Dongjiadu Catholic Church

Easily overlooked among a stretch of grey multistory buildings in the Old Chinese City, Dongjiadu Catholic Church is the oldest church in Shanghai. Conducting itself in silence, modesty, and restraint, only those who value its history are willing to arouse Dongjiadu from its slumber.

History

Dongjiadu's history traces back to the end of the Opium War, and exploring the history of this church is just like exploring the history of Catholicism in Shanghai. In the beginning, the Qing government accepted Catholicism as "a religion that exhorts people to do good," and allowed it inside China's open ports. The government would not allow Shanghai's original Catholic Church to operate, and it was later converted into shrine to General Guanyu. In February 1848, the Qing magistrate of Shanghai compensated the church with three parcels of land. Louis de Besi, Bishop of the Southem Yangtze Parish, built a new church on this land and called it Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in memory China's first Christian missionary.

It took six years for church construction to be completed. The foundation was laid on November 21, 1848, and the first service was held on March 20, 1853. On the day of the church's opening ceremony, a French cruiser arranged for two gun boats to anchor off of the Dongjiadu dock and fired a salvo from its guns while the church conducted its consecration ceremony. With the church's opening, Catholicism was finally able to gain a foothold in Shanghai under the missionary flag, and Dongjiadu eventually became the main church of the Southern Yangtze Parish. Dongjiadu retained this status until it was supplanted with the construction of Xu-jiahui Catholic Church in 1910.

Dongjiadu's church interior is imitates the style of European Jesuit Churches. The ceiling in the main hall is arched which creates excellent resonance inside. There are green panels painted onto the ceiling and a beautiful relief sculpture of China at ceiling's highest point. There are several thick columns, each measuring four meters in girth, and a spiral staircase has been in-stalled inside one of them, leading directly to the choral level.

Spanish Missionary, Joanne Ferrer, was the church's designer. The original design was meant to be an imitation of the Roman Jesuit University's St. Ignatius Cathedral, but due to a shortage of initial funds, Ferrer was forced to give up on the original design prints and cancelled building the glass windows and large central dome on the top floor. A Baroque gable was placed two thirds up the facade as a replacement. In the very center were written three large Chinese characters Tian Zhu Tang that stand for the word "Catholic Church". At the church's highest point hangs a heavy crucifix, inspiring reverence in the hearts of the following. It is said that the crucifix weighs one ton. At the same time the crucifix is adorned with Chinese style ornamentation which is typical of early Chinese Catholic churches.

Joanne Ferrer

Joanne Ferrer's father was a court artist and accomplished sculptor in Spain. Heavily influenced by his father in his youth, young Joanne also discovered a love of art, and followed in his father's footsteps. After arriving in Shanghai, Ferrer designed both Dongjiadu and Xujiahui Churches, finishing Dongjiadu first. After his work was complete at Dongjiadu, he decided to make Shanghai his permanent home, and established his workshop. At the time, the Dongjiadu Church required a large number of supplemental paintings and sculptures, and China lacked the personnel to complete it. Ferrer, expanded his studio to accommodate the larger workload, and started teaching classes there and later at the Xujiahui Church. He accepted a large number of Chinese students, passing on to them the skills of sculpting, painting and even engraving. During his nine years in China, Joanne Ferrer brought with him not only Catholicism; even more, he brought Western art. Unfortunately, this gifted and talented artist died young. On December 31,1856, Joanne Ferrer passed away in Dongjiadu Church at the age of 39.

St. Francisco Xavier

The first Jesuit missionary to come to East Asia, the Spaniard, Francisco Xavier, arrived in China in 1551. Refused entry into Guangdong, he was forced onto the small island of Shangchuan near Guangdong's Taishan County. St. Xavier spent four months on and around Shangchuan where he was stricken with disease and unrelenting fever. With no medical attention, he died at the end of the year at the age of 46. His remains were shipped to India for burial. In 1662 he was canonized by Pope Gregory XV, and he is so far the only missionary to China that has ever been sainted. His burial site has become a holy place where people come to pay respects.

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