Marshal Wu Mansion

Marshal Wu Mansion is situated on the northern side of West Xinglong Street in Taonan City. It is a well-known Gothic-style building in Northeast China with considerable historical and architectural artistic value.

It was designated as a Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit of Taonan City in 1999, a Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit of Baicheng City in 2005, and a Provincial-level Cultural Relic Protection Unit of Jilin Province on May 31, 2007.

Wu Junsheng was a General of the Republic of China Army, Garrison Commander of Tao-Liao Region, and Military Governor of Heilongjiang Province. In the early years of the Republic of China, he led troops into Taonan and garrisoned this strategic stronghold with two brigades. In 1925, Zhang Zuolin, leader of the Fengtian Warlord Clique, awarded Wu Junsheng the rank of General and a reward of 500,000 silver dollars at a celebration ceremony in Mukden in recognition of his meritorious service in suppressing Guo Songling’s rebellion. Wu used this reward to construct the commercial building. Construction began in 1927 and was completed in 1928.

The total construction area reaches 2,925 square metres. The building boasts an original design with eight front gates decorated by 27 full-height attached columns. The window lattice patterns are varied yet harmoniously integrated.

The interior is divided into seven independent yet interconnected units, commonly known as the "Building with 21 Rooms". The three-storey main building stretches 64 metres from east to west and 15 metres from north to south, standing 22.5 metres tall. It was the first high-rise building in Taonan’s history and a physical witness to the wars among warlords.

On the early morning of June 4, 1928, while escorting Zhang Zuolin back to Mukden, Wu Junsheng was killed by a Japanese bomb on the railway bridge north of Huanggutun in Shenyang. After the September 18th Incident in 1931, the building was occupied by the Japanese for a period of time.

Following Japan’s surrender in 1945, the mansion became state-owned public property. Inside stands a statue of Marshal Wu, accompanied by several stone inscriptions recording the life stories of Wu Junsheng and his wife Li Zhujun. On the right side of the courtyard lies a long corridor with a written account of Marshal Wu’s life on the wall. Behind the statue stands a row of ancient houses. The residential quarters of Marshal Wu occupy the left side of the courtyard, and many old shop signs remain on the outer walls of the building.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the building was successively used by department stores. It bears great historical significance for the study of Sino-Western cultural exchanges, warlord conflicts in the early Republican era, and the aggressive and insidious crimes committed by Japanese militarism.

In the early 1990s, Changchun Film Studio shot the TV drama Legend of Marshal Wu here for more than a month.