Xujiahui - History

History

With land donated by Xu Guangqi's family and those acquired by other means, the Society of Jesus established a grand cathedral as well as an entire one square mile complex that covers most of present-day Xujiahui. In addition to the cathedral, the mainly French Jesuits also built orphanages, monasteries, schools, libraries and the Xujiahui observatory.

In time to become the strong-hold of Catholics in East Asia, one of the first structures to be built by the Jesuits was the St. Ignatius Cathedral in 1847, later reconstructed in 1906. The Cathedral is located on what is now known as North Caoxi Road and is still referred to in English as the St. Ignatius Cathedral. The sign on the street calls it simply "Catholic Church." The cathedral was featured in the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg's 1987 film Empire of the Sun.

Other structures that can still be seen today include Xuhui College on 68 Hongqiao Road, now renamed Xuhui High School (or Xuhui Middle School). Established by Jesuits in 1850, Xuhui (St. Ignatius) College was the first educational institution in China to offer a fully western curriculum.

While central Xujiahui was administratively part of the Chinese area of Shanghai, it was in reality controlled by the Catholic Church, which was closely associated with the French authorities of the French Concession. From 1914, Xujiahui sat just outside the borders of the French Concession, and remained under heavy French influence.

Catholic Xujiahui came to an abrupt end with the Communist victory over the KMT. A few years after the People's Liberation Army entered Shanghai, most foreign Jesuits had abandoned Xujiahui and relocated to nearby posts like Macau or Manila. Many of those who remained were imprisoned by Communist authorities. These include Cardinal Ignatius Kung (Gong Pinmei), who spent decades in prison, and Father Chang-min "Beda" Chang, who died in prison in November 1951.

From 1949 onwards, most of the large houses and estates in Xujiahui were compulsarily acquired or seized by the government and converted into factories. Up until the late 1990s, the area was predominantly an industrial area.