Site of the First National Cadres' Meeting of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party

Site of the First National Cadres' Meeting of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party

The site of the First National Cadres' Meeting of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party is a cultural relic protection unit in Shanghai.

Site of the First National Cadres' Meeting of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party

The site of the First National Cadres' Meeting of the party is where the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party was founded and has been listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Shanghai’s Luwan District. In 2008, the Central Committee placed a bust and a memorial stone of Deng Yanda in the garden. The party was born during the revolutionary downturn after the failure of the Great Revolution. After Chiang Kai-shek launched the April 12th Incident in Shanghai in 1927, some left-wing leaders of the Kuomintang in the Wuhan government, such as Soong Ching-ling, Deng Yanda, and Peng Zemin, joined forces with comrades

In May 1930, after secretly returning to China and arriving in Shanghai, Deng Yanda began preparations to establish the party on the basis of the Chinese Revolutionary Party. Regarding the name of the party, Deng believed that to carry on Sun Yat-sen’s banner and fulfill the tasks of the national revolution, it was necessary to inherit Sun’s organization and utilize all available forces to oppose Chiang Kai-shek. Therefore, the banner of the Kuomintang was still useful. Given that the label "Chinese Kuomintang" had been compromised, after discussions, it was decided to adopt the name used in the “Moscow Declaration,” and the party was officially named the “Chinese Kuomintang Provisional Action Committee.”

On August 9, 1930, the first National Cadres Conference, attended by representatives from 10 provinces and regions, was held at No. 290 Saposhai Road (now No. 1, Lane 332, Danshui Road), in the French Concession of Shanghai. More than 30 people attended, including Deng Yanda, Huang Qixiang, Zhang Bojun, Ji Fang, Zheng Taipu, and Qiu Zhe. The meeting was chaired by Deng Yanda and officially proclaimed the founding of the party. Deng Yanda delivered the opening speech: “The Chinese revolution has reached a critical juncture. The responsibility of carrying on the legacy falls upon our shoulders. All of us present are comrades who have fought on the revolutionary front and thus feel a deep sense of duty, prompting us to step forward and return to the battlefield. Today marks the beginning of our battle — the first step in continuing the revolutionary cause of Mr. Sun Yat-sen, moving forward, and restoring the unified momentum of the Chinese revolution.” After the speech, all attendees stood up and observed a minute of silence in front of the portrait of Mr. Sun Yat-sen. They then collectively recited “Our Creed”: “1. Our philosophical view is historical materialism; 2. Our cause is the continuation of the revolution of Sun Yat-sen; 3. Our task is to achieve the Chinese democratic revolution, liberate all of China, and march toward the path of socialism; 4. To realize the Chinese revolution, we unite with oppressed peoples around the world in a common struggle; 5. We are a politically united and combat-ready group with unified beliefs, organization, and actions; 6. We adopt the principle of democratic centralism.”

The conference adopted the party’s program — “Our Political Proposals” — which outlined views on the fundamental issues of Chinese society and the Chinese revolution. It stated that Chinese society was a semi-colonial, semi-independent “pre-capitalist” society dominated by feudal and imperialist forces. The Chinese revolution was “a revolution that encompasses national, democratic, and livelihood aspects, ultimately aiming for socialism.” The targets of the revolution were imperialism, feudal warlords and landlords, as well as the exploitative and reactionary bourgeoisie that lived off the former two. The leading force of the revolution was the laboring civilian class, composed of oppressed and exploited workers, peasants, artisans, small merchants, and young students. The “Political Proposals” proposed, under the leadership of the revolutionary party, to resume the interrupted national revolution and establish a civilian political power centered on peasants and workers through the democratic revolution. The laboring civilian class would organize a revolutionary armed force — the “Civilian Revolutionary Army” — to resist and eliminate reactionary armed forces, and establish a “Revolutionary Committee” to take over political power. It aimed to gradually set up representative assemblies at all levels, with all power belonging to the National Assembly. The “Political Proposals” also introduced a series of economic policies, proposing to achieve “land to the tiller” through a transitional method of land nationalization, then transitioning from state capitalism to socialism.

On November 18, 1998, the People’s Government of Luwan District, Shanghai, held an unveiling ceremony for the “Former Site of the Mingfu Library of the Chinese Science Society” at the Luwan District Library. Zhou Guangzhao, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, President of the China Association for Science and Technology, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Science, and Ye Shuhua, Vice President of the China Association for Science and Technology, President of the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology, and Executive Editorial Board Member of the journal Science, attended the ceremony and unveiled the plaque for the former site. Attendees also included Academician Tan Jiazhen, one of the initiators of the former site plaque, leaders of the Luwan District People’s Government, and relatives of Mr. Hu Mingfu.

From the first public science and technology library in the country, to the Luwan Library, and then to the Mingfu Library named after Mr. Hu Mingfu, China’s first mathematics Ph.D., the cluster of small Western-style buildings at 235 South Shanxi Road has become part of the collective memory of the people of Shanghai.

The main building is the Mingfu Library, originally built in the 1930s, and the annex is the Lele Library Building donated by Chinese-American Guan Kangcai. By the end of 2004, after renovation and expansion, it formed a unique architectural complex centered around the “Mingfu Building,” flanked by the “Lele Building” and the “Huixin Building.” The library boasts profound cultural heritage. The “Mingfu Building” witnessed the history of the Chinese Science Society and is also the birthplace of the China Association for Promoting Democracy.

The “Mingfu Building” houses services such as the Library Lending Department and the “Exhibition Room of the Former Site of the Mingfu Library of the Chinese Science Society,” providing readers with services such as book lending via the Shanghai Central Library “One Card” system and public catalog searches.

The “Lele Building” includes services such as the Periodical Lending Department and the Multimedia Network Classroom, offering readers services such as full-text retrieval of Chinese journals, access to Longyuan electronic journals, and browsing through the “National Cultural Information Resource Sharing Project” local area network.

During the library’s preparation, Hu Mingfu, a key member of the Science Society, tragically drowned at the age of 36. Hu Mingfu was China’s first mathematics Ph.D., and the Science Society’s ability to sustain and grow after its members returned to China was largely due to his hard work. At the time, Hu served both as a board member and the accountant, meticulously managing every income and expense related to society activities and the magazine, while also actively fundraising and soliciting donations. When the library was completed, Cai Yuanpei proposed naming it after Hu Mingfu. On New Year’s Day 1931, the library officially opened to the public. In his speech at the opening ceremony, Cai Yuanpei said: “This library commemorates Mr. Hu Mingfu because he was an important founder of our society, made tremendous sacrifices for it, and remained dedicated to society’s affairs until the day of his death. Therefore, our society’s first great building is named in honor of Mr. Mingfu.”

On April 4, 2014, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government designated and announced the site of the First National Cadres Conference of the Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party as a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit (Shanghai Government Document [2014] No. 29).