History of Shanghai

The history of Shanghai spans over a thousand years and closely parallels the development of modern China. Originally a small agricultural village, Shanghai developed during the late Qing dynasty (1644–1912) as one of China's principal trading ports. Since the economic reforms of the early 1990s the city has burgeoned to become one of Asia's major financial centers and the world's busiest container port.

Around 6000 BCE, only the western part of the Shanghai region encompassing today's Qingpu, Songjiang and Jinshan districts were dry land formed by lacustrine silting from ancient Lake Tai. The modern Jiading, Minhang and Fengxian districts emerged around 1,000 BC while the downtown area remained underwater.

The earliest Neolithic settlements known in this area date to the Majiabang culture (5000–3300 BCE). This was overlapped by the Songze culture between around 3800–3300 BCE. In the lower stratum of the Songze excavation site in the modern day Qingpu District, archaeologists found the prone skeleton of one of the Shanghai's earliest inhabitants—a 25-30-year-old male with an almost complete skull dated to the Majiabang era.

By the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420), a thriving fishing industry had developed along the Song River—now known as Suzhou Creek,—a tributary of the Huangpu River. Located some 12 miles (19 km) from the Yangtze River estuary, China's largest inland waterway, the creek was at that time known as the Hu (沪), a character that represents a fishing trap, of which there were a number in the river. The character Hu is still used as an abbreviation to denote the city, for example on car license plates. Qinglong Zhen (青龙镇; 芊龍鎮), the "Garrison of the Green Dragon", the first garrison in this area, was founded in 746 during the Tang dynasty (618–907) in what is now the Qingpu District of Shanghai. Five years later, Huating Zhèn (花亭镇; 華亭镇; "Garrison of the Flower Temple") followed, demonstrating the growth of the region and its increasing political and geographical importance.

...
Wikipedia