Former Residence of Xia Yan

Former Residence of Xia Yan

The Former Residence of Xia Yan is a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Former Residence of Xia Yan

Building 2, No. 178 Urumqi South Road — the former residence of Xia Yan from 1949 to 1956. Built in 1932, it covers an area of 750 square meters. The structure is a three-quarter-story brick-and-wood building in the style of a British country garden villa. Originally used as office space by a church, it now houses the Xuhui District Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Building 2, No. 178 Urumqi South Road — the former residence of Xia Yan from 1949 to 1956

Introduced by Pan Hannian, he met Zhou Enlai in Shanghai and thereafter engaged in anti-Japanese and journalism work as a cultural figure. In August, he became the editor-in-chief of the Salvation Daily. In 1940, he wrote the four-act plays “The Psychological Defense” and “The City of Sorrow.” In January 1941, the “Southern Anhui Incident” broke out, and Xia Yan evacuated from Guilin to Hong Kong. In April, he co-founded the China Merchants Daily, serving as a member of the editorial board and the Party branch secretary. On December 8, when the Pacific War broke out, he received an urgent telegram from Zhou Enlai instructing him to organize the theatrical community to move to southwestern China. In April 1942, he went to Chongqing and served as deputy head of the cultural group at the office of the CCP Southern Bureau. In August 1944, he became the acting editor-in-chief of the Xinhua Daily. In March 1947, he arrived in Singapore via Hong Kong to convey the Central Committee’s military and political policies to overseas Chinese leader Tan Kah Kee, and at the invitation of Tan Kah Kee and Hu Yuzhi, he served as a columnist for the Nanyang Daily. In June 1948, he launched a column titled “Notes from the Snail House” in the Hong Kong magazine Masses, and participated in instigating Qian Changzhao, director of the Kuomintang Resources Commission, to defect. He also helped instigate Ding Guitang, director of the KMT Shanghai Customs, to switch sides. In 1949, Xia served as deputy director of the Culture and Education Committee of the East China Military Control Commission and deputy head of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee. In July, he was elected as a member of the First National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a member of the All-China Film Artists Association. In March 1950, he became a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, head of the Propaganda Department, and director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture. In August, when the Shanghai People's Art Theatre was established, he also served as its president. In 1953, he wrote the five-act, six-scene play “The Test.” In May 1955, implicated in the Pan Hannian case, he was isolated and investigated by the Organization Department in Beijing. In 1956, he adapted Lu Xun’s short story “The New Year’s Sacrifice” into a film script. In March 1958, he adapted Mao Dun’s short story “Lin Family Shop” into a screenplay. In September 1959, the Selected Works of Xia Yan was published by the People’s Literature Publishing House. In April 1962, the film “Revolutionary Family” won the first “Hundred Flowers Award” for Best Screenplay from Popular Cinema. In December 1963, the Collected Film Essays was published by China Film Press. He also adapted the novel Red Crag into the film script “Eternal Life in the Flames.”

In October 1989, Xia Yan donated 94 pieces of Chinese calligraphy and paintings by masters since the Ming and Qing dynasties, which he had cherished, to the Zhejiang Provincial Museum. In January 1991, he donated all his treasured stamps to the Shanghai Museum. In December 1993, the pictorial album Xia Yan was published by Zhejiang Photography Publishing House. In June 1994, he donated the first batch of 2,800 books to the China Modern Literature Museum. In October, he was awarded the title of “Outstanding National Film Artist” by the State Council.

On February 6, 1995, Xia Yan passed away in Beijing Hospital at the age of 95. But the rich and eventful life he led, and the personal integrity and humanistic light shining through his many works, will not fade with time.

April 4, 2014 – Designated as an Eighth Batch Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.