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Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai
A triptych of a single day revealing the history and foreshadowing the future of a complex and cosmopolitan city in a world at war.
November 12, 1941: war and revolution are in the air. At the Shanghai Race Club, the city’s elite prepare to face off their best horses and most nimble jockeys in the annual Champions Day races. Across town and amid tight security, others celebrated the birth of Sun Yat-Sen in a new city center meant to challenge European imperialism. Thousands more Shanghai residents from all walks of life attended the funeral of China’s wealthiest woman, the Chinese- French widow of a Baghdadi Jewish businessman. But the biggest crowd of all gathered at the track; no one knew it, but Champions Day heralded the end of a European Shanghai.
Through this colorful snapshot of the day’s events, the rich and complex history that led to them, and a cast of characters as diverse as the city itself, James Carter provides a kaleidoscopic portrait of a time and a place that still speaks to relations between China and the West today.
November 12, 1941: war and revolution are in the air. At the Shanghai Race Club, the city’s elite prepare to face off their best horses and most nimble jockeys in the annual Champions Day races. Across town and amid tight security, others celebrated the birth of Sun Yat-Sen in a new city center meant to challenge European imperialism. Thousands more Shanghai residents from all walks of life attended the funeral of China’s wealthiest woman, the Chinese- French widow of a Baghdadi Jewish businessman. But the biggest crowd of all gathered at the track; no one knew it, but Champions Day heralded the end of a European Shanghai.
Through this colorful snapshot of the day’s events, the rich and complex history that led to them, and a cast of characters as diverse as the city itself, James Carter provides a kaleidoscopic portrait of a time and a place that still speaks to relations between China and the West today.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published June 16, 2020
About the author
James Carter
3 books27 followersI first visited China in 1992. Studying in the Manchurian city of Harbin, I saw a grim, post-industrial present but a remarkably vibrant past that opened windows onto the ways that Chinese and western cultures had influenced one another to create something unique.
Since then, in my training at Yale and my work as a professor of History at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, I have explored the interaction between China and the West, focusing my writing, teaching, and research not on big stories and great leaders but on smaller moments. The travels of a Buddhist monk from Manchuria to Hong Kong. Basketball games turned violent at the Harbin YMCA in the 1920s. Most recently, the Shanghai Champions’ Stakes of 1941
Since then, in my training at Yale and my work as a professor of History at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, I have explored the interaction between China and the West, focusing my writing, teaching, and research not on big stories and great leaders but on smaller moments. The travels of a Buddhist monk from Manchuria to Hong Kong. Basketball games turned violent at the Harbin YMCA in the 1920s. Most recently, the Shanghai Champions’ Stakes of 1941
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 26, 2020
Thanks to Norton for the ARC. I enjoy reading books about sport and society and for me the hook to picking up this book was the horse racing. This is a good hook, however, the most interesting aspect is the social history of Shanghai, and the influences of colonialism and colonization. Well written, well researched, and very engaging, the book is a good fit for public libraries and academic libraries. This tops my sleeper book of the year list thus far, and, merits consideration for history book awards
August 7, 2020
James Carter, an historian at St. Joseph’s University, takes us into the horse racing world of antebellum Shanghai, culminating in the last competition for the Champions Cup on Nov. 12, 1941. He depicts a city of contrasting wealth and poverty, kindness and snobbery, where a great clash and melding of occidental and oriental cultures played out for over a century. As we all know, this came crashing down less than a month later on Dec. 8, 1941 when Imperial Japanese troops attacked and occupied the Western settlements across China. Carter frames the rich history of this most cosmopolitan of cities and the final glory days of ‘Old Shanghai’ against the Shanghai Racing Club in the early twentieth century.
