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Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

A?national major cultural relic of Guangdong Province, was designed by Mr. Lu Yanzhi, a reputable Chinese architect, and sponsored by the local people of Guangzhou and overseas Chinese to commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the great forerunner of Chinese revolution. The Hall saw its const-ruction started in 1929 and completed in 1931 at where the Presidential Pa-lace had been.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Memorial Hall, an octagonal building with grand presence, features a strong Chinese style. The 52m-high main hall accounts for 12000m2 out of the total 6.3 hectares of the whole complex. It spans as wide as 71 meters in the absence of a single pillar, thanks to the designer's ingenious application of the architectural mechanics and structural combination of steel framework and ferroconcrete. The main hall holds a 15m-wide, 20m-deep stage and 3238 seats. Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is one of most symbolic buildings of Guangzhou, and it is also a major site for great convention and performance, a tourist attraction to visitors from home and abroad.



Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is composed of the arch over the gateway, the memorial hall (the main building) and accessory buildings which are located to the east and west of the Hall. The ancient imperial Palace accounts for 12000m2 out of the total 6 hectares of the whole complex.

The arch over the gateway: it has three small arches, which are made of ferroconcrete. The middle arch with saddle??rooftop is higher, the two side arches with the double-eaved hip rooftops are lower. All the roofs are covered by sapphire blue glaze tiles. Under the eaves, there is a horizontal board on the arch, which reads as "Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall ". The decorative and structural characteristics of this construction can be listed as below: the cement epistyle and corbel arches with paintings and patterns, white-yellow-brick walls; and the base of Buddhist-style building as dado made of granite.

Surrounded by Column-style aisles in four directions, the Memorial Hall (the main construction) is an octagonal building made of steel frame with reinforced concrete framework. In all four directions of the roof with sapphire blue glaze tiles sits a saddle rooftop with an octagonal pointed roof covering the central area. Below eaves are epistyle and corbel arches with paintings and patterns, white-yellow-brick walls, dado made of bluish stones from Liaoning, the granite base of Buddhist-style building and steps from Hongkong and red columns and windows made of terrazzo. Below the brim of the central gate of the hall, there is a horizontal inscribed board which reads as "the Whole World as One Community". No pillar can be seen in the spacious lobby. The eight reinforced concrete pillars inside the hall are concealed inside the walls, supporting the steel truss beams to hold up the sapphire octagonal glaze-tile roof. The splendid interior decoration as well as the unique design of the structure proves that it is indeed a masterpiece in the field of architecture. On the stage inside the hall, "The Testament of the Prime Minister" by Dr. Sun is enchased below a carving of Dr. Sun Yet-sen.

In front of the central entrance of the hall stands a bronze statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. In the front square grow pines, cypresses, kapokes and green lawn. Two granite ornamental columns are erected on it respectively, which gives an impression of loftiness.

With the same constructing style, two-storied steel-truss-beam buildings (accessory buildings) stand on the east and the west of the Hall. Li Keng and Feng Baoling are their designers.

The square-spire-shape Sun Yat-sen Monument is 37.3 meters in height and made of granite. The inner of the Monument has thirteen stories and the curving stairs can allow people to go up. "The Testament of Premier Sun" is engraved on the positive south of its body.