Zhongzheng Library, Fenghua, Educational heritage site in Fenghua, China
The Zhongzheng Library old site stands on the southern slope of Jinshan (Jinping Mountain) in Zhongshan Park, Fenghua. The three-story brick-and-concrete building covers 680 square metres, faces south, and mixes Chinese and Western styles: a single-eaved hip roof with a Roman-style dome holding a one-metre clock above a semicircular front porch. Its five small side rooms form an annex.
Zhongzheng Library was built on the southern slope of Jinping Hill with funds raised from 1925 by local gentry Zhu Shoumei; architect Weng Wentao designed it, and donors included Chiang Kai-shek, Yu Feipeng, Zhu Jiahua and Dai Jitao. Completed in 1928 and repaired in 1931, it opened as the Fenghua County Library and was renamed the County Zhongzheng Library in 1930. In 1941 Japanese troops used it as a stable while director Xu Wenyu moved the books to Lianshan Township; Yu Feipeng, He Yingqin and Gu Zhutong funded repairs in 1946. Renamed the People's Library in 1950, it lost its library function in 1965 and was restored to the name Zhongzheng Library in 2006.
The library holds collections of regional writings that reflect the educational heritage of the area. Visitors can explore local texts and historical documents that offer insight into how knowledge and learning shaped the community.
The building stands on the southern slope of Jinshan, half-way up, facing south, reached on foot through Zhongshan Park. Its bell rings from 8:00 to 18:00 every two hours on the hour, restored in 2019 with a new clock. Since 2019 the site has been under renovation to house Republican-era library and relic displays.
The clock in the Roman-style dome was restored in 2019 after years of silence; it now chimes every two hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The original mechanism, a quartz clock ordered from a Shanghai factory in the 1990s, had broken around 2003.
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