Situated at No215 Culture Road,Guangzhou City,GuangdongProvince -- now theGuangdongProvincialMuseum-- the site for the First Congress of the KMT includes the belfry and theRevolutionary Squarelocated in the front.
It was a place for provincial imperial examinations in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and after the Revolution of 1911, it became the Guangdong Higher Normal School. Since the first Congress of the KMT in 1924, it had been rebuilt as theGuangdongUniversityby the order of Sun Yat-sen. In 1926, it was renamed "ZhongshanUniversity."
The belfry was built in 1905, with an area of 2,888 square meters. It is a building of a post and panel structure in both Chinese and western styles, resembling the Chinese character "
" from an bird's view. In the front of the building is a clock tower about 24 meters high, covered by a dome, which formerly included clocks on each side. Behind it is a rectangular two-storey assembly hall where the first Congress of the KMT was held. Covering an area of 18,698 square meters, theRevolutionary Square, located in front of the belfry, was then an important site for the people's congregation. During the first Congress of the KMT, Sun Yat-sen delivered speeches there publicizing the new Three Principles of the People.
Influenced by the October Revolution and with the help of the International Communist, as well as the Communist Party of China (CPC) who were determined to reshuffle the KMT from January 20-30, 1924, Sun Yat-sen presided over the First National Representatives' Conference of the Kuomingtang of China in the auditorium on the first floor of the clock tower of the Guangdong Higher Normal School. The conference absorbed the CPC's proposition of opposing imperialism and feudalism, developed the old Three Principles of the People to the new ones and reshuffled the KMT into a revolutionary union of worker, farmer, the petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie. The CPC also sent representatives to attend this conference. The First National Representatives' Conference of KMT of China marked the beginning of the first KMT-CPC cooperation, as well as the first Domestic Civil War.