![]() Owing to the convenient location, the Bubbling Well Cemetery was widely regarded as “the best cemetery” by the Shanghai foreigner community and therefore higher prices were charged for funeral services than the other cemeteries, such as the Hongqiao Cemetery which opened in 1926. The Chinese could also use the cemetery through bookings. The burial ceremonies were mostly hosted in the chapel.Īt the end of the thoroughfare used to stand the chapel of the Bubbling Well Cemetery.Īccording to Jing’an District annals, the cemetery had 6,214 tombs, with 5,363 of them occupied by 1949. ![]() “The Shanghai Municipal Council invested 56,200 taels of silver to build the cemetery which experienced several renovations but its scale remained basically unchanged,” Henriot wrote in his paper titled “The Study of Public Cemeteries in Shanghai’s International Settlement.”Ĭovering an area of 39,300 square meters, the new cemetery contained a nursery garden, a small chapel, a crematory and a room for bone ashes. The Shandong Road cemetery became Huangpu Stadium, the Baxian Bridge Cemetery was transformed into Huaihai Park and the Bubbling Well Cemetery is now Jing’an Park. During urban expansion, cemeteries which were built on cheaper land on the western outskirts of Shanghai were later included in the city area.Īs a result, Shanghai today is dotted with “cemetery” relics of yesterday through continuous urban renewal projects. He said the Bubbling Well Cemetery was a typical example. The big green lawn in Jing’an Park is an outdoor activity paradise for kids during weekends.įrench historian Christian Henriot, who currently teaches at the Department of Asia Studies, Aix-Marseille University, pointed out an interesting phenomenon, that all the early foreign cemeteries were located in today’s downtown Shanghai as “the city has been developing and expanding so fast in the past decades.” On the then suburban area, the council built a new cemetery and crematorium to meet the growing demand for Western burials and funeral services. Some ceremonies, such as the annual US Memorial Day for honoring those fallen while in the service of their country often attracted local visitors,” Chen and Wu wrote in their co-authored paper titled “The Change of Shanghai Cemeteries under the Influence of Colonialism.”Īs the city expanded from the Bund to the west along Bubbling Well Road (today’s Nanjing Road W.), Shanghai Municipal Council purchased some empty land fronting the southern facade of the Bubbling Well Temple in 1896. “Managed by special institutions, these well-designed Western cemeteries made economic use of land, maintained a hygienic environment and presented an elegant, quiet garden ambience, many of which even became scenic spots. ![]() ![]() More Western cemeteries were constructed following the first cemetery as foreign settlements expanded and the population of expatriates continued to grow. According to a report in the North-China Herald on December 7, 1929, a hand-bound volume revealed early burials at the cemetery mostly consisted of young men and women in their 20s. The first foreign cemetery on Shandong Road near the Bund was built by the British in 1846 and had up to 469 tombs when it was closed in 1871. As the journey by sea from Europe to Shanghai took over four months, before the Suez Canal opening in 1869, many deceased expatriates were buried in Shanghai instead of being transported home. Jing’an Park is a precious, pleasant oasis in the busy Jing’an Temple area.Īfter Shanghai opened its port in 1843, the city saw a growing number of expatriates.Īccording to a study by scholars Chen Yunqian and Wu Min from Nanjing University and Suzhou Middle School respectively, the foreign population in Shanghai International Settlement rose from only 26 in 1843 to 2,297 in 1865. ![]()
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