Site of the Office of the Minnan Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Committee

Site of the Office of the Minnan Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Committee

The Site of the Office of the Minnan Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Committee is a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit and a classic red tourism attraction.

The Site of the Office of the Minnan Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Committee (Yangwen Building in Zhongshan Park) is situated within Zhongshan Park at the intersection of Yan’an North Road and Xinhua West Road in Xiangcheng District, Zhangzhou City. It is a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit. Historically, the Yangwen Building was the rear building of the Zhangzhou Prefectural Government Office. It was originally constructed in the 52nd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1713), when Wei Litong, the prefect of Zhangzhou, renamed and repurposed the rear building of the government office to commemorate the flourishing literary culture during Zhu Xi’s tenure as prefect. He named it “Yangwen Building” (literally “Respect for Literature Building”), and it subsequently became a gathering place for literati in Zhangzhou. Originally a two-story octagonal structure covering an area of over 900 square meters, the second floor featured exquisite balconies on both the eastern and western sides. It was destroyed in the Japanese aerial bombing of 1938 and was rebuilt in 1942 as a single-story structure, maintaining the same land area.

The site is just over 80 meters from the Dongbanhou Christian Church. After the establishment of the Minnan Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Committee, it set up offices here. On May 1st, Wang Zhanchun presided over a grand “May Day” International Workers’ Day rally attended by tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians north of the Yangwen Building, celebrating the victory of the Red Army’s capture of Zhangzhou. At the celebration, leading officials from the First Front Army and the Provincial Committee delivered important speeches. A staff officer of a brigade under the Nationalist Zhang Zhen Division was also tried at the event, and confiscated grain and property from landlords and local gentry were distributed among the poor workers and peasants present.

The establishment of the Minnan Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Committee played a positive role in promoting the armed struggle of the revolution in southern Fujian, establishing a local red political power, and assisting the First Front Army of the Central Red Army in accomplishing the three major tasks of eastward expansion, fundraising, and propaganda.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Zhangzhou Municipal Committee