Former Residence of Martyr Zheng Jinzhao

Former Residence of Martyr Zheng Jinzhao

The former residence of Martyr Zheng Jinzhao is a classic red tourism destination.

The former residence of Martyr Zheng Jinzhao is located in Wukeng Group, Chantai Village, Chantai Town, Putian City.

Zheng Jinzhao (1911–1936), also known as Li Kui, enrolled in the autumn of 1926 at Fujian Provincial Putian High School. During his time at school, he joined the Anti-Imperialist League, an organization led by the Party. In 1929, he became a member of the Communist Youth League of China, and that October, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. In mid-September of that year, the Putian County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party decided to establish the "Putian Anti-Imperialist Aid Lin Case Committee" to organize anti-imperialist and patriotic struggles. As one of the five committee members, Zheng Jinzhao, together with Guo Shouluan, led students, workers, and peasants to board the British-owned Tai Li Company’s ship "Jia’ao," identified comprador elements, paraded them through the streets, and destroyed the Nationalist Special Consumption Tax Bureau located on Gongxia Street in Hanjiang, as well as the Chen Huquan Bean Curd Cake Shop, which was colluding with British merchants. This action had significant political impact and earned praise from the Fujian Provincial Committee.

In March 1930, at his alma mater, the Provincial Putian High School, Zheng Jinzhao led students in expressing solidarity with the independence movements of India and Korea. The Nationalist authorities suppressed this movement, brutally ordering the arrest and execution of Chen Wenfen and Lin Chunhui, leaders of the Putian Student Union. The school also expelled Zheng Jinzhao and more than ten other students. Thereafter, Zheng Jinzhao was assigned to underground revolutionary activities and was soon appointed as the head of the Urban District Committee of the Putian County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. In September 1932, as the revolutionary situation developed, the county committee decided to expand the Putian Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Guerrilla Unit and appointed Zheng Jinzhao as its captain. In 1933, he was reassigned as the Secretary of the Chantai District Committee of Putian County. To mobilize peasants in the struggle against feudal exploitation, Zheng Jinzhao went deep into rural villages, encouraging local peasant associations to launch resistance against summer harvest rents. These efforts achieved victory in rent resistance, making the Chantai area one of “the three central zones of rural work in Putian County” at the time. In September 1934, Zheng Jinzhao was elected as a member of the Putian Central County Committee. In December of the same year, together with Pan Tao, he led over 30 guerrilla backbone members in a disguised attack on the garrison of Fengyetang in Chantai, seizing more than 20 rifles and achieving the first victory after the transition to three years of guerrilla warfare in central Fujian.

In May 1935, the Central Fujian Special Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was established. The committee decided to unify and reorganize the two guerrilla units from Fuqing and Putian into the First and Second Detachments of the Central Fujian Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Unit. Zheng Jinzhao was appointed captain of the Second Detachment. He worked extensively in the Chantai area to mobilize peasants to resist taxes, levies, rents, and grain expropriations, helping to consolidate and expand the Chantai base area. The Nationalist authorities, alarmed by the series of activities of the Chantai guerrillas, assembled armed forces to repeatedly carry out “cleansing” operations on the Chantai base area. Zheng Jinzhao and Lei Guangxi led the Red Army’s Second Detachment to calmly repel enemy attacks time and again. The Nationalists then shifted from “cleansing” to “stationary suppression,” blocking the exits of the Chantai base area in an attempt to besiege the Red Army’s Second Detachment in the deep mountains. To break the passive situation, in April 1936, Zheng Jinzhao led more than ten brave and skilled guerrilla fighters to break out of the enemy encirclement, heading to the coastal area he knew well. They attacked the Nationalist Self-Defense Force stationed at Bingdian Palace in Hushi, and called on the enemy to surrender immediately. Just as soldiers inside the palace began throwing rifles out of the windows, a bullet unexpectedly shot out from a window. Guard Guo Wenfu quickly stepped in front of Zheng Jinzhao to shield him. Just as Zheng Jinzhao was about to raise his weapon to fight back, another bullet pierced his chest. Thus, both he and Guo Wenfu died as martyrs.

The former residence of Martyr Zheng Jinzhao is a two-story civil structure made of earth and wood. It is symmetrically designed with the main hall as the axis and matching wing rooms on both sides, covering a total area of over 300 square meters. Upon entering the gate, there is a square open-air courtyard, and the walls around the main hall are inscribed with quotes from Chairman Mao. Due to years of disrepair, several large cracks have appeared in the surrounding walls, and the building has been classified as a dangerous structure.