Ban Shan Pavilion

Ban Shan Pavilion

Ban Shan Pavilion is a cultural relic protection unit of Anhui Province.

Ban Shan Pavilion, the library building of Tongcheng Middle School founded by Wu Rulun, an important late-Tongcheng School writer and late Qing Dynasty educator, is located within the campus of Tongcheng Middle School. Constructed in the 29th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1903), its design involved early Japanese teacher Hayakawa Tōmei, who once taught at Tongcheng Middle School. Contemporary ancient architecture experts Shan Qiuyuan, Luo Zhewen, and Zheng Xiaoxie greatly admired its design and architectural artistry, praising it as “frozen music.”

Wu Rulun, courtesy name Zhipu, also called Zhi Fu, was a native of Tongcheng, Anhui, during the Qing Dynasty. A literary figure and educator of the late Qing period, he was also a writer from the later Tongcheng School. He became a Jinshi (advanced scholar) in the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign, and successively served as an aide to Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, as well as the magistrate of Shen Zhou and Ji Zhou. He long presided over lectures at Lianchi Academy, and in his later years was appointed as the Chief Instructor of the Imperial University of Peking, where he also founded the prestigious Tongcheng Middle School. In his lifetime, Wu Rulun published works such as “Records of Shen Zhou Customs” and “A Collection of Eastern Travels.” A year after his death, his son Wu Kaisheng compiled and published “The Complete Works of Mr. Wu of Tongcheng,” which included six types of writings such as collected essays, poetry, letters, and commentaries on the classics. There were also many works that were compiled but not printed, or not compiled at all, some of which were later published, including “The Diary of Mr. Wu of Tongcheng,” “Continuation of Letters,” “Poetry Collection of Zhi Fu,” and annotated editions of ancient texts.

Ban Shan Pavilion is a two-story brick-and-wood structure, consisting of a pavilion and a main building. Since the pavilion is built against the west gable wall of the main building and only the east gable of the main building is visible, it is named “Ban Shan” (Half Mountain). The “pavilion” faces west and is two stories high, with a width of three bays and a depth of one bay, featuring a hip-and-gable roof imitation. It is 8.9 meters wide, 3.4 meters long, and 8.4 meters high. The ground floor is protected by brick walls, with a door on the north and south sides each. Entering from the north door, a staircase leads to the second floor. The upper floor is a wooden raised-beam structure, open on the south, west, and north sides, with railings and handrails installed, and pendant ornaments under the eaves. The roof is covered with blue-gray small tiles, with corner braces at the eaves, and inside hangs a horizontal plaque inscribed with Wu Rulun’s calligraphy reading “Strive to Become Pillars of the Nation,” as well as a couplet in running script: “A century later, talent will surge forth, nurtured here; the essence of Eastern and Western learning, refined and forged into character.” The gold-plated inscriptions are dazzling.

To the east of the pavilion is the “main building,” oriented north-south, five bays wide and one bay deep, 18.7 meters wide, 6.3 meters long, and two stories high, with a western-pitch roof and small tile roofing. The gable walls on the east and west extend to the top, with corridors on all sides on both floors. The four pillars on both sides reach the eaves, also featuring pendant ornaments under them. Each side wall of the corridor on the ground floor has eight double casement windows, making it spacious and bright. The upper floor features wooden flooring, paneled walls, long windows, handrails, carved woodwork, and flat red paint. There are two arched doorways connecting the pavilion and the main building.

Ban Shan Pavilion is elegant and classic, hailed as a piece of “frozen music.” On the northwest side of the pavilion are emerald cypresses and wisteria planted by Wu Rulun, the founder of Tongcheng Middle School, symbolizing a lesson to students: to learn from the evergreen, upright cypress; and not to be like the sprawling, dependent wisteria. Stone pillar inscriptions collect famous lines from Six Dynasties literati, handwritten by late Qing calligrapher Fang Shoudun, embodying the earnest hopes of these earlier scholars for future students. In 1989, the People's Government of Anhui Province designated it as a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit.