Tang Xuezhao

"Pudong God of Wealth" Tang Xuezhao

In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, there was a folk song in Sanlin, which started with "The house of the Tang family, the house of the Huo family" silver". The Tang and Huo surnames are both from Sanlin's wealthy families. In particular, Tang Xuezhao, who once served as the business director of Sanlin Chamber of Commerce, is good at financial management and is known as the "Pudong God of Wealth". Qin Xitian of Chen Xing praised him for being "strict and precise in his selection, well-organized and dense in arrangement, and sincere and trustworthy in his transactions."

Tang Xuezhao (1854-1929), courtesy name Yunzhai, was born in Dishan Village, Sanlin Township. The family owned a lot of fertile land, but he did not want to rely solely on land to accumulate wealth like his ancestors. He also wanted to compete in the business world, so he moved to Sanlin Town and opened a rice store, cloth store, pawn shop, etc. The Tang Yixing Buzhuang mentioned above It was he who opened it and dominated Sanlin.

However, at this time, foreign cloth and yarn had the upper hand in the market. The homespun cloth could not be sold due to its coarse quality and dark color. The villagers' livelihood was difficult, and Tang Xuezhao was very uneasy. He felt that although homespun cloth was not as fine, clean and beautiful as foreign cloth, it was thick and durable and should have a certain market. However, the advantages of foreign cloth should be absorbed as much as possible, so he established the specifications of homespun cloth, stipulating the thickness of warp and weft, the length and width of the cloth, and informed the villagers People, the price of any item that meets the standards will be favorable when purchasing. After such efforts, the quality of homespun cloth has been greatly improved, and the sales volume has increased significantly, and the lives of weavers have been somewhat guaranteed. In the first year of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty (1909), Tang Xuezhao sent the improved "button cloth" to participate in a national competition and won the second-class certificate and second-class silver medal from the governors of Liangjiang and Jiangsu. The following year, the pointed cloth and plaid cloth branded with the Yuan Dynasty trademark won another silver medal from the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce at the Nanyang Industry Encouragement Conference. In 1915, Jingzhuang White Cloth participated in the Domestic Products Exhibition of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and won the gold Ema Medal.

Tang Xuezhao is charitable and enthusiastic about public welfare. In the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1896), together with Chen Xing, Qin Rongguang, Yang Si and Zhou Xilian, he founded Sanlin Academy in Wenchang Pavilion in the town. In terms of teaching, he imitated Jingye Academy and Longmen Academy in Shanghai County. In 1902, according to the requirements of the imperial court's new policy, the academy had to be converted into a school. The first problem was the school building, because the school had to have dormitories to accommodate children from all over the country. So Tang Xuezhao took the lead in donating land funds and raising funds from all directions. Finally, the Mercy Pavilion, Chengpan Temple, charity place "He Zhong Hall" and Zhang's Ancestral Hall near Wenchang Pavilion were converted into classrooms, dormitories, dining rooms, playgrounds, etc., and the new school was built. Quite presentable. Unfortunately, the school building was destroyed by fire during the summer vacation of 1912. Later, a new school building was built in Mulberry Garden in the north of Tianchi, with 11 buildings and 11 bungalows. It is now Sanlin Middle School. The library with blue bricks and red walls, the fully functional gymnasium, thatched pavilion, Yanggao Pavilion and Yuantian Pond on the campus are all buildings and landscapes from the 1920s and 1930s. Although they have gone through vicissitudes of life, they are well preserved.

On Tang Xuezhao's 70th birthday, his son was planning to hold a special event, but Tang refused and used the money saved to rebuild the Xuejia wooden bridge on Yangsigang into a three-hole stone bridge. It is said that he funded the construction of fifteen or six stone bridges in his hometown!

Finally, I have to talk about the Tang family’s house. It is located in the Sino-foreign joint venture Shanghai Gillette Co., Ltd. in Sanlin Town. It is a two-story residence that combines Chinese and Western styles. Its appearance is in the traditional architectural style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. , Chinese-style horse-drawn building with carved beams and painted beams, but the balcony is a Western-style coupon shape with cement railings. The influence of Western culture is obvious.