Add a review of the monument to A.S. Pushkin in Shanghai

Every Russian heart begins to beat harder, seeing a part of Russia in a foreign country. At the crossroads of Yue Yang Lu and Fen Yang Lu in Shanghai (in the French Quarter), on the initiative of the Shanghai community of Russians, a monument to the Russian poet, the only monument in Shanghai, was placed at the crossroads of Pushkin on the one hundredth anniversary of the death of A. Pushkin.

Any remarkable places have their past. Such a past exists also in this silent witness of the Russians in Shanghai in the 30s - 40s. 20th century. In China, after the October Revolution, thousands of white emigrants from far away from their homeland and unclaimed in a foreign land were drawn from Russia to preserve their individuality, language, Russian customs and independence.

In the summer of 1987, the monument to Alexander Pushkin was reopened. But now the poet looks to the south, in accordance with the Chinese custom to put the respected people face to the sun.

In February 1937 .the Shanghai Russian society wished to celebrate the centenary of the death of A . with . Pushkin and put a monument to the poet in the place of dense Russian residence . The specially established Pushkin Committee, having conducted the contest, chose six projects of the Pushkin monument . Organically combining their lucky sides, the creation of the monument was occupied for free by a group of Russian architects and artists headed by M . N . Pavlovsky, reproducing to all such a familiar and native image from childhood as a child . Monument on the French- The land of Astek was remarkably blended with the city landscape, and later this site became known as Pushkin Square .

The jubilee festivities in the end of January 1937 began with a concert, a solemn prayer service in St. Nicholas Cathedral, and creative nights and ended with the opening ceremony of the monument to Pushkin on February 11 1937

He was a bronze bust of Alexander Sergeyevich, set on a high stele, his face turned to Russia. Several languages ​​were carved: "1837-1937, Pushkin - on the one hundredth anniversary of death." This most romantic and beloved corner of the rest of the inhabitants of Shanghai was called "corner of the poet". Families came here, met with friends, appointed lovers.

However, the monument had to survive the Japanese war, but it survived from shelling and rout, becoming a place of worship, a symbol of independence and disobedience of the occupying power. People brought fresh flowers here every day. And one night in 1944, dissatisfied with this situation, the Japanese authorities demolished the monument, and the bust was sent for remelting.

After the Shanghai got rid of the Japanese, the idea of ​​reviving the monument arose, which prevented the post-war chaos. The committee for its restoration under the leadership of IM Rogov collected enough money, donated by the Shanghai Russians, the Chinese intelligentsia and the TASS branch. And the Moscow specialists of the State Tretyakov Gallery, headed by the architect VN Domogatsky, poured out Pushkin's bust (already from copper) and restored the monument to life, according to the surviving documents and sketches.

In October 1947, a joyful event took place - the monument took its rightful place in Shanghai to everyone who lives there.

A few years later, many Russian emigrants began to return to their homeland, and the Russian Shanghai ended its existence. The Cultural Chinese Revolution of 1966 destroyed all foreign cultural values, and the monument to the Russian poet was destroyed for the second time, right up to the ground. At the end of this terrible decade, the Shanghai people themselves are already asking the government to reconstruct the monument.

Chinese sculptor Gao Yun Long with his creative team, without the documents and photos of the two previous monuments, restored the bust in accordance with their perception of Pushkin.

And in the summer of 1987 the monument to Alexander Pushkin was reopened. But now the poet looks to the south, in accordance with the Chinese custom to seat respected people face to the sun.

And today it is already impossible to imagine Shanghai without this remarkable monument, pleasing not only Russian tourists coming here.

How to get

Address: Fenyang rd., Yueyang rd. Take bus 49 to Xuhuiqu (Xuhui District), the monument stands at the intersection of three streets of Fenyanglu, Yueyanglu and Tiaojianglu. Nearby (as landmarks) are the Shanghai Fine Arts Museum, the Balaina Restaurant, the International Cathedral.