Former Site of the Ministry of Communications of the Nationalist Government

Former Site of the Ministry of Communications of the Nationalist Government

The former site of the Ministry of Communications of the Nationalist Government is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The former site of the Ministry of Communications of the Nationalist Government is located at No. 303 and No. 305 Zhongshan North Road, Nanjing. To the east is Zhongshan North Road, the city’s main thoroughfare; to the south is Chaha’er Road; and to the west and north are Hujubei North Road.

The Ministry of Communications of the Nationalist Government was established in May 1927 (the 16th year of the Republic of China), under the jurisdiction of the Nationalist Government, and was initially housed temporarily at Cibeishe. After the implementation of the Five-Yuan system, the Ministry of Communications came under the Executive Yuan. Its responsibilities included planning, constructing, managing, and operating the nation’s state-owned railways, highways, telecommunications, postal services, aviation, as well as privately-run transportation services.

In 1928, the new building was designed by the Russian architect Yaron from the Shanghai firm A.J. Yaron, Architects. Construction began in 1930 but was delayed due to the 1931 floods and the January 28 Incident in 1932. In 1932, Zhu Jiahua took office as Minister of Communications. To improve working conditions, he had the Ministry of Communications Building constructed under the guise of building the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications headquarters on Zhongshan North Road. The building faces northeast, with a “日”-shaped floor plan. A courtyard was designed between the main building and each of the two wing annexes. It has a reinforced concrete structure with three floors, and its roof features a traditional Chinese palace-style double-eaved hip-and-gable roof covered with glazed tiles, giving it a highly ornate appearance. The courtyard includes landscaped gardens (covering an area of 19,500 square meters). The entrance gate was designed to imitate the Golden Water River and Golden Water Bridges in front of Beijing’s Forbidden City. The building was completed by the end of 1934. The Ministry of Communications Building has a total floor area of 18,933 square meters and cost 1.13 million yuan to construct. It stands opposite the Ministry of Railways Building (No. 252 and No. 254 Zhongshan North Road) across the street. In December 1937, during the Japanese attack on Nanjing, artillery fire hit the Ministry of Communications office building, destroying the grand roof, which was later replaced with a flat roof. After the liberation of Nanjing, the building was taken over by the Military Control Commission and transferred to the PLA Nanjing Political College in 1980. It was listed as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 2001.