Former Residence of Martyr Lei Guangxi

Former Residence of Martyr Lei Guangxi

The former residence of Martyr Lei Guangxi is a classic red tourism site.

The former residence of Martyr Lei Guangxi is located in Shijiaoli Natural Village, Duli Village, Duta Town, Chengxiang District, Putian City.

Lei Guangxi (1915–1941), also known as Lei Yin, was of the She ethnic group. His father, Lei Juecang, was a progressive-minded militia company commander. After the Northern Expedition, the Putian militia was incorporated into the Nationalist forces under Lin Jizeng, and Lei Juecang was wrongfully executed by the Nationalists at the local level. Faced with the sudden misfortune that befell his family, Lei Guangxi was filled with grief and anger, deeply feeling the darkness of society, and thus interrupted his studies to return home and take over the family business. In September 1934, after Wang Yujie returned to Putian to re-establish the CPC Putian Central County Committee, he sent Chen Jianxin to Changtai to persuade Lei Guangxi. Deeply impressed by the Communist Party’s efforts to revitalize the nation, Lei Guangxi expressed his firm determination to join the revolution and voluntarily contributed three light machine guns, nine rifles, one pistol, and several boxes of bullets and handguns from his family. The Party organization then used these weapons to establish a guerrilla unit in Changtai. Through the struggle, Lei Guangxi gradually grew from an ordinary student into a brave and skilled guerrilla fighter, enduring the test of gunfire and honorably joining the Chinese Communist Party. In May 1936, after the First Detachment of the Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Force broke out of the encirclement at Luohuali on the border of Fuqing and Yongtai, it merged with the Second Detachment. When considering a candidate for deputy detachment commander, the Minzhong Special Committee recognized Lei Guangxi’s significant progress and potential since joining the revolution, and decided to promote him to deputy detachment commander. After the merger of the two units, following reorganization and training, their combat effectiveness greatly improved, achieving several consecutive victories. In these battles, Lei Guangxi always led from the front. After the Xi’an Incident, the Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Force was reorganized into the 1st Column of the 7th Route of the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Salvation Volunteer Army, with Lei Guangxi serving as deputy commander, dedicated to establishing the anti-Japanese national united front in Minzhong. In early September 1937, the Kuomintang and Communist forces in Minzhong reached a peace negotiation agreement. On October 15 of the same year, the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army was ordered to come down from the mountains and was placed under the command of the 239th Regiment of the National Revolutionary Army, with the unit renamed the Independent Battalion of the 80th Division of the National Revolutionary Army. Lei Guangxi was appointed as the commander of the 1st Company. In mid-November of the same year, the Independent Battalion was ordered to be stationed in Quanzhou. On March 10, 1938, the die-hard faction of the Kuomintang betrayed their word and orchestrated the “Quanzhou Incident,” forcibly confiscating the weapons of the Minzhong guerrilla force. Leaders such as Yang Caiheng, Wu Debiao, and Lei Guangxi united all officers and soldiers to persist in resistance, strongly protesting against the atrocities of the Kuomintang die-hards. Through negotiations by the Southeast Bureau of the CPC and the headquarters of the New Fourth Army, the Minzhong guerrilla force was eventually reunited with the Party organization and the New Fourth Army. In late April, they were ordered by the New Fourth Army headquarters to march to southern Anhui. Before and after arriving at the army headquarters, five company and battalion-level officers—Lei Guangxi, Yang Caiheng, Wu Debiao, Jin Guanyi, and Weng Hongtang—were personally received by Commander Ye Ting and Chief of Staff Zhang Yunyi. The unit was incorporated into the 2nd Company of the Special Guard Battalion of the New Fourth Army headquarters, with Lei Guangxi serving as a political instructor in a battalion of the army headquarters guard regiment. During the “Southern Anhui Incident,” Lei Guangxi and his battalion commander led their troops in multiple stubborn resistances against attacks by the die-hard forces before breaking through the encirclement. However, while traveling by boat from Wuwei County to the Guazhou Ferry in Nanjing, they were detained by puppet troops and later killed in prison. He was 26 years old at the time.

The former residence of Martyr Lei Guangxi is a two-story earthen and wood structure facing south and built in 1910. In April 1936, it was burned down by the Nationalist garrison. The current residence, rebuilt after the founding of the People’s Republic, faces east and is also a two-story earthen and wood structure. It features an open-air courtyard in the center, with four wing rooms on both sides, covering a total area of 280 square meters. Due to years of disrepair, some walls have developed significant cracks and the building has been classified as dangerous.