. It actually also finds a way for modern rural construction. He believes that "the essential elements of life are food, clothing and shelter, and the source of food, clothing and shelter lies in agriculture..." Let's look at his speech at the first shareholder meeting of Xingmu Company on the history of the company's establishment, and mentioned the achievements in the construction of rural human settlements: "Within every embankment There is a house for people to live in, a house to treat others, a hall to entertain guests, a warehouse for storage, a garden for growing vegetables, a cottage for tenants, a market for merchants, and Xu Liang for business. It is like a small world. Ten years ago, The land or the grass and the people are also crouching in the grass."
Under the influence of Zhang Jian's thoughts, Sha Yuanbing of Rugao County, Sun Jian of Jinsha Town, and Ling Xunzhi of Yancheng County in the surrounding areas of Nantong were committed to revitalization. The role of local industry, preparatory schools and satellite towns has emerged.
In summary, Zhang Jian developed industries, built new towns, expanded new urban areas, built regional infrastructure, farmland water conservancy, transportation construction, and devoted himself to the development of rural areas. This is not just a matter of urban and regional development. Material construction is more focused on "the overall improvement of society."
The practical significance of tracing this period of history
The purpose of tracing this period of history is not only to re-evaluate Zhang Jian’s urban construction thoughts and achievements, but more importantly, to explore its practical significance , that is, to study the early modernization path of China that Zhang Jian was engaged in, as well as his "city-region" planning and construction thinking in a series of urban construction practices, and to explore its significance to China's urban construction path.
1. A more in-depth analysis and understanding of Zhang Jian
When we, planning professionals, comment on Nantong, we first affirm Nantong’s “one city, three towns” planning and creation, etc. This is of course Yes, but it may not be appropriate if we use the Western "satellite city" theory to understand it. "One city, three towns" is the characteristic of Nantong's layout. It was Zhang Jian's creation based on the development requirements of industrial transportation and local conditions, including taking advantage of the situation during the development process. It can be seen from the literature that Zhang Jian himself did not describe much about Nantong's specific planning thoughts, but his actions, from unconscious to more conscious, went through a process of formation, and were indeed dominated by certain thoughts. In order to explain this point, it is necessary to conduct a more comprehensive and in-depth analysis and understanding of Zhang Jian.
(1) His true nature of loving his country, his hometown, and his people
This has been recorded in some of his biographies, and has been briefly explained in the previous article. Zhang Jian, based on his ambition to strengthen the country and enrich the people, The number one scholar "went to the sea"; the article also mentioned "sacrifice one's life to feed the tiger", "the one who walks down is like a cow and horse in the world, and his toes are not resting all year round", "when he is seventy years old, he dare not take time off", his actions are rooted in sincerity The love for our country, our land and our people is beyond words.
(2) The political proposition of "local autonomy"
This article will not discuss this too much. This is a proposition that historians have commented on, but from the perspective of urban construction, Under the political conditions at that time, the government was ignorant and the warlords were divided. It was a realistic measure for Nantong to seek "autonomy" on one side, do practical things, and benefit the local area with its achievements. As a national political line and a way to save the country, it is of course unrealistic, but as a local construction in Nantong it should be said to be successful. Moreover, the political ambition of "local autonomy" pursues "overall social improvement." Although it has the color of utopian utopia, Zhang Jian completed many undertakings with an extremely serious attitude and dedicated himself. The aforementioned Nantong City All kinds of construction are also products of this grand idea.
(3) Multi-faceted and multi-level construction route
Mr. Zhang Jian’s construction thoughts are multi-faceted. He has a relatively broad understanding of the economy and society. For example, he has knowledge of cotton, Tie made various observations and thoughts based on the international market situation and China's social capabilities and needs at that time, and sought ways to develop. He had extensive research on water conservancy and transportation, and once served in the government, in charge of industry, commerce, water conservancy and other affairs. , and personally participated in various specific plans; he suggested that Longhai Road should lead to Nantong? The route he proposed was Suqian, Huaiyin, Huai'an, Yancheng, Nantong, and Chongming, which was of great significance to the development of northern Jiangsu. Unfortunately, it was not decided due to political disputes. Adopted, this route is still included in the planning of Jiangsu Province to this day; another example is the plan to open up the Wusong Commercial Port, which advocates building a good port at Wusongkou at the mouth of the Yangtze River where municipal administration, industry and commerce are prosperous, and then developing the commercial port as a way to recover the concession. It is especially rare that Wu Tiecheng, who was in charge of the Shanghai Municipal Government before the Anti-Japanese War, developed the Jiangwan New Administrative Center with the same idea. The above shows that his ideas are broad and far-sighted. His urban planning and regional development ideas are undoubtedly the product of multi-system and multi-level construction routes.
