The Jiulonggang Republican-era Architectural Complex

The Jiulonggang Republican-era Architectural Complex

The Jiulonggang Republican-era Architectural Complex is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Anhui Province and serves as a patriotic education base.

The Jiulonggang Republican-era Architectural Complex is located in Huainan Village, Jiulonggang Town, Datong District, Huainan City. It includes two sites: the office building of the Huainan Mining Bureau and the “Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Universe” architectural complex, which are respectively under the administration of the Huainan Mining Group and the Huainan Oriental Hospital Group. This architectural complex was initially built in the late 1920s by the Nationalist Government for the mining of the Jiulonggang coalfield, primarily serving as office spaces and residences for management personnel. In 1938, when the Japanese army occupied Huainan, they took over the complex and made slight modifications, turning it into a historical witness to the Japanese exploitation of Huainan’s coal resources.

In June 2011, the Huainan Municipal People's Government designated it as a municipal-level cultural heritage site, and in June 2012, the Anhui Provincial People's Government listed it as a provincial-level cultural heritage site.

The office building of the Huainan Mining Bureau was constructed in 1930 as the office building of the Huainan Coal Mine Bureau under the Nationalist Government. In 1938, the Japanese army occupied the Huainan coal mine, and in 1939, the building became the office of the Japanese charcoal mining company. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, the Huainan coal mine was returned to the Nationalist Government and once again served as the office of the Huainan Coal Mine Bureau. This two-story brick-and-concrete cement structure features a flat roof and Republican-era architectural style, oriented from southeast to northwest. The floor plan is irregular, measuring 18.55 meters in length from the northwest, 25.1 meters from the southeast, and 14.63 meters in depth, covering a land area of 319.34 square meters and a building area of 638.68 square meters, with a total area of 1,700 square meters (including structures within the courtyard).

The “Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Universe” architectural complex is located in Huainan Village, Jiulonggang Town, Datong District, Huainan City. Constructed between the 27th year (1936) and 28th year (1937) of the Republic of China, it was originally built as staff dormitories for a coal company controlled by T.V. Soong. After the Japanese occupation of Jiulonggang in 1938, the Japanese charcoal mining company took over the complex for use as staff dormitories. Following Japan’s surrender in 1945, it became housing for senior staff of the Huainan Coal Mine Bureau. After the liberation, the Jiulonggang Coal Mine allocated the buildings to employees as workers’ quarters. The complex currently consists of 23 individual buildings, arranged along the east, south, and north sides of the road. The buildings vary significantly in size and facilities based on the rank of their occupants, with floor areas gradually decreasing from higher to lower ranks, and supporting facilities adjusted accordingly. The residences are graded from highest to lowest as Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Universe, and Cosmos, housing staff of different ranks.

Future plans for activities and utilization: The “Jiulonggang Republican-era Architectural Complex Conservation Plan” was approved by the Anhui Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau in 2015. This plan centers on the Jiulonggang Republican-era Architectural Complex and aims to uniformly protect and utilize surrounding industrial and architectural relics from the same period (including the office building of the Huainan Railway Bureau, former staff residences of the railway bureau, No. 9 Shaft, etc.). Through the connection and coordination of points, lines, and surfaces, the plan ultimately aims to create an atmosphere of a Republican-era style town. According to the plan, the office building of the Huainan Mining Bureau and the “Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Universe, Cosmos” architectural complex will be repaired and restored according to the conservation principle of “restoring the old as it was,” to be completed in 2–3 phases. Moving forward, the Huainan Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Bureau will work with the property rights units to actively apply for repair and conservation funding at the provincial and municipal levels, carrying out repairs and utilization in phases. The first phase involves restoring four buildings within the “Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Universe, Cosmos” complex to their original appearance, adding necessary living facilities, improving the environment, and creating a model project for tourism and leisure spaces. This will organically combine cultural heritage protection with rational utilization, driving the local and surrounding tourism and cultural industries, and promoting local economic and social development.