Cihu Mausoleum

Cihu mausoleum, formerly known as "Dongkou Hotel", was completed on June 13, 1959. In 1962, Chiang Kai Shek wrote "Cihu" and renamed it "Cihu Hotel". Before Chiang Kai Shek's death, it was used as a guild hall.

On April 5, 1975, on Tomb Sweeping Day, Chiang Kai Shek suffered a heart attack and died. On April 16 of that year, Chiang Kai Shek was buried. The anling ceremony was held in Cihu hotel that afternoon. Since then, "Cihu Hotel" has been renamed "Cihu mausoleum".

Because the mausoleum was built for the wartime emergency, it occupied a small area and limited space. If you walk around the mausoleum, you will often find mossy abandoned blockhouses, concrete offices, secret tunnels, and even toilets surrounded by secret bunkers. After years of active planning and construction of Cihu scenery, Taoyuan County Government has become the most famous tourist destination.

Jiangling in Cihu

synonym

Cihu mausoleum generally refers to Cihu Jiang mausoleum

The tomb of Chiang Kai Shek in Cihu is located in Daxi Town, Taoyuan County, Taiwan Province, China. After Chiang Kai Shek died in Taiwan in 1975, he was not buried. His coffin is temporarily housed in the tomb of Cihu in Daxi Town, Taoyuan County, waiting for the right time to be buried in his hometown.

Jiang is a native of Fenghua, Zhejiang Province, China. According to the customs of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, if a person dies in a foreign land but cannot be buried in his hometown for the time being, he will be treated as a floating house. The so-called floating house means that the coffin is three inches above the ground and raised at four corners. The purpose of this kind of funeral is to make it easy for the descendants to move their ancestors without breaking the ground. Cihu mausoleum, formerly known as "Dongkou Hotel", was completed on June 13, 1959. In 1962, Chiang Kai Shek wrote "Cihu" and renamed it "Cihu Hotel". Before Chiang Kai Shek's death, it was used as a guild hall.

Temporary Mausoleum

On April 5, 1975, Chiang Kai Shek died and was temporarily buried in Cihu, Daxi Town, Taoyuan County, Taiwan. After Chiang Kai Shek's death, the coffin has not been buried, but "temporarily placed" in Cihu, at the junction of Daxi town and Fuxing Township, Taoyuan County, Taiwan. Cihu, formerly known as "Wuwei", was originally an artificial reservoir in the shape of an ox horn with clear water and green mountains. After passing Cihu, you can see a small courtyard hidden in the woods. This is Cihu Hotel, originally Jiang's residence. It is also said to be the headquarters of his "counterattack and restoration of the country". But from the outside, the courtyard is small and simple, without "imperial spirit".

A few miles away from Cihu, there is houcihu, which is connected by a tunnel. In fact, houcihu is a winding water area, which is calm all year round. The nearest way to enter houcihu is from the path beside Chiang Kai Shek's mausoleum in Cihu. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from Cihu mausoleum to houcihu. The process is like a general hiking trail, but few people pass by, making the road covered with moss. The blockhouses, stone sentries and air raid shelters along the way can smell the tension of the past.

There are also several secret roads behind the mausoleum. Under the illumination of dim yellow light bulbs, there is a trace of mystery. However, the secret roads are surrounded by iron nets, so it is not easy to see the whole picture. Walking hundreds of meters up the slope, the terrain is like the downward extension of a small hill. At this moment, you can see the pool of houci lake. There are scattered office buildings nearby. Taoyuan County Government has put a lot of historical materials as an exhibition hall. Tourists are lucky to be here to feel the desolation of history.

The origin of the palace

Near Cihu, there is an extinct volcano with an altitude of more than 300 meters, called caolingshan, which is the only volcanic site in Taoyuan County. There are mountains and waters here. In the early 1960s, Chiang Kai Shek took a fancy to them. According to reports, Chiang Kai Shek did not want to "sleep" behind him, but wanted to turn it into a wartime evacuation office for the "presidential palace".

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the mainland was suffering from natural disasters, and its relationship with the former Soviet Union was also on the verge of rupture. In Chiang Kai Shek's view, this is an excellent time to "counter attack the mainland.". He considered that once the war started, the "presidential palace" located in the center of Taipei would be too big to be attacked, so he planned to find a wartime evacuation office near Taipei. Just as it happens, Taiwan's famous Lin Benyuan family intends to donate a piece of land to the authorities. This land is in Daxi Town, Taoyuan County, which is the birthplace of the Lin family.

