Historical Evolution
On September 26, 1992, The State Council of China decided to abolish Shanghai County and Minhang District and replace them with a new Minhang District, which covers the administrative areas of the former county and district.
The key-shaped Minhang District is located in the southwest of Shanghai and is the birthplace of the 4,000-year-old Maqiao Culture.
Historically, the former Minhang District was under the jurisdiction of Shanghai County. Based on the artifacts unearthed from the site of Maqiao Culture, the history of Shanghai County can be traced back to over 4, 000 years ago.
In the 29th year of Emperor Zhiyuan of Yuan Dynasty (1292), Shanghai County was established. It was first called Minhang during the reign of Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty and was formally named as Minhang in the 7th year of Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty (1512).
In the 7th year of the Republic of China (1918), Shanghai County was under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province. When Shanghai City fell into the hands of Japanese during the War against Japanese Aggression, Shanghai County was a part of the Shanghai Special City.
In the 34th year of the Republic of China (1945), it was called Shanghai County again after the victory of the War against Japanese Aggression.
On May 15, 1949, Shanghai County was liberated and was firstly placed under the jurisdiction of Sunan Region and Jiangsu Province later. In January 1958, Shanghai County was placed under the jurisdiction of Shanghai Municipality.
In December 1959, Minhang District was established, which covered Minhang Town and Wujing Region of the former Shanghai County. In June 1964, Minhang District was abolished and incorporated into Xuhui District, covering two sub-districts: Minhang and Wujing. In February 1981, Minhang District was restored.
On September 26, 1992, Minhang District merged with the abolished Shanghai County and became the new Minhang District.
On September 26, 1992, Minhang District merged with the abolished Shanghai County and became the new Minhang District.
Maqiao Culture
The Site of Maqiao Culture is located at Yutang Village, Maqiao Town, Minhang District, Shanghai. It lies on a belt-shaped shell mound called "Zhugang". The mound is long from north to south and narrow from east to west. As a typical cultural heritage in the region of Taihu Lake, Maqiao Culture occupies a very important position in the archaeological history of China.
The Shanghai Relics Management Committee has listed the Site of Maqiao Culture, located in Yutang Village, part of Minhang District's Maqiao Town, as a protected ancient culture area.
The land at the site of Maqiao Culture formed about 5,500 years ago, began to see human activities during the transitional period from Songze Culture to Liangzhu Culture. By Xia and Shang Dynasties, the site evolved into the largest village in the region around Taihu Lake, representing the most typical social life at that time. The village covered an area of more than 150,000 square meters. From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Period of Warring States to Tang, Song, and Yuan Dynasties, the place became a settlement of Chinese ancestors. In 1982, the archaeological community named the site of Maqiao as "Maqiao Culture".
The site of Maqiao Culture was discovered in 1959, and several excavations were made in the 1960s and 1990s, with more than 1,000 artifacts unearthed. These excavations at the site of Maqiao Culture provided scientific evidence for inferring the history of Shanghai and valuable historical materials for deducing the land formation around Shanghai.
