The history and overview of Sir Kadoorie Mansion

In 1919, Eli Kadoorie's mansion on Huangpi South Road caught fire. Mokata, the wife of Kadoorie, died trying to rescue the governess who was trapped in the house. Because the original residence was burned down and to avoid being moved by the scene, Kadoorie took his two sons to live in London. At the same time, he entrusted his architect friend Rahane Brown to be responsible for the construction of the new mansion. The new mansion was located on Daxi Road, now Yan'an West Road. Although Rahane Brown was an architectural designer, due to his alcoholism, he was not responsible for the design of the new mansion at all. He entrusted the designer of Ma Haihang to Skinson to be responsible for it and no longer interfered with the construction.

In 1924, the new mansion, which took five years to build, was completed, and Kadoorie returned to Shanghai. When he returned to Shanghai, he found that what he saw was "a palace-like building and a drunk Brown lying in the hospital." In addition, the daily maintenance of the entire mansion requires nearly thirty or forty servants. . What shocked him even more was the high design and construction cost of the entire mansion. The entire mansion cost 1 million taels of silver. According to the price at that time, 1 million taels of silver could buy 50 million jins of rice, which could feed 140,000 people for a year. Although the cost was so high, Kadoorie was quite satisfied with the beauty and exquisite design of the mansion. With the racism of Nazi Germany, a large number of Jewish refugees began to flee Europe. Because at that time, countries around the world were afraid of the power of Nazi Germany, but Shanghai was a visa-free free port. As a result, a large number of Jewish refugees came to Shanghai. In 1938, there was a large wave of immigrants. As fellow Jews, the Kadoorie family also devoted themselves to refugee relief activities. Horace Kadoorie, son of Lord Kadoorie, came forward first and was responsible for convening a relief meeting. Later, all Jewish societies and social relief organizations in Shanghai held a meeting here and decided to form the "Shanghai Committee to Assist European Refugees" to take concerted action to help Jewish refugees. Sir Kadoorie himself also donated a large amount of money and founded a school affiliated with the Shanghai Jewish Youth Association to specially accept Jewish children from Europe.

On December 8, 1941, the Pacific War broke out. At this time, the Kadoorie family was vacationing in Hong Kong, and Horace Kadoorie was in charge of the Shanghai mansion. On that day, the Japanese army occupied the Shanghai Public Concession and Hong Kong, and all members of the Kadoorie family were imprisoned in concentration camps. The mansion was confiscated by the Japanese army. Later, because Eli Kadoorie was old, he was allowed by the Japanese army to return to the Marble Palace, but he could only live in the original servant's room under house arrest, but Horace was allowed to take care of him daily. In 1944, Eli Kadoorie died in the mansion. In 1945, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, an advance detachment of the US Army led by Major Shawyer landed in Shanghai and contacted the Kadoorie brothers through the Swiss Consulate General in Shanghai, hoping to temporarily work in the Kadoorie Residence. On the day of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kadoorie brothers turned on all the lights in the mansion to celebrate the end of the war.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Kadoorie Mansion became a venue for military personnel from the United States, Australia, Britain and other countries. It was also the venue for many charity activities in Shanghai. The China Welfare Foundation (the predecessor of the China Welfare Society) led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen's wife Soong Ching Ling has held various charity activities here many times, such as garden parties, charity balls, charity sales, etc. The Kadoorie family moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong in the late 1940s. In 1953, with the consent of the Kadoorie family, Soong Ching Ling founded China's earliest children's palace, the China Welfare Society Children's Palace, in the Kadoorie Mansion on June 1, International Children's Day. And invited Mao Zedong to inscribe the name of the Children's Palace.

When Lawrence Kadoorie and his wife returned to Shanghai for a visit in 1979, they expressed emotion that the mansion had become a children's paradise: "My father likes to entertain friends, and the Marble Mansion is so popular among friends from all over the world." After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was converted into a children's palace, where students selected from various schools received art training. As time went by, I learned that this building that my father particularly liked is now there. It is a joy for me to be used by thousands of children who benefit from the courses provided there.” In 1989, Kadoorie Mansion became an outstanding historical building in Shanghai.