is located at Duolun Road near Sichuan North Road (No. 250 Duolun Road) with a full white Islamic style building. People generally call it "Kong Mansion". It is said that it was the private house of Kong Xiangxi, a member of the Nanjing National Government and one of the four major families. Over time, people basically agreed with this statement. The author has been puzzled for a long time about this statement. Although it was an indisputable fact that Kong Xiangxi had many industries in Shanghai in the old days, it was a relatively typical example, such as No. 383 Yongjia Road, if you combine modern history, you can find that there are many doubts in it: 1. This house was built in 1924, and Kong Xiangxi's real success should be after the establishment of the Nanjing National Government in 1927. The author once read the article "The I Know Kong Xiangxi" written by Tan Guang. According to the statement that Kong Xiangxi once told the author himself, "(Kong Xiangxi) told me in 1934 that his West Aixiansi Road in Shanghai ( The current Yongjia Road) house was worth 600,000 yuan at that time, which was worth 16,000 taels of silver in 1915. In 1915, I bought a Deqiao house on Yaerpei Road (now Shaanxi South Road). In 1917, I sold it and earned more than 30,000 taels. I then bought a Huang Keqiang ( Huang Xing ) house on Fukaisen Road (now Wukang Road). The price was 65,000 taels when I sold it, and I bought a Xi'ansi Road residence. It increased by 30 times in the past twenty years..." How could a person who had to sell an old house in the 1920s to build a new luxury house at the same time or earlier? 2. Kong Xiangxi himself is a Christian, and it seems that he is unlikely to build such an Islamic building out of personal religious habits; 3. Diagonally opposite the building was the "Japanese Marine Corps Command" back then. It started here in 1932 and 1937. If we speculate that this house was purchased by Kong Xiangxi in the 1930s, the smart Kong Xiangxi would never put his private house in such a "interesting place". From this point of view, the author believes that the fate between this house and Kong Xiangxi can only occur in the past two or three years after the victory of Anti-Japanese War , and there are still a large story to be found before this.
Garden Residence, No. 250 Duolun Road
Huang Xingfu Kaisen Road (now Wukang Road) Old photo of the old house
Kong Xiangxi
As the saying goes, "When you look for iron shoes, you don't have to work hard to get it." About a few years ago, when the author read an article written by the famous old Shanghai anecdotes, Mr. Xue Liyong, "There is a Spanish-style architecture in Shanghai" written by the famous old Shanghai scholar Xue Liyong, all the mysteries about No. 250 Duolun Road were solved. The original owner of this house turned out to be the famous "movie king" in old Shanghai - the Spanish Remas.
Remas
First of all, I need to explain the issue about architectural style. Speaking of this, readers may ask, how could the Spanish create Islamic-style buildings? In fact, if you look at Spanish history, you will find that Spain has been occupied by the Moors for centuries in history with Islamic cultural background, so elements of Islamic culture sometimes appear in Spanish-style architecture.
Before the Spanish Remas came to Shanghai, it was said that he was in Philippines . In 1898, the United States and Spain competed for the rights and interests of the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico and other places, the "Spanish-American War" broke out between the two sides. One of the results of the war, the Spanish were forced to withdraw from the Philippines. Remas came to Shanghai. It was time for movies to emerge all over the world. Remas, who had just arrived and had a little "down" at the time, keenly realized that this "emerging industry" was very likely. After he brought unlimited business opportunities to himself, he decisively joined it. From then on, Boss Lei's "film career" began to operate vigorously. In 1908, he built a "lead house" (also called "iron house") at the southeast corner of Zhapu Road and Haining Road in Hongkou District as a venue for temporary movie playback, and successively built many theaters such as Victoria, Wanguo, Xialing Pike, Enpaya, and Card in Shanghai, thus becoming the famous "movie king" in Shanghai at that time.
New Central Theater (formerly "Victoria Cinema")
Enpaiya Cinema (later "Songshan Cinema")
Summer Pickup Cinema (the "Dahua Cinema" was rebuilt on the original site in the late 1930s, and was renamed "Xinhua Cinema" in the early 1950s)
Speaking of this, we will share and discuss two issues related to the history of modern Shanghai films with you.
1. The beginning of the movie in Shanghai was generally believed to have been opened in 1896 in Xuyuan, Shanghai at that time. In recent years, with the deepening of research in this field, some scholars have found that the movies released in Xuyuan were very likely to be just "slideshows". The record of the first movies played in Shanghai in real terms was in Licha Hotel in May 1897. As stated in Huang Dequan's article "First Movie Comes to Shanghai" written by Huang Dequan, "In May 1897, the movie was first screened at Shanghai Licha Hotel, and then it was released in many places such as Ankaidi, Tianhua Tea Garden, Qiyuan and Tongqing Tea Garden in Zhangyuan.
