Slogans of the New Fourth Army

Slogans of the New Fourth Army

The slogans of the New Fourth Army are a Jiangsu provincial cultural relics protection unit and a classic red tourism destination.

The slogans of the New Fourth Army are located in Zhuling Village, Zhangzhu Town, Yixing City. In March 1982, they were designated as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit by the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government.

The slogans were written on the 13th day of the eighth lunar month in 1946, at which time the main forces of the New Fourth Army’s Su-Zhe Military District had been ordered to withdraw northward across the river from the Su-Zhe base area for nearly a year. The Nationalist government had launched military offensives in the Yili, Taihu, and other areas, attacking the liberated zones of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Henan (Shangqiu), and conducting large-scale “clearing the countryside” and “sweeping the mountains” operations. The underground Party organizations in southern Jiangsu that had been forced to disband were successively re-established, and communist cadres and guerrilla fighters returned one after another.

To combat the arrogance of the enemy and boost the revolutionary morale of the people, the New Fourth Army’s local guerrilla squads remaining in the mountainous regions of southern Yixing, under the leadership of Chen Liping, Zhang Zhiyi, and others, carried out arduous struggles against the enemy. On the night of the 13th day of the eighth lunar month in 1946, five men and one woman from the New Fourth Army guerrilla squad stealthily entered the home of Min Yida, a resident along the street in Zhuling Village. On the west wall of his house, they wrote in red pigment from right to left: “Demand the Nationalist Government disband its secret service agencies and release patriotic political prisoners!” The message was signed: New Fourth Army of Su-Zhe. The slogan is 5.85 meters long and 1.30 meters high. The next morning, the large slogan attracted villagers who had come to the market to gather and watch, sparking widespread discussion and creating a significant impact.

Upon learning of this, the Nationalist government sent military police to torture Min Yida severely in an attempt to force him to reveal the origin of the slogans, but ultimately failed and could only order him to erase them. After returning home, Min Yida covered the slogans with yellow mud to deal with the situation superficially. Soon after, as the yellow mud gradually peeled off, the slogans reappeared.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the government placed great emphasis on protecting the only remaining New Fourth Army slogan in Jiangsu, installing a protective frame around it. In 2000, the slogan underwent cleaning and anti-mold treatment. However, due to years of weather erosion and natural damage, most of the text on the slogan has now become largely blurred.

Further reading:

· Third Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units