Former Site of the Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Base in Jinchuan

Former Site of the Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Base in Jinchuan

The former site of the Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Base in Jinchuan is a classic red tourism attraction.

The former site of the Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Base is located in Jinzhukeng Natural Village, Jinchuan Village, Chantai Town, Chengxiang District, Putian City.

In October 1933, Zheng Jinzhao was sent by the Putian Central County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to Chantai to engage in revolutionary work. He encouraged peasants to resist rent and traveled to villages like Jinzhukeng to disseminate revolutionary ideology and cultivate key activists. He developed local supporters such as He Fengpao and Li Yuping in Jinzhukeng, laying the foundation for establishing the Minzhong guerrilla zone. In October 1934, the Putian Central County Committee decided to expand into Chantai. Zheng Jinzhao, Chen Jianxin, and others were tasked with setting up a revolutionary stronghold there. They quickly established a solid base in Jinzhukeng, which had a certain mass support base, and used it to wage extensive guerrilla warfare — targeting local tyrants, eliminating despots, and organizing resistance against rent and tax oppression. Jinzhukeng became a base for the Minzhong guerrillas’ operations and one of the three main stronghold villages in the Puxian border guerrilla zone during the three-year Minzhong guerrilla war. Over 40% of the village’s residents joined the revolutionary forces. Located between Jiechuan and Waikeng, Jinzhukeng was connected to these two other villages via mountain paths, facilitating the Minzhong guerrillas’ movements across the Puxian border base. 1936 was the year when the Nationalist authorities in Putian launched their most brutal crackdown on the Chantai guerrilla base, continuously sending troops to “mop up” revolutionary strongholds, burning, killing, and looting with impunity. In January of that year, during the anti-“mop-up” battle in Jinzhukeng, the Minzhong guerrillas, led by Chen Jinfan, mounted a defense. Chen Jinfan was shot and killed in combat. With their commander lost, the guerrillas retreated to Jiuxianguan at the border of Xianyou, seizing the mountain pass to defend against enemy attacks. Due to darkness, the Nationalist forces, fearing they would get lost, withdrew to Fengyetang without engaging further. Subsequently, Jinzhukeng suffered multiple “mop-up” operations, with villagers enduring immense losses and forced to flee with the guerrillas into the deep mountains, surviving on wild vegetables and berries. In July of the same year, the Nationalist garrison deployed heavy forces to conduct a large-scale “mop-up” of the Puxian border guerrilla base. The Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla decided to evacuate strongholds such as Jinzhukeng and relocate to concealed areas like Baisha and Zhuangbian in Guangye District to establish new guerrilla bases.

The former site of the Minzhong Workers' and Peasants' Guerrilla Base is situated south of Jinshan Natural Village in Jinchuan, bordering Liujiao Natural Village to the south, Shehou Natural Village to the north, Qiulu Natural Village to the east, and Zaotianwei to the west. The Putian Municipal Party Committee History Research Office erected a memorial stele for its protection in December 2011.

Source: Putian Municipal Party Committee History Research Office

Chantai Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Putian County. Established as the Chantai Commune in 1958, restructured as a township in 1984, and upgraded to a town in 1992. It is located in the northwest of the county, covering an area of 201 square kilometers with a population of 40,000. The town is accessible by road. It administers 28 village committees including Chantai, Songfeng, Zhauche, Liche, Dongtai, Dongqing, Shanmen, Tingyang, Houshan, Kangyang, Xiashan, Duli, Jinchuan, Mayuan, Dangcheng, Dingkeng, Neidongping, Waidualping, Guoxi, Xiaju, Puto, Xinan, Xinbei, Shankeng, Nanchuan, Yangbian, Changji, Lingxia. The main agricultural products are rice, fruits, and edible fungi, and it is the largest loquat production base in Putian. … Chantai Town detailed information++