Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
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The Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (中山陵) is situated at the foot of the second peak of Mount Zijin (Purple Mountain) in Nanjing, China. Construction of the tomb started in January of 1926 and was finished in spring of 1929. The architect was Lu Yanzhi, who died shortly after it was finished.
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[edit] History
Dr. Sun was born in Guangdong province of China on November 12th, 1866, and died in 1925 in Beijing, China. On April 23rd, 1929，the Chinese government appointed He Yingqin to be in charge of laying Dr. Sun to rest. On May 26th, the coffin departed from Beijing, and on May 28th, it arrived in Nanjing. On June 1st, 1929, Dr. Sun was buried there. Sun, considered to be the "Father of Modern China" both in mainland China and in Taiwan, fought against the imperial Qing government and after the 1911 revolution ended the monarch reign system and founded the Republic of China.
[edit] Architecture
Reclining on mountain slope, the majestic mausoleum blends the styles of traditional imperial tombs and modern architecture. Lying at the mountainside, the vault is more than 700 hundred meters away from the paifang on the square below, which is the entrance of the mausoleum. There is a three-tier stone stand on which a huge bronze ding, an ancient Chinese vessel symbolizing power, perches. To the north of the square, the paifang towers high. Beyond is the 480-meter-long and 50-meter-wide stairway which has 392 stairs, leading to the vault. On both sides, pine, cypress, and gingko trees guard the way. At the end of the stairway is a gate which is 16 meters high and 27 meters wide. The tri-arched marble gate is inscribed with four Chinese characters written by Dr. Sun, "Tian Xia Wei Gong" which means "What is under heaven is for all". Inside of the gate, there is a pavilion in which a 9-meter-high stele is set, which is a memorial monument set by the Kuomintang. A few stairs up is the sacrificial hall and the vault.
In front of the sacrificial hall there stands a pair of huabiao, ancient Chinese ornamental columns, which are 12.6 meters high. The sacrificial hall is actually a palace of 30 meters in length, 25 meters in width and 29 meters in height. In the center of the hall a 4.6-meter-high statue of Dr. Sun sits. The statue was sculptured out of white marble produced in Italy. The ceiling of the hall features the flag of the Kuomintang. Biographical information on Dr. Sun is available to visitors in the hall. North of the hall lies the bell-shaped vault, wherein lies a statue of Sun on a white marble coffin, under which Dr. Sun lies.
[edit] Recent events
April 27th, 2005: then-Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan ,his wife and other KMT members visited the Mausoleum. It was the first time KMT members visited since 1949.
November 15th, 2006: Dr. Sun's granddaughter, Sun Huiying, who is over 80 years old, visited the Mausoleum.
[edit] External links
- Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum National Park
