The Sassoon Files takes place in the world of 1920s Shanghai. There are two parts of this setting: the historical and the Mythos. This blog post series is about the historical settings… the background which the player characters may know about as they begin their investigations.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Shanghai was a small town located in a swamp near the mouth of the mighty Yangzi river. The town was overshadowed by it’s prettier sister Suzhou and the the far more important Nanjing – “South Capital” – a days boat ride up river. For the foreigners who sold opium and traded in the interior of China, Shanghai was a natural base. By 1850, 5000 foreigners lived in this small trading port town. The foreigners lived in the Concessions, where they enjoyed extra-territorial jurisdiction; the laws of China did not apply to them.
The foreigners came from many countries; Russians, Japanese, British, American, German, and French. They brought supporting institutions. Several international schools taught the children of rich Chinese and expatriate workers. Protestant, catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as Jewish synagogues, tended to the foreigners spiritual needs. They created rail and telegraph systems, newspapers, schools, hospitals, jails.
The Sassoon family made a particularly large impact on Shanghai. The Sassoons, originally advisers and bankers to the Ottoman court in Baghdad, fled political persecution in the early part of the 19th century. After immigrating to India (and becoming citizens of the British Empire), the Sassoons built a trade conglomerate stretching throughout Asia. Opium was their primary trade good, and China was the one of the biggest markets.
In Shanghai, Victor Sassoon managed the family trade business. Victor, a former RAF pilot in World War I, transferred his families vast wealth from India to Shanghai, where he spend much of his time when he was not taking pleasure trips and cavorting with movie stars in Europe.
Sassoon invested millions into the local real estate sector. At one point, he owned 1800 properties, including the famous Cathay House. “The Bund” was the term Sassoon picked to describe his Huangpu riverside developments of office buildings, banks and social clubs which came to define Shanghai’s image.
In the process of building the cityscape of Shanghai, Sassoon brought over thousands of Jews from the Middle East and Europe to help manage his concerns. Some of these Jews were attracted to the growth potential of Shanghai. Many were fleeing pogroms, civil war, and later, the Nazis. These Jews included the architects and designers that which shaped the look of Shanghai. It also included accountants, doctors, bankers, artisans, and entertainers.