An enlightening sacrifice: discovering an anonymous building on the campus of Nanjing University in China

Abstract

From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, a number of missionary universities made outstanding contributions to higher education in China and left valuable heritage on their campuses. Among them, the University of Nanking (UNK) has played a significant role in the modern history of China. This paper uses the renovation of an anonymous building on the UNK campus as an opportunity to address research questions such as: When was the building built?; Who worked or lived in this building? What is the relationship between the building and the campus? Moreover, this research aims to illustrate the value of the building and offer a scheme for its conservation. The research applies archival research methods on historical documents, photos and maps; and empirical research via a site survey examining architectural features. The findings reveal the building was the residence of John Elias Williams, a vice president of UNK. Next to the central axis of the campus, his residence was built temporary with a good view for supervising the construction of the campus. This research enriches the history of UNK by recognising the cultural significance of an anonymous campus building, which provides important evidence for the development process of UNK.

Keywords

• john elias williams
• university of nanking
• missionary university
• built heritage
• campus heritage
• architectural conservation
• sense of place