Former Residence of Li Genyuan in Suzhou

Former Residence of Li Genyuan in Suzhou

The former residence of Li Genyuan is a Suzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The former residence of Li Genyuan is located on Shiquan Street inside Fengmen, Suzhou. It was designated as a Suzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1982.

Li Genyuan (1879–1965), courtesy name Yinquan, also known as Yang? and Xuesheng, was a native of Tengchong, Yunnan. In his early years, he studied in Japan and joined the Tongmenghui in the 31st year of the Guangxu reign (1905). During the Xinhai Revolution, he took part in initiating the September 9th Uprising in Yunnan, later participating in the Second Revolution and the Protect the Constitution Movement. He once served as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce and Acting Premier under the Beiyang government. In his early career, while serving as supervisor and head of the Yunnan Military Academy, he developed a mentor-student relationship with Comrade Zhu De. In 1920, he moved his family to Suzhou to care for his mother and settled on Shiquan Street inside Fengmen. In 1923, he withdrew from military and political affairs, and from 1925 onward, he made Suzhou his permanent residence. During his time in Suzhou, he collected local literature, epigraphic inscriptions, and steles, engaging in the investigation and preservation of cultural relics and historic sites. He also contributed to the compilation of the Wu County Annals, served as president of the Wu Zhong Tomb Preservation Society, and made significant contributions to Suzhou’s local cultural endeavors and heritage protection. After 1931, he devoted himself to the anti-Japanese salvation movement in Suzhou and established monuments for soldiers who died in the war. His patriotic actions are highly respected by later generations. In 1936, he actively worked to rescue the Seven Gentlemen of the National Salvation Association. When the Seven Gentlemen were released from prison in 1937, he was one of their guarantors.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he served as a member of the Southwest Military and Political Committee and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Li Genyuan regarded Suzhou as his second hometown and donated all his family’s cultural relics and books to the Suzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Committee. He passed away in Beijing in 1956 at the age of 87 and was buried on Xiaowang Mountain in Wuxian, Suzhou. He authored more than 30 works including Snow Life Annual Record, Qu Stone Literary Collection, Jing Sui Hall Colophons, Visiting Ancient Sites in the Western Mountains of Wu County, Records of Inscriptions Seen at Tiger Hill, Constitutional Case History of the Republic of China, and Qu Stone Poetry Collection.

The residence faces north and consists sequentially of a gatehouse, reception hall, residential building, study, and garden. The residential building is a two-story structure blending Chinese and Western architectural styles, largely retaining its original appearance today. Because Li Genyuan's mother had the surname Que, the residence was then called “Que Garden,” and included room names such as “Qu Stone Studio,” “Fengshang Thatched Cottage,” and “Yi Xiang Room.” Today, the well curb inscribed by Li Genyuan with the characters “Jiubao Spring,” the stone steps, and several steles remain in their original locations. The garden has now been incorporated into the Suzhou Hotel, but still houses osmanthus trees planted by Li Genyuan and lake rocks engraved with his calligraphy.