Former Residence of Chen Wangdao

Former Residence of Chen Wangdao

The former residence of Chen Wangdao is a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Unit.

Former Residence of Chen Wangdao

Dormitory 9, also known as Jiu Yuan, at No. 650, Guoshun Road, houses the former residence of Chen Wangdao in its eastern corner. The main gate faces Guofu Road and bears the address No. 51. In the 1930s and 1940s, this area was originally a private garden owned by a capitalist, enclosed by walls and surrounded by fields. In the early 1950s, Mao Zedong appointed Chen Wangdao as the first president of Fudan University after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. At that critical time of development and expansion for the university, in order to implement the intellectual policy of the time and to accommodate foreign guests, the university, following municipal arrangements, purchased the property at No. 51 Guofu Road, renovated it, and invited Chen Wangdao to move in.

At the time, those who worked closely with the former president, as well as students and their families, respectfully called him “President Wang.” Chen Zhenxin, the son of President Wang and a teacher in Fudan University’s Department of Electronic Engineering, recalled to young reporters at Fudan that the three-story building, covering a total area of over 300 square meters, had twelve rooms of various sizes, with interiors mostly designed in European style. The living room featured a unique curved shape and was separated from the adjacent room by a sliding folding wooden door. Its ceiling was simply decorated but still impressive. A bathroom was located halfway up the wooden staircase. On the second floor were a bedroom, a study, and a storage room. The bedroom had a small round window set against plain wallpaper, while next to the bedroom was a study that also served as a small meeting room. Adjacent to the study was a sunroom with good lighting. Between the second and third floors, there was another bathroom and a north-facing balcony. The third floor had two smaller rooms. At the time, Chen Wangdao, who only had a family of three, hesitated to move into this “mansion.” Eventually, after repeated explanations from the university and the promise to relocate the in-house Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric Research Office to the ground floor, the issue was resolved. Because the roof of the small building was covered with green glazed tiles, many students affectionately called it the “Green House.”

Shortly after President Wang moved in in 1955, the ground floor was allocated for use by the Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric Research Office. The south-facing part of the ground floor was divided into three sections: the east room served as a living room, the west and middle rooms were used as offices for the research office, and the north-facing electrical room and cloakroom on the ground floor were used as storage for materials and newspapers. This was the first language research center established in any university in China, personally presided over by President Wang. Renowned professors such as Guo Shaoju, Wu Wenqi, Zhou Youguang, Ni Haishu, Pu Zhizhen, Li Zhenlin, Hu Yushu, and Cai Kui were all appointed to the research office. It later became the predecessor of today’s Institute of Chinese Language Studies at Fudan University.

The “Green House” was also often used by President Wang to receive important visiting guests from outside the university. In 1959, when Mr. Wu Yuzhang, then president of Renmin University of China, came to Fudan to give a lecture, he was hosted by President Wang in the Green House. Later guests included a delegation from Soviet universities and Ye Nan, the son of Ye Chucang, a veteran of the Kuomintang.

Due to President Wang’s prestige and the building’s distinctive European structure, architecture students from Tongji University were often seen sketching there. During holidays, many Fudan students also came to take commemorative photos.

The former residence of Chen Wangdao at No. 51 Guofu Road was listed as a municipal cultural heritage protection unit in the eighth batch on April 4, 2014.

To the north of the “Green House” are two other three-story buildings with red tiles and beige walls, which were the residences of Professor Su Buqing and Professor Chen Jiangong from the Mathematics Department. After the nationwide restructuring of university departments in 1952, the two came to Fudan from Zhejiang University, significantly strengthening the Mathematics Department. Yang Xiguang, then Party Committee Secretary of Fudan, decided to build two villas for these two “deities of the Mathematics Department,” located at No. 61 and No. 65 Guofu Road respectively. In 1958, when Professor Chen Jiangong was transferred back to Hangzhou University as vice president, No. 65 was temporarily vacant. After deliberation, the school leadership invited Professor Tan Jiazhen from the Biology Department to move in. Professor Su continued to live in the villa at No. 61 from the time he moved in until his passing in 2003.

Fudan’s Jiu Yuan (Garden Nine), the site of the former residences of former presidents Chen Wangdao and Mr. Su Buqing, namely Dormitory 9, has two crape myrtle trees with lush foliage and brilliant blooms, resembling rosy clouds. They seem to reflect the noble spirits and joyful smiles of the two elders. These two trees have an extraordinary origin and a history filled with both sorrow and joy. Whenever I walk through the garden and listen to stories told by Elder Wu Haoqing, an academician, and Professor Yu Heng, a master of poetry, calligraphy, and painting, I am deeply moved, my thoughts surging uncontrollably. I write these few words as a fleeting impression, leaving something for young students to enjoy in their leisure.

According to Professor Yu Heng: “In 1965, after returning from a conference in Qingdao, President Wang (Chen Wangdao) spoke highly of Qingdao’s beautiful greening environment. Crape myrtles lined the streets everywhere, referred to by locals as ‘hundred-day red.’ At the time, President Wang personally ordered more than 200 crape myrtle saplings at his own expense and entrusted Mr. Sun Xuebo, the head of the General Affairs Office, to arrange for their transport to the university. President Wang personally directed the planting of the trees in Dormitory 9, along Guofu Road and Guonian Road, all the way to the main gate of the campus. The following year, the flowers bloomed magnificently, creating a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, during the Cultural Revolution, they were falsely accused of being ‘monuments to self-glorification.’ Rebels mobilized cadres and the masses to dig out the ‘roots of revisionism.’ In one day, the trees were almost all cut down, with only two remaining in Dormitory 9. For over forty years, the crape myrtles have bloomed on schedule every year. But very few know their origin, so they can be called ‘flowers of legend.’”

On April 4, 2014, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government officially designated and announced the former residence of Chen Wangdao as a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Unit (Document No. Hu Fu Fa [2014] No. 29).