Former Site of the Eastern Army Command of the Red Army – Xingguo Temple

The former site of the Eastern Army Command of the Red Army – Xingguo Temple

The former site of the Eastern Army Command of the Red Army at Xingguo Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Fujian Province, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The former site of the Eastern Army Command of the Red Army is located within Xingguo Temple in Dongshan Village, western Fenggang Subdistrict Office, Sha County.

In January 1934, the Eastern Army of the Red Army, under the leadership of Commander Peng Dehuai and Political Commissar Yang Shangkun, spent half a month capturing the county seat of Sha County. On January 25, the command post of the Eastern Army was established at Xingguo Temple in Sha County, with the main hall serving as the operational command center. Peng Dehuai, Yang Shangkun, and others stayed in the side rooms on either side.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, six schools including Fujian Provincial Fuzhou Middle School and Fujian Provincial Medical College, along with other institutions, relocated to Sha County. Among them, Fujian Provincial Fuzhou Middle School moved to Xingguo Temple in February 1938, and in August 1939, it was divided into the Provincial Junior and Senior High Schools. Members of the Chinese Communist Party within the Provincial Senior High School actively organized activities. In November 1940, the higher-level Party organization combined Party members from the Provincial Medical College and the Provincial Senior High School to establish the Sha County Working Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1941, the Party organization sent member Chen Zhenxian to enroll in the Provincial Senior High School to organize activities, publish progressive publications such as the “Literary Special Issue,” initiate movements, and organize 100 students to join the Second Battalion of the Art Troupe, performing in towns and villages to promote the anti-Japanese salvation movement. In the spring of 1946, Sha County Normal School moved to Xingguo Temple. In March 1947, Xu Renzhong recruited Lin Lunrong and others into the Party at Sha County Normal School, establishing the Sha County Normal School Party Group. In June 1947, He Youli, a member of the Urban Work Department, along with the affiliated primary school of Sha County Normal School co-located at Xingguo Temple, established a Party branch.

Xingguo Temple was originally built in the third year of the Zhonghe era of the Tang Dynasty (882 AD), initially named Zhongxing Temple. In the third year of the Taiping Xingguo era of the Song Dynasty (978 AD), Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Kuangyi, bestowed the name “Xingguo,” and thus it was renamed Xingguo Temple. It was renovated in the third year of the Jingtai era (1452 AD) and reconstructed as the Qiu Stream Examination Hall in the fourteenth year of the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty (1888 AD). The existing main hall and the side rooms on both sides of the hall at Xingguo Temple were built during the Qing Dynasty and are rare examples of nine-bay single-eave hanging mountain-style wooden structures. The main hall is nine bays wide, with a closed partition in the middle dividing it into front and rear chambers. The front chamber is four bays deep, and the rear chamber is three bays deep. The total area of the main hall is 588 square meters. The olive tree to the east of the temple, where Commander Peng Dehuai once tied his war horse, now grows thick and lush, bearing abundant fruit every year.

The former site of the Eastern Army Command of the Red Army at Xingguo Temple was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Sha County by the Sha County People’s Government in August 1984, as a cultural relic protection unit of Fujian Province by the Fujian Provincial People’s Government in May 2005, and as a patriotic education base of Sanming City by the Sanming Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the Sanming Municipal People’s Government in June 2005.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Sanming Municipal Committee

Dongshan Village: Located in the eastern part of the county seat, Dongshan Village borders Shunxiyang of Gaosha Town to the east, and neighbors Guxian Village, Beimen Village, Jikou Village, and Xixia Village to the south, west, and north respectively. Historically part of Ying’en and Chengdong wards (or protected areas), it is commonly known as “Seven Streets” or “Jianshe.” The village covers a total land area of 15.18 square kilometers, with four peaks over 350 meters above sea level: Lotus Mountain, Shantou Mountain, Tianzi Tomb, and Xingtian Peak (the highest being Lotus Mountain, located east of Xingtian Peak within Xixia, at 561 meters). It administers three natural villages—Dixia, Huaxi, and Shantou—and 13 villager groups, with a population of 64… Detailed information about Dongshan Village++