To start with there were only five of them, but by the time we had finished our evening stroll along the Huangpu River waterfront in Pudong, Shanghai, the number had swelled to over 50. They were going in circles around 80 tubs full of wriggling fish, reading prayers aloud in a sonorous monotone. After what seemed an eternity they took the tubs one by one and emptied them into the river.
Back in the house where we were staying, I asked the local maid what the ritual was about. She was not sure herself. “I think they throw the fish into the river because they believe that through the water they will fly to heaven and get them their wishes. But, they are not one of us.”
According to the Chinese government estimate only about 10 per cent of the people in the country practice any form of religion, and most of these are from ethnic minorities. Till 1978 open observance of ecclesiastical rituals was frowned upon. That ban has been lifted, but interest in religion is still confined to the fringes of the society. Despite this, Shanghai abounds in temples of varying vintage which have been renovated and are kept in good condition. In fact, some of these are prominent stops on the tourists’ itinerary.
Buddhism and Taoism were the two main streams of faith in the past and most shrines are dedicated to their deities. The Jing’an Temple, literally the Temple of Peace and Tranquility, is a Buddhist temple on the West Nanjing Road. It was first built in 247 AD beside the Suzhou Creek, but was relocated later to its current site. During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was converted into a plastics factory. In 1983, it was returned to its original purpose and renovated in 1999.
Jing’an has a series of halls celebrating celestial kings, saints and deities, including the Jade Buddha Hall, where a 3.8-meter statue sits in the center; the largest of its kind in the country.
Another is known as the Mahavira Hall. Manjusri, Bodhisattva, Amitabha, Bahisajyaguru and Arahat are other familiar names that one comes across in Chinese Buddhist temples.
Apart from these the shrine has a huge Ming dynasty copper bell. Its peals linger for at least three minutes after the gong has been struck. In another tower lies a drum with a 3.36 meter diameter. That must resonate far and wide, too.
The notation on the reverse of the entry ticket to Jing’an informs us that the silver Buddha statue inside weighs 15 tons and that collections have started for a two ton figure of gold. The write-up ends with: “May the Dharma bestow auspiciousness and bliss upon all sentimental beings!”
At most shrines the commonest ritual is to light a bunch of joss sticks, wave them around in all directions, implant them in a trough of sand and then pray. The atmosphere inspires devotion and sometimes even tourists join in. The Jade Buddha Temple is another famous landmark of Shanghai. More recent and smaller than Jing’an, it has a reclining statue of the deity. Lamps are lit here all the time and devotees can seek blessings by buying oil and replenishing it in the lamps.
It was founded in 1882 and some of its figures were brought here from Myanmar and Singapore which explains why they have slightly different features.
The Yuyuan Garden is one of the star attractions of Shanghai. It is located beside the City God Temple in the northeast of the Old City. Its centerpiece is the ancient porous five-ton stone boulder. Rumour has it that it was meant for the imperial palace in Beijing, but was salvaged after the boat ferrying it sank off Shanghai coast.
The garden was first conceived in 1559 and passed through a series different owners. After suffering depredations again during in the 100 years from the Opium Wars to Japanese occupation in WWII, it was opened to the public in 1961, and declared a national monument in 1982. Not very large in area, it nevertheless gets streams of visitors because of its exquisite rockeries, cloisters, pavilions and water bodies.
Close by is the Taoist temple. It was reopened in 1994 after being shut down for over three decades.
In Shanghai one sees more skull caps and turbans than in Beijing. There are quite a few churches and mosques and possibly gurdwaras, too, because a large number of Sikhs came here as foot soldiers of British occupation in the wake of the Opium Wars in mid-19th century. But the community that has a special connection with Shanghai are the Jews.
A small group of Russian emigrees had set up the Ohel Moshe Synagogue here in 1907. During the holocaust years in Europe in the 1930s and ‘40s about 18,000 Jews fled persecution in Germany and sought, and received shelter in this city. It is called ‘the Miracle of Shanghai’. The old synagogue on Changyang Road is no longer a place of worship but has been converted, with help from local authorities, into a memorial to that episode and is now known as the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum.
It houses hundreds of photographs of the holocaust, including those of the barbarity at Auschwitz.
The displays include a model of a 2-square meter chamber in which five or six people would be kept standing through the night as a part of the cleansing process. Reminiscences of people, who lived here and made this city their home are also recorded in print or on film. The Israeli government has acknowledged with gratitude the effort of people who made this miracle possible.
These include a brave Chinese Counsel General in Hamburg who, at great risk to his own life, issued visas for Jews fleeing Germany, and thereby saved a hundred times more lives than the famous Herr Schindler did.
