The Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the great pioneer of the democratic revolution in our country. It is located at the southern foot of Xiaomao Mountain on the east peak of Zhongshan Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. It is adjacent to the Ming Xiaoling Tomb in the west and Linggu Temple in the east. , the entire building complex rises layer by layer according to the mountain topography, and is magnificent.
Sun Yat-sen passed away in Beijing on March 12, 1925. In compliance with his last wish to be buried in Zhongshan, the coffin was temporarily placed in the Biyun Temple in Xiangshan, Beijing, and it was decided to build his mausoleum in Zhongshan, Nanjing. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum was designed and constructed by Lu Yanzhi, the famous architect who won the mausoleum prototype draft. The entire pastoral area is shaped like a big bell. The top of the bell is a half-moon square at the bottom of the mountain. The tripod at the south end of the square (now a standing statue of Mr. Zhongshan) is the bell button of the big bell. The hammer of the bell is the hemispherical tomb chamber. "Ding" was a symbol of power in ancient times, so the whole bell means "to arouse the people to build the Republic of China".
The mausoleum faces south and is built close to the mountain. It gradually rises along the central axis from south to north. It is composed of a square, a stone square, a tomb passage, a mausoleum gate, a stele pavilion, a sacrificial hall, and a tomb chamber. Zhongshan Road is the original Yingcoff Avenue. It is the road that Dr. Sun Yat-sen's coffin walked when it went south. It is also the first asphalt road in Nanjing. Construction started in 1926 and was completed in 1929. When people come to the square along this towering boulevard, the first thing they see is the three-door stone archway at the south end of the tomb passage, with the word "fraternity" engraved in Mr. Sun Yat-sen's handwriting. Buildings such as archways are mainly used to praise virtues. The two words "fraternity"
exactly highlight Mr. Sun Yat-sen's broad mind and lofty ideals. The standing statue of Sun Yat-sen at the south end of the square in front of Shifang is full of heroic figures, and his waving gestures seem to be delivering a speech related to the fate of the country. Behind the stone square is a tomb passage 375 meters long and 40 meters wide. In front of the mausoleum is the mausoleum gate, which is topped with blue glazed tiles. On the forehead of the gate are the four characters "The world is the commonwealth" written by Sun Yat-sen. The use of blue glazed tiles here has a certain meaning. Green symbolizes the sky, and blue glazed tiles mean that the world is for the common good. This shows Dr. Sun Yat-sen's broad mind for the country and the people. Entering the stele pavilion, a stele about 6 meters high is engraved with large gilt characters: "On June 1, the 18th year of the Republic of China, the Chinese Kuomintang buried Prime Minister Mr. Sun here." After passing the stele pavilion, there are steep stone steps. The stone steps are divided into eight sections and 392 levels. It is extremely difficult to climb so many stone steps. However, after everyone walks through this long and steep stone step, they will definitely realize: The relevant instructions in the "Prime Minister's Will": "The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard".
The highest platform has two Huabiao, and the latter is the sacrificial hall. Huabiao is a pillar-shaped marker marking the place where the sacrificial hall is located. There are three arches in the memorial hall, which are divided into "Nationality", "Civil Rights" and "People's Livelihood". On the door of "Minsheng" there is Sun Yat-sen's handwriting "Heaven and Earth are righteous" on the forehead, which expresses the ideal of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's struggle.
In the middle of the memorial hall is a white marble seated statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. This statue was made by the famous foreign sculptor Paul Landers. The revolutionary achievements of Dr. Sun Yat-sen are carved around the pedestal of the sitting statue. The black marble walls of the memorial hall are engraved with the "Outline of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" written by Sun Yat-sen himself and the "Prime Minister's Will" written by Hu Hanmin and others. Here, we not only see Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s immortal achievements and hard struggle to overthrow the feudal monarchy for more than two thousand years, but also see Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s founding thoughts for China’s independence, prosperity, and grand ambitions.
There is a bronze door behind the memorial hall. On the banner are the four characters "The majesty lasts forever", which is also the handwriting of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Inside the door is a bell-shaped tomb chamber with a round marble cave 4 meters in diameter and 5 meters deep in the center. Sun Yat-sen's white marble coffin and lying statue are placed in the circular cave. Visitors can surround the white marble railing and look down at the lying statue on the coffin. This statue was created by the Czech sculptor Gao Qi according to the image of the body and is very lifelike. Although Mr. Sun Yat-sen has passed away, his majesty will last forever and he will always be admired by the world.
The architectural style of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum combines Chinese and Western styles. The majestic appearance of Zhongshan and various archways, mausoleum gates, stele pavilions, sacrificial halls and tombs are connected into a large green space and wide steps to the sky. The whole building looks very solemn and majestic, with profound meaning, grandeur and grandeur. The design is very successful, so it is known as "the first mausoleum in the history of modern Chinese architecture".