Former Site of Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone

Former Site of Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone

The former site of the Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone is located to the east of Xugongqiao Village, Huaqiao Town, Kunshan, Suzhou (currently within Xugongqiao Primary School). The Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone was China’s first rural improvement pilot project and a pioneering effort in modern rural and educational reform in China, exerting a profound influence on subsequent rural development initiatives.

The main surviving structure at the pilot zone site is the Danian Hall. The building faces south and is a two-story brick-and-wood structure with plain red brick walls and a red clay tile roof. It measures 28.30 meters in width and 11.50 meters in depth, with an eave height of 6.48 meters. The central hall is a double-height space, while the east and west side rooms are both two-story. A single-story wing room is located on the north side, and the western part is connected to the Wuyi Hall via a corridor. The hall has been converted into a historical exhibition hall for the "Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone."

In 1928, the renowned educator Huang Yanpei established the Vocational Education Society’s Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone in Huaqiao, Kunshan, Jiangsu, and founded the Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Association. In January 1929, the central auditorium of the Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Association — Wuyi Hall — was completed. In addition to the auditorium, the facility also included a library, music room, seed room, credit cooperative, medical room, and offices. The Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone adopted the principle of “combining prosperity with education,” and its mission focused on “rural self-governance, universal education, abundant production, and improved recreation,” committing to rural revitalization centered on community initiatives such as compulsory education.

The pilot zone’s operations ended in June 1934, and facilities such as Wuyi Hall were handed over to local authorities. In 1943, Cai Yangan and others used the former site of the Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Association to establish the private Zhenchuan Junior High School, which became the public Zhenchuan Middle School Branch in 1947. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Zhenchuan Middle School Xugongqiao Branch was transferred to Kunshan City and reorganized into Xugongqiao Primary School and Xugongqiao Junior High School.

The building faces south and is a two-story brick-and-wood structure with plain red brick walls and a red clay tile roof. It measures 28.30 meters in width and 11.50 meters in depth, with an eave height of 6.48 meters. The central hall is a double-height space, while the east and west side rooms are both two-story. A single-story wing room is located on the north side, and the western part is connected to the Wuyi Hall via a corridor, serving as school premises. In 1982, during school expansion, Wuyi Hall was demolished. The surviving Danian Hall has been converted into a historical exhibition hall for the "Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone" and is now a protected cultural heritage site under Jiangsu Province.

The Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone was China’s first rural improvement pilot project and a pioneering effort in modern rural and educational reform in China, exerting a profound influence on subsequent rural development initiatives.

In March 2019, the former site of the Xugongqiao Rural Improvement Pilot Zone was designated as part of the eighth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units by the provincial government.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units