Former Site of the Armed Resistance Against Tax Levies by the Maping Farmers’ Association

Former Site of the Armed Resistance Against Tax Levies by the Maping Farmers’ Association

The former site of the armed resistance against tax levies by the Maping Farmers’ Association is a classic red tourism destination.

The former site of the armed resistance against tax levies by the Maping Farmers’ Association is located at the ancestral temple of the Yang family in the market area of Fotan Town, Zhangpu County.

After the failure of the Great Revolution, Communists engaged in workers' and peasants' movements in Zhangpu moved to rural areas to reorganize farmers’ associations, establish rural Party branches, and continue the movement. On January 10, 1928, over a thousand members of the Maping Farmers’ Association in Zhangpu, under the leadership of Communists, braved the bitter cold, holding high the flag of the Maping Farmers’ Association and waving small banners that read “Long Live the Peasants’ Association” and “Oppose the Tobacco Seedling Tax.” They marched toward Fotan Town armed with sickles, hoes, homemade guns, and small cannons, surrounding the tobacco seedling tax collection office. In front of the ancestral temple of the Yang family, they launched an armed resistance against the Nationalist Army’s 11th Regiment, which was tasked with collecting the tax. The corrupt tax officials on the upper floor of the tobacco collection office brazenly ordered their troops to open fire on the protesters. The Maping farmers fought bravely with their blood and lives, marking the beginning of armed peasant resistance in Fujian Province. Under the guidance of the Provisional Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Fujian, the Zhangpu County Provisional County Committee of the CCP was established, leading various farmers’ associations in armed resistance. This forced the Nationalist Army’s 11th Regiment to withdraw from southern Fujian, and the issue of the tobacco seedling tax collection was eventually dropped.

The ancestral temple of the Yang family in Fotan, the former site of the armed resistance against tax levies by the Maping Farmers’ Association during the early period of the Agrarian Revolutionary War, is well-preserved thanks to regular maintenance funded by clan members.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Zhangzhou Municipal Committee