Shanghai in August 1945

You pick up the most circulated newspaper in Shanghai on August 15th, 1945, the day of Japan’s surrender. What do you see? Well, the news of the surrender hasn’t made it for the day’s issue. Instead, in the days leading up to the end of the war the newspaper focuses on the Russian advances in Manchuria, or the arrival of B29 bombers attacking Japanese targets in China. Of course, you still see the usual advertisements for CPC Coffee, and various brands of penicillin. But how will the newspaper change in the next few days as Japan’s control over Shanghai comes to an end? While this wasn’t a question related to my research, it was at the back of my mind as I skimmed through an important Shanghai newspaper called 申報 from the second half of the year 1945.

I have become a big fan of the 郭廷以 library next to the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica (中央研究院) See my English entry about it on my reference wiki for more information. Pretty much anyone can use the library without any membership or introductions, and its stacks are open for browsing. Their collection of history related materials is great and includes a lot of Japanese and English materials as well as Taiwanese and mainland China sources. On this trip to Taiwan I have started looking at early postwar newspapers to get a preliminary look at how Chinese traitors (collaborators, or 漢奸) are portrayed. For now, I’m concentrating on the period of 1945 to say 1948, by which time most of the trials of 漢奸 had finished up. I was only able to get a start on this project this time. Also, newspapers (and “traitors” in China) are only a first stop, but hey, I haven’t even started my PhD program yet.

I have to say though, the leaning over musty (ok, they aren’t musty, but try to get in the mood with me here) volumes of old newspaper collections has so far been a lot of fun. Today I took a little extra time to jot down some notes on things I found interesting in Shenbao issues just after the fall of Japan. Read on if you think advertisements for cosmetics, candy and movies from 1945 can actually be interesting.

On August 16th, the word reached Shanghai’s press that Japan’s emperor was surrendering. This was admitted under the innocuous headline, “Japan’s emperor issues a peace edict” The originally muted response soon becomes very celebratory. I was particularly surprised at how quickly the advertisements joined the congratulatory 慶祝 atmosphere. On August 16th, we already find an advertisement for a victory meal (勝利快餐) with congratulatory drinks going for only 200,000 Yuan per person. We also immediately see advertisements for the sale of national flags on the front page. On August 17th, in addition to an article announcing the disbandment of the Nanjing-based puppet government, we find the addition of advertisements for “Peace Brand Cosmetics” written in both English and Chinese (和平牌各種化裝品) and by the following day, a whole slew of regular advertisers, including “Smart Shirts” are offering “half price sales” to celebrate world peace. On August 19th, the candy sellers are advertising their new high quality “Victory Candy” (勝利牌高貴糖果) Also, the “Golden Garden Restaurant” starts a three day half-price victory sale on the 21st, which it continues to advertise for six days.

CPC Coffee, which had long had very recognizable, if somewhat boring, advertisements depicting a can a coffee, finally join the victory bandwagon on the 21st by getting rid of the can image and replacing it with three victory slogans for the Allies, China, and Chiang Kai-shek. They scrap this on the 26th and add an image of a caucasian drinking coffee. Prices still look kind of inflated on the 26th. Meimei Si is selling coffee for 18,000 yuan and “Victory” sundaes for 40,000. Also on the 26th we see the sudden appearance of radio channel advertisements, promising the latest news from San Francisco or India. Not far from Meimei Si’s victory sundaes is a very short article noting the mass suicide of a group of Japanese soldiers in front of the imperial palace. The editorial of the day emphasizes the need to preserve social order and reminds everyone that Chiang Kai-shek has ordered that no-one is to show hostility towards the surrendered Japanese soldiers. Thousands of them are still wandering around with their weapons, some have yet to officially hand over control of the cities they control. Most of them are not disarmed until weeks or months later and some of them end up helping one side or the other in the conflict to come. In these early postwar days, the KMT and the Communists are in a mad nation-wide rush to get their troops into each Japanese controlled area to accept the hand-over of power first. While the two sides were nominally allied during the war against the Japan, the country is on the verge of a new civil war between the two. In the first few weeks, however, we see Mao and Chiang inviting each other to tea parties and banquets.

Chiang Kai-shek, the military commander of the Nationalist KMT party, hits the advertisements in a big way starting August 20th, with most advertisements wishing him, and China support (將主席萬歲). In the days that follow we find advertisements selling his portrait (20″ by 30″) and by the 24th, some competitors are selling the portraits with no less than five colors! In the classifieds we find a huge explosion of announcements about KMT nationalist party meetings happening around town. By the 26th, the full texts of his speeches begin filling copy on the front page.

The movies get a little more interesting after the Japanese surrender. The 1931 Weimar German film “The Blue Angel” is advertised beginning on the 21st, but that isn’t exactly a very controversial choice for Shanghai viewers. Things get more exciting two days later when advertisements for the American 1940 movie “Wagons Westward” show up (showing at 14:30, 17:00, and 19:30 at 金城 theater) and ads for the movie continue every day until September 5th.

The first postwar results of the entrance examinations for high school and college are printed in the extra long August 26th issue. Sayaka tells me that even today Taiwanese children look for their name in the newspaper after they get their score to find out which school has (hopefully) accepted them. Imagine taking your SAT or GRE in occupied Shanghai, perhaps with the sound of American bombers somewhere overhead.

In the weeks that follow news about Japan pours in from the wires. General Macarthur’s arrival in Japan, the official surrender proceedings, and the turn-over of each city in China makes the news. Anxious writers wonder when the Japanese soldiers will be disarmed, and talk of the war crimes trials fills page two consistently. According to the September 11th issue, another 500 Japanese officers commit ritual suicide. Almost every other day, a new list of Japanese war criminals is submitted to the courts. Chinese traitors start hitting the headlines, especially after mid-September, with another surge of articles in December. I made enlarged copies of these articles to read upon my return to Japan but occasionally the print is so faded or blurred that I may have to look up some articles on microfilm or original paper copies of the newspaper in libraries elsewhere.

CPC coffee is eventually replaced by some competitor on the front page, but I’m guessing readers are probably paying more attention to the flood of articles late 1945 reporting clashes between the KMT and Communist forces. The headlines almost always only mention the KMT (國軍) and the news is usually of them occupying this or that stronghold of their opponents. I haven’t gotten that far, but I know the newspapers of 1947 and 1948 won’t have as many victories to report as the tide of the civil war turns decisively in Mao’s favor. I’m guessing Shenbao stops printing once Shanghai is under Communist control, but I’ll have to see how the war unfolds in their pages on my next trip to Taiwan (or wherever else I find a good collection of old Shenbao issues).