Constitutional Protection Movement
The memorial hall stands on the site of Guangzhou's Presidential Palace during the Constitutional Protection Movement, when the Nationalists operated a rival "Chinese" government to the Zhili Clique's Beijing regime. The palace was damaged during Ye Ju's 16 June 1922 attack on Sun Yat-sen, during which—though he had already fled—his wife narrowly escaped shelling and rifle fire before meeting him on the gunboat "Yongfeng", where they were joined by Chiang Kai-shek. The hall itself has been severely damaged and repaired several times until 1998, when it was comprehensively upgraded to its present-day condition. A statue of Sun Yat-sen was erected in front of the main entrance.