Former Residence of Qu Qiubai in Shanghai

Former Residence of Qu Qiubai in Shanghai

The Former Residence of Qu Qiubai in Shanghai is a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a classic red tourism site.

In May 1984, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government designated No. 12, Lane 133, Shan Yin Road, Dongzhao Li, as the former residence of Qu Qiubai in Shanghai. Directly across the street from Qu Qiubai's former home in Dongzhao Li lies the last residence of Lu Xun in Shanghai—Dalu Xin Cun.

Qu Qiubai, an early leader of the Communist Party of China, a great Marxist, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, theorist, and propagandist, was born on January 29, 1899, in Changzhou, and was executed by the Kuomintang on June 18, 1935, at Luohanling, Changting County, Fujian. His short yet brilliant life was closely connected with the city of Shanghai.

In January 1923, Qu Qiubai returned from Soviet Russia. In June, after attending the Third National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Guangzhou, he came to Shanghai under the title of alternate Central Executive Committee member. Introduced by Li Dazhao, he joined the teaching staff at Shanghai University, where he was appointed Dean of Academic Affairs and Head of the Department of Sociology. In the second half of 1923, Qu Qiubai was extremely busy and happy—professionally, he handled heavy school administrative duties and teaching, plus party and organizational work; personally, he fell in love with and married Wang Jianhong, building their love nest in 1924 at No. 306, Xingbin Li, Muming Road (now North Maoming Road). In July, Wang Jianhong unfortunately died of tuberculosis, and in November, Qu Qiubai married Yang Zhihua. Their new home was located at No. 12, Shuntai Li, Baotong Road, Zhabei District, neighboring Shen Yanbing who lived at No. 11. In February 1927, after the failure of the second armed workers’ uprising, the Party Central Committee moved from Shanghai to Wuhan. After participating in the August 7th Meeting, Qu Qiubai effectively led the Political Bureau, and it was actually decided by the Comintern that Qu Qiubai would lead the entire Party into a new phase. This meeting ended the policy of capitulationism at the critical juncture of the Chinese revolution and established the path of land revolution and armed resistance against the Kuomintang. In April 1928, Qu Qiubai left Shanghai for Moscow to prepare for the Party’s Sixth Congress. At the end of July 1930, he returned via Berlin, and by January 1931, he had been removed from his position as a Politburo member during the Fourth Plenary Session. From then until his death, he suffered persecution under the brutal “Left” line led by Wang Ming. After being pushed off the political stage, Qu Qiubai returned to his beloved literary field. After a brief period of depression, he became active again in the arts, becoming the de facto leader of left-wing culture. At the time, the left-wing cultural front had formed a formidable force in Shanghai, including the League of Left-Wing Writers, the Drama Alliance, the Film Alliance, the Art Alliance, as well as the Chinese Social Scientists League and the Marxist Literary Theory Research Association. At the time, Qu Qiubai and his wife Yang Zhihua lived in Liangyi Li on West Dajie (now West Yan’an Road), which was a rather dilapidated and unsafe working-class neighborhood.

Under these circumstances, Qu Qiubai’s safety could not be guaranteed, and he often took refuge in the homes of Mao Dun and Lu Xun. In March 1933, Lu Xun arranged for the Qu Qiubai couple to stay in a small attic room sublet by his Japanese friend Uchiyama Kanzō’s wife at No. 12, Lane 133 (formerly Dongzhao Li), Shan Yin Road. The tenants in this building were mostly Japanese businessmen and ronin, who often dropped by Qu Qiubai’s home, disrupting his work. To avoid visitors, Qu Qiubai had to read in bed while his wife Yang Zhihua boiled medicine on the stove at the door, filling the air with medicinal smoke to deter the visitors. Qu Qiubai only stayed here for three months, but it is now designated as his former residence in Shanghai.

Later, during an alert, Qu Qiubai temporarily stayed at the home of Mao Dun on Shuli Li, Yuyuan Road, where he met Feng Xuefeng, who was then the Propaganda Minister of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. With Feng’s enthusiastic help, the Qu Qiubai couple found a place they could live in for a longer time: No. 68, Zixia Road, Nanshi. It was an old-style lane house with three bays, three sections, and three stories. The house had its own gated courtyard, and the environment was quite secluded. It belonged to Xie Danru, a good friend of Feng Xuefeng, and was fully furnished. In May 1931, the Qu Qiubai couple lived in the eastern wing room on the second floor. The western wing room was Xie’s study (the original house has since been demolished). Qu Qiubai used the alias Lin Fu, and Yang Zhihua posed as his sister-in-law. They lived there for a year and a half. During this time, due to the outbreak of the January 28th Incident, he temporarily followed the landlord to live on the third floor at No. 10, Bixing Fang, Bixun Road (now Fenyang Road) for three months. After the war, they returned to their original residence, moving from the second-floor eastern wing room to the third-floor space. On a desk in this space, Qu Qiubai wrote numerous essays and translated a great deal of literary theory and works.

Starting from the end of 1923, the Qu Qiubai couple faced danger multiple times and took refuge at Lu Xun’s home on three occasions. Qu Qiubai left behind his beloved desk and a leather suitcase at Lu Xun’s home. After Qu Qiubai’s martyrdom, the furniture, seals, and manuscripts stored at Lu Xun’s home became memorial relics. These items were kept by Xu Guangping after Lu Xun’s death and donated to the state in 1950. They are now displayed at the Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial Hall. During their time in hiding, Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai supported each other, co-authoring many popular essays and working together on books such as "Bernard Shaw in Shanghai," spending difficult times in deep understanding. Qu Qiubai brought Lu Xun a positive impression of the Communist Party in his later years, lifting Lu Xun’s loneliness and helping him find a true kindred spirit, leading him to exclaim, “To have one true friend in life is enough.” The couplet that Lu Xun inscribed for Qu Qiubai—“To have one true friend in life is enough; such a person should be regarded as a kindred spirit”—fully illustrates their mutual understanding and trust.

In the autumn and winter of 1933, the Qu Qiubai couple had no fixed abode. On January 4, 1934, before leaving for the Central Revolutionary Base in Ruijin, Jiangxi, Qu Qiubai visited Lu Xun to bid farewell and stayed overnight at his home. Unexpectedly, this visit became their final parting. On the night of January 7, 1934, amid wind and snow, Qu Qiubai left Shanghai on a journey from which he would never return. On June 18, 1935, he was brutally executed by the Kuomintang at Luohanling, Changting County, Fujian.

Transportation

Address: No. 12, Lane 133, Shan Yin Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai

Transport: Metro Line 3 or Line 8 – Hongkou Football Stadium Station; Airport Line 4 terminal at Lu Xun Park; buses including 848, 863, 47, 939, 854, 167, etc.

Nearby attractions include Duolun Road Celebrity Culture Street, Hongkou Football Stadium, and the Former Residence of Lu Xun.

Qu Qiubai (1899–1935), male, Han ethnicity, from Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, member of the Communist Party of China.

In 1919, during the May Fourth Movement, Qu Qiubai participated in leading student movements in Beijing. In early 1920, he joined the Marxist Theory Study Society. Later, he went to Soviet Russia as a journalist. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1922. After the failure of the Great Revolution, he presided over the August 7th Meeting, establishing the Party’s general guidelines for land revolution and armed resistance against the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang. After the meeting, he served as Chairman of the Provisional Politburo Central Committee, leading the central work. In June 1928, he attended the Party’s Sixth Congress... More details on Qu Qiubai++