WANDER SHANGHAI

25, Lane 5, Gaoyou Road

Zheng Zhenduo’s Former Home

郑振铎旧居

A wartime guardian of books in Shanghai

This small house stands inside Lane 5 and predates Zheng’s arrival. A Palace Museum chronology places his residence in 1943–1945, while a local guide starts in 1942; the starting dates differ.

Explore the historical timeline
Gate, boundary wall and house at Zheng Zhenduo’s former home, 25, Lane 5, Gaoyou Road.

Capture date not stated by the source

Gate, boundary wall and house at Zheng Zhenduo’s former home, 25, Lane 5, Gaoyou Road.

Image from the cited report or institutional source · Image source · Rights retained by the original creator

At a glance

Construction / use dates
Reported as 1935–1937; exact year unresolved
Architect
Not established in reviewed sources
Character
Two-storey brick-and-timber garden house
Original use
Garden residence
Use and access
Residential or institutional premises; view the exterior first
Address
25, Lane 5, Gaoyou Road

Architecture and use: sources[1] [2] [3]

The people behind the address

A life in brief

Zheng Zhenduo (1898–1958) was a writer, translator, literary historian and collector, later the first head of the PRC’s cultural-heritage administration.[1] [2] [3]

Contributions and influence

During the war he worked with colleagues to buy and preserve books at risk of dispersal, turning collecting into public cultural protection. The Palace Museum documents that sustained work through records and a chronology.[1] [2] [3]

The beginning

Why was it built here?

This small house stands inside Lane 5 and predates Zheng’s arrival. A Palace Museum chronology places his residence in 1943–1945, while a local guide starts in 1942; the starting dates differ.[1] [2] [3]

The address is associated with his wartime efforts to safeguard old books. It records a scholar’s work and domestic life during upheaval, not a purpose-built museum; the resident’s story is distinct from the building’s construction history.[1] [2] [3]

Look up, then look closer

Details worth a closer look

Space and facade

Two brick-and-timber storeys sit beneath a pitched roof with gables and a chimney. Pale textured walls surround square openings; garden walls and trees partly screen the modest house from the lane.[1] [2] [3]

Entrance and details

The entrance photograph records the gate, wall and house behind. This is not a large apartment block facing Gaoyou Road; the transition from the main street into the side lane matters.[1] [2] [3]

One building, changing roles

Read the building through time

Captions distinguish photographic dates from publication dates; periods without reliable images are covered in the text.

  1. 1935–1937

    Reported construction period

    The house existed before the scholar moved in; the reported construction range has not resolved to one definite year.[1] [2] [3]

  2. 1943–1945

    Residence recorded by the Palace Museum

    The Palace Museum’s residential chronology is used while retaining the local guide’s alternative 1942 starting date.[1] [2] [3]

  3. 2015

    Local report revisits the home

    The report linked the surviving home to Zheng’s Shanghai years, preserving photographs of the gate, wall and house.[1] [2] [3]

Today and visiting

Discover the building from the street

Residential or institutional premises; view the exterior first[1] [2] [3]

Address
25, Lane 5, Gaoyou Road
Access
View from public roads and permitted areas. Historic importance does not open residential gardens, stairs or institutional compounds to the public; follow posted access rules.
Find the address on a map ↗

Sources checked: 2026-10-26 · View from public roads and permitted areas. Historic importance does not open residential gardens, stairs or institutional compounds to the public; follow posted access rules.

Shanghai and the world

Building and neighbourhood

Gaoyou’s history extends beyond street facades into short residential lanes. This modest house contrasts in scale with the monumental columns at No. 68.[1] [2] [3]

Back to the street

Text and image sources

This account is based on the sources below. Unverified details are identified as such. Where photographs are included, sources and licences are listed beneath each image.

  1. Shanghai Xuhui: Gaoyou Road’s buildings and people (2019) ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

  2. Palace Museum: Zheng Zhenduo exhibition and chronology ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

  3. The Paper: Zheng Zhenduo’s Gaoyou Road home (2015) ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

Image handling and dating

Images come from the archives or image source pages listed beneath each photograph. We resize and compress them to WebP, preserving their original proportions without colourisation or added detail. Grain, blur and scanning marks in historical photographs are retained.

Publication and capture dates are distinct. Monochrome and file images are not automatically historical photographs; captions follow what the source establishes.