Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum () is situated at the foot of the second peak of Purple Mountain in Nanjing, China. Construction of the tomb started in January 1926, and was finished in spring of 1929. The architect was Lü Yanzhi, who died shortly after it was finished. His representative and project partner was his close friend Huang Tanpu.
History
Sun was born in Guangdong province of China on 12 November 1866, and died in 1925 in Beijing, China. On 23 April 1929, the Chinese government appointed He Yingqin to be in charge of laying Sun to rest. On 26 May, the coffin departed from Beijing, and on 28 May, it arrived in Nanjing. On 1 June 1929, Sun was buried there. Sun, considered to be the "Father of Modern China" both in mainland China and in Taiwan, fought against the imperial Qing government and after the 1911 revolution ended the monarchy, and founded the Republic of China.
Selection of the design
A committee decided to host a design competition in order to collect designs for the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. The committee put advertisements in the newspapers on 5 May 1925, inviting architects and designers at home and abroad to send their designs. In exchange for a 10 yuan charge, the committee would provide the designer with 12 pictures of the site. The design would have to adhere to guidelines. It had to be done in a traditional Chinese style that also evoked a modern design with special and memorial substance. Not only should it evoke the Chinese architectural spirit, but also add creativity. Designers were required to insure that the proposed construction costs within 300,000 yuan (the final cost exceeded 3,000,000 Yuan). Over 40 proposals were received. On 20 September 1925, the committee convened in Shanghai, and unanimously selected Lu Yanzhi's proposal.
The mausoleum was designed by Lu Yanzhi and completed by Poy Gum Lee between 1926 and 1929.
On March 12, 1925, Sun Yat-sen died of cancer in Beijing. On June 1, 1929, according to his last wish, he was buried in Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Zijin Mountain, Nanjing. In 1940, the Nationalist Government issued an order to the whole country, honoring him as the "Father of the Republic of China".
Architecture
Reclining on a mountain slope, the majestic mausoleum blends the styles of traditional imperial tombs and modern architecture. Lying on the mountainside, the vault is more than away from the paifang on the square below, which is the entrance of the mausoleum. There is a three-tier stone stand on which a huge bronze ding, an ancient Chinese vessel symbolizing power, perches. To the north of the square, the paifang towers high. Beyond is the and -wide stairway which has 392 stairs leading to the vault. On both sides, pine, cypress, and ginkgo trees guard the way. At the end of the stairway is a gate which is high and wide. The tri-arched marble gate is inscribed with the personal motto of Sun, with four Chinese characters written by him, "Tian Xia Wei Gong" ("天下爲公") which means "What is under heaven is for all". Inside the gate, there is a pavilion in which a stele is set, which is a memorial monument set by the Kuomintang (KMT). A few stairs up is the sacrificial hall and the vault.
In front of the sacrificial hall there stands a pair of huabiao, ancient Chinese ornamental columns, which are 12.6 meters high. The sacrificial hall is actually a palace of in length, in width, and in height. In the center of the hall a -high statue of Sun sits. The statue was sculptured out of Italian white marble. The hall's ceiling features the flag of the Kuomintang. Biographical information on Sun is available to visitors in the hall. North of the hall lies the bell-shaped vault, wherein lies the marble false sarcophagus of Sun. Sun's body is interred in a burial chamber 5m below the marble false sarcophagus in a bronze coffin.
Architectural influence of the Mausoleum's design is evident in Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Scenic Area is located on the north side of Zijin Mountain Road in the Zhongshan Scenic Area at the southern foot of Zijin Mountain in the east of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province，China.
