During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) and the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), present-day Shanghai was part of the State of Wu and later the State of Yue and others. From the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to 1958, Shanghai was divided into three administrative regions.

Firstly, South of the Wusong River. In the 10th year of the Tianbao Era of the Tang Dynasty (751), Huating county was established as the first independent county-level administration system in Shanghai. In the 14th year of the Zhiyuan Era of the Yuan Dynasty (1277), Huating county was upgraded to Huating prefecture and then Songjiang prefecture the next year. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Songjiang prefecture had jurisdiction over Huating, Shanghai, Qingpu, Lou, Fengxian, Jinshan, and Nanhui counties, and Chuansha sub-prefecture.

Secondly, North of the Wusong River. On the 9th day of the 12th month in the lunar calendar in the 10th year of the Jiading Era of the Southern Song Dynasty (Jan 7, 1218), Jiading county was established and later, part of it became Baoshan county.

Thirdly, Islands at the estuary of the Yangtze River. During the Wude Era of the Tang Dynasty, shoals were exposed at the estuary of the Yangtze River. In the 14th year of the Zhiyuan Era of the Yuan Dynasty, Chongming prefecture was established. Later in the second year of the Hongwu Era of the Ming Dynasty (1369), it became Chongming county.

As the origin of present-day Shanghai, Shanghai county was originally Shanghai town, which existed from the final years of the Jingding Era until the beginning of the Xianchun Era of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the 29th year of the Zhiyuan Era of the Yuan Dynasty (1292), Shanghai town became a county. In 1927, Shanghai was designated as a special administrative city and officially became a municipality in 1930. In the 23rd year of the Daoguang Era of the Qing Dynasty (1843), Shanghai was opened as a treaty port. In 1845, the British concession was established in Shanghai. Up to 1943, the British and American concessions (later merged into the International Settlement) and a French concession had been established successively in Shanghai, maintaining their separate administrative, judicial and commercial systems.

After Shanghai was liberated on May 27, 1949, it was divided into 20 urban areas including Huangpu, Laozha, Xincheng, Jing'an, Jiangning, Putuo, Yimiao, and Penglai and 10 suburban areas including Xinshi, Jiangwan, Wusong, and Dachang. In 1958, the city successively incorporated 10 counties of Jiangsu province – Shanghai, Jiading, Baoshan, Chuansha, Qingpu, Nanhui, Songjiang, Fengxian, Jinshan, and Chongming – and the present-day Shanghai Municipality took shape. By then, the city had 10 districts and 10 counties under its jurisdiction.

Source: Shanghai Almanac 2023