Although Shanghai was the largest city in Asia in the 1930s, the area covered by Old Shanghai was much smaller than today’s city. I mostly write about central Shanghai, but suburbs that were not part of Old Shanghai are also of interest. Recently, I headed to Si Jing Ancient Town / 泗泾古镇.
Si Jing town has long been an important city close to the major town of Huating in Jiangsu province. This area was attached to Shanghai in 1958, becoming the district of Song Jiang. A few streets next to a canal have been kept and are now a pedestrian street. Although it is not the biggest old town around Shanghai, it is much quieter than superstars Zhujiajiao / 朱家角 or Qibao old town 七宝镇, a perfect half-day trip during national holidays.
Sijing’s main attraction is surely Anfang Pagoda 安方塔 and the old streets around. A number of shops have opened there, but the atmosphere is still quiet. Of the nice spot is the One Step coffee, located in a renovated mansion. It is part of the chain of coffee shops and restaurants that are all located into scenic and atmospheric locations (more info on: https://jaapgrolleman.com/one-step-garden/).
I was not expecting more than a pleasant stroll when I ran into the birthplace of Joseph Ma, turned into a museum. Joseph Ma / Ma Xiang Bo / 马相伯 was a very important person for Shanghai and the development of education in China. Studying at Xu Jia Hui’s Saint Ignace college, he became an astronomy and mathematic teacher as well as a priest in 1870. He took part the foundation of the bibliotheca Zikawei, now the Xu Jia Hui library.
After travelling in France, Europe and Corea, looking for modern teachings way to implement in China, he took part to creation of the Université Aurore in 1903, the Catholic university in Shanghai run by the Jesuits. Aurora University was split between several universities in the 1950s, but its main campus on Avenue Dubail (Chongqing nan Lu) is still standing, now part of Jiaotong university.
Parting from the Jesuits, he created his own university University, Fudan in 1905. Now located close to Jiangwan district, it is still one of the top university in China.
Together with Cai Yuanpei, the dean of Beijing University, he co-founded Fu Jen Catholic University (辅仁大学) in Beijing in 1925. Given Cai Yuanpei’s connection with Stephanie Rosen-Hoa and Hua Nan Gui as well as their common interest in education and french language, it is very likely that they all met in Beijing.
Ma Xiang Bo was not the only member of his family to be important for education in China. His brother became the first Chinese to graduate with Baccalaureate from the French education system.
Too bad the museum’s explanation are only in Chinese. It’s probably difficult to appreciate it without a good knowledge of the topic.
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