Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Guangzhou)

The Sun Yat-sen or Zhongshan Memorial Hall is an octagon-shaped building in Guangzhou, capital of China's Guangdong Province. The hall was designed by Lu Yanzhi and was built with funds raised by local and overseas Chinese people in memory of Sun Yat-sen. Construction work commenced in 1929 and completed in 1931. The hall is a large octagonal structure with a span of 71 metres (233 ft) without pillars, housing a large stage and seats 3,240 people.

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

中山纪念堂
Location	Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Coordinates	23°08′06″N 113°15′54″E
Type	Memorial
Material	Steel and Concrete
Height	49 m (161 ft)
Beginning date	1929
Completion date	October, 1931
Dedicated to	Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Simplified Chinese	中山纪念堂
Traditional Chinese	中山紀念堂
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngshān Jìniàntáng Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄕㄢ ㄐㄧˋ ㄋㄧㄢˋ ㄊㄤˊ Wade–Giles Chung1-shan1 Chi4-nien4-t‘ang2 IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋ.ʂán tɕî.njɛ̂n.tʰǎŋ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jūngsāan Géinihmtòhng Jyutping zung1 saan1 gei2 nim6 tong4 IPA [tsʊŋ˥.san˥ kej˧˥.nim˨.tʰɔŋ˩]

History

The memorial hall stands on the site of Guangzhou's Presidential Palace during the Constitutional Protection Movement, when the Nationalists operated a rival "Chinese" government to the Zhili Clique's Beijing regime.^{[citation needed]} The palace was damaged during Ye Ju's 16 June 1922 attack on Sun Yat-sen, during which—though he had already fled—his wife narrowly escaped shelling and rifle fire before meeting him^[1] on the gunboat Yongfeng,^[2] where they were joined by Chiang Kai-shek.^[3] The hall itself has been severely damaged and repaired several times until 1998, when it was comprehensively upgraded to its present-day condition. A statue of Sun Yat-sen was erected in front of the main entrance.

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall depicted on the reverse of a 1931 Kwangtung Provincial Bank 1 Dollar Banknote.

Transportation

The memorial hall is accessible from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station of Guangzhou Metro.

See also

• Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing
• Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in Singapore