Geographical Environment

Chongming District of Shanghai consists of Chongming, Changxing and Hengsha islands, with a total land area of 1,413 square kilometers. It is surrounded by the river on three sides, facing the sea on one side. It connects to the Yangtze River in the west and the East China Sea in the east, faces Pudong New Area, Baoshan District and Taicang City in Jiangsu Province across the water in the south, and Haimen City and Qidong City in Jiangsu Province in the North. Located in the north subtropical zone, the climate here is mild and humid, with an annual average temperature of 16.5 ℃, sufficient sunshine, abundant rain and four distinct seasons. The whole area has clean water and soil, fresh air and excellent ecological environment.

Chongming Island is located at the midpoint of China's coastline along the Western Pacific Ocean, at 121°09‘30” to 121°54’00” east longitude and 31°27’00” to 31°51’15” north latitude. Located at the estuary of the Yangtze River, China's largest river, it is the world's largest estuarine alluvial island and China's third largest island after Taiwan Island and Hainan Island., known as the "gateway to the Yangtze River" and "Yingzhou in the East China Sea". The whole island covers an area of 1,269.1 square kilometers. It is 80 kilometers long from east to west and 13 to 18 kilometers wide from north to south. The terrain on the island is flat without hills. It is slightly higher in the northwest and middle, and slightly lower in the southwest and East. More than 90% of the land elevation (based on the elevation of 0 meter in Wusong) is between 3.21 meters and 4.20 meters.

Changxing Island is located in the Jiangnan waterway of Wusongkou, adjacent to Hengsha Island in the East and Chongming Island in the north. The island is banded, 26.8 kilometers long from east to west and 2 to 4 kilometers wide from north to south, with an area of 89.5 square kilometers, including 8.5 square kilometers of beach area and 26.2 square kilometers of arable land (excluding Qianwei Farm). There is a deep water coastline of nearly 20 kilometers along the south, with a general water depth of -12 meters to -16 meters and a maximum depth of -22 meters, which can dock 300,000 ton ships.

Hengsha Island is the easternmost island in the estuary of the Yangtze River. It faces the river on three sides and the sea on one side. Backed by Changxing Island, it echoes Chongming Island in the north and faces Pudong New Area across the river in the south. The island is conch shaped, about 12 kilometers long from north to south and about 8 kilometers wide from east to west. The average altitude is 2.8 meters. The total area is 54.4 square kilometers, including 26.8 square kilometers of arable land. There are still 200,000 mu of tidal flat resources above 0 meters and 670,000 mu of tidal flat resources above -5 meters. The surrounding coastline is more than 30 kilometers, including about 2 kilometers of deep water coastline at the south end, with a water depth of about -12 meters.

Construction History

Historically, the development model of the North Bank of the Yangtze River estuary is the northward merging of sand islands or sand island groups from generation to generation, forming a new coastline in the north of the Yangtze River Estuary. During the Xuande Period of the Ming Dynasty, Governor Zhou Chen reported that the water face from the south of Langshan to the north of Baoshan, starting from Fushan in the West and Sheshan in the East, was the territory of Chongming, that is, the so-called "filling the collapse with rise", which makes Chongming stand between rivers and seas. However, due to the rise and collapse of estuary sandbar, which mostly involves the geographical division of various regions, many disputes have occurred over the years. The sandbars of Chongming collapsed and rose indefinitely, and the governance of the city experienced six construction and five relocation before it became stable.

1.The Rise and fall of main sandbars

Chongming’s sandbars have a history of 1400 years since its formation. During the Wude Period of the Tang Dynasty (618-626), two sandbars rose in the Yangtze River Estuary, separated by more than 70 miles. They are known as Xisha (also known as Gujunsha) and Dongsha in the history. Later, as the "sandbars gradually accumulated high and wide, and fishermen and woodcutters relied on it, so there emerged farms and farmhouses". In the first year (696) of the Tongtian Reign of Emperor Wu Zetian, fishermen and woodcutters began to settle in Xisha.

In the third year of the Tiansheng Reign in the Northern Song Dynasty (1025), a new sandbar rose to the north of Dongsha. The first settlers were Yaos and Lius; hence the name of Yao Liusha. Then it gradually bordered Dongsha. In the 1st year (1101) of the Jianzhong Jingguo Reign, a new sandbar also appeared more than 50 miles to the northwest of Yao Liusha. It was named "Sansha" because it rose three times. It is said that it was named because Zhus, Chens and Zhangs first lived there. In the Song Dynasty, three villages of Pingdeng, Dao’an and Shile gradually formed in Xisha, but then they gradually collapsed.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Dongsha gradually collapsed in the South and rose in the north, Yao Liusha continued to accumulate, and Sansha also gradually expanded. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, most part of Dongsha collapsed.

