In the quiet expanse of the thirty-six-thousand-square-meter Wen Yiduo Park, near the Sijiaying metro station on Beijing Road, stands a structure shaped by war, memory, and geometry. Designed by Professor Wang Lifang of Tsinghua University, the Kunming Longquan Ancient Town Civic Cultural Center translates a single word into stone and space. The layout traces the ancient seal script character for "candle." Courtyard corridors wind through the shape of its base, while the towering memorial hall rises like a frozen flame, honoring the revolutionary spirit of Wen Yiduo.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, this town became an intellectual sanctuary. Scholars like Zhu Zhiqing, Liang Sicheng, and Lin Huiyin fled air raids to study here. Wen Yiduo walked twenty kilometers twice a week to teach, returning to this refuge to share a simple meal of bean curd and cabbage with his five children. Today, visitors can trace these footsteps. The center connects to the nearby former residences of these scholars, forming the anchor of the Longquan Ancient Town Museum Cluster.

Inside, the senses awaken to the history of Yunnan. The scent of paper drifts from a circular, four-meter-high book wall containing over four thousand borrowable volumes, marking its status as one of the province's first residential libraries. Outside, the cool mountain air brushes against the central water courtyard and the open Candle Core Square. In the workshops, visitors can feel the gritty texture of wet clay while shaping traditional Wamao sculptures, a local pottery heritage preserved within these walls.

Opened on May 17, 2022, and recognized with the Excellent Public Cultural Space Case award in late 2023, the center merges the Panlong District Museum, Library, and Cultural Center. It stands as a physical manifestation of intellectual endurance. The towering concrete flame and the quiet water courtyard invite you to touch the rough clay, hear the rustle of pages, and remember the scholars who kept the light of Chinese academia burning in the dark.