# Sheshan

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{{Short description|Mountain in China}}
{{About|the mountain in [Shanghai](/source/Shanghai), China|the island|Sheshan Island|other uses}}
{{No inline|date=May 2025}}
{{chinese
|pic=File:Sheshan Shanghai.jpg
|piccap=Sheshan, [its observatory](/source/Sheshan_Observatory), and [Our Lady of Sheshan Cathedral](/source/Sheshan_Basilica)
|c={{linktext|佘|山}}
|l={{nowrap|[She](/source/She_(surname)) Hill(s)}}
|p=Shéshān
|w=She Shan
|wuu=Zosè
|elevation_m = 118
}}
'''Sheshan''' (literally, "She Mountain"),<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Mariani |first=Paul Philip |title=China's Church Divided: Bishop Louis Jin and the Post-Mao Catholic Revival |date=2025 |publisher=[Harvard University Press](/source/Harvard_University_Press) |isbn=978-0-674-29765-4 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=48}} known in [Shanghainese](/source/Shanghainese) as '''Zose''', is a pair of [hill](/source/hill)s in [Songjiang District](/source/Songjiang_District) in western [Shanghai](/source/Shanghai), China. The two hills are distinguished as '''East''' and {{nowrap|'''West Sheshan'''}}, although the more important western hill is also called Sheshan on its own. East Sheshan has an elevation of {{convert|100.8|m|sp=us|abbr=on}} and [West Sheshan](/source/Sheshan_Hill) has an elevation of {{convert|118|m|sp=us|abbr=on}}, it is the highest point in [Shanghai](/source/Shanghai), there is a small valley between them. The area around the two hills is a forest park.

== History ==
Historically, Sheshan had many temples.<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=48}}

The [Kangxi Emperor](/source/Kangxi_Emperor) visited in 1720.<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=48}}

French [Jesuits](/source/Jesuits) began buying land in the area in the early 1860s.<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=48}} They built a sanitarium, a small church next to it, and later a pavilion with a statue of [Mary](/source/Mary%2C_mother_of_Jesus).<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=48}}

During the [Taiping Rebellion](/source/Taiping_Rebellion), Catholics in the area pledged to construct a church dedicated to Mary if they were spared from the chaos.<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=48}} Jesuits began building a hilltop church in 1864 and dedicated it in the early 1870s.<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=48}}

The hilltop church was replaced in 1935 with a [baroque](/source/baroque)-style church which is one of the largest Catholic churches in Asia.<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|pages=48-49}}

In 1982, the Sheshan seminary opened with [Aloysius Jin Luxian](/source/Aloysius_Jin_Luxian) as its [rector](/source/Rector_(academia)).<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=130}} It was the first seminary of the [patriotic church](/source/Chinese_Catholic_Patriotic_Association) to open during the [Reform era](/source/Reform_and_opening_up).<ref name=":10" />{{Reference page|page=130}}

== Basilica ==
It is surmounted by the ''Our Lady of China'' Catholic church, [Sheshan Basilica](/source/Sheshan_Basilica), which was built there between 1922 and 1936 following the establishment of a chapel in 1867, soon replaced by a first church in 1871-1873 by French [Jesuit](/source/Jesuits) missionaries. Services in the church are held in Chinese and Latin. The road to the top of Sheshan hill represents the stations of the cross [Via Dolorosa](/source/Via_Dolorosa) (The Way of Suffering) that Christ took to his crucifixion.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} Every May pilgrims flock to the chapel and the holy road by the hundreds.

== Observatory ==

The hill also houses an observatory founded in 1900 by Jesuits, the [Sheshan Observatory](/source/Sheshan_Observatory). In addition to scientific equipment of the modern era, it displays a replica of a [Han dynasty](/source/Han_dynasty) earthquake [monitoring device](/source/Seismometer), consisting of a jar with dragon heads mounted around the outside and a pendulum inside. Each dragon has a steel ball in its mouth. When an earthquake occurred, the pendulum would swing, knock a dragon causing its mouth to open and a ball to drop out thereby indicating the quake's direction. The observatory has been renovated and reopened as a museum in May 2023. 

== Transportation ==
Sheshan is in the vicinity of [Sheshan Station](/source/Sheshan_Station) on [Line 9](/source/Line_9%2C_Shanghai_Metro) of the [Shanghai Metro](/source/Shanghai_Metro).

== Further reading == 
Coomans Thomas 高曼士, ''Sheshan jiaotang xunzong: jianzhu, chaosheng, lishi tujing'' 佘山教堂寻踪: 朝圣建筑和历史途径 [The Basilica of Sheshan: pilgrimage architecture and historical landscape]. (''Kaifang de Shanghai chengshi jianzhu shi congshu'' 开放的上海城市建筑史丛书, 3). Shanghai: Tongji University Press, 2023, 303 p., 289 Figs. {{ISBN|978-7-5765-0816-1}}

==See also==
* [Sheshan Golf Club](/source/Sheshan_Golf_Club)

==References==
{{Commons category|Sheshan}}
{{Reflist}}

Category:Landforms of Shanghai
Category:Hills of China
{{Coord|31.093|121.193|format=dms|display=t}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sheshan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheshan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheshan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.