上海曾经有771所教堂。
那是一个走在城市里,
可以听得见管风琴奏出的圣乐、
远远看到教堂的高塔的时代。
48个上海教堂建筑旅行指南
180张教堂建筑图片
313个上海现今开放教堂名录
中英文双语+位置示意
Once there were 771 Churches in Shanghai,
we could always recall that just in this city,
there used to be an era in which
we could hear the choir singing the sacred songs,
and see the steeple tower dominating the skyline.
48 Shanghai Church Travel Guide
180 Images of Church
313 Shanghai Church Directory
In bilingual Chinese English + Current AddressLocati
请先阅读
上海早在四百多年前就引入了基督教,并于1609年建成了第一所教堂——圣母玛利亚祈祷所,又于1640年建成了现存最早的教堂——敬一堂。至1664年,上海已有66所教堂,后因雍正禁教而终止建设。
1843年开埠后,上海因其优越的地理位置和重要的社会经济地位,迅速成为基督教在华传播的中心,也最终成为中国建成教堂最多的城市,曾经达到771所。现今上海教堂仍在不断的修复、维护和建设中,新旧教堂总计超过300所。
1843-1899
在上海开埠至19世纪末的五十余年里,不同国家、不同宗派均纷纷在上海建堂,从各个区的主教堂,到之下的分堂,再到散布在小街小巷的布道所,以及遍布郊区的乡村教堂。这一时期,上海教堂经历了从最初的家庭聚会点式的场所租赁,到购地建造简易的教堂,再到不断在原址或迁址重建、扩建、改建、增建的艰辛过程,共建成教堂百余所。圣三一堂、董家渡天主堂、圣若瑟堂、新天安堂、佘山天主堂、虹口天主堂(1876;现已不存)、闸北堂和唐镇天主堂等成为其中的典型代表。
这些教堂的设计师大多是传教士,他们尽力模仿西方教堂的风格和样式,甚至直接以某一欧洲教堂为蓝本。由于传教士们全身心地投入时间和精力,教堂建筑质量较好,艺术价值也较高,体现了西方古典建筑的特点。这些较为纯正的西式教堂,相对于当时的外廊式洋行、领事馆等建筑更具永久性,代表了20世纪前西方建筑在上海的最高成就,直到20世纪外滩建筑群等一批重要的公共建筑出现后才被取代。
1900-1927
20世纪初期,短短二十多年间,上海建造教堂的数量超过了整个19世纪,而且质量明显提升,体现了迄今尚难超越的设计和施工水平。上海现存的教堂,基本上都是这一时期新建,或在这一时期进行了最为关键的、决定性的改建和扩建。
这一时期教堂的建造活动大致可分为三类:一是对19世纪建造的教堂进行翻新改建,或在旧教堂邻近扩建新教堂,如圣三一堂、傅家天主堂、清心堂、新天安堂和佘山天主堂等;二是为一批早期成立却没有独立教堂的差会(教会的一种宣教组织)建造新教堂,如沪东堂(1912;现已不存)、景灵堂、国际礼拜堂、诸圣堂和鸿德堂等;三是为新成立的教会建造教堂。
很多有影响的著名建筑师在此前后参与到教堂的设计中,如徐家汇天主堂的新堂由道达洋行设计、新清心堂由李锦沛扩建、息焉堂由邬达克新建。职业建筑师们不再刻意模仿西式风格,而是转向了对本土特征的关注。
1928-1949
连年的战争对教堂损毁极大。一大批教堂被夷为平地,包括虹口救主堂(1853;这一时期被炸毁的是建于1926年的新堂;后又重建,即今五原路天主堂)、圣保罗堂(1926;现已不存)等;一些教堂经历过数次炸毁和重建,如闸北堂、怀恩堂等;改建了一批老教堂,如1931年改建的沐恩新堂;也新建了不少优秀的教堂,如大田路天主堂、德国新福音教堂(1930-1932;邬达克代表作之一,现已不存)、圣伯多禄堂、新恩堂等。
这一阶段,教堂建筑走向了多元化风格,中西建筑体系达到了前所未有的大融合。虽然哥特风格的教堂在数量上仍然占据主位,但教会已不再主动倡导任何一种建筑样式或强调某种建筑风格,一个差会往往会同时建造几种不同风格的教堂,多数情况下是根据建筑所处的特殊的自然和文化环境,以及建筑师和传教士的个人喜好来选择。
同时,教堂建筑的世俗化倾向越来越明显,尤其是经济的发展,使得教堂建筑不得不逐渐融入商业化的城市氛围中,越来越接近其他公共建筑,自身特色逐渐消退。
1949至今
1949年以后,西方传教士纷纷回国,上海近一个世纪集中的教堂修建落下了帷幕,余留的百余所教堂也是满目疮痍。改革开放后,许多教堂恢复了使用,保留下来的近代历史建筑,尚有不足五十所。新堂开始修建,教堂数量有所回升。但整体来看,教堂建筑已逐渐从城市中淡出,并最终湮没在20世纪晚期的城市化进程中。
今天,我们谈起上海的城市风貌,似乎很难想象除了摩天大楼和石库门、法式花园别墅,还能用其他什么建筑来描述这座城市的个性。历史已一去不复返,但至少应该知道,我们的城市曾经有过那样一个可以看到身着圣袍的牧师布道,能听得见管风琴奏出的圣乐,也能远远看到教堂的高塔的时代。我们应该关注上海的教堂,关注上海那段独特的历史。这样的独特性,令上海与中国的其他城市相比,有了自己特别的文化积淀,这也正是我们最为宝贵的“海派”城市文化内涵。Preamble
Christianity was introduced into Shanghai over 400 years ago. The first church in Shanghai, called “Virgin Mary Prayer Hall”, was built in 1609. Jingyi Church, the oldest surviving church in Shanghai, was completed in 1640. By 1644, Shanghai had 66 churches, yet the construction of churches came to an abrupt stop due a ban on Christianity by Emperor Yongzheng.
