Qu Zhongzhi

Before 2002, it was widely held by the academics and the public that it was in 1867 (In the twelfth year of the reign of Emperor Guang Xu) that Chinese attend a World Expo for the first time in history. It was in that year that Wang Tao, a writer from Wu County of Jiangsu Province, China, arrived in Paris and visited the World Expo. Returning from Paris, the reformist thinker wrote Travel Sketch–The Chapter of the World Expo, documenting the spectacular events of the Paris Expo.

At the end of 2002 during Shanghai’s bid for the Expo 2010, library scholars in Shanghai disclosed an incredible finding–the relations between China and the World Expo began not in 1867, but 1851, therefore, pushing back the history of exchange between China and the World Expo by 16 years.

Who was the First Chinese in a World Expo?

The hero of the story is Xu Rongcun, a merchant from Guangdong.

Xu Ruiyan, also known as Deqiong, or Rongcun, was born in Xiangshan in Guangdong province. He was one of first merchants who came to Shanghai to do business after Shanghai opened its ports. There he acted as a comprador in the Dent Company established by businessmen from England. He carried on silk and tea trade in light of the business motto of“best goods, highest price”, and build his own reputation in the commercial world.

If there were no World Expo, Xu Rongcun would just be a famous businessman among Metropolis Infested With Foreign Adventurers. But the World Expo greatly lifted the status of this businessman and engraved his name into the history book of the World Expo.

In 1851, Britain, on the other side of the world, announced the holding of the World Expo. The British government paid great attention to its fair; and Queen Victoria invited dozens of countries to participate in the exhibition and the undertaking of exhibits and artistic works via diplomatic channels in the name of the country. This message crossed the broad ocean and reached China on the other side of the world.

Due to his acute commercial awareness, Xu Rongcun immediately realized the great potential opportunity arising from the event. So he loaded 12 bundles of what he called the“Yung Kee Huzhou Silk”and consigned them to Britain by express.

Since the package of the“Yung Kee Huzhou Silk”was very shabby, Xu’s exhibits did not attract the attention of the most westerners. However, many people paid great attention to it. Fortunately, the“Huzhou Silk”entered by Xu Rongcun was of premium quality. The World Expo lasted six months.“Yung Kee Huzhou Silk”survived the test of time and in the end won the golden and silver prizes because of its high quality.

So, the Xu family to created their legend in the business world by the excellent performance the World Expo.

How the“first”was discovered?

Now, we have a question: how could this person be discovered among such a vast accumulation of documentation?

To answer this question, we should go back to 2002 when the preparation work of bidding for the Expo 2010 were in full swing and all sorts of promoting work was underway. Seeing many times in media reports that“the first Chinese who attended a World Expo was Wang Tao, a writer living in the late years of Qing Dynasty”, Shanghai resident Xu Xizeng, as a descendent of Xu Rongcun and a member of Xu family, felt very sorry about that and was full of passion and the spirit of the famous poem“Rejuvenated, I my fiery zeal display”. He wanted to tell the whole world that the relations between China and the world expo began at 1851 when the first World Expo was held. He claimed that his ancestor Xu Rongcun attended that grand meeting and won a gold prize.

His voice, however, was very weak owing to his humble status.His words were ignored by the media.

In April 2001, Xu’s son came back home from America to join his family. Once again, he urged his father to“provide the material documenting their family history to the Bidding Office of the Shanghai Expo”.

As a result, Xu Xizeng went to the Bidding Office of the Shanghai Expo in July regardless of sweltering heat of summer and his illness. The office staff were dumbfounded but still with some doubts after they read about the genealogy and the detailed historical material concerning Xu Rongcun. Bearing the cautious attitude of respecting history, they promptly entrusted the working staff in Paris to search for and compare related material in the Bureau of International Expositions for evidence. In case that what Mr. Xu said was right, that would be an exciting new finding.

The result, however, disappointed and confused them–they could not find such material in the Bureau of International Expositions.

A month later, some inspiring news came from Shanghai Library:

In their collection, there is a literature report describing the First World Expo published by the British Council in 1852, from which the researchers dug out the evidence that the“Yung Kee Huzhou Silk”Xu Rongcun delivered was exhibited and won a prize in the World Expo. This evidence strongly supports the records of the Xu Genealogy of North Ridge.

What are the Descendants of“First Chinese of a World Expo”Doing at Present?

If it can be said that Xu Rongcun won great honor for its his country because of his non-precedent endeavor 150 years ago. His great-great-grandson Xu Xizeng continued to spare no efforts in discharging his duties to contribute his career to the expo business in China. In the Changle Road of Xuhui District, Xu Xizeng, the fourth generation after Xu Rongcun, displayed the medal and certificate (see picture) won by his ancestor. This precious historical document inscribed the outstanding achievements of the Xu family, recorded the close relationship between China and the World Expo, and offered strong proof that China had been involved in the events at the very beginning.

Mr. Xu Xizeng was much relieved that he had realized his long-cherished dream and contributed to the bidding of the Expo. Mr. Xu was a party member of the China Democratic League. Retired from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 70-year-old Mr. Xu did not stop just there, but created a full-length fairy tale“The New Legend of Huzhou Silk Boy”. At present, this novel has been published. Now he plans to publicize his ancestor Xu Rongcun’s exhibits in the World Expo, and create a unparalleled cartoon“Expo figure”- Huzhou Silk Boy.