Qingxin Hall

Qingxin Hall

Qingxin church is the first church established by meibei Presbyterian Church in Shanghai. Located at No. 30 Dachang street, Huangpu District, Qingxin church, formerly known as the first church of Shanghai Presbyterian Church, was founded in 1860.

brief introduction

Soon after, the American Missionary Association opened the Qingxin College (originally located at 597 Lujiabang Road), which was also called "Qingxin hall" because its service was in the college. Most of the believers are the staff, family members and students of the Academy. In the initial stage of Qingxin college, the head of Qingxin college, John fan, was the pastor. In 1919, Qingxin hall moved out of Qingxin school and built a new hall (the current site), which was completed in 1923. The architectural plane of the auditorium of the new hall presents a unique "human" shape. Qingxin hall once had Qingxin middle school (now Shinan middle school in Shanghai), Qingxin women's middle school (now No.8 Middle School in Shanghai), Bible College and Puyi society. In 1958, Qingxin hall became a united place of worship in the southern urban area. On September 9, 1979, the church resumed its service. Qingxin hall is located in the old town of Nanshi. Its believers are mainly working people. In 1992, the hall was overhauled and a new two-story auditorium was built. In March 1994, Qingxin hall was listed as a building protection unit in Shanghai.

history

In March 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng), John fan and his wife, Mary fan, arrived in Shanghai from the United States. They founded the first Shanghai Presbyterian Church (the predecessor of Qingxin Church) and the Lowrie Institute (translated as Lou Lihua school, now Shanghai Shinan middle school) in Lujiabang outside dananmen gate. The next year, they founded the Mary Farnham girls' school, now Shanghai No.8 Middle School. The church has long been located in Sibao hall in Qingxin academy, and most of the believers are teachers and students of Qingxin Academy. These students are mostly refugee children who came to Shanghai after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom war. In 1919, pastor Li Hengchun initiated the construction of Qingxin hall in nearby dafuchang Street (now No. 30 Dachang Street), and the chapel was moved out of the school. It was completed and opened on New Year's day in 1923, and has been used up to now. The architectural plane of the church presents a unique "human" shape. The distance from the main entrance to the holy platform is short, and the two wings are at right angles and extend to the left and right for a long time. In the early days, men and women worshiped separately. There is no column in the upper and lower floors. The flat top is high and the ground is slightly wavy from the side door to the holy platform, which is quite characteristic in architecture.

According to Xinmin Evening News on November 16, 2005, Li Zhengdao, a famous physicist, Ding Cong, a famous cartoonist who just passed away, Xia Ruifang, Bao xianen, Bao Xianchang and Gao Fengchi, the founders of the Commercial Press, all graduated from Qingxin middle school. Xia Ruifang, Gao Fengchi and Bao brothers were good friends when they were studying in Qingxin middle school. In February 1897, they founded the commercial press in luchangli, Jiangxi Province, Shanghai. The English name is "commercial press", and the trademark is the word "Shang" between the letters C and P. it can be said that the commercial press "came out" from Qingxin middle school. Zhabei hall in Shanghai also has a deep blood relationship with the northern Presbyterian Church and the Commercial Press, which will be discussed later.

Qingxin girls' school also left many anecdotes for later generations, one of which is very interesting. On February 1, 2008, Wen Wei Po wrote an essay about the strict regulations on the employment of teachers in Qingxin girls' school. They must be Christians, and they don't get married. Once they get married, they will be dismissed. Interestingly, why did this choice of separating "good wife and good mother" from career come from the most influential women's school in the west?

In addition to the Qingxin men's school and Qingxin women's school, the Qingxin hall also runs the Puyi society and the Bible College. The original site of Puyi society is today's Nanshi health school. Its activities are similar to those of the YMCA. Its main work is to carry out community services, including clinics, children's compulsory schools, adult evening schools, English evening schools, drama troupes and various vocational training. It has served in Nanshi for about 30 years. The Bible Institute translated and published the New Testament Chinese Bible in 1880, which is an earlier New Testament than the heheheben.

In recent years, the area around Qingxin hall has changed a lot. Many old houses have been demolished and built into the super large residential area "tomorrow Star City". The street landscape of the past has disappeared, leaving only this Qingxin hall, which has witnessed the history.

Address: No.30 Dachang street, Huangpu District, Shanghai

Longitude: 121.495351

Latitude: 31.21322

Ticket information: free.

Chinese PinYin : Qing Xin Tang