Former residence of Chen Yuan

Former residence of Chen Yuan

Chen Yuan's former residence, a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province, is an architecture of the late Qing Dynasty. Located in the pit pond of Shitou village, Tangxia Town, Pengjiang district, it is a single story bungalow where Mr. Chen Yuan was born and grew up.

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Chen Yuan (1880-1971), a Chinese historian, educator and statesman

He was called "national treasure" by Mao Zedong. He has been a professor and tutor of National Peking University, Peking Normal University and Furen University, the president of Furen University and Beijing Normal University, the director of the Beijing Library and the Palace Museum, and the director of the second Institute of history, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has successively served as a member of the Standing Committee of the first, second and third National People's Congress.

Chen Yuan (1880-1971), a Chinese historian and educator, was born in Shitou village, Tangxia Town, Pengjiang district. He has been a professor and tutor of National Peking University, Peking Normal University and Furen University. He was president of Fu Ren University from 1926 to 1952 and President of Beijing Normal University from 1952 to 1971.

Chen Yuan has made great achievements in religious history, Yuan history, textual research, collation and so on, which are highly valued by scholars at home and abroad. His main works include the textual research on the Huahua culture of the western regions of the Yuan Dynasty, the explanation of collation, the examples of historical taboo, the textual research on the new Taoism of Hebei in the Southern Song Dynasty, the textual research on the Buddhism in Yunnan and Guizhou in the Ming Dynasty, the monk Zhengji in the early Qing Dynasty, the introduction to the historical records of Chinese Buddhism, and the annotation of Tongjian Hu.

Chen Yuan attached great importance to the cause of education. During his 40 or 50 years of teaching in universities and scientific research institutions, he enthusiastically taught young scholars and had a far-reaching influence, bringing up a large number of talents. The famous calligrapher Qigong was his favorite student.

Chen Yuan was progressive in thought and devoted himself to the struggle against Qing Dynasty in his early years. In 1912, he was elected as a member of the house of representatives of the Republic of China as a revolutionary journalist. He once served as a member of the national government for three times and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of education. During the Anti Japanese War, Chen Yuan lived in the enemy occupied area, and was unyielding and devoted to history. After liberation, Chen Yuan became president of Beijing Normal University and joined the Communist Party of China in 1959. In November 1951, after the third session of the first CPPCC National Committee, Mao Zedong held a state banquet in Huairen Hall with Chen Yuan. Mao Zedong introduced him to others and said, "this is Chen Yuan. He reads a lot and is a national treasure of our country."

Environment introduction

No. 13, Xinghua Hutong, Xicheng District (formerly No. 5, xinghuasi street, changed its name in 1960s) is a typical old Beijing courtyard. A few steps West from the courtyard, through a narrow corridor northbound, is the former site of Furen University in Dingfu Street (now one of Beijing Normal University). It is adjacent to Shichahai in the East, not far from Jiaxing temple in the west, and opposite the southbound road is Beihai back door. It faces south, grey brick and grey tile. There are four stone steps in front of the gate. The paint on the two gates is mottled, but the couplet on both sides is still clear and readable. There was a pair of stone lions in front of the door. Entering the gate, the screen wall stands face to face. To the left, walk into the front yard of the two courtyards. The front yard is not big, about 67 meters long and about 167 meters wide. The south room is a suite, which is relatively spacious. When the original owner was alive, it was the place where he met his guests. The west wing is where the kitchen and the nanny live. The old nurse sometimes raises a few chickens in this small yard, which adds a little vitality to the yard. Outside the house, there are two decades old Begonia trees, blooming in spring and red fruits in autumn. Through the vertical gate, you enter the backyard. It's two or three times bigger than the front yard. There are three East and three West Wing rooms. The East chamber is the guest room where relatives and friends come. The west chamber is the master's Library and the scribe's workshop. His collection of more than 40000 books, most of which are thread bound books, are neatly stacked on the bookcase, while the bookcase is placed on the bookshelf, row after row. Because there are too many books, the space between the two rows of bookshelves is very narrow, which is called "Hutong" by the owner. He is very familiar with the location of his book collection. Sometimes when he wants to check a book, he will ask his assistant to go to the Hutong, the rack and the box to get it. He has never made any mistakes. There are five rooms in the north, the master's bedroom and bathroom in the west, and the assistant's studio in the East. The main hall in the middle is the master's studio and sometimes serves as a place to meet guests. In the room, the ink of famous scholars of Qing Dynasty collected by the owner is often hung in turn, and a plaque is hung high. In the room, the inscription is the famous patriot Yinghua (Zi Lianzhi), and the four big characters on the plaque are "Liyun bookstore". From the 1930s to the 1970s, Chen Yuan, the owner of Liyun bookstore, lived here.

Address: 13 Xinghua Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing

Longitude: 116.384905

Latitude: 39.935041

Ticket information: free.

Chinese PinYin : Chen Yuan Gu Ju