Li Pingshu

Li Pingshu

Li Pingshu (1854-1927) was born in a medical family. During the reign of Guangxu, he successively served as the county magistrate of Lingfeng, Xinning and Suixi in Guangdong; he was the general inspector of Hubei Wubei school; in the 29th year of Guangxu, he was transferred to Jiangnan manufacturing Bureau, and concurrently served as the general director of China Merchants Bank, the director of China Shipping Merchants Group and the director of Jiangsu railway company. The Medical Association, the Chinese and Western women's medical school, the Nanshi Shanghai hospital (now Shanghai Second People's Hospital) and Huacheng insurance company were established.

Profile

Li Pingshu, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, was born in 1854 in Gaoqiao Town, Baoshan, Jiangsu Province (now in Pudong New Area, Shanghai). When he was young, he entered a private school. At the age of 14, his father died. He left school and became an apprentice in Huahang and Midou shops in Shanghai. Tongzhi eight years (1869), Shanghai county exam, Buxian Xiangsheng. In the 12th year of Tongzhi's reign, he studied in Longmen academy and Chinese medicine. In 1883, he was recommended by people to write an article on the history of Xiangli. In the same year, a waterworks was built in the British concession, and Li Pingshu immediately went to investigate. He decided to divert water into the city and set up a housing bureau in the south of eryangjing bridge to sell water for the French Concession and Chengxiang. In the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, he took part in the imperial examination with the qualification of excellent tribute and won the 10th place in the first class. Then he went to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao, Saigon, Singapore and other places to investigate the political and economic situation. Since the 19th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, he has successively worked in the prefectures of Lingfeng, Xinning and Suixi in Guangdong Province. During his tenure in Suixi, he organized regiment training to repel the French invasion and was dismissed. In the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, he was summoned to Zhang Zhidong and later served as the chief inspector of Hubei Wubei school. In the 29th year of Guangxu's reign, he was transferred to Jiangnan manufacturing Bureau and concurrently served as the general director of China general commercial bank, director of China Shipping Merchants Group and director of Jiangsu railway company. Since then, he has presided over a series of social improvement activities, established medical association with famous doctor Chen Lianfang, established Chinese and Western women's medical school, Nanshi Shanghai hospital (now Shanghai Second People's Hospital), established Huacheng insurance company, Kunxin kenmu company, invested in Huaxing flour factory, and presided over Zhabei hydropower plant.

Character achievement

Li Pingshu initiated the local autonomy movement in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty. In the 31st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, he and Yao wenmudan, Guo huaizhu and Mo Xilun proposed to set up a general engineering bureau to rectify the localities and establish the foundation of autonomy. With the approval of the government, 37 members are elected as the Council members or the General Council members. Li Pingshu was appointed as the general director of the city, and was in charge of the general engineering bureau inside and outside the city. He actively presided over the work of the General Engineering Bureau, sent people to take over the management of roads and street lamps inside and outside the city, set up and subsidized small schools to facilitate the development of primary education, unified patrol police to maintain local public order, and took a series of measures to prevent the expansion of the concession. During the four years in charge of the General Engineering Bureau, more than 60 roads have been built, more than 50 bridges have been repaired and demolished, 3 city gates have been newly built and rebuilt, 9 rivers and creeks have been dredged, 11 revetments and wharves have been built, with an annual income of more than 164000 Liang. In the 33rd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Shanghai daoruicheng ordered the prohibition of opium smoking in the Chinese community, and handed it over to the General Engineering Bureau for handling. Li Pingshu then organized the original five sports associations, including the gymnastics department and commercial Gymnastics Association of Hunan society, Hubei Shangyu society and Huxi Shishang Gymnastics Association, into the Nanshi commercial League Association, and appointed its own president. In the first year of Xuantong (1909), the Qing government promulgated the constitution of local autonomy of towns and townships. The former general engineering bureau inside and outside Chengxiang was renamed Shanghai Chengxiang internal and external autonomous office, and Li Pingshu was still the general director.

Era of change

After the Wuchang Uprising broke out in October of the third year of Xuantong (1911), Li Pingshu turned to revolution. In the battle of Shanghai's recovery on November 3, he and Chen Qimei took the responsibility of leading the uprising. He organized and mobilized more than 1000 members of the armed commercial Corps from various industries in Shanghai to patrol and assist the death squads led by Chen Qimei to capture Daotai yamen, county offices and Jiangnan manufacturing Bureau. After the restoration of Shanghai, he served as the chief of civil affairs and director of Jiangnan manufacturing Bureau of the military capital of Shanghai. He took charge of all civil affairs inside and outside the city, and took this opportunity to demolish the city wall, fill the HaoGou and build the road, realizing his long cherished dream of reform for many years. At the same time, in response to the foreign businessmen's attempt to expand their business sites, Li Pingshu found Lu Bohong, who is running Nanshi electric light company, and concurrently runs a tram company, so that Nanshi has its own trams and tracks. Under the painstaking management of Li Pingshu, the inner and outer appearance of the city has greatly changed. In July 1913, when the "second revolution" broke out, Chen Qimei organized yuan Jun and Li Pingshu in Shanghai. With the purpose of maintaining local public order, they formed the Shanghai Security Bureau with Shanghai County Chamber of Commerce, Education Association, fire fighting Association and Business League Association. They flaunted neutrality, adopted a non-interference attitude towards anti yuan, and strived not to spread the war to Nanshi. In vain, Li was forced to travel to Japan and returned to Shanghai three years later.

Life Anthology

In his later years, Li Pingshu was obsessed with gold and stone, literature and art; he lived in Kunshan, where he collected old books for review and appreciation, and compiled two volumes of Pingquan book company. He is the author of Singapore's local customs, Qie Wan's autobiography at the age of 70, Shanghai's autonomous annals, etc., and the editor of Buhua Jian Ji, etc. After his death, he was named Mr. Tongmin. He also invested in casting statues and planting them in the thoroughfares of the city to commemorate forever.

Chinese PinYin : Li Ping Shu