Immaculate Conception Church, Nanqiao

Nanqiao Church (南桥天主堂, Nánqiáo Tiānzhǔtáng) in Fengxian (奉贤, Fèngxián) is the oldest of the suburban Catholic churches in this group, and its start is unusual: it was built in 1862 as a memorial to a French naval officer killed in the town.

A church built in place of a shrine

On 17 May 1862, during the fighting at Nanqiao between Taiping forces and a combined Qing, British and French force, French Rear Admiral Protet (卜罗德, Bǔluódé) was shot dead. The Shanghai Religion Gazetteer says the Qing court ordered mourning in his honour. Normal practice would have been a shrine with local sacrifices, but that conflicted with Catholic teaching, so a church was built instead. It held 800 people. The county gazetteer says the first church covered 319 square metres, in a blend of Chinese and Western styles, with oil paintings and leaded coloured glass inside. South of the church stood a round tower holding a 90-kilogram bronze bell. The church once displayed a portrait of Protet.

How did a village church become a regional seat?

In 1922 Nanqiao was made the seat of the Punan deanery (浦南总铎区), covering Nanhui, Fengxian and Jinshan counties, with Father Gu Suichu as dean. A priests’ courtyard followed in 1928. The church also ran schools: in 1868 a Catholic school called Joseph Academy opened in the west hall. In 1934 Ma Xiangbo renamed the middle school Yaochan. The government took over the school in 1952, and it became the forerunner of today’s Fengxian Middle School.

Closure, return and listing

The church was put to other uses during the Cultural Revolution. After a management committee formed in November 1983 and repairs, it reopened on 8 December 1983. In May 2000 the county government listed it as a county-level cultural relic unit. The gazetteer records a site of about 0.27 hectare, 1,356 square metres of buildings and 1,346 Catholics in 2001. A notice at the gate says that from the Spring Festival of 2025 the parish priest moved to the much larger South Shanghai Church.

What to look for

The church sits behind housing and is easy to miss; look for the house number, 558 Xinjian Middle Road (the gazetteer gave 22). Notice the round bell tower on the south side, the leaded coloured glass and the cultural-relic safety notice by the gate. Stand in the courtyard to see how the tower relates to the main hall.