Former Residence of Lu Xun at Baiyunlou

Former Residence of Lu Xun at Baiyunlou

The former residence of Lu Xun at Baiyunlou is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The former residence of Lu Xun at Baiyunlou in Republican-era Guangzhou is located at Baiyunlou on Baiyun Road, Guangzhou. The building is a three-story reinforced concrete structure. It faces the southeast, and its length varies from front to back due to the terrain—approximately 93 meters in the front, about 74 meters in the back, and around 28 meters deep. The southwestern and northern walls feature multiple cement plaques inscribed with the name “Baiyunlou.” Built in 1924, the building originally served as staff dormitories for the postal service. Lu Xun rented a set of rooms on the second floor of the first western doorway—a living room and three bedrooms. He moved in on March 29, 1927, from the Bell Tower of Sun Yat-sen University. At that time, Lu Xun and his close friend Xu Shoushang each occupied one room; Xu’s daughter, Xu Guangping, shared a room with a maid, while the parlor was near the entrance. The interior furnishings were simple, with bamboo chairs. Lu Xun’s room had windows facing the street and was filled with books. The corridor on the western side of the first floor faced Donghao Stream and was connected to the second and third floors via a spiral staircase.

In early 1927, Lu Xun arrived in Guangzhou and stayed on the second floor of the Bell Tower at Sun Yat-sen University. Soon after, following Chiang Kai-shek’s April 12 Incident in Shanghai, the Guangzhou Kuomintang authorities carried out a similar purge on April 15. One of Lu Xun’s promising students, Bi Lei—Vice Secretary of the Student Affairs Committee of the Guangdong District Committee of the CCP and Chairman of the Sun Yat-sen University Student Union—was arrested. Lu Xun tried hard to secure his release but failed. Later, he angrily resigned from all his positions at Sun Yat-sen University and secluded himself at Baiyunlou to write. He resisted pressure, temptations, and surveillance from the new ruling class and secret agents, and with his sharp pen, produced works such as “Despicable Crime,” “Random Thoughts,” “Reflections on the Clippings,” “On ‘Radicalism’,” and “A Brief Discussion on Hong Kong,” engaging in direct confrontation with these reactionary figures. On September 27, he left here with Xu Guangping for Shanghai.

The former residence of Lu Xun is still well preserved today.

In December 1979, it was designated as a cultural relic protection unit by the Guangdong Provincial Revolutionary Committee.

Type: Celebrity Former Residence

Recommended visiting time: 10–20 minutes

Opening hours:

Not open to the public; only exterior viewing allowed; open all day.

Ticket information:

Free admission.

Lu Xun (September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936), originally named Zhou Zhangshou, later changed to Zhou Shuren, with the courtesy names Yushan and later Yucan. “Lu Xun” was the pen name he used when publishing “A Madman’s Diary” in 1918, and it became his most widely recognized pseudonym. A native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, he was a renowned writer and thinker, an important participant in the May Fourth New Culture Movement, and a founding figure of modern Chinese literature. Mao Zedong once commented: “The direction taken by Lu Xun is the direction of the new culture of the Chinese nation.” [1-6]

Lu Xun dedicated his life to literary creation, literary criticism, … More details about Lu Xun++

Baiyun Subdistrict: Baiyun Subdistrict is an administrative subdistrict under the People’s Government of Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. Its predecessor was Guangjiu Street, established in 1950. Baiyun Subdistrict is located in the southeastern part of Yuexiu District. To the east, it starts from Donghu Road and the eastern end of Ersha Island, bordering Donghu Subdistrict and facing Haixinsha in Tianhe District; to the west, it extends to Donghao Stream, adjacent to Zhuguang Subdistrict; to the north, it is bounded by Xinhepu Stream, bordering Dadong Subdistrict; and to the south, it reaches the Pearl River, across which lies Haizhu District. Covering an area of 3.08 square kilometers, it had 12,329 households and a population of 41,140 in 2007. The subdistrict has 10 community neighborhood committees. The terrain within Baiyun Subdistrict’s jurisdiction is … More details about Baiyun Subdistrict++

Further reading:

· Second Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units