Memorial Room of Kim Il-sung's Reading

Memorial Room of Kim Il-sung's Reading

The Memorial Room of Kim Il-sung's Reading is a cultural relic protection unit of Jilin Province.

The Memorial Room of Chairman Kim Il-sung's Reading is located at the former site of Yuzhong Middle School, at No. 191 Songjiang Middle Road, Chuanying District, Jilin City. It is a rectangular courtyard complex covering a total area of 2,710 square meters, with a building area of 1,125 square meters. The layout follows the traditional style of a three-sided courtyard, featuring a main house and wing rooms on the east and west sides, connected by a corridor on the east side. The lintel of the main gate is inscribed with six large Chinese characters “吉林毓文中学” (Yuzhong Middle School of Jilin), personally written by Chu Tunan, former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China and former Chinese language teacher at Yuzhong Middle School in Jilin.

The school was first established in March 1917, founded by Han Naigeng. After the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement in 1919, all teachers and students of Yuzhong Middle School held a major demonstration on May 7 of the same year, organized a public speech assembly on May 9, and carried out protests and struggles, igniting the flames of the anti-imperialist and patriotic movement among the people of Jilin. During the New Culture Movement, the teachers and students of Yuzhong stood at the forefront of Jilin’s New Culture Movement, actively promoting new ideas, opposing old feudal ethics, founding progressive publications, and spreading Marxism-Leninism. During the May Thirtieth Movement in 1925, it also served as the birthplace of the Jilin May Thirtieth Movement. Many revolutionaries, such as Ma Jun, Chu Tunan, and Shang Yue, came here to teach and engage in revolutionary activities.

The reading room consists of a main house and wing rooms on the east and west sides. The main house includes the reading room, the First Exhibition Room, the Second Exhibition Room, and a reception room for foreign guests. The exhibition rooms display many precious historical relics, including not only gifts from Kim Il-sung but also a large oil painting titled “Morning Glow over Mount Paektu” gifted by Kim Jong-il. This place is not only a historic site related to the revolutionary activities of the great leader of the Korean people but also a moral education base in Jilin, China, receiving over a thousand domestic and international visiting groups each year.