Memorial Hall of the Pinghe Uprising

Memorial Hall of the Pinghe Uprising

The Memorial Hall of the Pinghe Uprising is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Memorial Hall of the Pinghe Uprising is located at Xia Shu Zhai, the seat of the government of Changle Township, Pinghe County (Xiaping, Liansan Village). The site covers an area of 2,440 square meters, enclosed by walls and surrounded by flowers, plants, and trees, giving it a serene and solemn atmosphere. The plaque above the gate inscribed with “Memorial Hall of the Pinghe Uprising” was written by General Wang Zhi, former political commissar of the Fuzhou Military Region. The hall is divided into a front section and a rear section, with a central courtyard and corridors in between. At the center of the exhibition hall stands a statue of Zhu Jilei, the martyr and overall commander of the uprising and the first secretary of the Pinghe County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The museum houses over 60 artifacts and hundreds of images and photographs, offering rich and detailed content. In May 1961, it was designated as a revolutionary site and among the first batch of provincial-level cultural heritage protection units by the Fujian Provincial People's Committee (Fujian Provincial People's Government). In June 2000, the Memorial Hall of the Pinghe Uprising was designated as a base for ideological education by the Propaganda Department of the Pinghe County Committee. In June 2001, it was designated as a patriotism education base by the Propaganda Department of the Zhangzhou Municipal Committee. In November 2007, it was designated as a Fujian Provincial National Defense Education Base by the Fujian Provincial People's Government. It is also among the first batch of provincial-level party history education bases.

The original site of the memorial hall was the Luo Family Ancestral Hall, also known as Xia Shu Zhai. This ordinary rural ancestral hall was bestowed with great honor by history. In September 1927, the Pinghe County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was gloriously established here at Xia Shu Zhai, which also served as the office of the leadership of the Pinghe County Committee.

In 1927, after the April 12th Incident, the Pinghe County branch of the Chinese Communist Party moved the center of the revolution from the old county town of Jiufeng to Xiaping Village in Changle Township, farther from the county seat, to continue the revolutionary struggle. In September 1927, the First Congress of the Pinghe County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was held at Xia Shu Zhai in Xiaping Village, Changle Township. The congress elected Zhu Jilei, Zhu Si, Yang Wenyuan, Zeng Yuyi, Zhu Zanzhang, Chen Caiqin, and Luo Yucai as committee members to form the Pinghe County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, with Zhu Jilei as secretary, Zhu Si as deputy secretary, overseeing five branches and over 80 party members. In mid-October, Comrades Zhu De and Chen Yi, while leading part of the Nanchang Uprising troops through Pinghe, met with leaders of the Pinghe County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and conveyed the spirit of the Party’s August 7th Meeting and recounted the struggle of the August 1st Nanchang Uprising. On March 7, 1928, the Provisional Pinghe County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the Pinghe Uprising Committee held an oath-taking meeting for the armed uprising. All commanders and fighters of the Fujian Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Independent 1st Regiment, along with peasant soldiers from nearby villages, reinforcements from the “Yang Team” of Raoping County, Guangdong, the DaPu Peasant Self-Defense Army, and the Yongding “Iron Blood Group,” totaling over a thousand people, gathered at Anbianpu in Changle. Commander Zhu Jilei delivered a mobilization speech and announced the start of the Pinghe Uprising. On the morning of March 8, Zhu Jilei led an uprising force of over 1,000 people on multiple routes toward the county seat of Jiufeng. After capturing the county seat, the uprising forces broke open the prison, rescued arrested representatives, peasants, and wounded soldiers from the Nanchang Uprising, burned down the county government offices and jails, confiscated property from local tyrants and evil gentry, and distributed it to poor peasants. At the time, the Provisional Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Fujian pointed out that this Pinghe Uprising “unveiled the first act of the Fujian workers and peasants seizing power on their own,” “signaled the beginning of the land revolution in Fujian,” “boosted the morale of workers and peasants’ revolutions across the region, guiding Fujian’s workers and peasants onto the path of uprising,” and was “a part of the broader revolutionary tide in China, a signal of the start of the land revolution in Fujian, and a prelude to the declaration of death for the Kuomintang in Fujian.” In 1978, the Pinghe County Committee and Pinghe County People’s Government renovated the revolutionary site (Xia Shu Zhai) into the Memorial Hall of the Pinghe Uprising. The memorial hall consists of three main parts: the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party’s local organization in Pinghe and the rise of the peasant movement, the Pinghe Uprising as the first act of armed seizure of power by peasants in Fujian, and holding high the revolutionary banner to persist in struggle until the national liberation.

To commemorate the martyrs who died in the Pinghe Uprising, the Pinghe County Committee and Pinghe County People’s Government built the “Pinghe Uprising Martyrs Monument” in 1975 in Liansan Village, Changle Township (on the other side of Xiaping Bridge). The monument covers an area of 3.5 mu and consists of the main monument, railing walls, and stone steps. The main monument is 10 meters tall and made of granite. The inscription “Pinghe Uprising Martyrs Monument” was also written by Luo Ming.

Address: Seat of the government of Changle Township, Pinghe County (Xiaping, Liansan Village)

Transportation: 61 km from Pinghe County seat, 107 km from downtown

Take S207 to Jiufeng Town, then enter Xiuxiu Line and drive approximately 16 km to reach the site

Opening hours: 8:30–17:00, open year-round

Phone: 13960008158

Admission: Free (advance reservation required)