title: Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Music Stage
text: # Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Music Stage
  
  Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Music Stage (Chinese: 中山陵音乐台) is a building affiliated to the complex of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, located in the southeast of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Square in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. Covering an area of more than 4,200 square meters (45,000 sq ft), it is an open-air stage mainly used to hold ceremonies, musical performances and assembly speeches to commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The stage was designed by Yang Tingbao (Chinese: 杨廷宝) and built by the Liyuan Construction Company(Chinese: 利源营造厂) for 95,000 RMB donated by the San Francisco Chinese-Americans as well as the Liaoning Province Kuomintang branch. The construction project was started in the fall of 1932 and completed in August, 1933.
  
  ## Architectural style
  
  The architectural style of the music stage exhibits a combination of Chinese and Western elements. In the use of natural environment and its layout and facade, it fully absorbs the architectural characteristics of ancient Greece, while on the details of spirit screen, musical altar and other buildings, it employs the form of South China's classical gardens. Its plane layout presents a semicircle, whose center is an arc-shaped reinforced concrete stage and a spirit screen. The stage is about 22 meters (72 ft) long, 13.33 meters (43.7 ft) wide and 3.33 meters (10.9 ft) higher above the ground. At the back of the stage there is a concrete spirit screen, which follows the style of the traditional Chinese Mountain Five Screens. Standing on the Sumeru base and facing northward, the spirit screen is about 16.67 meters (54.7 ft) wide, 11.33 meters (37.2 ft) high and in a slightly curved shape. The surface of the screen is veneered with cement Zhanjia stone. The spirit screen not only serves as stage setting, but also reflexes sound waves. The upper part and two sides of the screen are engraved with moire patterns, below which three dragon heads are engraved, protruding from the screen. At the edge of the stage, there are several wave-shaped stairs, which are filled with soils to grow flowers and grass.
  
  In front of the stage, there is a crescent-shaped lotus pond which is 12.67 meters in radius and is used to collect the rainwater of the open space. Running throughout the year, the pond water strengthens the sound effect of the stage. On both sides of the stage there are some platforms on which reinforced concrete pergolas of wisteria are built. Below the stage, there are rest rooms, wash rooms and store rooms, etc.
  
  In front of the stage is the auditorium. The designer skillfully makes use of the lawn's natural heave from high to low and designs a semi-circle auditorium. The sloped, semi-circle lawn is about 56.67 meters (185.9 ft) in radius. Three paths spread along the direction of the concentric arc on the lawn, and five two-meter-wide walkways radiate from the fan-shaped ramp's center; each of the walkways has 45 steps. The lawn is divided into 12 pieces by the paths and walkways, and together it can contain more than 3000 people.
  
  On the higher side of the semicircular music stage, there is a pergola of wisteria, 6 meters (20 ft) wide and 150 meters (490 ft) long. Inside and outside of the walkways each has 36 stand columns, 36 flowerpots and 30 stone benches. There are rectangular stone benches between flowerpots at the same side under the pergola, which are for the audience to sip tea and rest. At the periphery of the pergola there is an arc-shaped moat, with five bridges serving as five passageways of the music stage. The wisteria corridor is spread in a semicircle, forming a rhythm of equidistance and beauty of melody.
  
  