| In 1861,Hankou opened its commercial port and started trading with the outside world,which was a transition from the traditional market town to modem metropolis to Hankou.It is a typical city and famous in china and abroad in modem times. Horse-racing arena was the image of city culture of Hankou.Hankou was the biggest city for horse racing.It had a good reputation and was honored as "Metropolis of Horse Racing" in China at that moment.However,there has been still a scanty few of research about Hankou horse-racing arena by so far,which is disproportional with the impact of the horse-racing arena on the society of Hankou.Based on this reason,Hankou horse-racing arena is considered as the research object in this thesis.The first chapter describes the process of founding the three main horse-racing arenas in Hankou.Initially,western businessmen founded the West Business Horse-racing Arena in Hankou,which created the overture of horse racing and brought Hankou residents a whole new style of entertainment and leisure.Enraged by despise of western businessmen,Chinese businessmen established the Chinese Business Horse-racing Arena in Hankou and made the horse racing which originally as import for China trend to localization gradually.Afterward,Chinese and western businessmen together founded the International Horse-racing Arena.The three horse-racing arenas started games at the same time,when was the peak time of horse racing.At that moment, Hankou horse-racing industry entered its golden age as well.Chapter two mainly talks about the International Horse-racing Arena.It covers brief analysis about member constitution,categories of horse racing,categories of lottery, schedule and operation mode of horse racing and so on of Hankou horse-racing arenas.Chapter three probes the important impact of horse-racing arenas on Hankou society. Horse-racing gradually became one of the most representative social events in Hankou,it had been far beyond the initial entertainment sport's simple function.In terms of the economic construction,horse-racing tax and obligative race did a contribution to Hankou's economic development.The rise and prevalence of the horse racing promoted the economic development of related industries as well.In terms of the impact on city construction,Horse-racing arena was provided with the demonstration effect,which promoted the development of sports projects and construction of public sports ground. The construction of horse-racing arena leaded expansion of urban space and enlarged the scale of the city construction of Hankou in modem times.Chapter four studies the transformation of the horse racing and the entertainment way.The horse-racing arena just liked a window,from where the view of the western leisure lifestyle would be shown,which attacked people's traditional leisure concept.In the modem times,the development of Hankou's merchandise economy,the prosperous city life and developed entertainment and so on caused the prevalence of the wind of betting on horse racing.Gamble on horse racing just liked murrain which corroded the society.It had a profound impact on individual,families,and even the whole society.The conclusion part mainly probes Hankou horse-racing arena as public space in modem times.As a substantial and visible physical space,horse-racing arena showed its characteristics and features such as open characteristics and popular by public and so on. Horse-racing arenas became the entertainment center and social events public square in Hankou,which was a public place for residents as well.Meanwhile,Hankou horse-racing arenas were the public spaces,where existed strife and wrestle between all kinds of power and capital by each other.A variety of relationships of authority,power, interest and social capital interweaved in the horse-racing arenas,and respective force and power permeated into them.Horse-racing arenas were not just a part of people's life, but also the stage of city's historical vicissitude of Hankou,which portrayed the vivid image of this city. |
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