Wen Tianxiang Memorial

　　The Wen Tianxiang Memorial, also known as the Wen Chancellor Memorial, is located at No. 63 Fuxue Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing. It was the place where Wen Tianxiang, a national hero of the Southern Song Dynasty, was imprisoned and executed. The memorial was built in 1376 (the ninth year of the Hongwu reign in the Ming Dynasty), and currently consists of the main gate, front hall, and rear hall. In 1979, it was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Beijing, opened to the public in 1984, and recognized as a patriotic education base in 1992.

　　Though small in size (only 600 square meters), the "spirit" of the Wen Tianxiang Memorial is profound. Over the past 20 years, it has received more than 200,000 visitors from China and abroad. People come here to recite “Song of Righteousness” and “Crossing the Lonely Ocean,” experiencing Wen Tianxiang’s noble national integrity and his patriotic spirit of dedicating himself to the country. The renovated memorial has restored, based on historical photos from 1930, the clay statue of Wen Tianxiang, the shrine, the offering table, and some plaques and couplets in the rear hall. The front hall has been updated with new display boards and cabinets, showcasing Wen Tianxiang’s lofty national integrity and patriotic sentiments through charts, photos, paintings, and artifacts.

　　Wen Tianxiang (1236–1283)　　Wen Tianxiang, the top scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, styled Songrui and also known as Wenshan, was born in 1236 into a landlord family in Futian Village, Chunhua Township, Luling (now southern Ji’an, Jiangxi). His father loved reading and placed great importance on his children’s education, hiring renowned teachers for their instruction. Wen Tianxiang studied, wrote, and discussed history and current affairs with his younger brother in a study filled with maxims, regardless of the season. At the age of 18, Wen Tianxiang ranked first in the local examinations of Luling. At 20, he entered Bailuzhou Academy in Jizhou (now Ji’an, Jiangxi), where he was selected as a tribute student of Jizhou in the same year and went with his father to Lin’an (now Hangzhou) to take the imperial exams. During the palace examination, his “Imperial Examination Policy” addressed the issues of the time...   More+