Underestimated Contributions: Contemporary Academic Understanding of the Relationship between Zhang Weihan and the Municipal Reform Movement in Modern China

Abstract

Zhang Weihan not only proposed the idea of "municipal strengthening of the nation" but also presided over the municipal reform practice in Kunming, involving the improvement of urban grassroots organizations, the establishment of traffic police, the demolition of old city walls, the improvement of street transportation, the rectification of water and electricity facilities, physician training and food hygiene inspections, the organization of custom improvement associations, the promotion of compulsory education, the construction of modern parks, and many other aspects. These efforts not only vigorously promoted the development of Kunming, but also played a significant role in other Chinese cities such as Chongqing. However, when examining contemporary academic understanding of Zhang Weihan and the municipal reform movement in modern China, it is not difficult to find that research in this field still has many deficiencies. Most of the existing relevant works are limited to brief narratives of his local content during his time in Kunming, while his contributions to the municipal reform movement in modern China have been relatively underestimated by contemporary academia. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to break through the inadequacies of previous research and conduct a more systematic study on this issue.