Former Site of the National Daily Office

Former Site of the National Daily Office

The former site of the National Daily Office is a cultural relic protection unit of Zhejiang Province.

The former site of the National Daily was originally a clan ancestral hall built during the late Qing Dynasty, covering a construction area of 300 square meters. On January 5, 1939, the National Daily was first published here. Although nominally sponsored by the Zhejiang-Western Administrative Office of the Kuomintang, it was actually a patriotic anti-Japanese propaganda stronghold led by communists represented by Wang Wenshi, the newspaper’s publisher. Its founding oath, editorial principles, and propaganda strategies firmly upheld our Party's just cause of unity and resistance against Japan. Its circulation and reach were three times that of the Kuomintang's Zhejiang-Western Daily, earning it the reputation of being a banner of the anti-Japanese resistance in Zhejiang-West. The site also once served as the secret headquarters of the Zhejiang-West Special Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, leading party work across various regions. The influence and impact of the National Daily provoked the reactionary faction of the Kuomintang. In the summer of 1940 and December 1941, the Zhejiang-Western Administrative Office twice ordered the reorganization of the National Daily Office, launching extensive arrests of communists and progressives at the paper. A total of 19 underground party members and journalists were arrested, and 12 were killed, their blood staining the newspaper’s banner. The National Daily ceased publication in October 1945, after six years and ten months.

The newspaper office was located at the He Clan Ancestral Hall in He Village, Yuzhen. From its founding to its suspension, spanning less than seven years, the most intense and brutal five years of struggle against the Japanese invaders, the Wang puppet regime, and surrendering forces of the Kuomintang were spent in He Village. Nineteen underground CCP members, “members of the National Salvation Vanguard,” and anti-Japanese journalists were abducted and imprisoned by reactionary forces in defense of the sacred dignity of the Chinese nation and for the sake of resisting Japan and saving the country. They endured all kinds of torture, and twelve underground CCP members and anti-Japanese journalists were brutally slaughtered, dying for the cause of journalism.

In 1988, the People’s Government of Lin’an County designated the former site of the National Daily Office as a key cultural relic protection unit at the county level. In 1989, the government allocated special funds to acquire the site officially and listed it as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. Between 1999 and 2000, the Lin’an Municipal Government raised another 300,000 yuan to carry out comprehensive renovations on the endangered structure in accordance with the principle of “restoring the old as it was and preserving the original layout.” In 2002, the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government launched a comprehensive rescue effort to collect literature, historical materials, and artifacts related to the National Daily. On this basis, the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department organized relevant functional departments to divide tasks, clarify measures, and begin substantive work—from planning and design, review, and fund-raising, to data screening, selection, and the construction of auxiliary facilities and exhibition equipment. On September 24, 2004, the National Daily Memorial Hall was completed and opened to the public, with an official inauguration on September 30. The memorial hall covers an area of 473 square meters, with a construction area of 350 square meters.

The memorial hall is divided into front and rear sections. The main gate bears the inscription “Former Site of the National Daily Office.” On either side of the entrance hall hang two songs: "Ode to Tianmu" and "On Tianmu Mountain." Behind the main gate, on both sides, are displayed the former organizational structure and staff list of the newspaper office, along with an overview of the National Daily. Entering the gate, on both sides are preserved the round ink tables and four-page printing presses used for printing at the time, while the center features a commemorative inscription plaque written by the then Party Secretary of Lin’an City. In the central courtyard stands a group sculpture depicting the scene of founding the newspaper. At the center of the rear hall is a statue of Wang Wenshi, one of the founders of the National Daily and a martyr. The walls on both sides of the entire memorial hall display photos and biographies of the former staff, as well as some valuable historical materials.

Source: Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee Party History and Literature Research Office

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Zhejiang Province