LITTLE is left of a Christian school for boys founded in 1850, but a new museum now allows the public to peer into the past, when Western cultural made its first mark on Chinese education.

The Xuhui High School this year opened the doors of its century-old Chongsi Building, a red-brick structure opposite the Grand Gateway in Xujiahui. It is the only surviving piece of architecture from the former boys’ school.

Shanghai historian Xiong Yuezhi calls the school “a blazing star in the sky of Chinese education,” citing its top-quality campus, faculty and students.

According to the historical tome “Zikawei in History,” Xujiahui in 1849 was filled with refugee children who were fleeing floods in jiangnan, or the region south of the Yangtze River. Unable to look after all the children, local residents sent some of them to the St Ignatius Cathedral.

Angelo Zottoli, then the superior of the Xujiahui Society of Jesus, converted thatched cottages into classrooms for the refugees. A year later, the makeshift structures became St Ignatius College. It was renamed St Ignatius Private High School in 1931 and then Xuhui High School in 1953.

“The campus was elegant, covering a spacious 40,000 square meters,” says Xiong, editor-in-chief of the book “The General History of Shanghai.”

“Abutting Jesuit convents and the Xujiahui Library, the school was surrounded by the famous Nanyang College (now Shanghai Jiao Tong University) to the north, the grand St Ignatius Cathedral to the south, the emerald Puzhao River to the east and idyllic villages to the west.”

Now located in the heart of the commercial center of modern-day Xujiahui, the original campus has shrunk in size, but the historic Chongsi Building next to the gateway still hints at the school’s illustrious past. The school’s new buildings are all designed in the same red-brick façade as the original structures.

When Chongsi Building was erected in 1918, it was called Xin Xiao She, or the “new school building.” The campus at that time reflected 19th-century architecture.

Designed by Belgian father P. Diniz, the four-story structure is graced by red and gray bricks, classic arches and a striking line of 18 Corinthian columns. The building, which had suffered from severe leaks, was restored in 2011. The renovation project won an award from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

“Thanks to the school’s comprehensive archives, we could restore Chongsi Building according to old photos, original drawings and student memoirs published in school magazines,” says Jiao Tong University Professor Cao Yongkang, chief architect of the restoration. “We were lucky to find one original broken tile on the site, and we reproduced all the gray tiles according to its size and color.”

The highlight of the restoration was turning a dilapidated garret under a mansard roof into a gorgeous classroom for the arts.

Fudan University Professor Li Tiangang says the curriculum of the former Christian school changed from its initial focus. In the beginning, students were taught traditional Confucian classics as part of preparation for the imperial exam that determined who would become government officials. A successful exam was like a “career pass,” similar to the one earned by Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) minister Xu Guangqi, for whom Xujiahui is named.

But Xu was more than just another Chinese official. He was a renaissance man of China. “The Jesuits wanted to train another Xu Guangqi,” Professor Li says. “In this school, just steps away from Xu’s tomb, the French Jesuits hoped to revive the 17th-century tradition of Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci, whose missionary work focused on science and education, with Xu’s help. The Chinese government decided that scientific talent would be more helpful for this country than traditional scholars. So the school focused on scientific courses, and the Jesuits kicked off the influential Jiangnan Scientific and Cultural Plan.”

Chongsi Building bore testament to that new direction. The building housed science laboratories, an exhibition room of biological specimens and a rich library of 50,000 Western and Chinese books.

“It was an East-meets-West school in terms of courses, faculties, management and teaching methods,” historian Xiong says. “They taught Bible and Confucian analects, French, Western science and Chinese history and calligraphy. At the faculty, blue-eyed Westerners mixed with traditional Chinese scholars.”

He adds, “Alongside the works of Balzac and Hugo, French teachers had students read books by Chinese writer Ba Jin and playwright Cao Yu. The ideas of the German philosopher Hegel and ancient Chinese historian Si Maqian mingled in philosophy classes.”

Zeng Xianyi, president of the school, says this scientific tradition survived through China’s subsequent ideological fluctuations and remains in place today. Xuhui High School is now applying for status as a municipal-level high school specializing in scientific education.

“We have established five laboratories in cooperation with Jiao Tong University and Tongji University,” Zeng says. “Our students can undertake testing for gene identification and pesticide residue. One of our labs features a sand table of 10 railway stations between Shanghai and Hangzhou. Twelve students work together to control the operation of model trains. Their work won first prize in a contest. Other new-era science courses include 3D printing, solar energy and big data.”

He says the school aims to excite students about science and technology, in the same way that Xu Guangqi’s works instilled an interest in those realms so long ago.

The five-room museum on the ground floor of Chongsi Building is a legacy to 166 years of history and heritage.

“I asked a carpenter to reproduce the school’s old classroom desks and stools according to an archive photo,” Zeng says. “When they were completed, I was impressed by how ergonomic the furniture was. The desks have a sloping surface so that the neck is rested while studying there, and the stools have a sunken curve that allows a comfortable, relaxing way to sit.”

The desks and stools replicate a 19th-century study room at the school, complete with statues of a French Jesuit teacher and a Chinese student.