Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan House)

Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan House)

The Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan House) is a protected cultural heritage site in Nanjing.

The Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan House) is located at No. 9 Hankou Road (South Campus of Nanjing University).

Zhongshan House is a Western-style villa, covering an area of approximately 180 square meters, with a construction area of about 350 square meters. The two-story building features dormer windows, faces south with a northern orientation, has gray walls and a red roof, and is built with a brick-concrete structure. The first floor has a columned external porch, the second floor has a simple balcony, and the roof has three aligned dormer windows, all painted red.

Since assuming the office of provisional president on January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen was committed to continuing the revolution. However, he faced numerous obstacles. First, imperialist nations pressured the provisional government and refused to recognize it; second, Yuan Shikai used both coercion and inducement to profit from the situation between the Qing Dynasty and the provisional government, manipulating the overall situation; third, constitutionalists and former bureaucrats within the provisional government echoed Yuan Shikai, undermining the revolution from within; fourth, there were various issues among the revolutionaries themselves—some believed the revolution had already succeeded and grew complacent, advocating compromise; others fought for power and personal gain, leading to organizational disunity; still others harbored illusions about foreign imperialist powers or even Yuan Shikai. Those who remained committed to the revolution, such as Sun Yat-sen, found themselves in the minority, and at that time, they had not yet realized the necessity of mobilizing the masses, rendering them relatively weak. As a result, the Nanjing Provisional Government agreed to support Yuan Shikai as president on the conditions that the Qing emperor abdicate and the republic be established. On January 22, Sun Yat-sen proposed five conditions for his resignation, which were approved by the conference of provincial representatives. On February 4, Sun Yat-sen told a reporter from The North-China Daily News that he would resign as provisional president once Yuan Shikai declared his support for the republic. On the 12th, the Qing emperor issued an edict abdicating the throne. On the 13th, Yuan Shikai announced to the nation that he supported the republic. Sun Yat-sen insisted that Yuan Shikai support the republic and made his resignation conditional upon the new capital being established in Nanjing, the new president taking office in Nanjing, and the adherence to the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China—all aimed at restraining Yuan Shikai and safeguarding the major achievements of the Xinhai Revolution. On the 14th, Sun Yat-sen resigned as provisional president. Afterward, he once lived here.

The Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan House) was designated as a protected cultural heritage site in Nanjing by the Nanjing Municipal People's Government in June 2006.

Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), whose given name was Wen, courtesy name Zaizhi, also known as Risshin and Yixian, childhood name Dixiang, alias Zhongshanqiao, often went by the name Zhongshan. He was born into a farming family in Cuiheng Village, Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City), Guangdong Province. In his youth, influenced by the tradition of struggle among the people of Guangdong, he admired the revolutionary cause of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He was a pioneer of modern China’s national democratic revolution, a great forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution, the founder of the Republic of China and the Kuomintang, an advocate of the Three Principles of the People, and the creator of the Five-Power Constitution. He was the first to raise the banner of complete anti-feudalism... More details about Sun Yat-sen ++