Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/390

382 the south door is a carved representation of Mary with the body of Jesus.

In the recent extension of the Concession beyond the Defence Creek is situated the old cemetery, amid whose reposeful beauty the former inhabitants of Shanghai lie sleeping their last sleep together without distinction of nationality. Opposite to the cemetery gate a Chinese temple rears its orange-tinted walls, within which reposes a gigantic effigy of Buddha in gilded wood. The face alone is said to measure 36 feet from the chin to the top of the head. The priests who serve in the temple come from the sacred island of Pootu, in the Chusan Archipelago.

From the Defence Creek, a splendid wide road, some three miles in length, has been constructed and planted with shady trees. This is the Avenue Paul Brunat, from which radiate most of the other roads built by the French Council in the district lying beyond the confines of their concession. At its western end the road strikes the Siccawei Road, which leads to Bubbling Well on the right, and to Jessfield on the left. The imposing red brick buildings surrounded by spacious grounds which are seen near the point of intersection are those of the Nanyang College, an institution for the higher education of Chinese youths.

At Siccawei, a little native village founded by the Su family, is situated the headquarters of the Jesuit mission in Shanghai. During the Ming dynasty (about 1580) practically the whole neighbourhood was converted to Christianity, but during the persecution of 1722 the Jesuit Fathers were obliged to withdraw. They returned, however, about the middle of the last century, and are now actively pursuing their beneficent work with great success. In addition to two orphanages, in which boys and girls not only receive a thoroughly sound education but are taught some useful occupation suited to their respective tastes, such as wood-carving, painting, embroidery, weaving, or dressmaking. The mission also conducts one of the most famous observatories in the world, and daily issues forecasts of the weather on the China coast for the guidance of those "who go down to the sea in ships." There is also a Natural History Museum, containing a remarkable collection of the fauna and flora of China, and a printing press from which issue many educational works—some of the best of them from the pens of the learned fathers. From Siccawei, the French Concession may be regained by way of the Rue Franchise de Zikawei. At the fork formed at the end of this road by the convergence of the Quai de la Breche and the Rue Palikao, stands the Xingpo Joss House, through the grounds of which the French Council proposed to drive a road in 1898 and thereby provoked a riot.

The native city, which adjoins the French Concession, is enclosed by a wall measuring some three and a half miles in circumference, 30 feet in height and 10 feet in thickness. Erected by means of voluntary contributions during the latter part of the sixteenth century as a protection against the incursions of Japanese freebooters, this wall is surrounded on all sides except that next the river by a ditch, which is choked with all manner of debris. At the present moment a project is under consideration for demolishing the wall and laying out the site as a drive. There are seven gateways, and of these the north gate, opposite the end of the Rue Montauban, is the most freely used. Inside the city the streets are extremely narrow and crowded, but the provision of electric light and a good water supply show that the spirit of progress is abroad. The houses never exceed two storeys in height, and the shop-fronts lie open to the street. In the City Temple are to be found the usual assortment of josses, among which the place of honour is taken by the city god, a large idol seated upon a gilt throne. Not far away is the City Magistrate's Yamen, where justice is dispensed according to the Chinese conception of it. At the entrance stand large cages containing prisoners. Sometimes an unfortunate wretch may be seen undergoing a sentence of death by slow strangulation. His head is passed through a hole in the top of his cage and the supports upon which he stands are removed gradually, the operation extending over