Jiading sites bear witness to wartime resistance
Print Edition
The 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-fascist War is commemorated this year. There are several sites in Jiading which bear witness to the Chinese people’s resistance against Japanese troops in the 1930s.
Jiading Museum has a painting by Jiading artist Shen Yiqian which depicts the Japanese troops’ invasion of Northeast China. It was shown in an exhibition at Confucius Temple in Jiading in May, 1937, and has been featured in many local exhibitions in recent years.
Qiuxia Garden was one of the places where the Japanese troops set up camp. They also established a hospital there, as recorded in the “Jiading Town Journal” published in 1992. The listed municipal protected cultural site had a major restoration from 1999 to 2001, followed by several partial repairs.
Traces of history are also visible at the Confucius Temple and the Ancestral Hall of Shen’s Family, which has a wall full of bullet holes.
The Residence of Wang’s Family in Nanxiang Town was burned down by Japanese troops but was later restored.
Other historic sites include Yansi Bridge, Defu Bridge and blockhouses scattered around the district.
Besides Jiading Old Town, there are many historical sites scattered across the district.
Loutang Memorial Gate
(Loutang Town)
Built in 1932, the Loutang Memorial Gate on Xiaodong Street is a three-door framed concrete structure supported by four stone pillars. The faded cinnabar paint on the pillars reveals its long history.
Tang Shihao, 73, has lived here since birth. “Although I hadn’t been born by then, we should never forget the unbearable history of our battle against the Japanese aggression,” he said.
The “January 28 Incident” happened in 1932. The Japanese bombed Jiading the following day.
A troop of more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers invaded areas such as Loutang and Zhujiaqiao in Jiading around 1am on March 3, 1932. The Japanese troops then occupied Jiading County, Nanxiang, Huangdu and Anting though they met strong resistance from the National Revolutionary Army. That night, the Japanese troops set fire to and destroyed over 70 houses on Xiaodong Street.
After the incident, philanthropists from Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry raised money to help people rebuild their homes. In memory of the kindness shown by those patriotic overseas Chinese, Shanghai celebrities such as Li Fusun, Zhang Gongquan and Huang Yanpei raised funds and built the Loutang Memorial Gate. According to historians, many overseas Chinese made donations and built the Jiading Memorial Village for homeless people.
Earlier this year, Tang submitted a proposal for the repair of the memorial gate, the feasibility of which is under discussion among the authorities.
Wang Yuying is a local resident from a martyr family. She volunteers to tell stories from history at local kindergartens and schools on every Qingming Festival and memorial days for China’s War of Resistance against the Japanese Aggression. On July 7, more than 30 children learnt about the history of Loutang during the war from Wang.
Quejiao Pavilion (Nanxiang Town)
The news that Japanese troops occupied Northeast China broke out after the “Mukden Incident” in 1937. Nanxiang residents were outraged at the news. The proposal to build a memorial pavilion in Guyi Garden received strong support from the public. Led by 60 patriots such as Zhu Shouming and Chen Shaoyun, many locals responded to the appeal and helped to raise a fund of 6,000 silver dollars to build the pavilion in April 1933.
Quejiao Pavilion has one corner missing to remind people of the occupation of northeast China. The other three corners adopt a design of fists of steel to symbolize Chinese determination to fight the Japanese invaders and recover lost territory. The pavilion is also known as Buque Pavilion, the name being written by famous calligrapher Hu Wensui.
Quejiao Pavilion is now an important base for patriotic education in Jiading and other districts in Shanghai. Every spring and fall, thousands of students have their investiture ceremonies and coming of age ceremonies there.
The garden management has kept the pavilion well maintained throughout repairs and restorations. For example, the pavilion had a thorough repair in 2009 and is now covered in professional rust-proof paint. It was listed as a protected cultural relic of Jiading in 2000.
There is one more historic site in the Guyi Garden called Yiye Hall which was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It is the only site in the garden that survived the Japanese bombs in 1937. The garden management repaints its wooden structure and replaces broken or damaged roof tiles on a regular basis.
This year the garden has established a cultural heritage protection team with staff assigned to inspect and repair relics every week.
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