Site of the Fujian–Jiangxi Military District Headquarters and the Gao Tang District Soviet Government

Site of the Fujian–Jiangxi Military District Headquarters and the Gao Tang District Soviet Government

The site of the Fujian–Jiangxi Military District Headquarters and the Gao Tang District Soviet Government is located at No. 1, Houqiao South Back Road, Gao Tang Village, Gao Tang Town, Jiangle County.

In late August 1933, Xiao Jingguang, commander of the Fujian–Jiangxi Military District, led the 6th Division of the Red 3rd Army Corps to station in Gao Tang for nearly a month, with the headquarters set up in the Tianhou Temple. Xiao Jingguang also held a mass meeting at the Tianhou Temple, personally delivering a mobilization speech. At the meeting, clothes, dried bamboo shoots, pork, and grain confiscated from local tyrants and evil gentry such as Liao Huohua, Wang Guoxing, and Qiu Linsheng were distributed to the masses. The Gao Tang District Soviet Government was established, with Chen Jinbao elected as chairman, and Qiu Jinfeng and Lin Caiyao appointed as finance commissioner and land commissioner, respectively. A guerrilla team was also formed. Dozens of local youths, including Zhang Zhenggen’s two brothers and Zhang Youming, signed up on the spot to join the Red Army and the guerrilla forces. On the 10th, Xiao Jingguang sent a telegram to Zhu De and Zhou Enlai stating: “Recently, nearly 130 people have joined the Red Army, over 70 of whom were unemployed paper workers. Revolutionary committees have been established in areas such as Gaotan and Jishan, and guerrilla teams have been organized in various locations, totaling over 60 members.” The Red Army also ventured into the Changyuan area to suppress a large Big Sword Society organization with over a hundred members, capturing its leader Zhang Zumu. After the victory at Yangkou by the Red Army’s Eastern Army, Gao Tang District arranged for over 200 locals to go to Yangkou to transport captured supplies. In June 1941, the Naval Mawei Private Qigong Advanced Vocational School relocated to Gao Tang. The school set up a factory in the Tianhou Temple to manufacture cannons and ammunition, effectively supporting the front lines of the anti-Japanese war.

The original site of the Fujian–Jiangxi Military District Headquarters and the Gao Tang District Soviet Government was the Tianhou Temple, built during the Ming Dynasty. It consisted of a courtyard gate, a theater stage, and three main halls (front, middle, and rear), covering an area of nearly 2,000 square meters. In the 1960s, Gao Tang Primary School was built on the original site, and the location is now the school’s playground. In the 1990s, the Tianhou Temple was rebuilt about 200 meters east of the original site. The new structure is a two-story reinforced concrete building with a floor area of nearly 400 square meters.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Sanming Municipal Committee

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