Former Site of the Eighth Route Army Nanjing Office

Former Site of the Eighth Route Army Nanjing Office

The former site of the Eighth Route Army Nanjing Office is a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a classic red tourism attraction.

The former site of the Eighth Route Army Nanjing Office is located at No. 41 Qingyun Lane, Gulou District (formerly No. 66 Fuhuogang).

No. 41 Qingyun Lane (formerly No. 66 Fuhuogang) is a three-story Western-style building facing south, with a construction area of 247 square meters. There are also two single-story utility buildings with six rooms totaling about 80 square meters. It was formerly the residence of Zhang Boling, the former president of Nankai University. In August 1937, through Zhou Enlai’s relationship with him as a former teacher and student, the residence was rented to serve as the Eighth Route Army Nanjing Office. It was the first publicly established office of the Chinese Communist Party-led military forces in Kuomintang-controlled territory.

Bo Gu, Ye Jianying, Li Kenong, Qian Zhiguang, and others worked here as staff members, and Dong Biwu and Ye Ting also once stayed here.

In December of the same year, after the fall of Nanjing, the office relocated to Wuhan. Although the office operated here for only three months, it accomplished a great deal and made indelible contributions toward achieving the Second United Front between the Nationalists and Communists and establishing and consolidating the anti-Japanese united front.

In March 1982, No. 41 Qingyun Lane was designated by the provincial government as one of Jiangsu’s third batch of key cultural relics protection units. In 1986, with the care of veteran comrades such as Tong Xiaopeng, Yuan Chaojun, and Qi Guang, as well as the support of municipal and provincial leaders, the Nanjing municipal government allocated special funds to relocate the residents from the former site at No. 41 Qingyun Lane, renovate the buildings, and prepare for the establishment of a memorial museum. In October 1987, the Eighth Route Army Nanjing Office Memorial Museum was completed and officially opened to the public.

On October 7, 2019, the former site of the Eighth Route Army Nanjing Office was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units