Former Residence of Li Rong

Former Residence of Li Rong

The former residence of Li Rong is located in Xiakeng Second Team, Gediao Village, Tongqu Town, Longchuan County, Guangdong Province. Built during the Qing Dynasty, it faces southeast and is situated northwest. Originally designed as a three-courtyard, two-wing structure with a main building of five rooms upstairs and five downstairs, it currently has eight surviving wing rooms, including the first four on the left side. The building spans 32.3 meters in width and 29 meters in depth, with a total floor area of 936.7 square meters.

Li Rong (1875–1949), also known as Guanmei, styled Huating, and nicknamed Li Ya’e, was a native of Gediao Village, Tongqu Town, Longchuan. As a child, he only attended a private school. Due to his family’s poverty, he went to Guangzhou to make a living in his youth and later worked as a sailor on the British ocean liner “Ecuador” in Hong Kong. Known for his straightforward and courageous nature, he stood up for justice and joined the Overseas United Righteous Society in Hong Kong, where he was elected Director of the Fundraising Committee for Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary propaganda. From then on, he formed an inseparable bond with Sun Yat-sen.

In 1896, when Sun Yat-sen was wanted by the Qing court in the UK and was lured and confined by the Qing consulate in Britain, who planned to transport him back to China in a large wooden crate to be killed, Li Rong, upon hearing the news, urgently sought help for his rescue. With the strong assistance of Sun Yat-sen’s teacher in Britain, James Cantlie, Sun was successfully bailed out and escaped danger. Loyal and dependable, Li Rong earned Sun Yat-sen’s high regard and trust, and was even adopted as Sun’s godson. From then on, Li Rong gained fame and left the ocean liner to follow Sun Yat-sen in his revolutionary endeavors.

On January 1, 1912, when Sun Yat-sen assumed office as the provisional President of the Republic of China, Li Rong was appointed as an officer in the Provisional Central Government. In 1917, he accompanied Sun Yat-sen on the Northern Expedition. In 1923, during Sun’s critical journey to suppress Chen Jiongming in Shilong, Li Rong’s efforts ensured Sun’s safe return to Guangzhou. In 1925, he followed Sun Yat-sen to the north until the latter’s passing. Afterward, Li Rong guarded Sun’s body at Beijing’s Biyun Temple until the summer of 1929, when he personally escorted Sun’s coffin to its final resting place at the Purple Mountain in Nanjing. Li Rong was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Zhongshan Mausoleum Management Office with the rank of Major General. During the War of Resistance, when the capital was relocated to Chongqing, Li Rong returned to his hometown. He later served as the captain of the security team at the Guangzhou Cement Factory. In 1949, after the liberation of Guangzhou, he returned home and passed away in his native Longchuan in November of the same year.