A Pictorial History of Changchun, 1898-1962

This essay periodizes Changchun’s urban history from 1800 to the 1950s according to its major city functions in order to contextualize coauthor Xinying Wang’s remarkable personal collection of visual materials presented in the accompanying Cross-Currents photo essay and, in turn, to contribute to a better understanding of Changchun’s urban transformation between the turn of the twentieth century and the early years of Maoism. In each phase of Changchun’s urban development, modernity found different forms in the construction of the city, revealing that modernity is neither constant nor secluded from the larger political and cultural milieu. Influenced by both indigenous and foreign factors, modernity is constantly reinvented to fit into new contexts and to meet new needs.