During the Jianwen Reign (1399-1402) of the Ming Dynasty, Pingyangsha rose more than 30 miles to the southwest of Sansha. During the Zhengde Reign (1506-1521), Changsha emerged from the water to the southeast of Pingyangsha. After the sand became land, its position did not migrate on the whole. During this period, Yao Liusha was connected with the northwest Sansha, while the Xisha collapsed, leaving only Dao’an Township. Around the 29th year (1550) of the Jiajing Reign, Yao Liusha collapsed and Sansha began to collapse. In the 11th year (1583) of the Wanli Reign, Pingyang sand began to collapse, and then the collapsed part gradually bordered Changsha.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Changsha began to rise continuously. In the 1st year (1662) of the Kangxi Reign in the Qing Dynasty, with the change of river flow, most part of Sansha collapsed, leaving the remnants of the east Sansha and the west Sansha. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were many sandbars, such as Daansha, Gaomingsha, Xiangsha, Rilongsha, Fuminsha and Nansha, which rose and collapsed from east to west and from south to north. In the early Qing Dynasty, sandbars with Changsha as the main body were connected to form the basic shape of Chongming Island. Since the mid-20th century, Tuanjiesha and Dongwangsha in the northern and eastern beaches have continued to accumulate and be reclaimed on a large scale. The area of Chongming Island has expanded from more than 600 square kilometers to 1,269.1 square kilometers.

Changxing Island and Hengsha Island are also estuarine sandbars in the Yangtze River estuary. Their land formation process is like the development and evolution model of the North Bank of the Yangtze River estuary for thousands of years - the northern sandbars merged with the bank and the new sandbars accumulate in the south. Changxing Island was formed in the Daoguang Reign (1821-1850) of the Qing Dynasty, about 170 years ago. Hengsha Island was formed in the Xianfeng Reign (1851-1861) of the Qing Dynasty, with a history of more than 160 years. 

2.The History of Chongming

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, the States of Wu and Wu Yue fought in the Yangtze River Estuary. Yao Yanhong, the governor of Jinghaidu Town (now Nantong City), established Chongming Town in Xisha in the 3rd year (937) of Yang Wu Tianzuo, and Chongming Sandbank was established.

At the end of 937 BC, Li Bian replaced Yang Wu with the national name of Daqi, and then changed the national name to Tang (historically known as the South Tang) and the year re-named to Shengyuan. He continued to govern Chongming Town. After Li Jing succeeded to the throne, Chongming Town was under the jurisdiction of Jinghai Institution (now Nantong City). In the 5th year (958) of Xiande Reign, the army of the Later Zhou Dynasty captured all the territories of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Jiangbei and abolished the establishment of Chongming Town.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, Chongming Town was restored, and was under the jurisdiction of Haimen County, Tongzhou. The imperial court assigned exiled prisoners to boil the salt off the water in Chongming Sandbank, and the salt industry of Chongming Island began from then on.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Han Tuozhou, King Zhang Xun and Liu Jieyu each had manors in Yaoliusha to benefit from the fishing and salt industries. In the 15th year (1222) of the Jiading Reign, Tianci Salt Farm was set up in Yaoliusha to levy salt tax. In the 1st year (1225) of the Baoqing Reign, it was transferred to Huaidong General Office.

In the 14th year (1277) of the Zhiyuan Reign of the Yuan Dynasty, Chongming Town was upgraded to prefecture, subordinating to Yangzhou City. Xue Wenhu, the first governor of Chongming Prefecture, established the state city at the former site of Tianci Salt Farm, Yaoliusha. Chongming Town was changed to Xisha Patrol Inspection Department, and the only remaining Dao'an Village was changed to Dao'an Township. In the 12th year (1352) of the Zhizheng Reign of the Yuan Dynasty, the old state city collapsed and was moved to the 15-mile-away place in the north of its original site. It was the first move, and then it has gone through five moves and six constructions.

In the 2nd year of the Hongwu Reign of the Ming Dynasty (1369), Chongming was degraded to a county, and it was still subordinate to Yangzhou City. In the 8th year (1375) of the Hongwu Reign, it was transferred to the Suzhou Government. In the 10th year (1497) of the Hongzhi Reign, Chongming County was also subordinate to Taicang Prefecture.

During the Shunzhi Reign of the Qing Dynasty, Shen Tingyang, the imperial censor of the Southern Ming Dynasty and Generals Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen fought back against Chongming Island. In the 16th year (1659) of the Shunzhi Reign, Zheng Chenggong led the navy to attack Chongming County (today's Chengqiao Town), which was defeated tenaciously by the army and people of Chongming County under the leadership of Liang Huafeng. In the 2nd year (1724) of the Yongzheng Reign, Chongming County was exclusively subordinate to Taicang Prefecture.