In Champion’s Day Carter introduces us to Shanghai, which stands at the head of the Yangtze River basin, China’s vital commercial artery. In the mid-19th century the city became the center of the ‘China trade,’ in which Western trading houses (primarily British and American) gained control of the lucrative bounty that China offered. This came at the expense of China herself, as these Western firms and their expatriate employees not only benefited handsomely, but they were accorded extraterritoriality, a concept unique to China at the time that practically bestowed diplomatic status. Crimes Westerners committed in China could not be tried in Chinese courts, for example. And needless to say, they paid no taxes to the Chinese government. Chinese customs and collections were overseen by a British national (Inspectors-General) for over eighty years.
Carter also introduces us to the “Shanghailander” families, who were often of mixed Western and Chinese heritage, and who lived in the city for generations, often dominating commercial and social agendas. Here we meet a colorful cast of citizens, such as Nils Moller, an eccentric Norwegian whose son founded a shipping empire, and Gussie White, who came to Shanghai from Hong Kong with a common-law Chinese wife and with whom he fathered eight children after starting a successful brokerage firm. We also read about the various Sephardic Jewish families (such as the Sassoons and the Hardoons) who were so instrumental in building Shanghai into a global city. Along with more traditional British families, these Shanghailanders started racing horses soon after the founding of the treaty port in the 1860s. The tradition, the pageantry, and (especially) the betting became so popular that soon Chinese fans of the races came to outnumber Western spectators. But since Chinese were barred from joining the racing social club (the Shanghai Racing Club), they formed their own clubs and built their own tracks. Sadly, Chinese entrepreneurs and merchants were gradually building their own successful version of Shanghai before the Sino-Japanese War brought this experiment crumbling down in 1937.
Carter’s book is almost two different histories. We get the history of Shanghai which rose from a small fishing village to a massive international financial and trading depot within several decades. We learn of the political role the city played in the founding of the Republic of China, and its importance in the subsequent civil war against the communists. The latter part of the book focuses specifically on Nov.12, 1941, the last Champions Day (though not the last race) in a ‘free’ Shanghai, long past its glory days but before it fell under the boot of Japanese occupation. Carter goes into vivid detail of the races on that fateful day, as well as various events happening around Shanghai at the same time. It is a great read for those with an interest in the fascinating history of this city, as well as the history of the early and ill-fated days of the Republic of China.
In Champion’s Day Carter introduces us to Shanghai, which stands at the head of the Yangtze River basin, China’s vital commercial artery. In the mid-19th century the city became the center of the ‘China trade,’ in which Western trading houses (primarily British and American) gained control of the lucrative bounty that China offered. This came at the expense of China herself, as these Western firms and their expatriate employees not only benefited handsomely, but they were accorded extraterritoriality, a concept unique to China at the time that practically bestowed diplomatic status. Crimes Westerners committed in China could not be tried in Chinese courts, for example. And needless to say, they paid no taxes to the Chinese government. Chinese customs and collections were overseen by a British national (Inspectors-General) for over eighty years.
Carter also introduces us to the “Shanghailander” families, who were often of mixed Western and Chinese heritage, and who lived in the city for generations, often dominating commercial and social agendas. Here we meet a colorful cast of citizens, such as Nils Moller, an eccentric Norwegian whose son founded a shipping empire, and Gussie White, who came to Shanghai from Hong Kong with a common-law Chinese wife and with whom he fathered eight children after starting a successful brokerage firm. We also read about the various Sephardic Jewish families (such as the Sassoons and the Hardoons) who were so instrumental in building Shanghai into a global city. Along with more traditional British families, these Shanghailanders started racing horses soon after the founding of the treaty port in the 1860s. The tradition, the pageantry, and (especially) the betting became so popular that soon Chinese fans of the races came to outnumber Western spectators. But since Chinese were barred from joining the racing social club (the Shanghai Racing Club), they formed their own clubs and built their own tracks. Sadly, Chinese entrepreneurs and merchants were gradually building their own successful version of Shanghai before the Sino-Japanese War brought this experiment crumbling down in 1937.
