Sun Yat-sen’s former residence

Sun Yat-sen’s former residence is located in Cuiheng Village, Nanlang Town, facing west, with a floor area of 500 square meters and a building area of 340 square meters.

The main building is a two-storied masonry timber building with three bays designed and supervised by Sun Yat-sen with the fundremittedfrom his eldest brother Sun Mei from Honolulu in 1892. The unique features of the main building are: first, it is a combination of Chinese and Western style, as its outer is in classical Western architectural style, while its inner is in traditional local style, with agod loft covered with goldleafandthe traditional Chinese-style mahoganyfurniture placed in the main hall; second, it faces west, while civil residences in Cuiheng Village mostly face east; third, it has many doors, windows and corridors, and two stairways, providing free access in all directions and great living convenience. The parlor is in the center of the ground floor, Sun Yat-sen’s mother’s bedroom behind the parlor, the bedroom of Sun Yat-sen and his first wife Lu Muzhen on the north, and the bedroom of Sun Yat-sen’s elder brother Sun Mei and his wife Tan on the south; the second floor is hollow, the god loft is above Sun Yat-sen’s mother’s bedroom, the guestroom on the north, and Sun Yat-sen’s study on the south.

While Sun Yat-sen practiced medicine in Macao and Guangzhou, he often lived, studied and practiced medicine in his hometown. He wrote theStatement to Li Hongzhan, and discussed strategies to save the nation with Lu Haodong here. After the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, Sun was in exile for 16 years. In May 1912, Sun returned home to visit his family after resigning from the office of Provisional President, and lived here for three days. The furnishings of the main building reproduce those when Sun lived here during 1892-1895.

On the right of the courtyard in front of the main building is the relic of Sun Yat-sen’s ancestral residence, where Sun was born on November 12, 1866. The family demolished this residence, and dug a well here after 1913. There is a tamarind on the left of the front courtyard, which is said to be planted here by Sun with a seed brought back from Honolulu in 1883.

There is a kitchen, a toilet and a utility room in the rear courtyard, which was built by Sun Mei around 1913.

On October 18, 1986, the State Council listedSun Yat-sen’s former residence as a national key protected cultural relic.