Former Site of the Wenzhou Purchasing Office of the New Fourth Army

Former Site of the Wenzhou Purchasing Office of the New Fourth Army

The former site of the Wenzhou Purchasing Office of the New Fourth Army is a cultural relic protection unit of Wenzhou City.

The former site of the Wenzhou Purchasing Office of the New Fourth Army is located at No. 135, Xianqiantou, Lucheng District. The site is a three-story hybrid Western-style building with seven bays and a timber structure. It faces south and is situated along the northern street. The first floor has doors in each bay, while the second and third floors have windows, all featuring Western-style decorative facades. The western gable wall bears the inscription “Ouhai Hospital.” The staircase is located on the southern side. The roof is covered with small blue tiles and features a flush gable roof.

In the autumn of 1938, the New Fourth Army established its Wenzhou Purchasing Office at this location, headed by Yang Jianxin. At the same time, the underground Communist Party in Shanghai also set up an office here under the name “Shanghai Red Cross” to coordinate with its operations. For two years, the office facilitated the transfer of a large number of underground party members, progressive youths, patriots, and urgently needed military supplies to the anti-Japanese base areas in Central China, making significant contributions to the New Fourth Army’s efforts in resisting the Japanese behind enemy lines. The site is a well-preserved three-story Western-style building with seven bays.

It was listed as part of the second batch of cultural relic protection units of Wenzhou City in 1985.

Protection Level: County (city/district)-level cultural relic protection unit

Period: 1938

Date of Announcement: August 21, 1985

Category: Important modern historical sites and representative buildings

Protected Area: All sides are bounded by the building’s own walls.

Building Control Zone: North to Xianqiantou Road; south bounded by a line five meters outward from the wall (i.e., adjacent building gables); east bounded by a line three meters outward from the wall; west bounded by a line eighteen meters outward from the wall (including the small courtyard). The southern area within five to ten meters outward from the wall and a house three meters to the east are subject to a height restriction of no more than ten meters.