Former Residence of Rou Shi

Former Residence of Rou Shi

The former residence of Rou Shi is a cultural heritage site protected by Zhejiang Province and serves as a patriotic education base.

The former residence of Rou Shi is located in front of the West Ancestral Hall in Ninghai County. It is an old-style brick-and-wood courtyard complex. The west wing, the large west room, the kitchen, and half of the courtyard were initially rented and later purchased by Rou Shi’s father in earlier years. Rou Shi spent his childhood and adolescence here.

In 1927, after dividing the family property with his elder brother Pingxi, Rou Shi acquired three rooms on the west wing’s upper floor. The north room of the west wing was originally the “bridal chamber” where Rou Shi and his wife Wu Suying got married in the winter of 1920. Rou Shi taught his wife to read and write here. The south room on the upper floor served as a study where he usually read and wrote. The small front hall was used for meeting relatives and friends.

There used to be a small stone bridge to the east of the residence, inscribed with the characters “金桥柔石” (“Golden Bridge Rou Shi”), from which his pen names “Rou Shi” and “Golden Bridge” were derived.

In the summer of 1928, after the failure of the Tingpai Uprising in Ninghai, Rou Shi left his hometown in search of a more meaningful life path and went to Shanghai to make a living. He only returned in the winter of 1930 to celebrate a 60th birthday but soon left again — little did he know it would be his final farewell to his hometown.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Party and government placed great emphasis on the preservation of Rou Shi’s former residence. In 1960, the Ninghai County People’s Government renovated the site, and Lu Xun’s wife, Xu Guangping, inscribed the plaque reading “Former Residence of Rou Shi.” In October 1962, it was designated as a county-level cultural heritage site; in December 1989, it became a provincial-level cultural heritage site; and in February 1995, it was announced as a municipal-level patriotic education base by the Ningbo Municipal People’s Government. In September 2002, the Rou Shi Memorial Hall within the residence opened to the public; in October 2004, it was declared a provincial-level patriotic education base by the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government.

Address: No. 4, Roushi Road, West Gate, Chengguan Town, Ningbo City

Type: Celebrity Former Residence

Phone: 0574-65518585

Opening Hours:

8:00-16:30

Rou Shi (September 28, 1902 – February 7, 1931), male, from Ninghai, Zhejiang. His surname was Zhao, given name Pingfu, later changed to Pingfu, with pen names including Rou Shi, Golden Bridge, Zhao Huang, and Liu Zhiquing. He was a Chinese writer and member of the Chinese Communist Party, and one of the Five Martyrs of the League of Left-Wing Writers.

Short story collections such as "Madmen" and "Hope," novellas including "Three Sisters," "February," and "Mother for Slaves," the novel "Death of the Old Era," poetry such as "Battle" and "Blood Boils — In Memory of the Death of a Young Comrade from Hunan Executed in Nanjing," reportage literature like "A Great Impression," and essays "... Detailed information about Rou Shi++

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites

· National Third-Class Museum of China