Wu Junsheng Marshal Building

“Marshal Wu’s Building”, located on the northern side of the Xinglong Road in Taonan City, is a European Gothic-style building with historical and architectural values. Wu Junsheng, once a ground force admiral of the Republic of China (1912-1949), military commander of Taoliao and military governor of Heilongjiang Province, entered and stationed in Taonan at the beginning of the Republic of China with two brigades. In 1925, Zhang Zuolin, head of the Fengtian Clique of the Northern Warlords, awarded Wu the title of admiral and 500,000 silver dollars for his victory in defeating Guo Songling.

Wu built this commercial building with the money awarded. The construction began in 1927 and was completed in 1928. The total construction area was 2,925 square meters. The length of the main building from east to west was 64 meters and width from south to north, 15 meters. The height, with three storeys, was 22 meters. It was the first “high-rise” in the history of Taonan, and is a historical proof of competition among warlords. On the morning of Jun.4, 1928, Wu Junsheng died of an explosion by the Japanese invaders of a railway bridge in the north of Huanggu Village in Shenyang when he greeted and escorted Zhang Zuolin on Zhang’s way back to Fengtian. After the “Sep.18 Incident” in 1918, the building was occupied by Japanese. It came back into Chinese possession in 1945 after Japan surrendered the war.