Former Residence of Yan Xishan

Before the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan he served as Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) and Minister of National Defence, and after leaving office he retired with his staff to Yangmingshan. During his last ten years in seclusion there he devoted himself to study and writing, completing Shijie Datong ('world of great harmony') and Sanbai Nian de Zhongguo ('China of three hundred years'). In later life, missing his homeland and for military defence, he chose a sheltered hillside overlooking the mouth of the Tamsui River and the Taipei Basin and built a stone house, Zhongneng Cave, and the Red Brick House. Zhongneng Cave follows the style of Shanxi cave dwellings and combines Chinese, Japanese and Western features; its date, scale and layout are quite unlike typical historic sites. It is the main building of the residence. Yan named it himself, to express his view of the universe as observed through 'zhongneng' (seed energy). This fortress-like home became his final residence. The Red Brick House served as an air-raid shelter, with outer walls three chi (Chinese feet) thick, thickened steel plates at the doors and windows, camouflage canopies and sentry lookouts. In 2004 the Red Brick House and Zhongneng Cave were designated a city monument as the Former Residence of Yan Xishan, and Yan's nearby tomb was designated a monument in 2010.

Translated and shortened by DealTaipei from Taiwan's national tourism database. Sources are on the terms page.