Mingyuan Tower of the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall

Mingyuan Tower of the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall

Mingyuan Tower of the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The clock tower where the site of the First National Congress of the Kuomintang is located was built on the former site of the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall. To its north lies the only remaining architectural relic of the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall — Mingyuan Tower. Mingyuan Tower is a two-story wooden pavilion-style building with a hip-and-gable roof and glazed tiles. The first floor has five bays in both width and depth, while the second floor has five bays in width and three bays in depth. Both levels are surrounded by corridors. The Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall was originally established during the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, Li Shizhen, the governor of Guangdong, relocated the examination hall to this site. At that time, the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall was one of the largest of its kind in China. However, it was destroyed in the fires of war during the Second Opium War in 1856, with only Mingyuan Tower and a section of the Dragon-Tiger Wall near the southeast corner of the current Sun Yat-sen Library surviving. Two years ago, during the renovation of the site of the First National Congress of the Kuomintang, the foundations of examination cells were discovered beneath the floor of the clock tower auditorium. Now, after comprehensive restoration, Mingyuan Tower is open to the public and houses an exhibition on ancient imperial examination halls.

Introduction: Mingyuan Tower is the largest and likely the most important structure in the imperial examination hall complex. It served as the residence of the chief examiner, offering a panoramic view of the entire examination site. Towering ancient trees surround the area, including two kapok trees over 100 years old.

In 2005, the clock tower where the site of the First National Congress of the Kuomintang is located, built on the former site of the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall with Mingyuan Tower — the only remaining architectural relic — to its north, was designated as part of the sixth batch of provincial-level cultural relic protection units by the People's Government of Fujian Province.

Protected Area: After the imperial examination system was abolished in the late Qing Dynasty, the Guangdong Provincial Imperial Examination Hall site was repurposed to establish the Guangdong and Guangxi Advanced Normal School, with the clock tower serving as its office building and auditorium. Following the 1911 Revolution and the recovery of Guangdong, it was renamed Guangdong Higher Normal School. In 1924, several schools, including the National Guangdong Higher Normal School, were merged into the National Guangdong University, which was renamed National Sun Yat-sen University in 1926. Mingyuan Tower once became part of the Sun Yat-sen University library. It is said that both Zhou Enlai and Ho Chi Minh read books here. At the time, it was referred to as the Red Building due to its red exterior walls.

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Further Reading:

· First Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Guangdong Province