Carter’s book is almost two different histories. We get the history of Shanghai which rose from a small fishing village to a massive international financial and trading depot within several decades. We learn of the political role the city played in the founding of the Republic of China, and its importance in the subsequent civil war against the communists. The latter part of the book focuses specifically on Nov.12, 1941, the last Champions Day (though not the last race) in a ‘free’ Shanghai, long past its glory days but before it fell under the boot of Japanese occupation. Carter goes into vivid detail of the races on that fateful day, as well as various events happening around Shanghai at the same time. It is a great read for those with an interest in the fascinating history of this city, as well as the history of the early and ill-fated days of the Republic of China.
August 9, 2020
By focussing on just one pivotal day, 12 November 1941, author James Carter explores through this snapshot in time the complex history of Shanghai and its fall. Well researched, comprehensive, and clearly and accessibly written, I found this an informative and interesting read, and an exemplar of good historical writing.
April 3, 2021
history of Shanghai until the war through the horse racing mania which transcended race and nationality, but reflected both in matters of who was allowed to attend, belong, etc
A fairly gripping read and definitely recommended
A fairly gripping read and definitely recommended
January 4, 2021
The book was set on a day: November 12, 1941. Shanghai -- the Paris of the East at the time -- was spending its last days before the full occupation of the Japanese Imperial Army. Because of the International Settlements, it had become home to powerful foreign merchants, wealthy Chinese businessmen, and ordinary citizens.. In addition, Shanghai was a haven to countless of refugees both from within China fleeing from the Japanese and European Jews escaping from Nazi Germany. James Carter has a way to bring a diverse cast of characters to life. Through his writing, I could sense and imagine the anxious anticipation of the looming destruction the populace of the city must be feeling.
You don’t need to love or even know anything about horse racing to enjoy this book. By learning about why Shanghai ended up with three race tracks, who would not be admitted into which club, who owned the horses, and who betted on the ponies, you would get a good sense on how colonialism and imperialism made its marks on a city.
I have read several books on old Shanghai and this is one of the best.
Highly recommended.
You don’t need to love or even know anything about horse racing to enjoy this book. By learning about why Shanghai ended up with three race tracks, who would not be admitted into which club, who owned the horses, and who betted on the ponies, you would get a good sense on how colonialism and imperialism made its marks on a city.
I have read several books on old Shanghai and this is one of the best.
Highly recommended.
December 9, 2020
Such a pleasure to read. It's a great premise: three different events, held by different (yet overlapping) communities in old Shanghai, on a single day -- Nov 12, 1941. The Champions Day at the racetrack; the funeral of Liza Hardoon, 'the richest woman in Asia'; and the birthday of Sun Yat-sen. Each one of these events is a great story, but putting them together paints a more complete portrait of a city and a time that is notoriously hard to capture. And the insight that Carter, a professor of history, provides in looking at the larger themes of this period, and making them relevant to the present, is what makes it truly special.
October 31, 2024
A somewhat Anglo-centric portrayal of Shanghai of 1930's and 40's. The author gives you a good background dose on history of the International Settlement and chaotic Chinese politics of the time, and then proceeds to analyze a fascinating mix of international characters, with a nice biography of each. It makes the city come alive, and I gulped it down like I had nothing else to do.
Viewing the city through the lens of its race club leads to rather obvious distortions. Nearly every character mentioned can be safely characterized as elite, missing important cultural strata entirely. The many interesting elite personalities analyzed include Britons, Americans, Chinese, "Eurasians", and, inevitably, the Baghdadi Jewish clique around the Sassoon family. This is certainly enough to keep the reader entertained, but I do not think it is quite representative. First of all, the huge Japanese financial presence in the International Settlement is completely ignored. There is only one Russian character despite the size of the Russian community, no one is French, and there is no mention of the ghetto established by the Japanese for the eastern European Jewish refugees, which was unique by many measures, with many striking characters within its confines, such as a future US treasury secretary.
David Rumsey Map Collection has a detailed and zoomable Sentoksha Bunshin Nihon Chosun map of Shanghai from 1937 which will help you navigate the city much better than the limited images in the book. MIT's Visualizing Cultures course has a beautiful sequence called China's Modern Sketch on Shanghai's illustrated satire mags of the 1930's, providing an utterly perpendicular representation of old Shanghai.