After it was turned into a Treaty Port in 1843, Shanghai quickly became the most important center of the Christian missions in China thanks to its advantageous location and unique socio-economic status, until it came to be the city with the largest number of churches in China, boasting as many as 771 churches for a time. Today, there are over 300 churches in Shanghai, both old and new, which undergo constant repairs, maintenance and reconstruction.
1843-1899
In the half a century from 1843 to the end of the 19th century, Shanghai saw the arrival of churches from different countries and Christian schools. The churches ranged from parish cathedrals and regular churches to neighborhood preaching sites and countryside chapels. Over 100 churches were built in this period. The Christian community painstakingly held household preaching parties on rented sites, then built crude churches on bought land, and finally rebuilt, expanded, modified or relocated the original churches. Holy Trinity Church, St. Francisco Xavier Church, St. Joseph Church, Union Church, Sheshan Basilica, Hongkou Church built in 1876, now gone, Zhabei Church and Our Lady of Lourdes Church of Tangzhen are the good examples of this period.
These churches were designed mostly by missionaries themselves, who tried to emulate the styles and floor plans of Western churches and sometimes simply copied certain European churches. Because of the dedication of the missionaries, the churches have been endowed with good quality and high artistic value representative of the Western classical architecture. These “pureblood” churches were permanent structures compared with the colonial-style company mansions and consulates at the time and embodied the highest level of the Western architectural influence in Shanghai, until they were surpassed by grander public buildings such as the mansions on the Bund in the 20th century.
1900-1927
More churches were built in the first quarter of the 20th century than in the entire 19th century in Shanghai, and these churches boast significantly improved qualities and a high level of expertise in design and construction that is admirable even by today’s standards. Most of the surviving historical churches in Shanghai are built or crucially modifiedexpanded in this period.
There are three situations in the construction of churches in this period. The first is the refurbishment or expansion of the old 19th-century churches, such as Holy Trinity Church, Our Lady of Rosary Church, Pure Heart Church, New Union Church and Sheshan Basilica. The second is the construction of new churches by missionary societies which were founded earlier and didn’t have independent churches, such as Eastern Shanghai Church built in 1912, now gone, Allen Memorial Church, Community Church and Hongde Church. The third is the construction of new churches by newly-founded missionary societies.
In this period, a lot of prestigious architects were involved in the design of these churches. For example, St. Ignatius Cathedral was designed by William. M. Doyle, the expansion of Pure Heart Church was designed by Li Jinpei, and Sieh Yih Chapel was designed by Laszlo Hudec. These professional architects had stopped copying the Western styles, but turned their attention to the innovative portrayal of local characteristics.
1928-1949
The perennial warfare had a detrimental effect on the churches. Some churches were simply razed, such as Hongkou Savior Church built in 1853; the expansion built in 1926 was destroyed in this period, and the original site was rebuilt into today’s Catholic Church on Wuyuan Road and St. Paul Cathedral built in 1926, now gone. Some churches were demolished and rebuilt several times, such as Zhabei Church and Grace Baptist Church. Nevertheless, in this period, some old churches were modified, such as Moore Memorial Church modified in 1931, and some new churches were built as classical pieces, such as St. Teresa Church on Datian Road, German Gospel Church built in 1930–1932, one of Hudec’s representative works, now gone, St. Peter Cathedral and New Grace Church.
The churches of this period tend to embrace greater diversity in architectural styles and feature an unprecedented harmony of Chinese and Western elements. Although the Gothic architecture still prevailed, no particular design or style was recommended or emphasized. A missionary society usually built its churches in widely different styles. In most cases, the architectural style of a church was picked according to the specific natural and cultural environments as well as the personal preferences of the architects and missionaries.
Meanwhile, the church architecture of this period is characterized by a development towards secularity. The churches had to blend into the highly commercialized neighborhoods and began to bear an affinity to other public buildings, thus allowing a fade-out of religious significance.
1949 till now
After 1949, the missionaries returned to their home countries, and the construction of churches came to an end. Over a hundred churches in Shanghai remained in various states of disrepair. The advent of the “reform and opening-up” in the 1980s saw the revival of many churches, though no more than 50 historical churches have survived into present day. New churches are being built and the number of churches in Shanghai is on the rise, yet on a whole the churches have been marginalized in the cityscape during the rapid urbanization of Shanghai towards the end of the 20th century.
It is hard to imagine how the city’s idiosyncrasies can be described through architectural elements other than the ubiquitous skyscrapers, Shikumen stone-framed gate lanes and French-style garden houses. The churches need to be lifted from obscurity as a legacy of certain episodes of history, when frocked priests preached amidst holy organ music and church steeples reached to the sky. The churches of Shanghai and the specific segment of history they represent deserve more attention from the public. It is these old churches that contribute to Shanghai’s colorful history which has been a part of the city’s cultural heritage.
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