| Volume 6, Number 4, October 2009 |
Zhang Chongren and Tushanwan
by 陈耀王 Chen Youwang |
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IN Shanghai, at the riverside near Zhaojiabang, south of Xujiahui, many years of dredging had piled tonnes of river mud in a bend on the river. Eventually, this formed a small hill which people called Tushanwan (“wan” means “bay”, “Tushanwan” means “a bay formed by local soil”). In 1864, the Catholic Church levelled part of the hill and on the site built a massive and well-equipped orphanage named the Tushanwan Orphanage. That was 140 years ago.
Now, the name of Tushanwan has long since vanished and is forgotten. The main building and all other construction extensions, after more than half a century of urban development, have been entirely replaced by sweeping highways and skyscrapers. The only building remaining, which has witnessed so many changes and all vicissitudes in life through all these years, is a three-storey red brick house. It was built by the elderly Mr. 马相伯 Ma Xiangbo and was the main school building in the Orphanage, now located on Pu Hui Tong Road. Tushanwan has certainly been a window for West meeting East, because a great number |
of innovations, new handicrafts and modern techniques originated here in this part of China. Tushanwan has been the cradle for many early Western-style painters, sculptors and photographers. Among them, 张充仁 Zhang Chongren was by all means one of the most prominent artists yet his childhood growing up in Tushanwan is known to few.
This great artist, Zhang Chongren, was born in China in the early twentieth century. He became one of the founders of modern Chinese sculpture, as famous as 刘开渠 Liu Kaiqu. People used to address both artists as Zhang from the South and Liu from the North. Not only one of the most famous sculptors, he was also a very talented painter, art historian and educationalist who showed great love for his motherland. He made tremendous contributions and was considered a master in various fields such as sketching, watercolour paintings, oil paintings, Chinese paintings, strip cartoons, photography, sculptures, translation and education. He not only introduced Western arts into China, he also tried to bring... [ Read more ] |
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| Issue 6.4 |
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World Mutation or
Epochal Challenge?
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