Former Site of Henan University in Tantou

Former Site of Henan University in Tantou

The former site of Henan University in Tantou is a cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province.

The former site of Henan University in Tantou is located in the villages of Tantou, Dang, Zhang, Gucheng, and Dawangmiao in Tantou Town, Luanchuan County, Luoyang City.

Affected by the war, from 1937 to 1939, Henan University was relocated successively to Zhenping and Jigongshan in southwestern Henan, and then to Tantou Town in the Funiu Mountain area of western Henan. The local people of Tantou actively supported the university’s development by vacating their homes to be used as classrooms and dormitories for faculty and students, and donating furniture such as desks, chairs, and stools, as well as daily necessities including food, oil, meat, and eggs. The county-run higher elementary school provided over 50 rooms to serve as public classrooms and a library for the College of Arts, Science, and Agriculture, while more than 20 rooms in the Guan Di Temple were converted into offices for the university’s main administration. The College of Arts was located in Gucheng Village and Shimen Village, occupying eight courtyards, with the reading room additionally set up in Shangshen Temple; the College of Science was situated in Dang Village, using six courtyards; the physics and chemistry laboratories, instrument rooms, biology specimen rooms, and power plant occupied over 40 civilian houses; the College of Agriculture was established in Dawangmiao Village, taking up eight courtyards, and included a seed storage and instrument room.

At that time, Henan University used over 40 civilian houses and school buildings in Tantou Town. The school buildings and dormitories were all single-courtyard style, hard-roofed brick-and-wood residential structures. The houses were mostly built with blue bricks (some with earthen walls), with gray tile roofs and flower-patterned carvings on the ridges. The site also preserves remnants of various activities and events of Henan University during its time in Tantou, such as the well where university students lost their lives and the site of the Tantou Tragedy. With the rapid development of new rural construction, most of the original civilian houses have been renovated, leaving only about 10 remaining, many of which are now in disrepair and in urgent need of protection.

As the site of a major higher education institution at the time, the former Henan University site in Tantou holds significant historical value for understanding the historical background, teaching conditions, and cultural life of higher education in Henan during that period.

Tantou Village: Tantou Village…… More details about Tantou Village++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Henan Province