Viewing the city through the lens of its race club leads to rather obvious distortions. Nearly every character mentioned can be safely characterized as elite, missing important cultural strata entirely. The many interesting elite personalities analyzed include Britons, Americans, Chinese, "Eurasians", and, inevitably, the Baghdadi Jewish clique around the Sassoon family. This is certainly enough to keep the reader entertained, but I do not think it is quite representative. First of all, the huge Japanese financial presence in the International Settlement is completely ignored. There is only one Russian character despite the size of the Russian community, no one is French, and there is no mention of the ghetto established by the Japanese for the eastern European Jewish refugees, which was unique by many measures, with many striking characters within its confines, such as a future US treasury secretary.
David Rumsey Map Collection has a detailed and zoomable Sentoksha Bunshin Nihon Chosun map of Shanghai from 1937 which will help you navigate the city much better than the limited images in the book. MIT's Visualizing Cultures course has a beautiful sequence called China's Modern Sketch on Shanghai's illustrated satire mags of the 1930's, providing an utterly perpendicular representation of old Shanghai.
June 26, 2020
Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai is a fascinating look at Shanghai’s international settlement at the outbreak of World War II. Told primarily through the experience of three Shanghailanders from different parts of society, the book focuses on the Shanghai Race Club and its most important race day: Champions Day.
There is something in this book for everyone. If you are interested in China before World War II, Empire and imperial settlements, or how people survived when the world seemed to fall apart around them, this book will be of interest.
I enjoyed the maps, images, and stories of a place that seems to have been buried by time. As we face our own uncertainties about what the future holds, it is insightful to see how people reacted to similarly uncertain times in the past.
You can hear more about the book and my conversation with the author James Carter at the Hour of History Podcast website here: https://www.hourofhistory.com/champio...
There is something in this book for everyone. If you are interested in China before World War II, Empire and imperial settlements, or how people survived when the world seemed to fall apart around them, this book will be of interest.
I enjoyed the maps, images, and stories of a place that seems to have been buried by time. As we face our own uncertainties about what the future holds, it is insightful to see how people reacted to similarly uncertain times in the past.
You can hear more about the book and my conversation with the author James Carter at the Hour of History Podcast website here: https://www.hourofhistory.com/champio...
September 8, 2021
James Carter has produced an engrossing account of how the biggest day of the year in Shanghai horseracing was a metaphor for the declining influence of foreigners and the anomalous status of the international concessions in the city. Every season saw competition between the top tycoons in the city for dominance on raceday, which culminated each autumn in Champions Day where the best horses fought it out for glory in the name of their rich owners. Of course, the Chinese were tolerated as spectators and gamblers but were certainly not allowed to join Shanghai Racing Club as members.
In a well written and insightful tale, Carter charts the colourful characters, both local and foreign, that populated Shanghai and in particular the racing club at the time, and the untenable governance of the areas that formed the international concessions. Carter takes his tale up to November 121941, when the Japanese took over the city and nearly all the foreigners left the city shortly afterwards.
In a well written and insightful tale, Carter charts the colourful characters, both local and foreign, that populated Shanghai and in particular the racing club at the time, and the untenable governance of the areas that formed the international concessions. Carter takes his tale up to November 121941, when the Japanese took over the city and nearly all the foreigners left the city shortly afterwards.
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April 20, 2022Very interesting book! It gave a comprehensive view of Chinese history from about 1839 to 1945 -- all from the perspective of horse racing! And THAT was an interesting connection to the book I read earlier: "The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation," which was all about the adventures of a single racing horse and his owner / jockey.
The explanations "Champions Day" gave to modern Chinese history were comprehensive, but not always clear. I'm pretty knowledgeable about Chinese history, but I sometimes had trouble following the author's narrative. But what I DID understand was interesting and helpful to my overall view of Chinese history.
