Prime Minister Memorial Hall and Former Site of Chiang Kai-shek Library

Prime Minister Memorial Hall and Former Site of Chiang Kai-shek Library

The Prime Minister Memorial Hall and the Former Site of Chiang Kai-shek Library are cultural heritage sites protected at the provincial level in Zhejiang Province.

The former site of the Prime Minister Memorial Hall, originally named the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, is located at the southern foot of Jinpingshan Mountain on Jinping Street in Fenghua City, beneath the mid-slope of Zhongshan Park. The memorial hall was built in 1928 to commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the great forerunner of China’s democratic revolution. During the Japanese invasion of China, the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was repeatedly bombed by Japanese aircraft, suffering severe damage. After the victory of the War of Resistance, it was rebuilt and renamed to its current title. In 2003, it was designated as a cultural relic protection site in Fenghua City. In 2007, it was listed as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit in Fenghua. It is currently used by the Jinxi Calligraphy and Painting Academy under the Fenghua Municipal Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. The Prime Minister Memorial Hall faces south and consists of the main memorial building, the Jinping Pavilion, and a small cottage, covering an area of 677 square meters. The memorial hall features a two-story single-eave hip-and-gable roof, with a width of three bays; the central bay originally housed a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen for public veneration. The Jinping Pavilion provides a place for visitors to rest, enjoy tea, or engage in quiet conversation. Its main structure also faces south with three bays and a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. The courtyard is planted with flowers of all seasons, creating a tranquil environment. In 1948, Chiang Ching-kuo and his

The former site of the Premier Memorial Hall features a traditional hip-and-gable roof, while its walls, lintels, and window sills show signs of foreign cultural influence. Built around the same time as the Chiang Kai-shek Library, the two structures share a unique architectural style of their era. It is also quite rare and precious for a county-level Zhongshan Memorial Hall to be found nationwide.

The former site of the Chiang Kai-shek Library has a main building that is a three-story, three-bay structure designed in a Western imitation style (with five additional small ancillary rooms on the west side). The front facade features a Roman-style dome, and each floor has a front porch with ornamental columns supporting a large balcony in the Tuscan order. The entire building is laid out rationally, with a solemn structure and delicate ornamentation. It is one of the typical examples of Western architectural influence in China during the 1920s and serves as physical evidence of the gradual opening of the country following the May Fourth New Culture Movement. In November 2003, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural heritage site in Fenghua. In April 2007, it was announced as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit of Fenghua, and on January 7, 2011, it was listed as part of the sixth batch of provincial-level cultural relics protection units.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units