Former Site of the Imperial Capital Women’s Normal School

Former Site of the Imperial Capital Women’s Normal School

The Former Site of the Imperial Capital Women’s Normal School is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Former Site of the Imperial Capital Women’s Normal School is a Western-style school building from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period located in Xicheng District, Beijing. It is an important modern historical site and representative architecture, situated at No. 45 Xinculture Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, and currently houses the Beijing Lu Xun Middle School. In 1908 (the 34th year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty), imperial censor Huang Ruilin petitioned for the establishment of the Imperial Capital Women’s Normal School. The Qing Ministry of Education decided to construct the school buildings on the former site of the Dugong Mansion at Shifuma Street (now Xinculture Street). The construction was completed in 1909 (the first year of the Xuantong reign). The teaching building covers an area of 4,300 square meters, and the auditorium covers 220 square meters. It consists of a complex of four buildings. After the founding of the Republic of China, the Imperial Capital Women’s Normal School was restructured as the Beijing Women’s Normal School, which actively prepared for the establishment of a higher normal school for women. In 1924, it was renamed the Beijing Women’s Normal University. Lu Xun taught here from 1923 to 1926. It was designated as a Beijing Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1984, and in May 2006, it was listed as part of the sixth group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level