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Kang Youwei's Former Residence
Sailing World Cup Qingdao 2013,20142013-09-12 17:04:34

    The Memorial Hall of Kang Youwei's Former Residence at Qingdao

    Kang Youwei's Former Residence, also called Tianyou Garden, located at 5 Fushan Branch Road, is a German styled three-storey brick and concrete building originally constructed in 1899, covering a total floor area of 1,128 square meters. During the German occupation of Qingdao, this building was the official residence for the important officials of German Praetorium.

    In 1917, after participating in the Restoration (1917) launched by Zhangxun and ended in failure, Kang Youwei came to Qingdao for sightseeing for the first time. Short as his stay was, the city left him an excellent impression. In the letter to his friend afterwards, he credited Qingdao as a city with “afforested mountains and green trees, blue sea and azure sky, agreeable climate and convenient transportation on both land and at sea, which can be hailed as the best in China.” In 1923, Kang Youwei purchased this house when he came to Qingdao again. He was so satisfied with the residence that he said: The house in Qingdao is so nice that I have never had one like this before in my life,” “although the house is small, the courtyard is very big. Within only a few minutes’ walk I can get to the sea. Since Puyi, the last emperor of Qing dynasty, had presented him with a horizontal inscribed board on which the Chinese characters Tianyou Hall were inscribed, he named his residence Tianyou Garden (Heavenly Pleasure Hall). After that, he came to live here for a while every year, meeting cultural celebrities and devoting himself to calligraphy, until he passed away in Tianyou Garden on March 31, 1927.

    The building covers an area of 1,128 square meters, and is mainly made of bricks and wood. The furnishings were bestowed by Puwei, Prince of Gongqin, the 2nd generation of princes in the Qing Dynasty. During his stay, Kang Youwei met the cultural celebrities, and devoted himself to calligraphy, thus making the building famous home and abroad. Tianyou Garden, Kang Youwei’s former residence, which is located at 5 Fushan Branch Road, Qingdao, contains some old belongings and works of Kang Youwei, one of the main leaders of the Reform Movement of 1898 in the modern history of China. Chairman Mao considered that Kang Youwei was the representative of those who sought truth from the western culture before the foun ding of our Communist Party of China.

    At present, the residence is built into the Memorial Hall of Kang Youwei's Former Residence. Tianyou Garden remained her original look after the new China was founded, but it was changed into civilian residences, and the yard was already different from the former garden. In 1984, the Qingdao Municipal Government decided to build a Memorial Hall of Kang Youwei's Former Residence at the original site of Tianyou Garden. After several years’ preparation, some residents were transferred away, and the first two floors were officially open to the public, as the Memorial Hall of Kang Youwei's Former Residence. The graveyard of Kang Youwei is located “by the green forest, under the mountain ranges, above the blue sea, among the beautiful flowers”, the epitaph of which was written by Master Liu Haisu, one of Kang’s students. Lots of people come here to visit and express their respect continuously. Having witnessed a century of vicissitude, the Memorial Hall of Kang Youwei's Former Residence is now an important cultural palace of Qingdao, a city famous for its history and culture, and it is especially meaningful to understand the Chinese modern history and the cultural connotation of Qingdao. The hall is now a key historic site protected at the provincial level, as well as Shandong Provincial Base for Patriotic Education.

    Telephone  number :0532-82879957

    Address   :5 Fushan Branch Road, Qingdao