[Peking University Landmark] The Administrative Building
Aug 11, 2020
Peking University, August 11, 2020: If you enter Peking University through the West Gate, cross the Alumni Bridge and pass through the lawn where there stands a pair of ornamental columns, you will come across the Administrative Building, a building representative of Peking University. To its south is the Foreign Languages Building, and to its North is the North Chemistry Building. Together, they form an open compound. When night falls, the buildings will be illuminated by sets of lighting devices fixed under painted eaves, which endow the campus with a tranquil beauty.
The Administrative Building
Built in 1926, the Administrative Building is a legacy from Yenching University. Between 1915 and 1920, three missionary universities in Beijing, including Hweiwen University, were merged to form Yenching University and subsequently moved to the Haidian District. American architect Henry Killam Murphy (1877-1954) was Yenching University’s campus’ overall designer, and the Administrative Building, one of his first-designs, determined the central axes of the campus. The Administrative Building, along with the Alumni Bridge, the West Gate, and the center island in the Weiming Lake, constitutes the East-West Axis of Yenching University, whose end falls on the pagoda on Jade Spring Hill. As the main building of Yenching University, the Administrative Building functioned as the office of John Leighton Stuart (1876-1962), first president of Yenching University.
The Administrative Building was originally called “Bashford Building”, named after Bishop James White Bashford (1849-1919), second president of Hweiwen University in memory of his contribution to Yenching University. Before he passed away in 1919, Bashford donated a large collection of books to Hweiwen University, and this collection is now preserved in Peking University Library. The Chinese name of “Bashford Building” was originally “Shide Building” in 1926, and was changed to “Beigong Building” by the Yenching University committee in 1931. “Shide” and “Beigong” are both Chinese translations of Bashford’s name. Since “Beigong” sounds similar to the Chinese word “Bangong”, which means “administration”, the name of the building then later evolved to “the Administrative Building”. Inside the building still hangs a calligraphy work by famous Chinese calligrapher Shen Yinmo (1883-1971), which features the Chinese characters of “Beigong Building”.
Geomorphology majors enrolled in 1956 in front of the Administrative building, 1961
After Yenching University was disassembled in 1952, its campus was taken over by Peking University, with the Administrative Building remaining important. At present, offices of university leaders are situated on the first floor of the Administrative Building, while an auditorium hall which can accommodate 942 people is located on the second. The hall follows a traditional Chinese style, decorated with palace lanterns and colorful paintings, and is equipped with advanced sound and lighting facilities. The hall has witnessed many ceremonies, performances and activities of Peking University. It is considered a great honor to make a speech in the hall. Celebrities who have lectured in the hall include former U. S. president Bill Clinton, Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder, and President of Harvard University Lawrence Summers.
With gray tiles, white walls, and green and blue bracket sets, the Administrative Building is a palatial symmetric construction built with a classical Chinese style. It is composed of a main building with a hip-and-garble roof and two annex buildings with hip rooves on each side. Historically though, a hip roof is regarded as that of having a rank higher than a hip-and-garble roof. The Administrative Building is based on a Xumi base, a quadrate stone base used in Chinese traditional architecture to indicate the building’s superiority. The frontage of it is separated into five bays by red pillars. Each bay has two windows with red carved sashes. In the middle is a fold gate, above which is a porch and a balcony for making a public speech. There is a door on each of the four sides of the building, which is a standard for ancient Chinese imperial palaces.
The Administrative Building is surrounded by a grove of bamboos and old pine trees. Before the main entry sits a pair of qilins, an auspicious creature in Chinese mythology. Each qilin is 1.74 meters tall, 1.41 meters wide on the front and 1.95 meters wide on the side. Each is joint together with a stone Xumi base which is 0.98 meters in height. They were made around 1725 A.D. for the Old Summer Palace, an imperial residence of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty and his successors. After the Old Summer Palace was ruined during the Second Opium War in 1860, many of its artifacts became private collections. The pair of qilins are bought by Zaitao, a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty, and were placed in Langrun Garden. They were passed to Yenching University after Langrun Garden became a part of it, and subsequently moved to the front of the Administrative Building to properly showcase their value and significance.
Prince Zaitao
Between the stone Qilins is a carved square marble in the middle of the steps leading up to the main entrance of the Administrative Building, which is called Danchi in Chinese. It is 3.15 meters long and 1.15 meters wide. The marble has a vivid picture of two dragons chasing after a pearl among clouds carved. The Danchi is also a relic from the previous Old Summer Palace. The pairs of Qilins, the Danchi with the dragon pattern and the style of the Administrative Building all reflect the preference for symmetry in traditional Chinese aesthetics.
Danchi
Qilin
References:
[1] 肖东发, 李云, 沈弘.《风物:燕园景观及人文底蕴》[M]. 2003: 6-9.
[2] 郝平.《燕园文物》[M]. 2018: 37, 89, 92-94.
[3] 何晋.《燕园文物古迹与历史》[M]. 2018: 43.
[4] “Old Summer Palace.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 July 2020, 16:58 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 July. 2020. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Summer_Palace>.
[5] “Zaitao.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 July 2020, 23:58 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 July. 2020. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaitao>.
Written by: Fan Xueyuan
Edited by: Zhang Qiming, Zhang Jiang
Photo Credit to: Peking University College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, gotopku.cn
