Dongjiadu Catholic Church

　　When it comes to churches in Shanghai, most people would first think of the famous Xujiahui Catholic Church. As a typical Western-style church built in China, its soaring Gothic twin spires leave a truly deep impression. As the largest church in Shanghai today and also the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Shanghai, coupled with its location in a major commercial district, Xujiahui Catholic Church has attracted countless admiring gazes.

　　However, looking back and quietly exploring the roots of the spread of Catholicism in Shanghai, especially after the opening of the port, we come to learn that the oldest surviving Catholic church should be the now-obscured Dongjiadu Catholic Church — located at the intersection of today’s Dongjiadu Road and Wanyu Street. This old brick-and-wood structure church appears somewhat reserved and humble due to the cramped surroundings of nearby factories.

　　Situated on the edge of the old walled city in the late Qing Dynasty, Dongjiadu Catholic Church was built in 1847 and took six years to complete and open. Its exterior design reveals an unmistakably Spanish flair — probably because the architect himself was a Spanish priest, influenced as well by his father who was a court artist. The architectural style is categorized as Baroque from the Renaissance period. Classic Baroque architecture pursues dynamism, favoring lavish decorations, sculptures, and bold colors, with fluid and varied lines. But Dongjiadu Catholic Church shows a somewhat unexpectedly simple decorative style, for reasons perhaps best known within.

　　The main façade of the church is tripartite. The lower section is divided into three bays by four pairs of Ionic columns — creating three entrances. Between the paired columns by the entrance, there is a brick-carved Chinese-style couplet, while the two outer pairs of columns frame a shrine; the middle section features a large round clock embedded in the center of the wall, with a bell tower rising at each end, housing copper bells said to be originals from a century and a half ago; the upper gable is styled in the classic Baroque volute form, with a central plaque inscribed with the bold characters “天主堂” (Catholic Church); atop sits an iron cross nearly four meters tall, weighing around one ton. The interior of the nave features a vaulted ceiling rather than a dome, accented with blue-green caisson patterns. The thick pillars inside, measuring roughly four meters in circumference, include one that houses a staircase leading up to the choir loft. The choir loft is a mezzanine above the entrance, directly facing the distant altar, and from the side, one can clearly see the exquisite high-relief carvings on the upper walls. As a concrete embodiment of East-West fusion, these carvings depict highly Sinicized motifs such as lotus flowers, cranes, gourds, swords, and double coins.

　　Dongjiadu Catholic Church was once the cathedral of the Catholic Jiangnan Diocese in the last century. It wasn’t until the completion of Xujiahui Catholic Church in the early 20th century that its status as a missionary center was replaced. The distinct architectural characteristics of the two churches — the former a blend of Chinese and Western elements, the latter thoroughly Westernized — also reflect to some extent the differing mindsets and approaches of Catholicism in different periods of its introduction to China, evoking thoughts of the painstaking efforts made by early Jesuit missionaries to bridge the cultural gap between China and the West —

　　As early as 1557, Alessandro Valignano, then the observer of the Jesuit Mission in the East Indies, set a groundbreaking new direction for missionary work in the East — the “cultural accommodation” policy: he required missionaries to China to become Chinese first. Although Valignano himself never came to China, his ideas proved visionary and ultimately effective — his followers Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci, especially the latter, played significant roles. He not only entered China but also reached the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty at the time. He lived in Beijing for ten years, dedicating himself to preaching Catholic doctrine and spreading Western scientific knowledge to the imperial court officials, and successfully gained acceptance among a considerable circle of literati — Xu Guangqi was baptized by him. He was far more fortunate than another missionary who would also leave a mark in the history of Western missionary work in China — the first missionary to China associated with Dongjiadu Catholic Church, Francis Xavier. The church was originally named after him — the Church of St. Francis Xavier. Francis Xavier came to China in 1551 but, unable to enter Guangdong, became stranded on Shangchuan Island in present-day Taishan City for

　　four months, where he eventually died.