香蕉秀

In 1873, the Jesuits in Shanghai founded an observatory at Zi-ka-wei (Xujiahui), which was then located outside the urban area. It eventually grew to encompass four branches. Under the umbrella of the “Zi-ka-wei Observatory” (L’Observatoire de Zi-ka-wei) was subsumed a meteorological and a magnetic observatory, which were located at the original location of Zi-ka-wei, an astronomical observatory at Z?-sè (Sheshan 佘山) further away from the city, and a seismological observatory at Loh-ka-pang (Lujiabang 陸家浜). Across its collections, the Ricci Institute contains materials that can aid in the study of this institution. I will here give a brief introduction to these materials.

Antecedents

The Zi-ka-wei observatory had two antecedents. The first was a small affair, erected by the Jesuits of the first mission. It was repaired as late as the Qianlong period in the second half of the eighteenth century, but fell into disrepair thereafter. By 1850, no traces remained.

Second, in 1875, Dr. L. S. Little, with the assistance of M. A. C. Taintor, undertook to establish a small astronomical observatory in Shanghai. Apparently, it was a short-lived endeavor (Lapparent 1949: 319n4 et passim).

Overview of the Observatory

The new Jesuit Observatory was founded in 1873. Apparently, it was initially primarily a meteorological institution. Around fifty weather stations were set up along the coast, at installations belonging to the Chinese Maritime Service, the powerful colonial institution founded in the late-Qing period. The telegraph companies agreed to transmit meteorological data for free. When wireless communications became possible, ships at sea would also transmit their weather data to Zi-ka-wei. By the late 1920s, two hundred weather reports arrived at the Observatory daily, from which a weather map was produced twice a day. As Shanghai by this time had grown to become the world’s fifth busiest port, these weather maps found ready use. Of particular importance were the predictions of typhoons, which were often both dangerous and destructive.

The astronomical observatory fulfilled a number of functions. One of them was accurate time keeping, which was made possible by establishing the precise position of the observatory on the surface of the earth with a precision of three to four meters in the mid-1920s. In 1900, a section dedicated to stellar photography was established at Z?-sè. Almost thirty years later, 12,000 photographs of the sun had been captured at Z?-sè in order to research sun spots, and the position of over 14,000 stars had been established, among other research achievements.

Observations of terrestrial physics began with magnetism in 1877. From that point until 1928, these measurements had only been interrupted once: when the instruments had to be moved to a location 40km removed from the city, as the new electric trolleys disturbed them. Eventually seismology was added to the branches of study practiced at the Observatory, with state-of-the-art instruments for measuring earthquakes installed there (Observatoire de Zi-Ka-Wei 1928).

On December 12, 1950, the Observatory was nationalized by the new Communist authorities.

In Chinese, there has been some terminological confusion surrounding the observatory, with both tianwentai 天文台—literally “platform for [the observance of] celestial patterns,” but in modern Chinese invariably construed to mean “astronomical observatory”—and guanxiangtai 觀象台, “platform for the observation of phenomena” being used to refer to it. The latter is the appropriate term. Beginning in 1932, the institution was also occasionally known as the Observatory of the Catholic Mission of Jiangsu (Observatoire de la Mission Catholique du Kiang-sou; for details, see Wu 2013: 15-18).

The Institute’s holdings

The Institute has several rare books and a few archival materials that can contribute to the study of the Observatory. First there are overviews of the history of the Jesuit mission to the lower-Yangzi region, notably Auguste M. Colombel, S.J.’s (Gao Longpan 高龍鞶, 1833–1905) (1900), which we also have in (2009). The anonymous (1942) dedicates one chapter to Stanislas Chevalier, S.J. (Cai Shangzhi 蔡尚質, 1852–1930), who was the director of the Observatory.

Second, the Institute holds a few rare books that directly sprung from the research that was carried out at the Observatory. These include two meteorological reports, acquired in 2025, published in 1877 and 1890, respectively. We also have a very rare, Chinese-language meteorological textbook from 1914 (), authored by Joseph Tardif de Moidrey, S.J. (Ma Delai 馬德賚, 1858–1937), which was used as a textbook at the Jesuit Aurora University, as well as several volumes of Aurora’s scholarly journal , which includes articles stemming from research at the Observatory. We also have one issue (no. 20, 1934) of the , the publication of the astronomical section.

Finally, we have some scholarly monographs published by the Shanghai Jesuits that are relevant to the research of the Observatory, even though their subject matter falls slightly outside it. One example is Pierre Hoang, S.J. (Huang Bolu 黃伯祿, 1830–1909) recorded in Chinese sources down through the nineteenth century.

In addition, , a promotional publication from 1928, gives some basic information about the Observatory and its instruments. This booklet is richly illustrated with photographs.

Among recent research, Wu Yan’s 吳燕 published (2013) is available at the library.

Unique among our holdings relevant to the study of the Zi-ka-wei Observatory is certainly our few pieces of related to Ernesto Gherzi, S.J. (Long Xiangqi 龍相齊, 1886–1973), who was the director of the Observatory between 1931 and 1949. The Institute holds:

• A typescript announcement from the Catholic news agency Fides, dated June 18, 1931, on trips Gherzi did on the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Academia Sinica);
• A typescript draft, with manuscript corrections, of an article titled “A Sailor’s Friend, the Zi-ka-wei Observatory near Shanghai China” by Gherzi, apparently dating from 1938, as well as a clean typescript copy of the same;
• A brief and undated letter with Gherzi’s new address in New York, some manuscript notes, and printed meteorological charts;
• A typescript copy of an article from The New Yorker (October 8, 1939) on Gherzi;
• A newspaper clipping from The China Press Sunday Magazine (January 29, 1939), on the Observatory.

In aggregate, these materials promise to support research on the Zi-ka-wei Observatory.

By M?rten S?derblom Saarela, Special Collections Librarian.

February 9, 2026.

References

Lapparent, J. de. 1949. “L’ancien observatoire de Chang-hai.” Bulletin de l’Université l’Aurore. Ser. 3, 10.6: 319-23.

Observatoire de Zi-Ka-Wei (Shanghai). 1928. L’Observatoire de Zi-ka-wei: cinquante ans de travail scientifique. Paris: Imprimerie d’art G. Boüan.

Wu Yan 吳燕. 2013. Kexue, liyi yu Ouzhou kuozhang: jindai Ouzhou kexue diyu kuozhang beijing xia de Xujiahui guanxiangtai (1873-1950) 科學、利益與歐洲擴張 : 近代歐洲科學地域擴張背景下的徐家匯觀像台 (1873-1950). Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe.