Nanjing Yan Xishan's Former Residence

Nanjing Yan Xishan's Former Residence

Nanjing Yan Xishan's Former Residence

Nanjing Yan Xishan's Former Residence, initially built around 1913, only reached its current scale on the eve of the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1937. Over this period, a total of 27 courtyards of various sizes, comprising nearly a thousand rooms, were built, including the Governor’s Mansion, De Yi Lou (also called Chang Chun Jie), Generalissimo’s Mansion, Second Elder’s Mansion, Chuan Xin Yuan, New South Courtyard, East Garden, West Garden, and Zi Ming Children’s Home. Today, over 700 rooms remain, covering a total area of more than 33,000 square meters.

Yan Xishan was from Wutai County, Shanxi Province. He governed Shanxi for nearly four decades and also served as the Premier of the Nationalist Government.

Upon entering Yan Xishan’s Former Residence, the first things that catch your eye are the East and West Gardens. The so-called East and West Gardens are not places covered in lush flowers and trees, but rather a series of interconnected grand mansions. After passing through the main gate, you enter the First Courtyard of the East Garden — the largest courtyard in Yan’s residence. All four sides feature halls, with a central flower stand, rockery, and fountain surrounded by a decorative carriage loop driveway paved with flagstones, cobblestones, and blue bricks.

Passing through the corridor in the middle of the hall in the First Courtyard, you reach the Second Courtyard of the East Garden. This courtyard is slightly smaller than the first but features more luxurious and refined architecture. Exquisitely carved stone reliefs, openwork carvings, and wood carvings, along with painted columns, drum-shaped pedestals, upturned eaves, and dougong brackets layered upon each other, all exemplify the typical late Qing Dynasty palatial architectural style. Behind the main hall of the Third Courtyard in the East Garden, there is a relatively hidden side courtyard, which was also a place where Yan Xishan often lived and worked. In the 1930s, Chiang Kai-shek once visited to pay his respects to Yan’s elder.

In the southeast direction of the Third Courtyard stands a three-story building. The ground floor consists of three spacious cave dwellings, with a stone stairway leading upstairs. The upper two floors are made of blue bricks, and the roof is paved with square bricks, allowing visitors to climb up for a panoramic view.

Opposite the East Garden lies the West Garden. Compared to the East Garden, the West Garden is much smaller and more damaged. The so-called Second Elder’s Mansion refers to the residence where Yan Xishan’s second uncle, Yan Shudian, lived. This is also a large siheyuan (traditional quadrangle courtyard) with projecting eaves, painted columns, and exquisite carvings and paintings. Immediately south of the East Garden and adjacent to the Second Elder’s Mansion is an exquisitely designed tile-roofed building consisting of two interconnected courtyards — the renowned Governor’s Mansion. In the northeast corner of the backyard of the Governor’s Mansion, there is a small courtyard housing the second high-rise structure in the Yan residence — De Yi Lou. This building is accessible from the front via the Governor’s Mansion and connected to the back of the Second Courtyard of the East Garden via an underground passage. At the exit of the passage, bat motifs fluttering amid auspicious clouds surround the three large stone-carved characters meaning “The Way is Clear.” In addition, directly south of the Second Elder’s Mansion lies another courtyard — the Generalissimo’s Mansion, a large siheyuan compound. Directly north of the East Garden, across a road, is the well-known Zi Ming Children’s Home.

I. First Governor of Shanxi

Yan Xishan, courtesy name Bo Chuan, was born on October 8, 1883, into a family of landlords and commercial moneylenders in Yonghe Fort, Hebian Village, Wutai County, Shanxi Province (now part of Dingxiang County). Yan lost his mother at the age of five and lived with his uncle, raised by his grandmother. He attended a private school at the age of nine and at 16 went with his father, Yan Shutang (courtesy name Zi Ming), to the family-run Jiqingchang Money Shop in Wutai County town to learn business, handling loans and financial services. In 1900, the money shop went bankrupt, and Yan Xishan fled with his father to Taiyuan to escape creditors. To make a living, Yan once worked at Yushengdian (a... More detailed information about Yan Xishan++