Recently, I attended the Modern Music Education Literature Exhibition of Shanghai T'ou-Sè-Wè Museum, learning that foreign missionaries and a group of orphans promoted the spread of Western music to the east in T'ou-Sè-Wè Orphanage, which was also the cradle of Western painting in China.
Besides the T'ou-Sè-Wè Craft School for orphans, the priests established T'ou-Sè-Wè Orphanage in 1864. Batches of homeless and destitute orphans not only survived but also became outstanding figures in diverse fields such as painting, sculpture, carving, printing, and stained glass making.
From 1900 to 1940, the orphans' craftsmanship, including woodworking, painting, weaving, and metalwork, won four awards in seven World Expositions. Particularly notable was the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, where the "Xujiahui Orphanage" was awarded three medals at once. Among them, the "T'ou-Sè-Wè Pagoda" received the grand prize at the World Exposition.
During my second visit to the T'ou-Sè-Wè Museum, I unexpectedly encountered the exhibition, which runs from May 17, 2023, to December 31, 2023.
During Matteo Ricci’s mission in China, European music began to enter China. However, Western music becoming a popular and well-received art form in China started with Xujiahui in the 19th century.
As early as 1858, Xuhui Public School (College) had the first modern Chinese west wind ensemble, founded by Franciscus Ravary S.J. This band predated the Shanghai Public Band (predecessor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra) formed by foreign personnel by 20 years. Ravary S.J. took over as the choir director of Xuhui Public School in 1856.
In April 1864, the construction of the T'ou-Sè-Wè Craft School began, and the orphans from the old city temporarily resided near Xuhui Public School to avoid an epidemic. Ravary S.J. was responsible for the placement of orphans, who began to participate in the band.
The craft projects at the craft school included not only painting, woodworking, carving, printing, shoemaking, tailoring, and painting but also the manufacturing and repair of musical instruments. Although the craft school stopped producing large pipe organs after the director of the school, Leopaoldus Deleuze, passed away, it laid the foundation for Western music education and the making of Western instruments.
Afterward, even though Ravary S.J. was transferred from Xujiahui, Chinese members of the band continued to recruit students at the public school and craft school, persisting in music education. In October 1871, they performed Haydn's Symphony in the presence of the Austrian Consul in Shanghai, astonishing and moving him.
In 1903, the T'ou-Sè-Wè was officially established, playing Western music once again.
The instructors of the band had high musical cultivation. Macanese Portuguese Francesco Xavier Diniz was one of the founders, having graduated from Shanghai St. Francis Xavier's College (Beihong Senior High School). He was proficient in music theory and could play different instruments like the violin, trumpet, and clarinet. He collected the earliest batch of instruments from the Portuguese community in Hongkou District, where he grew up.
To teach students music theory, Xavier Diniz and Shanghai native Zhang Shishu co-authored "Western Music Q&A in Shanghainese." Xavier Diniz provided oral explanations, and Zhang recorded them in Shanghai dialect. This was the earliest teaching material on Western music in modern Shanghai. Xavier Diniz also secured a fixed rehearsal space for the craft school's band.
The second leader, Joseph Damazio, played the French horn, while his successor, Xavier Coup, a French Jesuit, played the organ. In April–May 1907, the Frenchman Louis Hermand introduced the saxophone to the band, marking the earliest record of a Chinese person learning the saxophone.
The instruments of the band mainly included trumpets, French horns, trombones, tubas, clarinets, saxophones, and snare drums, which were all imported from France.
The band was the "top brand" in this area at the time. Whenever domestic and foreign dignitaries visited Xujiahui, it would perform prominently to entertain them. Western music became popular starting in T'ou-Sè-Wè. The spread of the music education model represented by the band has played a role in enlightening and promoting the development of modern music education in China.
In 1953, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau took over the craft school, which ceased to admit orphans. From 1958 to 1963, a variety of workshops at the school were transferred to other facilities, marking the end of the history of the band.
