Xun Beile Mansion

　　The Xun Beile Mansion is situated at No. 110 North Xidan Street. The residence faces south with its back to the north, and its western boundary borders North Xidan Street. The current northern wall of the property and a group of siheyuan courtyard houses are all well-preserved. The mansion faces south with its back to the north, and its western edge reaches what is now North Xidan Street, its northern side neighbors what is now Lingjing Hutong, and its eastern side lies along what is now the mansion’s wall. The mansion complex is divided into three sections, with all buildings featuring flush-gable roofs with single-eave ridges covered in tube tiles. Its scale can no longer compare with that of princely mansions from the early Qing Dynasty. During the Republican era, Zai Xun sold parts of the mansion to the Confucianism University and Fengtian warlord Wan Fulin. After several changes of ownership, some structures were demolished. The site previously occupied by the Confucianism University has since been replaced by a government office building, leaving only an eastern siheyuan courtyard. Parts of the eastern and southern walls of the original mansion still remain. The eastern section consists of a three-courtyard layout, including a front hall, middle hall, rear hall, side rooms, and wing rooms, with a floral-pendant gate and corridors connecting to the rear hall. The central section includes two main halls and east and west wing rooms as well as side rooms in the front courtyard. The western section has two courtyards, featuring a main hall, east and west wing rooms, and side rooms, all interconnected by corridors. There are currently 72 historic architectural units remaining, with some main buildings still preserving exquisitely crafted wooden decorations. The total floor area is approximately 2,407 square meters.

　　The Xun Beile Mansion: Zai Xun was the seventh son of Prince Chun, Yi Xin, and the younger brother of Prince Regent Zaifeng. In the 28th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1902), Zai Xun was adopted by Prince Duan, Yi Xuan, as his heir, inheriting the title of Beile (lord), and was granted the honorary title of Junwang (prince) in the 34th year of Guangxu. In the early years of the Xuantong reign, he assisted his elder brother, the Prince Regent, serving as the Minister of the Navy. In the second year of the Xuantong reign (1910), he went to the United States to inspect military and political affairs but survived an assassination attempt by overseas Chinese patriot Kuang Youzhi upon landing in San Francisco. After the Xinhai Revolution, he resided in Tianjin for many years until his death. When Zai Xun inherited the title, the original Prince Duan Mansion on Ping’anli West Street had been burned down by the Eight-Nation Alliance, so he established his residence in Donghuaili.

　　Source: Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development