(4) Scientific and humanistic spirit
Zhang Jian relatively consciously regards urban culture and ancient glorious social and ethical thoughts as important guidelines for urban development. His Chinese culture and Eastern philosophy The foundation of ideas and methodologies can be seen everywhere.
For example, he named the company "Dasheng", "Fusheng", "Zisheng", "Yisheng", etc., which means that "the great virtues of heaven and earth are born on the day" in the "Book of Changes". Zhang Jian himself explained that "all politics and The lowest expectation of learning is to enable most people to live above the minimum level." The development of the Nantong area originated from the idea in "Historical Records" that "it takes one year to form a gathering, two years to form a town, and three years to form a city"; he He has a special liking for parks, "Parks are the confines of human kindness, the splendor of industry, and the model of education" and so on, all of which reflect the light of traditional cultural thoughts. Therefore, Nantong is not only a place of settlement and a base of production, but also a place of cultural prosperity. This is consistent with the concepts, ideals, and theoretical principles of creating a "pleasant living environment" that cities are pursuing today.
Under the conditions at that time, Zhang Jian was able to accept modern scientific things more consciously and pay attention to the information at that time. He said, "I use people's new insights to understand them, so they are useful; the things in the middle, Do it with other methods, but there is a teacher in it.” At the beginning of the 20th century, some of the modern urban construction and urban planning ideas that emerged in Europe and Japan may not have been spread to China? That was after the 1930s, and Zhang Jian made a thoughtful account of his 70-day trip to Japan. Observation? For example, Zhang Jian's "Eastbound Diary·1904" records what he observed: "The streets of Sapporo are seven to eight feet wide, and the length and width are equal. The official schools and macro schools are spacious and clean; there are many factories and shops. "Meeting the hard work of the pioneers over the past twenty years"), it turns out that Zhang Jian himself ran Nantong, and as a pioneer he also put in more than twenty years of hard work and achieved outstanding results. Zhang Jian had a clear technical route, and introduced Western talents and technologies based on the principle of "for my own use" to establish China's own urban and rural areas. He gradually brewed in practice and formed a relatively complete planning thought in modern China; he also claimed to attach importance to planning and surveying and mapping. "The planning of the construction must be proper, the surveying and mapping of the planning must be detailed, and we must proceed step by step. We should prepare a separate plan to inform the people of the country and ask for their advice." "To organize and establish local undertakings, we must first know how big the area is and how many households there are. , how many people there are, so we need to have a complete set of maps, and then we can plan on where to put schools, divide villages, open rivers, dredge water..." The most valuable thing is also here.
(5) Philosophical Thoughts and Methodology
The formation of Zhang Jian’s planning and construction thoughts is rooted in his philosophical thoughts and methodology. He advocated the combination of theory and practice in his studies and work. In his own words: "Learning requires theory and experience. On the one hand, you study and on the other hand, you are seeking to make up for your deficiencies with knowledge..." He pays attention to knowledge with practical value, reads books, and Traveling and observing mountains and terrains, the two are integrated and connected, embodying the spirit of an explorer and entrepreneur. He down-to-earthly combined with the conditions of Nantong, but was not limited to Nantong. He said far-sightedly: "A person must have a provincial vision to handle a county matter; to handle a provincial matter, a person must have a national vision to handle a national matter. We must have a global perspective." "Today, our country is in an era of competition among great powers. No matter what policy we adopt, we need to have a global perspective and the means to be on par with each other, and then we can compete with the competition." At the beginning of the 20th century, it was rare to have such a far-sighted vision.