The Sun Yat-sen or Zhongshan Memorial Hall is an octagon-shaped building in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, capital of China's

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Province. The hall was designed by Lu Yanzhi and was built with funds raised by local and overseas Chinese people in memory of Sun Yat-sen. Construction work commenced in 1929 and completed in 1931. The hall is a large octagonal structure with a span of without pillars, housing a large stage and seats 3,240 people.

History

The memorial hall stands on the site of Guangzhou's Presidential Palace during the

Constitutional Protection Movement The Constitutional Protection Movement () was a series of movements led by Sun Yat-sen to resist the Beiyang government between 1917 and 1922, in which Sun established another government in Guangzhou as a result. It was known as the Third Revolut ...

, when the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

operated a rival "Chinese" government to the

Zhili Clique The Zhili clique () was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique during the Republic of China's Warlord Era. This fragmentation followed the death of Yuan Shikai, who was the only person capable of ...

's Beijing regime. The palace was damaged during

Ye Ju Ye Ju (1881–1925), formerly romanized as was a Chinese Nationalist general and governor of Guangdong Province. Life Ye was born in 1881. He first served under Long Jiguang. After Long's fall, he served with Chen Jiongming. After the fall o ...

's 16 June 1922 attack on Sun Yat-sen, during which—though he had already fled— his wife narrowly escaped shelling and rifle fire before meeting him on the gunboat '' Yongfeng'',. where they were joined by Chiang Kai-shek. The hall itself has been severely damaged and repaired several times until 1998, when it was comprehensively upgraded to its present-day condition. A statue of Sun Yat-sen was erected in front of the main entrance.

Transportation

The memorial hall is accessible from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station of

Guangzhou Metro The Guangzhou Metro () ( and ) is the rapid transit system of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province of China. It is operated by the state-owned Guangzhou Metro Corporation and was the fourth metro system to be built in mainland China, af ...

References

Bibliography

* . * . Buildings and structures completed in 1931 Buildings and structures in Guangzhou Monuments and memorials to Sun Yat-sen Tourist attractions in Guangzhou Monuments and memorials in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Guangdong Yuexiu District {{PRChina-struct-stub

History

Transportation

See also

References

Bibliography