Former Residence of Wu Guanzhong

Former Residence of Xu Beihong in Yixing

The Former Residence of Xu Beihong in Yixing is a cultural tourism site and a patriotic education base.

The former residence of Xu Beihong is located on the west bank of Tanghe River, Qitingqiao Street, Yixing City. In the mid-1980s, due to the widening of the river, the original residence was demolished. The current building was reconstructed in 1994 by the Qitingqiao Town government through public fundraising, restored to its original appearance.

The residence faces west and looks toward the canal. A vertical sign reading “Former Residence of Xu Beihong in Yixing” hangs on the right side of the gate. The entire residence consists of three bays across two courtyards, a two-story low-rise building in the style of an ordinary Jiangnan residential house. Above the main room’s door hangs a plaque inscribed with “Xu Beihong’s Former Residence,” written by his wife Liao Jingwen. On the walls on either side hang two bronze plaques labeled “Patriotic Education Base of Yixing City” and “Youth Education Base of Wuxi City.”

Above the central hall hangs a plaque inscribed with “Xu Beihong’s Former Residence,” written by Zhou Enlai. The calligraphy is bold and solemn, filled with deep emotion. Below it is placed a bust of Xu Beihong, and on the walls are displays introducing his life and achievements. In the front half of the left room, the walls display photos of Liao Jingwen and her children and grandchildren attending various commemorative events for Xu Beihong. The rear half of the room is the kitchen, featuring a traditional two-eye brick stove that preserves the atmosphere of rural Jiangnan life in the past. The second courtyard has only one low-rise building, with the rest being a yard. The front half of the small building was once a private school run by Xu Beihong’s father, Xu Dazhang, furnished with five or six worn desks and several stools. On the wall facing the entrance hangs a portrait of Xu Beihong’s father painted by him. The rear half of the room was Xu Beihong’s childhood bedroom.

Xu Beihong (1895–1953), of Han ethnicity, originally named Xu Shoukang, was from Qiting Town, Yixing City, Jiangsu Province. He was a modern Chinese painter and art educator. He studied Western painting in France and, after returning to China, devoted himself to art education for many years, teaching at the Art Department of the National Central University, the Art College of Peking University, and the Peking Art Academy. After 1949, he served as president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Skilled in figure painting, animals, and flowers and birds, he advocated realism and especially admired Ren Bonian among traditional artists. He emphasized reforming Chinese painting by incorporating Western techniques, stressed the importance of light and form in painting, and paid close attention to the accurate depiction of anatomy and skeletal structure in his subjects... More details about Xu Beihong ++