The Little Western-Style House

The Little Western-Style House

This small three-room, two-story western-style house was built in 1930. It earned the name “Little Western-Style House” due to its compact structure and the use of cement—then referred to as “foreign ash”—as the primary building material. In April 1937, after Chiang Ching-kuo returned from his studies in the Soviet Union, Chiang Kai-shek arranged for him to live and study here. During this time, he not only worked on improving his Chinese and studied writings such as the Family Letters of Zeng Guofan, the Complete Works of Wang Yangming, and the “Posthumous Teachings on National Literature,” but he was also tasked with writing the Report on the Time in Russia, reflecting on the red influences he had absorbed during his years in the Soviet Union.

In his diary, Chiang Ching-kuo referred to it as “Han Zhai” (Contemplation Studio), playfully likening it to a study where one cultivates the mind and nurtures one’s character. When he lived there, the eastern part of the upper floor served as his bedroom, the western part as his study, and the central area as a reception room.

The Little Western-Style House was also home to Chiang Kai-shek’s foreign military advisor, Donald, and Chen Bulei, the head of the Generalissimo’s Personal Staff. Inside the first floor of the house lies a stone tablet inscribed with the words “Wash Blood with Blood,” which tells the story of the tragic death of Chiang Ching-kuo’s mother, Mao Fumei. In 1939, Japanese aircraft bombed Xikou, and Mao Fumei was tragically killed when the back wall of Fenghao House collapsed on her. Upon hearing the news, Chiang Ching-kuo rushed back from Jiangxi for the funeral. Overcome with grief and fury, he shed tears as he wrote the four characters “Wash Blood with Blood,” expressing his firm resolve to avenge his mother’s death. Originally erected at the site of Mao Fumei’s death in Fenghao House, the tablet was later moved to the Little Western-Style House.

Chiang Ching-kuo was the son of Chiang Kai-shek, also known as Jianfeng, and his Russian name was Nikolai. He was a native of Fenghua, Zhejiang. In 1920, Chiang Ching-kuo attended the well-known Wanzhu Primary School in Shanghai. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was working under Sun Yat-sen in Guangdong, so he entrusted Chen Guofu, who was doing business in Shanghai, to take care of his son.

In October 1925, Chiang Ching-kuo went to the Soviet Union to study at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, where he soon joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek launched the “April 12th” coup and openly turned against the Soviets, 17-year-old Chiang Ching-kuo was demoted to the rank of private and sent to serve in Siberia.