伴随江海关的设立和江苏的海运出海口由太仓浏河南移上海,不断成长和富裕起来的沙船商人,在上海传统城市化进程中发挥了主导性的作用。而当1843年上海开埠之后,他们又在上海运步成为中外贸易的商品集散地和最大的商业港口城市的发展中,作出了重大贡献。正是在上海开埠之后的1840年代后半期以及之后的整整十年,沙船商人迎来了事业发展的黄金时期。当1860年代初西方的蒸汽轮船运输业和保险业在上海兴盛发展起来之后,沙船商人遭遇了巨大挑战,一面是沙船商人继续顽强地经营沙船业,一面是在沙船业的黄金时期培养出来的沙船商人大家族后裔,虽然开始走上与父辈完全不同的近代性的政治、文化、教育和外交等职业道路,但却又继承了父辈关心参与地方事务的精神,对上海近代社会的变迁发挥了重大作用。 Accompanied by the establishment of Jiang Customs and the seaborne export of Jiangsu from Taicang to Henan Province, the continuously growing and wealthy sand-boat traders have played a leading role in Shanghai’s traditional urbanization. And after the opening of Shanghai in 1843, they made a significant contribution to the development of Shanghai as a commodity distribution center for Chinese and foreign trade and the largest commercial port city. It was during the second half of the 1840s and the ensuing decade after the opening of Shanghai that the sand boat merchants ushered in a golden period of career development. When steamships and insurance in the West began to flourish in Shanghai in the early 1860s, sand-boat traders faced a tremendous challenge as the sand-boat traders continued to operate the sand-boat industry tenaciously and on the other hand were the sand-boats developed during the golden age of the sand-boat industry Although the great descendants of the merchant family embarked on career paths of politics, culture, education and diplomacy that are totally different from their fathers, they inherited the spirit that their fathers were concerned about participating in local affairs and played a major role in the vicissitudes of modern society in Shanghai. effect.