Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 337

Whoever this person was, how did he know my teacher, and my assignments and how was he such a
good poet?!
Then I saw in the darkness of my dream, an emerging vision of a city, that was quite small, old and
had an ancient type of look.
“This is the old city, sits in Shanghai under the rule of Ming Dynasty. In 1553 it was originally the old
town of ‘Nanshi’, that was walled for protection against Japanese pirates named Wokou.”
My vision in the dream showed me the Japanese pirates attacking the old city, and the construction
of the city wall around Nanshi. The voice continued…
“By 1664, the rule of Ming Dynasty collapsed and it was taken place by the unpopular Qing Dynasty.
By that period Shanghai had become a major cotton and textile center with a population of 200, 000 citizens
with the old city as the urban core.” I tried to digest all the facts at once with the vision in front of me.
“The next couple of centuries, Shanghai, and the old city grew better as a trading center and as a
metropolis, but many events remained to happen” narrated the voice, encircling my ears. The voice continued
to narrate, but now with more emotions and ferocity “ but the year of 1832 is very important in Shanghai’s
history as the conflict begun there.” – I was hooked – “In 1832, the British East India Company explored
Shanghai as a potential trading center for tea, silk and opium. However, they were rejected by the Chinese
local officials.”
I saw visions of the foreigners entering Shanghai and building their trading centers, followed by their
disallowance by the local officials.
“The British are also well known for their aggression, so they forced the Shanghainese to import
British opium by waging war from 1839 – 1842. Shanghai stood no where against the British and the war
ended with the treaty of Nanjing. Shanghai had eventually become one of the 5 Chinese cities open to British
consuls,” As the voice spoke, the vision displayed to me a very deadly war, the Opium War. Still fought with
middle aged weapons, I saw men piercing each other with spears, puddles of blood just about everywhere. My
vision then displayed to me the British consuls entering the Shanghai Parliament and the Chinese bowing
unwillingly, accepting their defeat. Just as my magical vision froze, the voice somehow knew the time to start
talking again, amazing alignment! I wonder if the vision and the voice had rehearsed this dream in their house,
before coming to my dreams. Thankfully, my attention was pulled back by the voice.
“In brief, the British, Americans and French established their concessions in 1845, 1848 and 1849
respectively, all somewhere on Shanghai’s map.”
Following, I saw a magical map on which 3 pins dropped around Shanghai, labelling the concessions.
“Then came the year of 1863, when the Americans joined the British concessions TOGETHER to
form the Shanghai International Settlement , important information, Mark!” a shiver plummeted down my
spine. My name was not exactly the thing that sounded s weet from this anonymous guy ’s mouth, yet he
continued to talk along with my vision explained everything in sight. I was wondering if I could ask the voice
and vision to come the following nights for some mathematics help!
“The following major events leading to the end of Old Shanghai occurred all after 70 years” the
voice informed and my vision showed me a fast time lapse of a period of 70 years, I saw buildings growing
higher, trams being built, highly increasing westerners and many more social improvements. It was a wonder to
witness a time lapse of a period as long as 70 years.
“Everything that I will be narrating from now onwards is not known for the exact date it happened,
so I will be using time ranges.”- I heeded and allowed the voice to continue – “So, by the 1930s, the old city
was divided between its western half, and traditional half. All the developments such as trams, and
entertainment hubs, were in the western half, as the traditional half was the place for monks and people