Former Residence of Cao Kun

　　    Cao Kun’s former residence is situated at No. 2 Nanhai Road, Heping District. Built in 1923, it is commonly known as Cao Mansion. It was a Western-style building newly constructed for Cao Kun’s fourth wife, Liu Fengwei, after he retired from politics. The two-story brick house includes a basement and has a total of 42 rooms, including both upstairs and ground-floor units, covering a construction area of 1,153 square meters. The front eaves of the main building feature four reinforced concrete pillars adorned with carvings. The exterior is clad in yellow ceramic tiles, and the interior is exquisitely decorated with carvings of floral and animal patterns. The entire mansion is magnificent and remains well-preserved to this day. The residence is currently used as a kindergarten by the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Culture.

　　Cao Kun 　　    Cao Kun, courtesy name Zhongshan, was a native of Tianjin, Zhili. He was a leader of the Zhili clique warlords during the Beiyang period, the fifth President of the Republic of China (in October 1923, he ascended to the presidency through bribery and was thus nicknamed the “Bribery President”), and a first-class general of the National Revolutionary Army (posthumously awarded by the Military Committee of the Nationalist Government on June 14, 1938). In his childhood, Cao Kun attended a private school for several years. At the age of 16, he pushed a cart to sell cloth in rural areas but eventually went out of business due to indulgence in pleasure and accumulated losses. In 1881, coinciding with Yuan Shikai’s recruitment of new soldiers at Xiaozhan, he enlisted. Soon after, he was selected to study at the Tianjin Military Academy. He graduated in 1890 (the 16th year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty)... Details+