Licha Hotel after reconstruction in the early 20th century (that is, the later "Pujiang Hotel")
Zhangyuan Ankaidi
2. Is the "lead house" mentioned above built by Remas in the southeast corner of Haining Road in the present Zhapu Road the "Hongkou Grand Theater" we have seen in many similar articles, which is called the first regular cinema in Shanghai and even China? In recent years, some scholars have also raised objections to this statement. The main reason for the objection is that after checking the materials such as "Shengbao" at that time, it was found that the "lead house" funded by Remas was just a temporary place for movies and had no cinema name. As for the "Tokyo Event Film Park" built on the same site a few years later (that is, the later "Hongkou Grand Theater") was not built by Remas. Under the influence of these above verifications, more and more people are beginning to agree with the view that "the first regular cinema in Shanghai" should be the "Victorian Foreign Theater (Cinema)" invested and built by Remas.
Hongkou Grand Theater Old Film
After Remas succeeded, he began to build his own mansion like other successful people. Around 1916, Remas's first verifiable private house was built on the plot of land at 702 Nanjing West Road (next to the Summer Palace Cinema). The overall style of the house is very similar to No. 250 Doron Road mentioned above, so they can also be called "sister house". Their designer is Yrron Laufuete, who is also a Spanish-born (the banquet hall in the Summer Palace Cinema and Licha Hotel hotel was also designed for this person). A year later Remas resold the private house to a US automobile sales company, Feixing Company (the reason is unknown). Another private house in Remath is now No. 250 Doron Road, which is a gorgeous building with a strong Islamic style. Whether it is the horseshoe-shaped arched wooden windows on the facade of the building, various window columns and mosaic veneers, or the various mosaic tiles, carved and stained glass inside the building, every detail reflects the designer's meticulous carving and excellence of this building. With the completion of this building, Remath has a private mansion comparable to any wealthy man in Shanghai at that time.
No. 702 Nanjing West Road
No. 702 Nanjing West Road Old Photo
Exterior Facade No. 250 Duolun Road (I)
Exterior Facade No. 250 Duolun Road (II)
Exterior Facade No. 250 Duolun Road (II)
Exterior facade No. 250 Duolun Road (IV)
Interior view No. 250 Duolun Road (I)
Interior view No. 250 Duolun Road (II)
However, what everyone expected was that just a few years after this house was built, Remas left Shanghai and returned to China inexplicably (the specific time of departure from Shanghai is 19 26 and 1931), the author speculates the following reasons: 1. Remas retired after his success and fame; 2. In the mid-20s, with the improvement of Chinese status in the concession after the May 30th Movement and the rise of Chinese groups in the film industry, Remas chose to stop when he was better in the face of the "Era of Heroes' Dispute"; 3. In the mid-20s, Japan began to be the Japanese Marine Corps Command diagonally opposite this house The garrison, the smart boss Lei may have anticipated the dark clouds of future wars in this area and resolutely chose to leave; 4. It is impossible to rule out the negative impact of the assassination of Remas' manager Gu Tengbe in November 1922 on Leimas... In short, Remas suddenly evaporated completely in Shanghai at the latest in the early 1930s, so many veterans of old houses did not even know who its first owner was when passing by this mansion.
After learning this story, the Ramos Apartment (now Beichuan Apartment) located next to this house also aroused the author's interest. "Ramos" and "Remas" have such similar names. Was the original owner of this apartment also the former movie king? Later, the author found the answer in the historical materials of "Shenbao" reminded by a senior movie enthusiast. The news report of "Shenbao" reported that "Damei Evening News" said that "Espanyol Ramore operated a theater in Shanghai for 20 years and is now back to his hometown of Madrid in Xijing... It operates six major cinemas, Victoria, Enpaya, China, Card, and Zhongshan. Its six major cinemas were released yesterday and was sold with the Chinese Business Capital Group, and its Western-style apartment on Beichuan Road was also sold, totaling 800,000 taels..." Obviously, the Western-style apartment mentioned in this report should be "Ramos Apartment". In addition, we can also infer the approximate time period of Remas leaving Shanghai from this report (June 28, 1931).
Keichuan Apartment (formerly Lamos Apartment) facade
Keichuan Apartment (formerly Lamos Apartment) internal stairs
No. 250 Doron Road did not end with Remas' departure. From the 1930s, the Japanese Marine Corps Command became the new owner of the mansion (according to the 1937 "Zi Linxi Daily News" record that the residents of this house were: Japanese Naval Landing Party, and it is also said that during this period, the Japanese Overseas Chinese Kindergarten was also held). Speaking of this, some readers may mention the concept of "Japanese concession" in the area of Hongkou at that time. This is another question extended by No. 250 Duolun Road. Is there any "Japanese concession" in modern Shanghai history? Here, the author happened to use this article to clarify the so-called "Japanese Concession".
