People's Park (Guangzhou)
People's Park | |
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Renmin Park, Central Park | |
![]() Front gate of People's Park | |
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Type | Urban park |
Location | Guangzhou, Guangdong, China |
Coordinates | 23°7′36.4″N 113°15′52″E / 23.126778°N 113.26444°E |
Created | 1921 |
Designer | Yang Xizong |
People's Park (
History
Imperial China
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Zhang_Zhidong.jpg/170px-Zhang_Zhidong.jpg)
After
For over a millennium, People's Park had been the site of Guangzhou or Guangdong's regional government. At the end of the
After Shang Kexi's son Shang Zhixin participated in the failed Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the Qing court put him to death in 1680 and took direct control of Guangdong. People's Park became the office and residence of governors and viceroys. A series of officials, including Ruan Yuan and Zhang Zhidong, made improvements to the area. Ruan named its garden "Wanzhu" (ten thousand bamboos).[1]
During the Second Opium War (1856–60), the joint British and French force occupied Guangzhou for three years. Realizing they could not govern the city by themselves, they installed a puppet government headed by Bogui, an ethnic Mongol who had been the Qing acting governor of Guangdong.[2] A grand inauguration ceremony was held in the park, which was considered a humiliating event by the defeated Chinese.[1]
Republic of China
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Sun_yat_sen_and_his_son_in_1911.jpg/170px-Sun_yat_sen_and_his_son_in_1911.jpg)
After the
Due to its location at the center of the city, the park quickly became a main spot for rallies and major public events in Guangzhou. On 24 February 1924, Sun Sat-sen presided over a memorial service for Vladimir Lenin; on 8 March the same year, China's first major celebration of the International Women's Day was held in the park. The park also saw the great celebration of the victory of Kuomintang's Northern Expedition which was launched from Guangzhou, and the inauguration ceremonies of many government officials.[1]
The park was a popular site for festivals. From 11 February 1923, a narcissus festival was held in the park for five days. Between 1930 and 1949, five chrysanthemum festivals were held in the park.[1]
People's Republic of China
After the
The park has become a popular meeting place for local
On 1 August 2010, during the Guangzhou Television Cantonese controversy, hundreds of people gathered in the park to protest the proposal to increase Mandarin programming at the expense of Cantonese. The government considered the demonstration illegal and arrested more than 20 people for "questioning". The government eventually backed down from the proposed restriction in Cantonese broadcasting.[4]
Statues
The park features six groups of statues, including Fenghuo Niandai (Age of Warfare) by sculptor Li Hanyi (李汉仪), depicting a female guerrilla fighter breastfeeding her baby. Another statue, of a nude woman shooting an arrow on horseback, commemorates Zhang Zhixin, a dissident executed during the Cultural Revolution for criticizing the idolization of Mao Zedong. Other statues commemorate the writer Lu Xun and the musician Xian Xinghai.[1]
Transportation
People's Park is served by
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "人民公园:广州第一公园" [People's Park: the first park in Guangzhou] (in Chinese). Guangzhou Daily. 2008-02-17. Archived from the original on 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ISBN 9780199792054.
- ISBN 9781609800376.
- ISBN 9783110239331.