Former Site of the Guandong High Court

Former Site of the Guandong High Court

The former site of the Guandong High Court is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

The former site of the Japanese Guandong Court is located at No. 33, Beiyi Lane, Huanghe Road, Lushunkou District, Dalian. The building was originally constructed by Tsarist Russia in 1902 as the headquarters of the Russian military engineering battalion. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Lüshun and Dalian. In 1906, Japanese architect Maeda Matsuzumi ingeniously designed and built an additional European-style structure with Greek Renaissance architectural features on the vacant land in the middle of the former Russian military barracks. The building has a simple and bright exterior, with a well-balanced layout, and features three sets of decorative objects on the roof that resemble scales.

In September 1906, the Japanese colonial authorities issued the "Governor-General's Court Ordinance," establishing the Guandong Governor-General's High Court and District Court in Lüshun. Both courts shared this building, which is why the scale-like decorations on the roof symbolize the "fairness," "impartiality," and "openness" of the law. However, during the Japanese colonial rule, the law was merely a facade of civilization for the invaders—there was no real "justice" to speak of.

As the earliest, highest-level, and longest-operating (40 years) judicial institution established by the Japanese colonial authorities in China, the court tried not only Chinese people but also Koreans, Japanese, Russians, Egyptians, Turks, and others who opposed Japan’s aggressive war. Many anti-Japanese patriots turned the courtroom into a battleground, continuing to promote revolutionary truths and expose Japanese war crimes, demonstrating a willingness to die for their cause. On February 14, 1910, Korean patriot Ahn Jung-geun was publicly tried six times in Courtroom 0 of the High Court by the Lüshun District Court of the Guandong Governor-General's Office, and was ultimately sentenced to death.

In August 1923, the District Court moved to Dalian, with the first floor serving as a police station for the District Court, while the High Court on the second floor continued its duties at the original site until Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945, leading to the court’s complete dissolution. In 1947, the building served as the office of the Guandong Administration (the predecessor of the Dalian Municipal People's Government) for over seven months. In January 1952, the Soviet Red Army handed over the buildings, assets, and medical facilities of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Lüshun to the Chinese government, after which the Lüshun Municipal Hospital (renamed the Lüshunkou District People's Hospital in 1962) moved into this building. In March 1987, the building was designated as a district-level cultural relic protection unit. In 2003, Dalian Peace Tourism Sightseeing Co., Ltd. carried out a comprehensive renovation of the building, restoring its historical appearance and converting it into an exhibition hall. On May 1, 2006, with strong support from various government departments and joint efforts, the site was officially opened to the public. Over the past decade, the former site has welcomed more than 200,000 Chinese and Korean visitors and has been hailed as a "classroom" for patriotism. It is now listed as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit in Liaoning.