The Tushanwan Jesuit Orphanage Wooden Screen
It was sent to San Francisco as part the Tushanwan exhibit at the Palace of Education for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (P.P.I.E.) in 1915, which was a World’s Fair in celebration of the completion of the Panama Canal and the rebirth of San Francisco after the great earthquake of 1906. The exhibit featuring the woodwork of the Tushanwan Orphanage attracted the attention of many elite art collectors, including Mrs. Marshall Field, who eventually acquired the screen and later donated it to the Field Museum.
The history of the orphanage is as fascinating as the screen itself: in addition to providing food, lodging, and education, boys received training in a skilled trade, such as carving. In addition to the Tushanwan woodshop, other workshops included printmaking, photography, publishing, painting, stained glass, and metal casting. The exact type of wood used to make the screen is unclear, but San Francisco Jesuit Denis Kavanagh, who was in charge of the exhibition, referred to the material of this and other furniture as “teakwood.” The orphanage is no longer in operation; part of Shanghai’s once-Catholic Xujiahui neighborhood, it closed in 1960.
The figures on the screen represent some of the legendary Taoist immortals. The Eight Immortals—seven male and one female—are said to have originated in the Han Dynasty (Western Han, 206 BC to 240 BC). Six of the eight immortals are depicted on this screen and are recognizable by these attributes:
He Xiangu is the female sage who assists in house management and is also called the Patroness of Housewives. Her emblem is the lotus blossom, though she is sometimes depicted holding a fly whisk and floating on a leaf.
Han Xiangzi is the Patron Saint of Musicians. He has the power to make flowers grow and blossom immediately. His emblem is a flute, which symbolizes harmony.
Lan Caihe is the Patron Saint of Florists and Protector of Horticulture. Either in the form of a woman or a young boy, she/he is the symbol of delusive (false or misleading) pleasure and usually carries a basket of flowers or a flute.
Cao Guojiu is the Patron Saint of the Theater. He often carries castanets as an emblem of music, or a jade tablet representing admission to the royal court.
Lu Dongbin is the Patron Saint of Barbers. He is often worshiped by the sick and honored as a scholar. He slays dragons and rids the world of evils, and his emblems are the fly whisk and a magic sword.
Li Tieguai is the Sage of Magicians and the Patron of the Sick. His emblems are an iron crutch and a gourd. Sometimes seen standing on a crab or beside a deer.
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