Exquisite arts and crafts produced at an orphans' art school in Xujiahui captivated the world at the 1915 international exposition in San Francisco. The works came from now-obscure T'ou-Se-We.
T'ou-Se-We, a cradle of modern Chinese arts and crafts, is now virtually forgotten, but back in 1915 the artworks of orphans in today's Xujiahui wowed the world.
The Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco - the place where Maotai liquor became famous - exhibited wood-carving, embroidery and painting from the Institute of Arts and Crafts in T'ou-Se-We. The institute became famous internationally.
Many of those orphans went on to become successful artists and craftsmen. The Institute of Arts and Crafts would attract many talented students (by no means orphans) and produce distinguished artists and teachers.
Few people today realize that T'ou-Se-We is one of the birthplaces of Chinese modern arts, and it played an extremely important role in popularizing Western arts in China.
T'ou-Se-We was the name of an area in the south part of today's Xujiahui. It covered more than 5 hectares of soil heaped up from the construction of the Zhaojiabang Tunnel built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The name T'ou-Se-We, or Tu Shan Wan, literally means "soil hill bay" in Chinese.
"T'ou-Se-We is a lost memory: The name no longer exists and only one building is left," says Professor Li Tiangang of the Department of Religious Studies at Fudan University.
Today's Xietu Road is a word combination of Xieqiao and T'ou-Se-We; tu refers to T'ou. The old building inside today's Puhuitang Road Primary School is all that's left from the T'ou-Se-We period.
