Former Site of Commander Wu Peifu’s Headquarters

Former Site of Commander Wu Peifu’s Headquarters

The former site of Commander Wu Peifu’s Headquarters is a cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province.

The former site of Commander Wu Peifu’s Headquarters is located on the east side of the Xigong District Government, at the southeast corner of the intersection of Zhongzhou Road and Jiefang Road in the city center. The small compound features a mixed Sino-Western architectural style with a rigorous layout and an elegant, classic charm.

The Xigong Barracks, located on both sides of Zhongzhou Middle Road in today’s Xigong District, have played a significant role in the modern history of Luoyang and even China, with many major military and political events closely associated with them. The surviving former site of Commander Wu Peifu’s Headquarters is an important part of the Xigong Barracks and is a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

The overall architecture of the Xigong Barracks faces south and stretches roughly from the northeast to the southwest, covering an area of 200 hectares with over 5,000 barracks built. The entire barracks complex was constructed entirely according to the organizational structure of a Beiyang Army infantry division. The four barracks on the north side housed the infantry regiment, the four on the southwest side accommodated the artillery regiment, while the cavalry was concentrated in a large barracks on the southeast side. The engineering and logistics battalions were stationed in two smaller barracks on the west side. The central area of the camp housed the headquarters and a large parade ground. The headquarters had a layout in the shape of the Chinese character “目” (meaning “eye”), consisting of three courtyards in a row, with three large tiled buildings aligned north-south and wing rooms on the sides. Its architectural layout resembled that of a traditional quadrangle courtyard.

In front of the Xigong Barracks’ headquarters, there is an east-west avenue, with a parade reviewing stand to the south of the road and an underground meeting room (known as Guanghan Palace) to the north. South of the parade ground, there are six additional compounds. To the east of the headquarters lies a garden, along with one set of high-ranking officers’ quarters, which include a basement accessible via a secret passage that leads to the airport and the train station.

The western half of the Xigong Barracks was surrounded by trenches on the north, west, and south sides. In the northwest part of the barracks (now the northern end of Fanglin Road), there was a power plant. To the east of the moat in the southwest part of the barracks, along the eastern side of Qili River and Jianhe River, there was an arsenal and munitions storage facility. To the north of the barracks were an airport and Jinguoyuan Train Station. To the east were Yingshi Street (near Xigong Xiao Street) and Gongguan Street (in the area of today’s municipal government family residential compound), with a total of over 1,300 houses built in these two areas, mainly serving the functions of the barracks.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units