Huairen Hall

The Huairen Hall or Huairentang (懷仁堂; 怀仁堂; 'Hall of Cherished Compassion')[1] is a building inside Zhongnanhai, the Chinese government's leadership compound in Beijing. It has been the site of several major events in Chinese history. Huairen Hall is the main meeting place of the Politburo of the Communist party of China and an alternate meeting place of the Standing Committee.[2] The building is also the meeting location of several of the Communist Party's leading groups such as the Financial and Economic Affairs Leading Group and the Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms.[3][4]

Huairen Hall in 1954 during the first meeting of the National People's Congress

History

Construction of the hall began in 1885 and was overseen by Yixuan, Prince Chun. In 1888 the hall became the daily workplace of Dowager Empress Cixi the then de facto ruler of China, replacing the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the nearby Forbidden City. After the Boxer rebellion, Huairentang became the headquarters of occupying Eight Nation Alliance's commander Alfred von Waldersee. In 1902 Empress Cixi rebuilt Huairentang at a cost of five million taels of silver and in 1908 she died there.[5]

After the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, President Yuan Shikai used the building to meet with foreign guests and to accept New Year's day greetings. After Yuan's death, it was the sight of his funeral. When Cao Kun became president, he used Huairentang as his residence. After the end of the Beiyang Government Huairentang had no permanent use and was given to the Beijing City Government.[6]

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was held in Huairen Hall in 1949. In 1953, the building was remodeled as a two story hall in preparation for the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference by Premier Zhou Enlai.[7] The new meeting hall was then used for first session of the National People's Congress in 1954.[8] Huairen Hall became the auditorium of the central government, often hosting various art shows and political meetings, including Central Committee plenums before the construction of Jingxi Hotel in 1964.[9]

Historical events

References
  1. Dillon, Michael (30 October 2014). Deng Xiaoping: A Political Biography. I.B.Tauris. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-78076-895-3.
  2. Wang, Jun (15 June 2013). "中央政治局如何开会". qikan.com. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  3. Chen, Zhu Qin (2014-06-19). "习近平主持中央财经领导小组会议，还有谁在座？". Shanghai Oriental Press Co. The Paper. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  4. "全面深化改革领导小组会议部分参会人员名单". eastday.com. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  5. 陶无梦·《春冰室野乘》：佛照楼即仪銮殿旧址。殿毁于庚子之乱，回銮后重修，费帑五百余万。
  6. http://www.25dx.com/beijing/2006/200607/2006-07-09/206729.html%5B%5D
  7. 刘宁一·《周恩来与建国前后的人民外交》：“恩来同志亲自制定了改造怀仁堂的方案，把原来仅能容纳300多人的一个四合院改建成能容900人的大礼堂。”
  8. "第一屆全國人民代表大會和中華人民共和國憲法的制定". people.com.cn. People's Network. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  9. "中共第八届历次中央全会". gov.cn. gov.cn. Retrieved 25 February 2018.

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