May 12, 2006

Xiahai Temple is located on Kunming Road, Hongkou District. According to the historical records, the temple was originally named Yiwang Temple, first built over 250 years ago. Fishermen used to go to the temple to pray for safety going to sea. However, it was damaged after years without reparation till a monk called Xinyi collected money and had it reconstructed. In 1854 a farmland of 8 mu was bought and more than 20 rooms set up, but unluckily the rooms were burned down by Japanese armies in 1937. It was in 1941 that Guisheng, the 5th abbot of the temple, rebuilt the temple on the original site.

Though both "Xia" sound the same in the Chinese, the one in the previous name of Xiahai means "summer", while the one in the current name of Xiahai "below, down under". In the Chinese language, the word "Shanghai" literally means "above the sea" or "on the sea". People tell a story of Mao, who once came to Shanghai in the 1950s and asked accompanying local officials: "Since there is a Shanghai, is there a Xiahai (under the sea or beneath the sea)?"

In fact, there once was. Xiahai Temple bears witness to its existence. In ancient times, the Suzhou Creek flowing into the sea was the largest tributary of the Taihu Lake. Governments of various dynasties attached great importance to conserving the water of this river. In the Northern Song Dynasty, every 5 kilometers a large tributary was dug out along the creek to contain floodwater. The creek flowed from west to east, so the tributaries usually flowed north to south. The man-made tributary was called a "pu". A Song Dynasty book records the existence of 36 "pus" along the creek. The last two along the river were called Shanghai Pu and Xiahai Pu. Shanghai Pu flowed from what is today's Huangpu River, between the Bund and Shiliupu.

Since the mid-13th century, large amounts of silt slowed the currents of the creek. As a result, more and more boats moored in Shanghai Pu. A fishing village on the west bank of Shanghai Pu gradually expanded and became prosperous. Many parts of the creek became choked with silt. When the rainy season came, large tracts of land were flooded. People abandoned the creek in favor of the Shanghai Pu that they broadened and connected to the Huangpu. Later on, the name of Shanghai Pu was gradually forgotten. The new, broader river that became a major flood-relief channel for the Taihu Lake became known as the Huangpu River. The creek, then the main river, became a tributary of the Huangpu. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the small village to the west of the old Shanghai Pu was upgraded to Shanghai Town. In 1292, during the Yuan Dynasty, the town was further upgraded into Shanghai County.

Xiahai Pu existed until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Foreign authorities of the International Settlement filled in and leveled it during the Republic period. What was once a section of the river was paved and became today's Haimen Road, but Xiahai Temple on the east bank of the old Xiahai Pu remains, used as a place of worship of the Goddess of the Sea. Near the temple there was a wooden bridge on Xiahai Pu. Many fishermen and their relatives came to the temple to pray to the goddess for safety and a good harvest at sea. The bridge was often crowded with pilgrims who brought baskets of incense and offerings. Later, the bridge became known as Tilanqiao ("Carrying a Basket Bridge"). The bridge was dismantled at the same time when Xiahai Pu was filled in.

RELATED

Shanghai