Former Site of the Red Army Cave Hospital

Former Site of the Red Army Cave Hospital

The Former Site of the Red Army Cave Hospital is a classic red tourism attraction.

In February 1937, after three days of fierce fighting against the Nationalist army in Fengwen, Liu Ying, political commissar of the Advance Column, and Su Yu, its commander, led part of the unit in a strategic retreat. During the withdrawal, Liu and Su entrusted over 30 seriously wounded or ill Red Army soldiers to the Party branch of Shuangxikou Village. The Party branches of Shuangxikou, as well as Qingpi’ao, Tianmenxia, Lingjiashan, Dongjiaping, Shanhou, and Gehou, subsequently joined the effort to care for the wounded, placing them in 17 concealed caves such as Shicuo Cave and Neilu Cave for convalescence. Facing heavy enemy encirclement and suppression, local villagers overcame numerous difficulties to protect the wounded. Villager Chen Chengzan even sacrificed his young life for this cause. By September of the same year, the wounded Red Army soldiers had recovered and returned to their units. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, General Su Yu spoke highly of the efforts of Huang Mingxing, secretary of the Shuangxikou Village Party branch, and others in establishing the cave “hospital,” stating, “Our descendants should carry on their legacy and be worthy of these ordinary yet great unsung and celebrated revolutionary heroes.”

The Former Site of the Red Army Cave Hospital is located in Shuangxikou Village, Fengwen Township, Taishun County. In July 1991, to commemorate this extraordinary history, the Taishun County Committee and County Government erected memorial tablets at Shuibian Cave and Shicuo Cave by the scenic waterside. Shuibian Cave has an interior area of about 12 square meters, with the memorial tablet at its entrance covering 20 square meters; Shicuo Cave has an interior area of 10 square meters, with a 10-square-meter memorial pavilion and tablet at its entrance, occupying a total area of 50 square meters. The inscriptions on the tablets were written by former officials of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and leaders of the provincial military district.

The Former Site of the Red Army Cave Hospital is a distinctive revolutionary tradition education site along the “Red Army Route” in Taishun County.

Source: Party History Research Office of the CPC Wenzhou Municipal Committee