In June 1959, the Kuomintang authorities built a courtyard here, called "Dongkou Hotel", with a construction area of 1628 square meters. In 1961, Chiang Kai Shek visited here and found that the scenery here was very similar to that of Xikou Town, Fenghua County, Zhejiang Province. He felt homesick and decided to change it into "presidential palace". The next year, Chiang wrote the word Cihu for "Dongkou Hotel" to express his nostalgia for his mother Wang Caiyu and his gratitude for her kindness. Since then, the name of "Dongkou Hotel" has been changed to "Cihu Hotel", and the name of "Wuwei" has also been changed to Cihu.

At that time, although Chiang Kai Shek kept saying that he wanted to "counter attack the mainland", he actually understood that the mainland could no longer "counter attack", which also meant that he could not go back to his hometown in Xikou, Fenghua. Therefore, he often stayed in "Cihu Hotel" to comfort his homesickness. It is said that every time Chiang Kai Shek came to Cihu, he would talk about Fenghua and Xikou.

Mausoleum style

There is a long and narrow road in front of the main entrance of the mausoleum. In the middle of the road is a sitting statue of Chiang Kai Shek. In the main hall, Jiang's portrait is on the wall, flowers and candlesticks are on the fireplace, the KMT flag and the national flag of the Republic of China are on both sides, and in front is a copper coffin on black granite covered with blue sky and white sun. In front of the coffin was a cross made of yellow daisies, indicating Jiang's Christian identity. This used to be Chiang's reception hall. It was not spacious. It was very narrow when Lingzi was put down. Jiang Jingguo and Song Meiling, according to Jiang's daily wishes, put the coffin "temporarily in Taoyuan Cihu"

The main hall of the mausoleum is very solemn, with the KMT flag on both sides of Chiang Kai Shek's portrait. On the east side of the main hall, the bedroom where Chiang Kai Shek lived before his death, all the layout remains the same. On the wall of the study is a painting by Soong Mei Ling. On the desk is a note with four words written in red pencil by Chiang Kai Shek: "be able to bend and stretch.". On the west side of the main hall, there is a room dedicated to displaying various medals and medals won by Chiang Kai Shek.

Because the mausoleum was built for the wartime emergency, it occupied a small area and limited space. If you walk around the mausoleum, you will often find mossy abandoned blockhouses, concrete offices, secret tunnels, and even toilets surrounded by secret bunkers. After years of active planning and construction of Cihu scenery, Taoyuan County Government has become the most famous tourist destination.

The end of life

Chiang Kai Shek did not expect that within a few years of the completion of the Cihu Hotel, he had reached the "end of his life.". In August 1969, Chiang Kai Shek's car was knocked over by a major general's car in Yangmingshan. Chiang Kai Shek's chest was seriously hit and his heart was obviously enlarged. Since then, his physical condition has deteriorated and his heart disease has become more and more serious.

In March 1975, Song Meiling invited doctors from the United States to perform lung puncture operation for Chiang Kai Shek. A large amount of pus was extracted from Chiang Kai Shek's lung. Since then, Chiang Kai Shek had a high fever and his heart stopped for many times. On March 26, Chiang Kai Shek's condition turned critical. After three hours of rescue, he was able to save his life. Knowing that his future was not many, Chiang Kai Shek dictated that after his death, the coffin would be placed in Cihu for the time being and buried next to Zhongshan Mausoleum at the foot of Zijin Mountain in Nanjing.

On April 5 of that year, on Tomb Sweeping Day, Chiang Kai Shek suddenly fell ill and died. On April 16 of that year, Chiang Kai Shek was buried. The anling ceremony was held in Cihu hotel that afternoon. Since then, "Cihu Hotel" has been renamed "Cihu mausoleum".

After his death, Chiang Kai Shek's body was embalmed. According to Fenghua's custom, before the funeral, Jiang Jingguo dressed his father in person, wearing seven pairs of trousers, seven pieces of underwear, including long robes and mandarin jacket. The body is wrapped in silk floss.

(picture: Cihu in the sunset)

Jiangling, Cihu

The red statue of Chiang Kai Shek sitting in front of the cemetery

The post changing ceremony in front of the mourning hall

The guards guarding Jiang Gong's coffin

The guards at the gate of Chiang's Mausoleum

The commander in chief of the Northern Expedition

There are hundreds of statues of Chiang

Copper coffin on black granite

Jiangling Statue Garden in Cihu

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Address: no.1097, Section 1, Fuxing Road, Daxi Town, Taoyuan County, Taiwan

Longitude: 121.29665155093

Latitude: 24.840018131875

Tel. + 886-3-3883552

Tour time: 30 minutes

Opening hours: 8:00-17:00, all year round.

Chinese PinYin : Ci Hu Ling Qin