In modern Shanghai history, the British Concession, the US Concession and the French Concession appeared one after another. After the merger of the British and American Concessions became public concessions after they became merged from 1862 to 1863, the rumored "Japanese Concession" actually does not exist.The diplomatic relations between China and Japan began with the Sino-Japanese Treaty signed in September 1871. The number of Japanese expatriates coming to Shanghai from the early 1870s to the early 1890s showed a slow growth trend. Therefore, the number of Japanese expatriates living in Hongkou before the 1890s was relatively rare. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, Japan was allowed to invest in and set up factories in China's trade ports, which led to a large number of Japanese expatriates starting to land in Shanghai one after another. Therefore, there were many Japanese traders in the Yangshupu area in the east of Shanghai, which led to a large number of Japanese expatriates moving into adjacent Hongkou, and then in the future. During the "World War", Japan took advantage of the time when the Western powers had no time to look east, which led to the objective fact that Japan is becoming increasingly bigger in Hongkou. For example, the Wusong Road in Hongkou was called "Japanese Street" because of its strong Japanese shops. The North Sichuan Road (now Sichuan North Road) area north of Yokohama Bridge was once a high-end residential area for Japanese overseas Chinese. These are the best witnesses of Japanese overseas Chinese living in Hongkou that year. Naturally, Japanese invaders came at the same time as many Japanese makers and gold diggers. After the outbreak of the October Revolution in 1917, Japan used the excuse of the new Soviet Union threatening China, prompting the Beiyang government to sign a series of treaties and agreements that were beneficial to Japan, including Japan's military power in some areas of China. Since then, a large number of Japanese soldiers appeared in Hongkou, claiming to be "the country among the country". The so-called "Japanese concession" was probably gradually becoming popular at that time, laying a serious hidden danger for the war against Shanghai in the future.
Old photos of Wusong Road (I)
Old photos of Wusong Road (II)
"Qianaili" located in the area of Sichuan North Road, Shanyin Road was a well-known "Japanese Overseas Chinese residential area"
"January 28" in 1932 and "Eighth 13" in 1937 were two times during the War of Resistance against Shanghai, where the battle was densely covered with clouds and artillery fire was rife. China and Japan fought desperately with the "Japanese Marine Corps Command" diagonally opposite. In view of the fact that the Marine Command was once captured by China during the "January 28th" period, the Japanese army has greatly rebuilt and strengthened the entire headquarters building since the mid-1930s, and has made a qualitative overpass in terms of strength and wartime practicality than before. Five years later, the "Eighth 13" battle continued at the same location. In order to capture the headquarters, the Chinese army spent a lot of money to gain the initiative in the war. They used the " German-Armed Division" that had just been formed and launched a rapid charge again and again on the Japanese fortress. The battle started, and the Japanese army was as if they were "fighting against the German army". However, the cunning Japanese army discovered that "this German army is not the German army". Due to the "innate shortcomings" of China's economic situation at that time, the comprehensive combat power of one of its divisions may not be as good as that of a B-class division of the Japanese army later, and it was seriously lacking in heavy weapons, and its ability to coordinate infantry and artillery combat was not strong (equipment efficiency was not maximized). Therefore, as the battle began, the Japanese army slowly regained the disadvantages caused by unknown conditions in the early stage of the battle with the "copper walls" arranged before the war and the "heavy castle" around the headquarters. The plan to capture the headquarters was finally defeated due to the above reasons and the continuous arrival of Japanese reinforcements.A few months later, the Chinese army withdrew from Shanghai after bloody resistance, and the Shanghai Concession became an isolated island...
Old photos of the Japanese Marine Corps Command
Current status of the former site of the Japanese Marine Corps Command
Old photos of the German division
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, No. 250 Duolun Road was confiscated by the Nanjing National Government in the name of "enemy production". Later, he was once used as the Shanghai office of the Xi'an Pacification Office as a confidant. Later, the story about this house seemed to be gone. Even if Kong Xiangxi had obtained this house, the time should be very short...
Hu Zongnan
No matter whether Kong Xiangxi had really lived in No. 250 Duolun Road, whether Kong Xiangxi's "greed and ability to make money" was obvious to all in China at that time, only in Shanghai. In addition to the industries mentioned in this article, the current Midan Apartment on Wukang Road, Wukang Building , Huaihai Middle Road, Peiwen Apartment, Nanjing West Road, Jing'an Villa, etc. are all said to have been the industries of the Kong Xiangxi family. Of course, there is one thing that the author still wants to use this article to explain his point of view: each historical building is composed of multiple sections of history. Now the words reflected on the nameplate of many historical protection buildings may be just the tip of the iceberg in these sections of history, and more Many other little-known history is hidden in various books or publications, waiting for us to further explore. Just like the topic of this article, No. 250 Duolun Road, was not originally a "Kong Mansion". If you look at the "Zi Linxi Daily News" in the 1930s, you will find that the original residents of the so-called "Kong Xiangxi's former residence" at No. 7 Dongping Road is not Kong Xiangxi himself. This is probably one of the main charms that history can attract people. There will always be endless problems to explore. The author himself is one of the typical representatives who enjoy it for this.
Garden Residential No. 7 Dongping Road
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This article is also published on the author’s WeChat public account “Wang Yangming 66 Talk about Shanghai”
