Demolition job yields ancient prize
Print Edition
THE demolition of a residential development in Huangpu District was halted yesterday after contractors discovered hundreds of bricks dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
The district’s cultural relics authority identified more than 200 such bricks at Fu Yuan Li (Lane 60) on Zizhong Road, some of which were inscribed with the Chinese characters for “Fifth Year of Xianfeng” (1855) and “Shanghai City Wall.”
Demolition work was suspended to allow experts time to show the contractors how to spot the ancient building blocks in the event of there being others at the site, an official from the Huangpu publicity department told Shanghai Daily.
The district government also asked the demolition company to hand in any ancient bricks it finds, he said.
At the century-old Fu Yuan Li yesterday, an elderly resident surnamed Dong said that once word got out that there were ancient bricks to be found on the site, people came from far and wide to steal them.
“Lots of people came on motorcycles, picked up a few bricks and then drove off,” she said.
Dong said residents spotted the inscriptions on the bricks when the demolition work started in September and posted pictures of them online.
The district government said it was unsure how many bricks have been stolen.
Authentic Qing Dynasty bricks can sell for up to 1,000 yuan (US$163) apiece at relics markets, said an amateur collector surnamed Xiang who lives nearby.
The original Shanghai City Wall was built in about three months in 1553 to keep out Japanese pirates, according to official records. It ran for about 4.5 kilometers and stood about 8 meters high.
In 1853, the wall was damaged during the uprising of Shanghai’s Small Sword Society. Two years later, a local businessman paid for it to be repaired, hence some of the bricks carry the “Fifth Year of Xianfeng” (1855) and “Shanghai City Wall” inscriptions, the records said.
In 1912, the city’s military authorities ruled that the wall impeded transport and commerce, and ordered its demolition.
When it was pulled down, local people took the bricks to build their homes, said Wu Zhiwei, from the Shanghai History Museum.
Other bricks were used to pave roads, but only those with an inscription have any historical value, Wu said.
Fang Yuqing, a political adviser and Huangpu historian, said that, hopefully, the latest finds will be used to restore what remains of the city wall near Yuyuan Garden, which is now a protected site.
A 70m stretch of the wall was discovered in 2008, during the demolition of several residential buildings. However, the ancient construction was later reduced to 50m in length when a section was destroyed during the construction of new properties the following year.
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