The Departure Site of the Red Army Long March in Changting

Departure Site of the Red Army Long March in Changting

The Departure Site of the Red Army Long March in Changting is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

Changting: Around 20,000 soldiers from the First Red Army Corps, the Ninth Red Army Corps, and the 24th Division of the Central Red Army were stationed here. After the Battle of Guangchang, the First Red Army Corps was ordered to move eastward to Jianning and Taining in Fujian before arriving in Changting. The Ninth Red Army Corps, after participating in the Battle of Guangchang, stayed in Changting while escorting the Seventh Red Army Corps, the vanguard unit for the northward anti-Japanese campaign. The 24th Division originated as the 12th Red Army formed from local armed forces in western Fujian. In the spring of 1934, it was reorganized into the Independent 24th Division directly under the First Front Red Army Headquarters in Ruijin. After the battle to defend Liancheng, it moved to Changting.

On the morning of September 30, 1934, the Ninth Red Army Corps held a mass meeting in front of the ancestral hall at Guanshou Public Ancestral Hall in Zhongwu Village, Changting, informing the villagers that the Red Army would be relocating. They urged the locals to secure their food supplies and property and distributed ammunition to the Red Guards and Young Pioneers. At 3 p.m., the Ninth Red Army Corps divided into two routes and departed, passing through Hetian to reach Changting. After resting in the city for four days, they arrived in the ancient town of Changting adjacent to Ruijin on the morning of the 7th, then proceeded to Ruijin that evening. At dawn the next day, they reached Wuyang. On that day, Corps Commander Luo Binghui and Political Commissar Cai Shufan brought news from the Central Committee that the 24th Division and the Yudu Supplementary First Regiment were incorporated into the Ninth Red Army Corps. On the 10th, the entire corps assembled in the areas of Zhuzi Dam and Shizi Dam in Huichang. The next day, they advanced toward Zhulanpu to the north of Huichang, rested for five days, and then set off at around 4 p.m. on the 16th. Under the cover of night, they crossed the Lian River and swiftly headed west, leaving the Central Soviet Area.

In accordance with the Central Military Commission’s order that “Changting City must not be lost in October,” the 24th Division was tasked with the eastern defensive mission. The division leadership organized local guerrilla forces and Red Guards to jointly resist the enemy until Changting fell to the enemy on November 1.

The former site of the Ninth Red Army Corps Headquarters and the departure point of the Long March — Guanshou Public Ancestral Hall — is an old ancestral temple built by villagers of the Zhong clan to commemorate their ancestors. Constructed in the early Qing Dynasty, it features a traditional hall-style timber and earth structure with a double-eaved gate tower supported by bracket sets. It faces southwest and covers an area of 314 square meters.

The former site of the Ninth Red Army Corps Headquarters and the departure point of the Long March — Guanshou Public Ancestral Hall — was designated as a Cultural Relics Protection Unit of Fujian Province by the People’s Government of Fujian Province in May 2005, and as a Fujian Provincial Party History Education Base by the Party History Research Office of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee in August 2011.