(Source: Modern Music Education Literature Exhibition of Shanghai T'ou-Sè-Wè Museum)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
上海徐家汇的土山湾，不仅是中国西洋画的摇篮，也是西乐东渐的摇篮。
上海徐家汇的土山湾博物馆，曾经办了一所天主教孤儿院。神父们不仅收养了他们，还成立了土山湾工艺院。一批批无家可归、无处可去的孤儿们不但存活下来，还成为了绘画、雕塑、雕刻、印刷、彩色玻璃等各个领域的佼佼者。
从1900年到1940年，土山湾的木雕、绘画、编织和五金等工艺作品共参加7次世博会，4次获奖。尤其是1915年美国旧金山巴拿马世界博览会， “徐家汇孤儿院”一次性获得三枚奖章。其中， “土山湾百塔”，获世博会最高头等大奖章。
继上次的拜访，二次到访土山湾博物馆，意外遇到土山湾博物馆推出《历史回声：土山湾近代音乐教育文献展》，展期：2023年5月17-2023年12月31日。
利玛窦时期，欧洲音乐开始传入中国。但西方音乐成为大众喜闻乐见的艺术形式，是从十九世纪的徐家汇开始。
早在1858年，徐汇公学就有了近代中国第一支由中国人组成的西洋管乐队，由法国人兰廷玉组建。这支乐队比由外籍人员组成的上海公共乐队（上海交响乐团前身）早了20年。兰廷玉在1856年接手徐汇公学合唱团主任之职。
1864年4月，土山湾孤儿工艺院院舍开始建设，原老城内的孤儿因避疫而暂住徐汇公学附近。兰廷玉负责孤儿安置工作，孤儿开始参与乐队。
土山湾工艺院的工艺项目不限于绘画、木工、雕刻、印刷、制鞋、裁缝、油漆等，还包括乐器的制造和修理。虽然，在工艺院主任比利时人娄良材去世后，土山湾不再制作大型管风琴，但也为之后的西乐教育和西方乐器制作打下了基础。
之后，兰廷玉虽然调离徐家汇，但乐队的中国成员依然在徐汇公学和土山湾孤儿工艺院招收学生，坚持音乐教育。并在1871年10月在于布内男爵（奥地利驻沪领事）面前演奏海顿交响乐，于布内既惊讶又感动。
1903年土山湾乐队正式成立，再次演奏西方音乐。
土山湾乐队的授课老师都具有极高的音乐休养。毕业于上海圣芳济学院（今北虹高级中学）的澳门土生葡萄牙人叶肇昌是创建人之一，他本人精通乐理，能演奏小提琴、小号、单簧管等多种乐器。他在自己所成长的虹口葡萄牙人社区募集到最早的一批乐器。
为了教授学生乐理，叶肇昌与上海人张石漱合著了《方言西乐问答》（叶肇昌口述、张石漱用上海方言笔录），这是近代上海最早介绍西方音乐的教材。叶肇昌还为土山湾孤儿工艺院乐队申请了固定的排练场地。
第二位负责人笪[dá]光华会吹奏圆号，其继任者潘国磐则会弹奏风琴。1907年4-5月间任教老师法国人双国英将萨克斯引进到乐队中，是目前能找到的最早的中国人学习萨克斯的记录。
土山湾乐队的教具主要有小号、大号、圆号、长号、大管、萨克斯、军鼓等组成，全部从法国进口。
土山湾乐队的西乐演奏是当时徐家汇地区的"第一品牌"，每当中外贵宾莅临徐家汇，乐队就会站在最醒目的位置为他们表演助兴。西洋音乐从土山湾开始流向民间。而以土山湾乐队为代表的音乐教育模式的传播，更是为中国近代音乐教育的发展起到了启蒙和推动作用。
1953年，民政局接管土山湾孤儿工艺院，土山湾停止接收孤儿。1958-1963年，土山湾孤儿工艺院各工场分归其他工场，土山湾乐队历史结束。
资料来源：土山湾博物馆《历史回声：土山湾近代音乐教育文献展》
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《土山湾近代音乐教育文献展》——徐家汇的外国传教士和一群孤儿开始的西乐东渐之路
Recently, I attended the Modern Music Education Literature Exhibition of Shanghai T'ou-Sè-Wè Museum, learning that foreign missionaries and a group of orphans promoted the spread of Western music to the east in T'ou-Sè-Wè Orphanage, which was also the cradle of Western painting in China.
