The origin of the name of Xinchang ancient town

Xinchang Town was built in the second year of Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 128), with a history of more than 800 years. Its name comes from the southward migration of Xiasha Yantian to form a new Yantian, hence the name "Xinchang". At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Songjiang Branch of Zhejiang Salt Transportation Bureau moved here, which is an ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River that thrives on salt.

With the continuous development of salt industry, businessmen and salt merchants gather here, so the population of the new field increases sharply. At that time, there were many merchants in Gelou Restaurant, which was once more prosperous than Shanghai County, and was known as "New City Suzhou", which was the largest town in Pudong Plain at that time. Later, due to the changes of saltworks and wars, Xinchang Town experienced several ups and downs, but it is still an ancient water town with a strong cultural atmosphere in the south of the Yangtze River. The narrow river course of Xinchang Ancient Town passes through the town, with carved stone arch bridges, residential buildings built by water, towering stone revetment built along the river and saddle-shaped water bridge, which are very similar to the towns of Zhouzhuang and Zhujiajiao.

The culture and education in Xinchang town has always been very developed. As early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Qu Shiyan founded the Yi Studies here. According to the Records of Nanhui County, Xinchang Town is the "second dynasty of Neo-Confucianism", and there are more than 20 places like Nanping Bookstore where poetry is recited and ink is splashed. In the 28th year of Guangxu, there was a girls' school. In the 1930s, there were all primary and secondary schools in the town. After liberation, cultural and educational undertakings further developed. In 1980s, Xinchang Town, with the reputation of "small town and big world", established the first "social town cultural center" jointly established in China. It has been commended by the Ministry of Culture for many times and is one of the advanced collectives of the famous rural cultural center in China.