Former Site of the New Fourth Army Wenzhou Communication Office

Former Site of the New Fourth Army Wenzhou Communication Office

The former site of the New Fourth Army Wenzhou Communication Office is a Wenzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a classic red tourism attraction.

In March 1938, Liu Ying, a leader of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the CPC, along with Zeng Shan, head of the CPC Southeast Bureau, held talks in Jinhua with Huang Shaohong, Chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Government of the KMT, regarding the consolidation and expansion of cooperation between the CPC and KMT and joint efforts in the War of Resistance against Japan. They proposed establishing New Fourth Army offices in Wenzhou, Pingyang, Lishui, and other locations, and reached an agreement. In the same month, the Min-Zhe Border Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps' Wenzhou Office was renamed the New Fourth Army Wenzhou Communication Office, with Zhou Yinbing as its director. After its establishment, the communication office carried out extensive work: First, it promoted the CPC's anti-Japanese national salvation policies and spurred mass anti-Japanese salvation movements in Wenzhou; second, it facilitated the dispatch of soldiers for the resistance, transferring three groups totaling over 1,300 CPC cadres and progressive youth through Wenzhou to southern Anhui to join the New Fourth Army; third, it sheltered the operations of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the CPC, later becoming a key communication hub for the committee; fourth, it engaged with the KMT’s Wenzhou garrison and government under a public and legal identity to handle relevant matters. In September of the same year, the KMT Wenzhou-Taizhou Command ordered the disbandment of five anti-Japanese salvation organizations, including the Yongjia Wartime Youth Service Corps, shut down progressive publications, and banned anti-Japanese propaganda. On October 10, they sealed off the New Fourth Army Wenzhou Communication Office, arresting seven people including Xie Wenqing, head of the Organization Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the CPC who was staying at the office at the time, Lai Dachao, head of the Youth Department, and Zhou Yinbing, the communication office director. The communication office was subsequently disbanded. To avoid further losses, the Provincial Committee voluntarily shut down New Fourth Army offices in Lishui and Shuitou, Pingyang.

The former site of the New Fourth Army Wenzhou Communication Office is located at Jiubaiyuantou in downtown Wenzhou, consisting of House No. 17 (now No. 31), the Huang residence, and House No. 12 (now No. 19), the Wei residence. The Huang residence is a two-story traditional Chinese building divided into eastern and western sections, with a connecting door on the upper floor. It was destroyed in a fire in October 1952 and later rebuilt as a two-story residential building. The Wei residence retains its original appearance.

The former site of the New Fourth Army Wenzhou Communication Office is a Wenzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

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

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Wenzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Units