Zhangpu Red Mansion (Former Site of the Headquarters of the 3rd Army of the Central Red Army’s Eastern Route Army)

Zhangpu Red Mansion (Former Site of the Headquarters of the 3rd Army of the Central Red Army’s Eastern Route Army)

The Zhangpu Red Mansion (Former Site of the Headquarters of the 3rd Army of the Central Red Army’s Eastern Route Army) is a classic red tourism destination.

The Zhangpu Red Mansion is located next to a church at the end of Xinlujiao Road in Suian Town, Zhangpu County, and was the former site of the headquarters of the 3rd Army of the Central Red Army’s Eastern Route Army.

On April 20, 1932, the Central Red Army’s Eastern Route Army captured Zhangzhou, and on April 24, 1932, the 3rd Army of the Central Red Army’s Eastern Route Army, in accordance with Chairman Mao Zedong’s directive to establish a Soviet area in southern Fujian, liberated Zhangpu. They launched struggles against local tyrants and for land redistribution across the city and countryside, and established the Zhangpu County Revolutionary Committee and township-level Soviet governments, forming the Jinghepu Revolutionary Base Area. At the time, the headquarters of the 3rd Army was located in this building, with Commander Xu Yangang and Political Commissar Ge Yaoshan. Nie Rongzhen, who was then the Political Commissar of the Eastern Route Army, also came to Zhangpu to guide the establishment of the Soviet area and stayed here.

The Newlujiao Church, which now houses the former site of the 3rd Army of the Central Red Army’s Eastern Route Army, was built in the early 19th century as a girls' school building operated by a Christian church. Made of red bricks, it is also known as the Red Mansion. It is a two-story brick-and-wood structure with a floor area of 598 square meters. After the liberation, the Newlujiao Church was nationalized. Following the implementation of religious policy reforms during the reform and opening-up period, it was returned to the church. In 2007, the government funded its renovation and leased it from the church to establish the Zhangpu County Revolutionary History Memorial Hall. The hall features themed exhibition areas such as “Great Figures of the Chinese Revolution,” “Celebrities and Zhangpu,” “Pioneering the Southern Fujian Jinggangshan,” “Mao Zedong and the Jinghepu Soviet Area,” “The Southern Bastion of the Central Soviet Area,” “Reorganizing Armed Forces and Marching North to Resist Japan,” and “Relentless Struggle, the Red Flag Never Falls.”

The Zhangpu Red Mansion was designated as a Cultural Relics Protection Unit of Zhangpu County by the Zhangpu County People’s Government in April 1984, and as a Fujian Provincial Party History Education Base by the Fujian Provincial Party History Research Office in June 2011. On January 28, 2013, it was announced by the Fujian Provincial People’s Government as part of the Eighth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units.

------ Source: Zhangpu County Party History Research Office

Suian Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Zhangpu County. It is the seat of the county government. Established as Suian Town in the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), it was renamed Chengguan Town in 1956, then Chengguan Commune Residents’ Brigade in 1958, and reinstated as Suian Town in 1982. Located in the central part of the county along the lower reaches of the Luxi River, it covers an area of 1,247 square kilometers with a population of 870,000. National Highway 324 runs through the town. It administers eight neighborhood committees: Dongjie, Xijie, Nanjie, Beijie, Chengdong, Chengxi, Chaoyang, and Chengbei, as well as villages including Nanmen, Youche, Shizhai, Jinli, Suidong, Suixi, Suinan, Suibei, Xinan, Makeng, Luxi, Huangcang, Maiyuanpu, Caopu, Dapu… More detailed information on Suian Town++