丁文江是近代中國學人中兼具卓越專業學識及辦事能力的多面性稀有人物。在他多姿多彩的一生中，最惹人爭議的，就是一九二六年間在割據江蘇、浙江、福建、江西及安徽五省的直系軍閥孫傳芳下面，出任淞滬商埠督辦公署總辦一事。這段隱晦不彰的歷史，也是對撰寫其傳記的人所面對的最大挑戰，其中直接史料缺乏是癥結所在。即使是丁的摯友胡適在撰寫《丁文江的傳記》時，便慨嘆因史料缺乏，丁在淞滬總辦任內的事蹟只能用英文《中國年鑑》來補充。這一缺陷現稍有彌補的希望。我們現已確知多年來毫無蹤影的丁氏淞滬總辦任內的文電，收藏於中央研究院歷史語言研究所傅斯年圖書館內。本人在整理該批檔案之餘，擬以此為基礎，並參考其他中外資料，特別是當日報章如《申報》、《民國日報》等，專就其上海從政生涯一些前人論著較未著意的層面，尤其是北伐軍壓境，在錯綜複雜的政局中，丁在孫傳芳集團中所起的作用及扮演的角色，作更為具體而微的探索。

Ding Wenjiang was a rare and versatile figure among modern Chinese scholars, combining exceptional specialized knowledge with administrative ability. In discussions of Ding’s short but colorful ife, his activity in 1926, when he served under the warlord Sun Chuanfang as the Director-General of Greater Shanghai, is a most controversial subject. Because of the paucity of source materials regarding this matter, however, this period constitutes a formidable challenge to historians researching Ding’s life. Fortunately, we are now in a somewhat more favorable position to delineate his activities in 1926 due to the availability of archival and other new materials. A collection of Ding’s documents totaling approximately a thousand pieces, which had been all but forgotten in the collection of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, is now available to the academic community. Most of these documents cover the period during Ding’s tenure of office as Director-General of Greater Shanghai, and the majority are letters and telegrams received by him. This paper will attempt to fill an existing historiographical gap in Ding’s life. In it, I will address Ding’s political career in Shanghai based primarily on my organization of these important source materials, using other relevant sources for reference, especially contemporary periodicals such as the Shenbao and Minguo Ribao. I will explore in concrete and meticulous terms Ding’s role and function in Sun Chuanfang’s organization during this period of political flux and turmoil.