If you're interested in Chinese history, I would read this book, hands down! But if you are only interested in horse racing, I wouldn't read this book because you might get bogged down in the historical facts. Instead, read, "The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation!"
二零二二年：第十本书
The explanations "Champions Day" gave to modern Chinese history were comprehensive, but not always clear. I'm pretty knowledgeable about Chinese history, but I sometimes had trouble following the author's narrative. But what I DID understand was interesting and helpful to my overall view of Chinese history.
If you're interested in Chinese history, I would read this book, hands down! But if you are only interested in horse racing, I wouldn't read this book because you might get bogged down in the historical facts. Instead, read, "The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation!"
二零二二年：第十本书
September 27, 2020
Turned out to be one of the better reads this year. Very exciting narrative about the background of each pony owner and how each race shapes up, all the way to the narrative of each race.
And yet, it is a historical text about Shanghai, especially the people, and how it is like towards the Japanese invasion. The people who can’t quite fit in - the Eurasians. And an interesting perspective of why when the minorities “White” rule, the closer to white ended up a lesser race.
Also, colours well the racism of colonialism and the strange affinity of people to a place not quite call home. If you have been to Shanghai, I think this may be worth a read.
And yet, it is a historical text about Shanghai, especially the people, and how it is like towards the Japanese invasion. The people who can’t quite fit in - the Eurasians. And an interesting perspective of why when the minorities “White” rule, the closer to white ended up a lesser race.
Also, colours well the racism of colonialism and the strange affinity of people to a place not quite call home. If you have been to Shanghai, I think this may be worth a read.
September 28, 2021
This book is insane. It tells about the races held at Shanghai in the 19th and 20th century, even going into details of which specific movies played in which cinema and at which time, and what specific people wore at days of the races. Yet it is not all fluff; it all adds to your understanding of how bizarre these races were, in foreign-owned Shanghai, which was later occupied by the Japanese. Reading 'Champions Day' you feel the decadency as well as the thrill of the horse races. The amount of detail to this story told by James Carter is insane. And the final chapter of the book really drives the point home of how Shanghai used to be made of of such extremes, and still is.
April 20, 2024
Shanghai, the almost mythical city of the east, was on the edge of its last days. The westerns who populated the International and French Concessions were blinded to the coming World War II. They had witnessed the Japanese takeover of Shanghai but found their lives barely changed. And above all, they could still have their horse races in the spring and fall. "Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai" tells the story of the last race that these Europeans would take part in. The race was run November 12, 1941. By December 8, 1941, all would be over. This book is about the great pastime, horse racing, of these people that abruptly ended to their surprise.
November 2, 2020
Interesting read on the history and modern day evolution of Shanghai. Very thoroughly researched and the author does a good job in building a narrative style to the historical issues. The book does drag a bit in the middle and one starts to loose track of the different personalities involved in Shanghai's infamous last "Champions Day" race.
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January 1, 2021PODCAST: Author on the Sinica: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
VIDEO: Summer Reading Spotlight event, featuring author and historian Dr. James Carter on Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krKm0...
VIDEO: Summer Reading Spotlight event, featuring author and historian Dr. James Carter on Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krKm0...
January 7, 2022
Difficult book to write, having been researched as an academic book while being organized and written to appeal to a larger more lay readership. I had some trouble with the organization/outline but it is an interesting and compelling book nonetheless. Quite dense in sections. Nice graphics/photos. Learned a lot from it but I had to work to do it.
March 2, 2022
This book was so incredibly interesting. I know (like most Westerners, I assume) very little about East Asian history, especially as such a niche topic as horse racing in Old Shanghai. Yet, the stories, pictures, descriptions, narrative all flowed so incredibly well. I couldn't wait to read about the people, places, tidbits, and, most of all, the horses. Even though the book is marginally about the last Champions Day of Old Shanghai, during the height of WWII after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Carter goes into so many more details that really set the stage and puts the reader into Old Shanghai. I almost feel as if I know some of the people in the book. It makes me want to read more stories about them. That's the mark of a good book to me, when I simply cannot get enough. I really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews