Comprensión y expresión artística

helped him to his feet. He had fainted, and was unaware of what was going on about him. How tragic, how pitiable."75

In 1883, the W ater Company entered into negotiations with the authorities in the Chinese city, to discuss the installation of water pipes.76 By 1886, however, "nothing has yet been definitely arranged."77

In 1886, the Dianshizhai noted that, within the Chinese city, "the river is blocked up, so the tides are irregular. If an accident [fire] starts, it will destroy tens, even hundreds o f dwellings. Concerned people have discussed establishing a water plant, so as to supply running water. This matter has been raised many times, and blocked many times."78

Li Pingshu was involved in this matter. According to his memoirs, in 1883, when the Running W ater Company was established in the settlements, he and Yao Zirang went to look into the matter; they decided to establish a bureau to purchase water for the Chinese city. They hired water carriers to transport the water, and advertised its availability widely. People in the Chinese city, however, showed no interest, and they sold less than one hundred loads o f water a day. By 1884 the market had gradually improved, so Li and some others petitioned that a running water plant be established in the south part o f the city, but this proposal was opposed by the Hall o f Im partial A ltruism and Support for the Fundamental [Tongren Fuyuan Tang ], the organisation responsible for public works in the Chinese city.79

3. Gas and electricity used for public lighting.

75 "Quan Cheng-nei shen-dong juban zilaishui shuo" iJ . Shen Bao, 22 January, 1874.

76 North-China Herald, 4 April 1883 77 North-China H erald, 25 June 1886

78 Geng 34. See Mrs. Archibald Little, The Land o f the Blue Gown (New York: Brentano's, 1902) p. 43: "Shanghai Chinatown enjoys the reputation o f being very dirty and disgusting ... the water between us and the houses looked foul and sluggish, like a canal rather than a river, and a canal badly used, with everything flung into it It is all these poor people have for washing, cooking, drinking. And yet just at hand there is the foreign Concession, with its abundant supply o f wholesome pure water, and an enterprising company doubtless thirsting to prolong its mains into the Chinatown whenever the Taotai will allow o f it. Meanwhile the poor people die of cholera, and who can wonder looking at that water, which must also be far more objectionable when the tide is out."

79 Li Pingshu, Zixu, p. 17. The translation is from Mark Elvin, "The Administration of Shanghai, 1905-1914", p. 241. This hall was a combination o f two earlier halls, thus the double name.

Public lighting is a prerequisite for the development of night life in a city. The Shanghai Gas Company Ltd. was founded in the 1860s, and gaslight became commonly used in Shanghai after 1865. Before that, "the streets were lit at night with oil lamps, and were nearly as dark as those within the city wall".80 By the 1870s, Shanghai had already acquired the appellation "the nightless city".81 By the time of the Dianshizhai, gaslight was even more common.82 As the gas pipes were underground, Chinese sometimes called gaslight "earth fire".83 In the writings of the literati in praise o f the innovations in Shanghai, "earth fire" figured prominently.84 Wang Tao described the gas-lamps of the time: "Westerners install lamps along the streets at regular intervals. The lamps are hexagonal and made of glass; seen from a distance, they shine like stars. The light comes from gas and is brilliant white. The gas is collected from coal-mines, and blazes brightly. So even from a distance, it shines brilliantly. There is a Gas Company; if anyone wants to have such lamp, they report to the Gas Company, which installs i t ... [a detailed technical description is omitted here] ... Every user has a meter installed on the iron pipes, by which the amount o f gas used can be calculated. Em ployees o f the Company examine the meters once a month to determine the cost. All this is meticulously constructed - one can barely imagine it".85

Although there were some difficulties to be resolved before gas was generally accepted,86 by the time of the Dianshizhai it was taken for granted. The hexagonal gas-lamps described by Wang Tao were part of the scene in the Shanghai of the Dianshizhai. There are, for example, such gas-lamps on all sides o f the R acecourse87 (1884); gas-lamps illuminating the bridge over the Yangjingbang Creek88 (1884); gas-lamps in the street in front o f the Mixed Court89 (1885); gas- lamps on the Baida Bridge Ö crossing the Huangpu River H h f £ I 90 (1885);

80 Pott, History o f Shanghai, p. 74. Jerome Ch'en, China and the West (London: Hutchinson and Co., 1979) pp. 209-210 pointed out that the Municipal Council introduced kerosene lamps into Shanghai in the 1850s. They were not, apparently, very widespread.

81 Ge Yuanxu, Shanghai fane hang ji,ju a n 2, p. 37