Former Residence of Revolutionary Martyr Jin Shizhen

Former Residence of Revolutionary Martyr Jin Shizhen

The Former Residence of Revolutionary Martyr Jin Shizhen is a cultural tourism attraction and a classic red tourism site.

Jin Shizhen (1901–1929), originally named Xueqing, also known as Shisheng, was from Waicun Village, Fenglin Town, Yongjia County. Starting in 1907, he attended local private schools and Langxia Primary School. In February 1919, he was admitted to Wenzhou Provincial No. 10 Normal School. During his time at school, he read progressive publications and engaged in various promotional activities with Jin Guanzhen, Jin Shengzhen, and others. He actively responded to the May Fourth Movement, spreading new culture and ideas. After graduating in 1923, due to his talent in sports, he was admitted to Shanghai East Asia Physical Education College the following year. He graduated in 1925 and was hired as a physical education teacher at his alma mater, Wenzhou Provincial No. 10 Normal School. During his teaching career, he actively participated in revolutionary activities led by the “Wenzhou Communist Branch” and joined the Chinese Communist Party through the introduction of Hu Shiyin. After the “April 12” counter-revolutionary coup, the Kuomintang surrounded his residence and confiscated revolutionary publications. With the help of progressive teachers and students, Jin Shizhen hid in the kitchen and escaped over the wall with the assistance of a kitchen worker. Later, he went to the Soviet Union with Jin Guanzhen, Hu Shiyin, and Jin Shengzhen, attending the military program at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University before transferring to a artillery school. In the spring of 1929, he was ordered to return to China and was appointed by the CPC Central Committee as the chief of staff of a regiment in the Fourth Red Army. In May of the same year, he died heroically in a battle in Longyan, Fujian, at the age of 29.

Before leaving for the Soviet Union, Jin Shizhen had both parents, a wife and daughter, and a younger brother at home. After his death, his family suffered grief, anger, hunger, and cold. By the time of the liberation in 1949, only his disabled younger brother had survived. In July 1957, after investigation, the Yongjia County People’s Government officially recognized Jin Shizhen as a revolutionary martyr with approval from higher authorities and issued a Revolutionary Martyr Certificate. The people of the Western Nanxi Revolutionary Base Area referred to Jin Shizhen, Jin Guanzhen, and Jin Shengzhen together as the “Three Zhen” of Nanxi.

The former residence of Jin Shizhen is located in Waicun Village, Fenglin Town, Yongjia County. It faces east and has front and rear gates. The front half of the right-side room belonged to Jin Shizhen, and his handwriting can still be found on the screen wall in the front room.

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