Library given historical treasure: book by Tang Shaoyi

Encyclopedic information about what would become Zhuhai, and the visions of a famous native son – which included a rail line to Paris -- has been donated to the Zhuhai Museum by a local benefactor.

The 800-page Archives of Zhongshan County Administration was handed over on May 17 by Liu Changyan. Liu is vice chairman of the Jinwan District Branch of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee of the non-communist China Zhi Gong Party (CZGP).

Liu said that because the cultural relic was quite expensive, he wants it preserved by experts and the historical contents made available to the public at large.

Compilation of the document was led by the head of the county, Tang Shaoyi (Tong Shao Yi) (1862-1938), also called Shaochuan. Tang, a diplomat and politician, became the first premier of the Chinese Republic. He was born in Tang's Village, today's Tangjiawan Town in northeastern Zhuhai. His former residence and his private garden, Gongleyuan Park, are preserved there.

Transfer of ownership

Meanwhile, the founding father of the Republic of China was Dr Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), known as Sun Zhongshan. Sun was born in Cuiheng Village in Nanlang Township of what was then part of Xiangshan County. Xiangshan was renamed Zhongshan after Sun died in Beijing in 1925, making it one of the very few cities in China named after a person. Shanchang, Xiazha, Qianshan, Tangjia (Tang's Village) and other areas of Zhuhai were then under the jurisdiction of Zhongshan County.  

While big cities were showplaces of modernization and state-building at that time, Zhongshan was designated as a "model county." It was granted autonomy to explore the philosophy and principles contained in The International Development of China written by Sun.

Sun Yat-sen's warnings

Tang, a former cabinet prime minister, first acted as chairman of the Political Tutelage Implementation Committee and then was Zhongshan Model County mayor, spurring development of the economy and culture in his hometown.

The Archives summarizes his experience in bolstering Zhongshan as a National Model County over its first three years and outlines his development plans for subsequent decades.

Unfortunately, construction of the National Model County ended in its fifth year.

But Tang was a rare figure in Chinese political circles and his feelings toward his origins are obvious. For instance, he saw the possibility of creating a "Paris of the East." He used his tenure from 1929 to 1934 to realize that great idea. Tang also planned a railway from Zhuhai to Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, and northeastern China, through Siberia, and continuing on to Paris. However, troubled times also quashed that idea in infancy.

Book cover

The title was written by Tang who added "The Twenty-first Year of the Republic of China" on the right side. The year was the peak period of Zhongshan Model County. He also autographed the lower left corner, which is stamped "Tang Shaoyi Seal."

The book comprises a preface, papers, and chapters on civil affairs: lawsuits and disciplinary sanctions, county meeting minutes, education, land use, finance, construction, public security, local regulations, sand preservation, and features.

The civil affairs are subdivided into regulations, decrees, abstracts of initiations, and abstractions of dispute solutions, while the other papers also have detailed classifications.

Contents pages [Photos by Gu Chunting / Zhuhai Daily]

The most outstanding achievements are also recorded. Included are construction of Zhongshan Port, which was later suspended, and a blueprint for Tang's Village.

Museum officials thanked Liu for the precious donation and called it of great importance in illuminating the historic background of Zhuhai and Tang's Village. Incidentally, the museum houses a stone tablet celebrating the beginning of construction of Zhongshan Port, according to a staffer; a jigsaw puzzle piece that now, thanks to the Archives, better fits into Zhuhai's history.