Besides the T'ou-Sè-Wè Craft School for orphans, the priests established T'ou-Sè-Wè Orphanage in 1864. Batches of homeless and destitute orphans not only survived but also became outstanding figures in diverse fields such as painting, sculpture, carving, printing, and stained glass making.
From 1900 to 1940, the orphans' craftsmanship, including woodworking, painting, weaving, and metalwork, won four awards in seven World Expositions. Particularly notable was the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, where the "Xujiahui Orphanage" was awarded three medals at once. Among them, the "T'ou-Sè-Wè Pagoda" received the grand prize at the World Exposition.
During my second visit to the T'ou-Sè-Wè Museum, I unexpectedly encountered the exhibition, which runs from May 17, 2023, to December 31, 2023.
During Matteo Ricci’s mission in China, European music began to enter China. However, Western music becoming a popular and well-received art form in China started with Xujiahui in the 19th century.
As early as 1858, Xuhui Public School (College) had the first modern Chinese west wind ensemble, founded by Franciscus Ravary S.J. This band predated the Shanghai Public Band (predecessor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra) formed by foreign personnel by 20 years. Ravary S.J. took over as the choir director of Xuhui Public School in 1856.
In April 1864, the construction of the T'ou-Sè-Wè Craft School began, and the orphans from the old city temporarily resided near Xuhui Public School to avoid an epidemic. Ravary S.J. was responsible for the placement of orphans, who began to participate in the band.
The craft projects at the craft school included not only painting, woodworking, carving, printing, shoemaking, tailoring, and painting but also the manufacturing and repair of musical instruments. Although the craft school stopped producing large pipe organs after the director of the school, Leopaoldus Deleuze, passed away, it laid the foundation for Western music education and the making of Western instruments.
Afterward, even though Ravary S.J. was transferred from Xujiahui, Chinese members of the band continued to recruit students at the public school and craft school, persisting in music education. In October 1871, they performed Haydn's Symphony in the presence of the Austrian Consul in Shanghai, astonishing and moving him.
In 1903, the T'ou-Sè-Wè was officially established, playing Western music once again.
The instructors of the band had high musical cultivation. Macanese Portuguese Francesco Xavier Diniz was one of the founders, having graduated from Shanghai St. Francis Xavier's College (Beihong Senior High School). He was proficient in music theory and could play different instruments like the violin, trumpet, and clarinet. He collected the earliest batch of instruments from the Portuguese community in Hongkou District, where he grew up.
To teach students music theory, Xavier Diniz and Shanghai native Zhang Shishu co-authored "Western Music Q&A in Shanghainese." Xavier Diniz provided oral explanations, and Zhang recorded them in Shanghai dialect. This was the earliest teaching material on Western music in modern Shanghai. Xavier Diniz also secured a fixed rehearsal space for the craft school's band.
The second leader, Joseph Damazio, played the French horn, while his successor, Xavier Coup, a French Jesuit, played the organ. In April–May 1907, the Frenchman Louis Hermand introduced the saxophone to the band, marking the earliest record of a Chinese person learning the saxophone.
The instruments of the band mainly included trumpets, French horns, trombones, tubas, clarinets, saxophones, and snare drums, which were all imported from France.
The band was the "top brand" in this area at the time. Whenever domestic and foreign dignitaries visited Xujiahui, it would perform prominently to entertain them. Western music became popular starting in T'ou-Sè-Wè. The spread of the music education model represented by the band has played a role in enlightening and promoting the development of modern music education in China.
In 1953, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau took over the craft school, which ceased to admit orphans. From 1958 to 1963, a variety of workshops at the school were transferred to other facilities, marking the end of the history of the band.
(Source: Modern Music Education Literature Exhibition of Shanghai T'ou-Sè-Wè Museum)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Jesuit T'ou-Sè-Wè Orphanage and the Birth of Western Music in China
