Great Way Municipal Government of Shanghai | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937–1938 | |||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Status | Puppet regime of theEmpire of Japan | ||||||||
| Capital | Pudong | ||||||||
| Common languages | Mandarin Chinese Japanese | ||||||||
| Chairman | |||||||||
• 1937–1938 | Su Xiwen [zh] | ||||||||
| Historical era | Second Sino-Japanese War | ||||||||
• Established | 5 December 1937 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 3 May 1938 | ||||||||
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| Great Way Government | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Chinese | 上海市大道政府 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | ShanghaiMunicipalityGreat Way Government | ||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||
| Kanji | 上海市大道政府 | ||||||||
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TheGreat Way orDadao Government, formally theGreat Way Municipal Government of Shanghai, was a short-livedpuppet government proclaimed inPudong on December 5, 1937, to administer Japanese-occupiedShanghai in the early stages of theSecond Sino-Japanese War.
Following theBattle of Shanghai of 1937, thecabinet ofJapanese Prime MinisterFumimaro Konoe pushed for a quick and diplomatic settlement to the war in China, and not an expensive and long-term occupation (seeTrautmann mediation). Furthermore, the JapaneseImperial General Headquarters was not keen to permit a repeat of the political experimentation undertaken by theKwantung Army in the establishment ofManchukuo, and pressured the JapaneseCentral China Area Army to establish a collaborationist local government to handle the details of local administration for the Shanghai metropolitan area.
In November 1937, a number of well-known residents were approached to take over provisional civilian administration of the city. Eventually, the Japanese were able to secure the assistance ofFu Xiao'an (傅筱庵), the wealthy director of theChinese Bank of Commerce and head of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce. Fu was a personal and political enemy of Nationalist general andde facto leaderChiang Kai-shek and had been imprisoned by the Kuomintang in 1927 for refusing to lend Chiang money. After his release from prison, he fled toKwantung Leased Territory (modernLüshunkou, Dalian), and lived several years under Japanese protection, nursing his hatred for Chiang.[1]
However, Fu was unwilling to head the new government himself, and recommendedSu Xiwen, a professor of religious philosophy and political science at theChizhi University inJiangwan. Su was a graduate ofWaseda University inTokyo and was known for his conservative political views. Su was also known for his views onBuddhist-Daoistsyncretism, which influenced the name of the new administration—the "Great Way" referring toEastern philosophy's concept of theTao—and its flag: theyin-yang symbol ofDaoism on ayellow background. (The colors yellow,gold, andsaffron are often associated withBuddhism.)[2]
The new government quickly made efforts to restore the city'spublic services and established apolice force under the command ofZhang Songlin, former commander of theJiangsu provincial police, to maintain public order. Funding was provided by a tax levied on all imports and exports through the Japanese front lines into and out of Shanghai, and Su was assisted by a number of experts provided by theSouth Manchurian Railroad Company. Su promised to purge the city of bothcommunist and Kuomintang elements. However, neither Su nor his Great Way Government were regarded seriously by Japanese political agents, who looked with dismay and contempt at the assortment of criminals, religious cultists, and narcotics dealers who gravitated to leading positions in the new administration. The promised public works failed to materialize as Su's cronies siphoned off funds, and the propaganda value of the new administration quickly deteriorated. In December 1937, the Japanese brought in a tough northern Chinese collaborator namedWang Zihui to oversee operations as a temporary measure.[2]
AfterLiang Hongzhi established theReformed Government of the Republic of China inNanjing, the occupied Nationalist capital, in March 1938, the Japanese Central China Area Army organized a number of public rallies and ceremonies in support. In less than a month, the Reformed Government asserted its authority over the Great Way Government by establishing a SupervisoryYamen to take over the functions of the Shanghai municipal administration. Su Xiwen formally recognized the Reformed Government and adopting its flag on May 3, 1938.
Under the Reformed Government, Su Xiwen continued as head of the Supervisory Yamen until he was replaced by Fu Xiao'an as mayor on October 16, 1938.