During the period of the Republic of China, it successively belonged to Nantong, Jiangsu Province and Songjiang. On June 2, 1949, Chongming was liberated and subordinate to Nantong Special Area. On December 1, 1958, it was transferred to Shanghai.

After the Shanghai Municipal People's Government reported to the State Council for approval, the overall construction of the two township administrative regions of Changxing and Hengsha, which originally belonged to Baoshan District, Shanghai, were transferred to Chongming County on May 18, 2005. On November 18, 2009, Changxing was upgraded to town from township.

On March 26, 2016, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Government held a special meeting of the chief of the municipal Party committee to study and deploy the work of upgrading Chongming to a district from a county, and then formally submitted the request for instructions to the State Council. In June, the State Council approved. On July 22, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Government held a working conference on "Upgrading Chongming to A District from A County" and changing Chongming County into Chongming District.

3.The Large-scaled Sandbank Allocation in the History 

In the 13th year of the Yongzheng Reign (1735) of the Qing Dynasty, twelve sand islets (Qianshan, Yongxing, Biandan, Danian, Xiaonian, Wansheng, Longzhu, Sanjiao, Dingjia, Tengpan, Yangzhuang and Tangjia) were subordinate to Tongzhou. In the 33rd year (1768) of Emperor Qianlong's Reign, eleven sand islets (Banyang, Fumin, Taiping, Wugui, Fuxing, Dahong, Xitai, Yongnian, Da'an, Xiao'an and Risheng) belonged to Haimen City, and the northwest area of Chongming was greatly reduced.

In the early years of the Guangxu Reign, Chongming fought with Baoshan County for Chongbaosha, which was divided into halves. Therefore, the southeast territory of Chongming County shrunk.

On March 1, 1928, Waisha (also known as Beisha) in Chongming was set aside to establish Qidong County with Lusi and other places in Haimen County.

4.The Ownership and Delimitation of Shengsi Islands

In the 29th year (1690) of the Kangxi Reign in the Qing Dynasty, the jurisdictions of Jiangyangxun and Zheyangxun were set up. Personnel from Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province were sent to delimit the ocean boundary. A boundary monument between Jiangnan and Zhejiang was set up on Xiaoyangshan Island. "It is bounded by Yangshan Mountain and Majishan Mountain (Sijiao Mountain). The ocean islands to the south of Majishan Mountain belong to Zhejiang, while the ocean islands to the north of Dayang Mountain belongs to Jiangnan." Most of Shengsi, subordinate to Chongming County, Taicang Prefecture, belongs to Jiangnan Province.

In 1912, Shengsi Islands were subordinate to Chongming County, Jiangsu Province. In 1916, they belonged to Chongming County, Huhai City, Jiangsu Province. In 1918, Huhai City was abolished, and the First Water Police Department of Jiangsu Province was responsible for public security and defense. The administration was still in Chongming County. In 1934, Shengsi Islands changed into the fifth district of Chongming County. In 1946, Shengsi Islands changed into a region directly under the government of Jiangsu Province.

5.The Six Constructions and Five Moves of Chongming City

Due to the action of sea tide and river current, the collapse and rise of sandbank in the Yangtze River estuary are greatly affected, and the boundary area of sandbank is very unstable. Chongming City experienced six constructions and five moves (one for the prefecture and four for the county).

Because Yaoliusha collapsed in the south and rose in the north, the old city fell in the 12th year (1352) of the Zhizheng Reign of the Yuan Dynasty and the state city was moved by 15 miles in the north.

In the 18th year (1420) of the Yongle Reign, the south of the city was destroyed by the sea tide, and the city was moved to 10-mile-away Qinjiafu Village in the north for the 2nd time.

In the 8th year (1529) of the Jiajing Reign, the Qinjiafu Village collapsed in the sea, and the county was moved to Majiaban, Sansha for the 3rd time. The city collapsed after more than 20 years.

In the 34th year (1555) of the Jiajing Reign, the county moved to Pingyangsha for the 4th time and existed there for nearly 30 years.

In the 16th year (1588) of the Wanli Reign, the county moved to Changsha for the 5th time, with a radius of over 4 miles, where the Chongming District Party Committee and the Chongming District Government is located. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the county was between 10 and 15 li away from the Yangtze River in the south. During the period from Jiaqing Reign to Guangxu Reign of the Qing Dynasty, the mainstream of the Yangtze River was northward, and the south of the city was washed and collapsed by the river. The county was in the danger of being forced to move again. Huang Qingxian, Wang Qingmu, Cao Binglin and other squires spared no effort to keep the county from collapsing, and sought financial support from the Qing Government to build the river embankment, so that the county seat could be preserved.

Chongming District Archives Bureau

The Chongming District Chronicles Office