书城外语AShortHistoryofShanghai
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第79章 SHANGHAI AND THE LAST YEARS OFTHE GREAT WAR, 1917–

First Chinese BishopWednesday, October 2nd, 1918, will be a memorable day inconnection with the work of the Christian Church in China, foron that day the first Chinese Bishop of the Anglican communionwas consecrated as Assistant Bishop of Chenkiang. The service washeld in the Church of Our Saviour on Dixwell Road. The newBishop. Archdeacon T. S. Sing, had been connected with the workof the Church Missionary Society for many years, first in Ningpoand afterwards in Hangchow. Seven Bishops were present at theConsecration Service. Only one Chinese had ever been elevated tothe office of Bishop in China before the consecration of Bishop Sing,and that was Bishop Lo, a Dominican monk of the Roman CatholicChurch. on April 8th, 1685.

The Armistice

At last, after four years of anxiety and suspense, the tidings ofthe armistice reached Shanghai. Great was the relief, and the wholecommunity joined in giving free expression to its joy. The news ofthe signing of the Armistice on November 11th was received early onthe 12th, and the city was decorated with the flags of all the AlliedNations. The first to celebrate were the members of the Fire Brigade,who dashed about the Settlement in motors, with bells clanging andhorns hooting, as a notice to all that the day of peace had dawned.

At a meeting held on Thursday afternoon, November 14th, ofrepresentatives of the Allied Consulates, and the Shanghai MunicipalCouncil, an executive committee was appointed to arrange aprogramme for the celebration of the Allies‘ victory on Thursday,Friday, and Saturday, November 21st, 22nd and 23rd.

On November 17th, Thanksgiving Services were held in allthe churches, and there was a special American Song Service in theafternoon at the Palace Hotel.

Shanghai gave itself up to jubilation for three days. The officialprogram beg on Thursday, the 21st, on the Cricket Ground by thefiring of a salute of twenty-one guns by the Artillery of the ShanghaiVolunteer Corps, and as the last gun was fired a fanfare was blown bythe Tonkinese buglers. Then followed a brief service of Thanksgiving,conducted on the steps of the Cricket Club Pavilion, some threethousand persons being assembled on the lawn.

In the afternoon there was a procession of school children,seventeen schools including Chinese and Japanese being represented.

It formed on the Race Course, and proceeded down Nanking Road,along The Bund and Foochow Road to the Drill Hall where thechildren listened to an address, sang national songs, and witnessed anentertainment.

In the early evening there was a special Chinese students lanternprocession arranged by the Y. M. C. A. In the procession were anumber of decorated cars, symbolizing the defeat of the EntentePowers.

Shanghai had never been so profusely decorated with flagsand bunting and triumphal arches as on this occasion, and with theilluminations at night it was a blaze of light, especially on NankingRoad.

Across at Pootung the Dock company gave the reason for all thisfestivity in the immense word picked out in red lights, “Victory,” withthe equivalent characters in Chinese.

On the following day, Friday, at noon there was a great receptionat the Shanghai Club, and in the afternoon there was a civilian parade,in which all nationalities of the Allied cause participated, the Japanesecommunity being especially prominent.

On Saturday, the 23rd, at ten o"clock in the morning, there wasa military parade on the Cricket Ground. Troops representative of tennationalities in Shanghai gathered to the number of several thousands,including sailors, soldiers, police, Sikhs, Chinese regulars, Volunteersand Specials, under the command of Captain Marryat, Senior BritishNaval Officer. The route of the march was down Nanking Road, alongThe Bund, up Rue du Consulat, Rue Montauban, Avenue Edward VII,Thibet Road and thence to the Cricket Ground, where the march pasttook place.

At night when Shanghai with its illuminations was beingtransformed into fairy land, the last act of the programme wasperformed, consisting of a Torchlight Procession. It started on AvenueEdward VII, and when organized it extended from The Bund toBoulevard de Montigny. There was a large number of floats, cars, torchbearers and people in fancy costume.

When the procession reached the Recreation Ground those takingpart gathered around a structure erected to represent the House ofHonenzollern, which was committed to the flames with unrestrainedglee and wild rejoicing.

Thus ended Shanghai"s commemoration of one of the greatestevents in history. It is remarkable that although multitudes wereattracted from the adjoining country to see the celebration, and thestreets were thronged with visitors, no serious disorder took place. Itwas an evidence of the general good nature and peaceableness of aChinese crowd.

Pulling down the Iltis MonumentWar stirs up the spirit of hatred and rancour, and the resentmentfelt at German atrocities is not to be wondered at. Even so, there weresome acts committed at the close of the war of which succeedinggenerations will not feel proud. One of these was the destruction ofthe Iltis Monument. It had been put up by the German communityin memory of some sailors who lost their lives when the “Iltis” waswrecked off the Shantung promontory in 1896, and permission forits erection on the foreshore had been granted by Jardine, Mathesonand company. It was a memorial to the dead, in the form of a brokenmast in bronze, with a flag and wreath of laurels, and not even bythe wildest stretch of imagination could it be supposed to have hadany connection with the war. An attack was made on it shortly aftermidnight on December 2nd, when it was torn from its pedestal by aparty of foreigners whose identity was never revealed.