Former Site of the Bank of Chosen

Former Site of the Bank of Chosen

The former site of the Bank of Chosen is a cultural relic protection unit of Tianjin.

The former site of the Bank of Chosen is located at No. 97-101 Jiefang North Road, Heping District. It is a cultural relic protection unit of Tianjin and classified as a historically styled building under special protection in the city.

Although the bank is named “Bank of Chosen,” it was not a Korean bank established in China but an official Japanese bank. The president of the Bank of Chosen was appointed by the Japanese government, and the Governor-General of Korea was delegated to directly control and supervise the bank, while also granting the bank manager the authority to issue currency.

After the second president took office in 1913, the bank successively opened 26 branches in cities such as Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin, and Beijing in China. Among them, the Tianjin branch of the Bank of Chosen was established in 1918. On December 3, 1936, the Japanese government merged the Bank of Chosen into the Bank of Manchurian Industry and Commerce. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the Chinese government took over the bank as enemy and puppet property.

This building was designed and constructed in 1906 by the Shadley Engineering Company. The main structure is a three-story brick-concrete building, covering a land area of about 1,100 square meters and a construction area of about 3,500 square meters. The main walls of the building feature horizontally grooved red bricks, and the columns are rare domestically seen red-brick dentil-patterned Roman columns. The first and second floors are adorned with various types of flattened arched windows. The second-floor window sills are decorated with a row of vase-shaped pillars.

The tops of the second-floor columns are fitted with curved brackets supporting the third-floor slab, combined with double S-shaped moldings to form a cantilevered outer corridor, while also creating the cornice at the top of the second floor. The outer corridor is fitted with wrought-iron railings. The third-floor top is further equipped with another cornice with moldings. This type of Western-style building with a double cornice is quite rare among modern buildings in Tianjin.

The building features a corner treatment at the intersection, with the main entrance set into the corner and recessed. The door frame and door leaf are adorned with exquisite carvings, wrought ironwork, and stained glass, making them very ornate.

Though times have changed, the building still stands here, witnessing the bustling scenes of the street.

Source: Heping District Culture and Tourism Bureau

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Tianjin Cultural Relic Protection Units