Zhongshan Hall

Zhongshan Hall is situated on the campus of Wugang No.2 High School. It was built under the direction of General Li Minghao, Director of the Second Branch of Whampoa Military Academy, in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of China’s revolution. Construction began in March 1941 and was completed in July 1943.

Facing south with its back to the north, the complex consists of a main hall, left and right wing rooms and gardens, covering a land area of over 1,300 square meters. A brick-and-timber building blending Chinese and Western architectural styles, it features a large hip roof with four pyramidal corner turrets. It is the only intact surviving site dedicated to Sun Yat-sen among the main campus and twelve branch campuses of Whampoa Military Academy.

It was designated a Hunan Provincial-level Cultural Relic Protection Unit in January 1996 and listed as one of the Top 100 Scenic Spots of Hunan in October 2004. An application for the status of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit was submitted in 2010. The application has passed evaluation by an expert panel of the National Cultural Heritage Administration and been forwarded to the State Council for final approval.

In the 27th year of the Republic of China (1938), Japanese troops advanced on Wuhan. The Wuhan Branch of the Central Military Academy was forced to relocate to Wugang and renamed the Second Branch, also known as the Wugang Branch. This site served as the headquarters of the branch. Besides Zhongshan Hall, the campus also housed Zhongzheng Building, Yingqin Building, Chongxi Building and military barracks.

There were three key reasons for relocating the Wuhan Branch to Wugang. First, Wugang was a vital military stronghold in southwestern Hunan. It guarded approaches to Changsha and Baoqing in the east, Hengyang and Guilin in the south, Yunnan and Guizhou in the west, and Huaihua and Zhijiang in the north. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, the city was easy to defend and hard to attack. Second, Wugang boasted sturdy city walls with the Zi River acting as a natural moat, forming an impregnable defensive system. Third, the region enjoyed abundant agricultural produce to supply military provisions.

The branch was headed by the renowned patriotic general Li Minghao. In October 1939, General Li, together with Professor Liu Kanyuan, a scholar who had studied in Japan, founded the private Dongting Middle School of Hunan here. The school plaque was inscribed by Yu Youren, a senior Kuomintang statesman and master calligrapher. After the military academy moved away in the 34th year of the Republic of China (1945), Dongting Middle School took over the premises. In 1953, the school was renamed Wugang No.2 Middle School of Hunan Province. A replica of the original Dongting Middle School plaque is preserved in the school history exhibition hall of Wugang No.2 High School.

General Li Minghao’s villa stands on the other side of Faxiangyan Park.

Though the Second Branch operated for only a few years, it trained a total of 23,052 military officers, more than 50 of whom later attained the rank of general. Notable alumni include Li Yafen and Liu Gongwu, as well as Long Shihui, who once served as Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Writers Publishing House.

The culture of Whampoa Military Academy exerted a profound and lasting influence on Wugang.