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Former Residence of Wang Jiuling in Kunming
Kunming, Yunnan, China
In 1925, political figure and university co-founder Wang Jiuling built his residence on reclaimed marshland along the northern shore of Kunming's Green Lake. Located at No. 3 Cuihu North Road, this earth-and-wood compound follows the traditional Yunnan courtyard house layout with five skywells, while also absorbing elements from Suzhou's Canglang Pavilion to engage directly with the surrounding landscape. The residence faces south toward the lake. Wang designed the southern side of the courtyard with single-story structures, allowing visitors standing on the upper-floor corridors of the other three wings to look out over the water toward the distant peaks of West Mountain.
The architecture balances security with elegance. The ground floor of the main building stands elevated by over one meter to block rising dampness from the marsh. Beneath the floorboards, a removable panel once offered a secret escape route through the back wall. Two corner staircases flank the main building, replacing the single staircase typical of local regional homes. Outside, the main gate features stone masonry carved into outer squares and inner circles, while the southern wall corners are reinforced with stone inlays.
Human presence remains etched into the physical details of the structure. Visitors can see the sixteen lantern-lotus columns supporting the second-floor corridor eaves and the dragon heads carved onto the projecting beam ends. Iron-red paint coats the doors and windows, which feature carvings of flowers and birds highlighted with gold powder.
The house has accommodated diverse chapters of Yunnan's intellectual history. Between 1930 and 1935, it served as the French Consulate. In 1937, Yunnan University rented the property for faculty housing, providing shelter for scholars like the historian Wu Han. In 1953, the university established a research room here for the classicist Liu Wendian, who spent his final productive years writing his study of the poet Du Fu under these sloped roofs of green hanging tiles.