Martin Hall

Martin Hall

Martin Hall, designated as Building No. 334 in the northeast area of Sun Yat-sen University (formerly No. 61), is located to the east of Xing Ting Pavilion and the bronze statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen on the central lawn of the campus. In 1905, at the founding of Lingnan College, the board of directors sold its own securities and, following the design of a young foreign architect named Stuart, constructed a three-story building. Construction began in 1905 (the 31st year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign) and was completed in 1906. Initially called the East Wing, in contrast to the West Wing, it was later renamed Martin Hall in honor of Mr. Henry Martin, an American industrialist from Cincinnati who made the largest donation toward the establishment of the college.

Compared to other buildings in the Kangyuan Garden campus, Martin Hall may not be the most ornate, but it is this very structure—blending Chinese and Western architectural elements—that has fully witnessed the transitions of both Lingnan University and Sun Yat-sen University through the ages.

Martin Hall measures 50.68 meters in length, 16.14 meters in width, and 15.8 meters in height, with a total construction area of 2,516.48 square meters and a usable floor area of 1,572.48 square meters. It has three floors, 11 bays, and includes a basement. The building has entrances at both the front and back. The main entrance is centered on the south façade, flanked by two symmetrical secondary entrances. The basement entrance is located beneath the west façade, with granite steps leading up to each entrance. The original south lintel bore the inscription “MARTIN HALL,” which has since been replaced by the calligraphy of Mr. Fei Xiaotong reading “Sun Yat-sen University Department of Anthropology.” The original north lintel read “EAST HALL,” but that has now been erased. Embedded in the lower left corner of the south façade is a rock inscribed with “AD1905.” Overall, the building pursues a symmetrical and balanced composition with a simple and solid style. It is the first building in China constructed with hard red bricks and also one of the earliest to use reinforced concrete for flooring.

As China’s first brick-and-concrete building, Martin Hall holds an important place in the history of Chinese architecture and serves as a valuable reference for the study of the development of modern Chinese architecture.

After the Department of Anthropology at Sun Yat-sen University was reinstated, it moved into Martin Hall along with the museum in 1983, while the library was relocated to a new facility at Magangding. Today, Martin Hall houses the Department of Anthropology of the School of Humanities, the Research Center for Chinese Ethnic Groups, the Museum of Anthropology, and the Research, Conservation, and Teaching Center for South China Cultural Heritage.

On the northeast side of Yixian Avenue, at No. 334, stands this unadorned red-brick building in quiet dignity. Above the main south-facing entrance is a white stone plaque engraved with eight running-script characters in the hand of the renowned sociologist and anthropologist Fei Xiaotong: “Sun Yat-sen University Department of Anthropology.” The concise yet vigorous brushstrokes retain a lively charm. This is Martin Hall—the current home of the Department of Anthropology and the Museum of Anthropology.

Looking back over a century, Martin Hall boasts a distinguished lineage and a wealth of historical memory. In 1906, the then American Board of Trustees sold securities to provide $25,000 for the construction of Martin Hall. Originally called the East Wing, it stood symmetrically opposite the West Wing, the Science Building, across the road. It was later renamed Martin Hall in tribute to Mr. Henry Martin, who donated the largest sum toward the college’s establishment. It holds several “first” titles: the first permanent building in Kangyuan Garden, the first structure in Guangzhou built with hard red bricks, and the first to feature a reinforced concrete floor. Beginning with Martin Hall, the architectural style of Lingnan University in Kangyuan Garden came to be characterized by combinations of red bricks, green tiles, traditional Chinese roofs, and Western-style walls—a striking contrast to the gray bricks and black tiles of Yan Garden (now the site of Peking University).

On May 7, 1912, Dr. Sun Yat-sen visited Lingnan College and delivered a speech titled “No Learning, No Construction” in front of Martin Hall, where he also took a group photo with faculty, students, and staff. According to records, the space inside Martin Hall at the time was insufficient to accommodate all 300-plus students, so some sat directly on the corridor floor, yet Dr. Sun chatted cheerfully with them.