Former Sites of the Headquarters of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Establishment of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column

Former Sites of the Headquarters of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Establishment of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column

The Former Sites of the Headquarters of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Establishment of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column is a classic red tourism attraction.

On November 25, 1948, the Headquarters and Political Department of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were officially established in Banliao Village, Guifeng Township, Rui’an County. Long Yue, Secretary of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee of the Communist Party of China, served as Commander and Political Commissar; Zheng Danfu as Deputy Commander; and Hu Jing? as Director of the Political Department. It included three detachments, one independent battalion, and one guard battalion. At the same time, the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee of the Communist Party of China (abbreviated as “Southern Zhejiang Special Committee”) was renamed the Southern Zhejiang Local Committee of the Communist Party of China (abbreviated as “Southern Zhejiang Local Committee”). The Headquarters of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column and the offices of the Southern Zhejiang Local Committee were both located in Banliao Village. The establishment of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column marked the transition of the guerrilla warfare in Southern Zhejiang into a strategic offensive phase. This armed force, with backbone members consisting of personnel left behind by the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army Advance Division and cadres who had long persisted in the struggle in Southern Zhejiang, and with its main body formed by Communist Party members and poor peasants from the base areas, grew from small and weak to large and strong under the leadership of the Communist Party. It became a key force closely coordinating with the main forces of the Liberation Army and liberating the entire territory of Southern Zhejiang.

The Former Sites of the Headquarters of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Establishment of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column are located in Banliao Village, Guifeng Township, Rui’an City. To commemorate the great achievements of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column, in 1993, the Rui’an Municipal Committee and Municipal People’s Government of the Communist Party of China built the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column Establishment Monument Garden on the left rear side, 50 meters away from the original site of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column Headquarters in Banliao Village, Guifeng Township. The garden covers a total area of 540 square meters. The monument pavilion stands at its center, with the “Southern Zhejiang Weekly” Memorial Plaque on the left side of the pavilion and the tomb of Long Yue, Secretary of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and Commander of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column, and his wife on the right side. In 1999, the original site of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column Headquarters was restored. It consists of seven two-story rooms. The upper floor displays items such as the beds and office desks used by leaders of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the guerrilla column, including Long Yue. The lower floor is arranged as the “Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column Memorial Hall,” with an exhibition area of 200 square meters featuring over 400 photos and text descriptions. Fifty meters to the left front of the original site, a plaque with the inscription by General Zhang Aiping reading “Former Site of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column” was erected. In 2002, villagers of Banliao Village renovated two two-story residential buildings, totaling 20 rooms, where guerrilla column officers and soldiers once lived. In 2008, the Guifeng Township government began restoring the training grounds used by the guerrilla column at that time. These five memorial structures together form the Former Sites of the Headquarters of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Establishment of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column, covering a total area of over 6,000 square meters.

The Former Sites of the Headquarters of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and the Establishment of the Southern Zhejiang Guerrilla Column is a patriotic education base in Rui’an City.

Source: History Research Office of the Wenzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China