Former Site of the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Office

Former Site of the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Office

The former site of the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Office is a cultural heritage site protected by Putian City and a classic red tourism attraction.

The former site of the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Office is located at No. 208, Tianwei Xincun, Longqiao Subdistrict, Chengxiang District, Putian City.

In the early stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, through peaceful negotiations, the Minzhong region reorganized the Red Army guerrilla forces into the Independent Regiment of the 80th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, achieving the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. In September 1937, the Minzhong Working Committee set up an anti-Japanese office at Xilai Temple in Putian County to facilitate communication between the two sides, with Fang Ziming as the person in charge. In March 1938, the die-hard faction of the Kuomintang betrayed their word and brazenly launched the "Quanzhou Incident," assassinating the head of the Working Committee and the unit, Liu Tujun, and surrounding and disarming the Independent Regiment. After our side argued their case forcefully, the Kuomintang was forced to agree to hand over the Minzhong Red Army guerrilla forces to the New Fourth Army, who then marched to the southern Anhui front to fight the Japanese. In 1939, the Kuomintang implemented policies of "dissolving the Communists," "guarding against the Communists," and "restricting the Communists," and successively issued a series of so-called "restrictions on the activities of hostile parties" decrees. Faced with this situation, while organizing training classes in Zhuangbian Ningli to train anti-Japanese cadres, the Minzhong Party organization also sent comrades such as Zhang Boting to the coastal areas of Putian to establish new anti-Japanese bases. In February 1940, the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Office moved to Wangcuo Village in coastal Zhongmen, and guerrilla forces engaged in mountain-based operations were also reassigned to work along the coast of Putian, carrying out anti-Japanese salvation propaganda. Under the slogan of "defending the homeland and protecting the country," they united and organized the masses, developed anti-Japanese strength, and expanded guerrilla forces. At that time, a grain shortage hit the coastal areas, and the anti-Japanese office mobilized farmers to appeal to the Kuomintang county and district governments—forcing the authorities to distribute a batch of relief grain. As a result, the prestige of the anti-Japanese office among the people greatly increased, and the number of unenlisted guerrilla fighters reached several hundred. The surge in public anti-Japanese enthusiasm also drew the ire and fear of the Kuomintang. On July 17 of the same year, the Putian Security Regiment deployed forces from both sides to surround Wangcuo Village. Outnumbered, Zhang Boting, Cai Wenhuan, and others led their troops to retreat through the back mountains. The security regiment burned down several civilian houses that housed the anti-Japanese office and looted and ravaged several nearby base villages. The Minzhong Party organization’s second public anti-Japanese effort was once again struck down by the Kuomintang. As a result, the Party’s anti-Japanese forces had to continue moving toward the island frontlines. In August 1940, Zhang Boting transferred some key personnel from the anti-Japanese office to join the anti-Japanese struggle in Changle, while the remaining armed forces advanced to islands such as Nanyue and Huanggua—as well as the protruding area of Pinghai Bay—that were just separated from the enemy and puppet forces by a strip of water. They used kinship and friendships to establish connections, set up communication stations and liaison points in various villages, and especially recruited a number of fishermen and boatmen from Huanggua Islet to join the guerrilla forces, establishing a revolutionary stronghold.

The former site of the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Office was originally the villa of Chen Jingbang, Minister of Rites in the Ming Dynasty. After the failure of his resistance against the Qing in the late Ming period, his grandson, Chen Zhongdai, became a monk here and renamed the villa Xiyang Guangfu Temple, which was rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty. The temple faces west and consists of three sections: front, middle, and rear. The front section includes the mountain gate with the stone plaque “Xiyang Guangfu Temple” inscribed by Zhang Qin, the Vajra Hall, and the Bell and Drum Towers; the middle section features the Mahavira Hall, where Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined in the center, flanked by attendants, with Skanda on the left and Kṣitigarbha on the right, and the Eighteen Arhats on both sides; the rear section has the Guanyin Hall in the center, the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Hall on the left, and the “Ultimate Joy and Coolness” Hall on the right, with the Ancestral Hall on the left side enshrining the monks Wuliao, Yuezhang, and Tixuan, and the Merit Hall on the right side commemorating the National Preceptor and Minister of Rites Chen Jingbang (1537–1616). The two wings are connected by corridors, featuring the Ancestral Hall, the Ultimate Grace Hall, as well as monks' quarters and dining rooms.

The Xilai Temple at the former site of the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Office was designated as a cultural heritage site of Putian County by the Putian County People’s Government in December 1984, and as a cultural heritage site of Putian City by the Putian Municipal People’s Government in November 2009.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee

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Longqiao Subdistrict in Chengxiang District, Putian City, Fujian Province, was newly formed after the 2002 city administrative division adjustment in Putian. It is the location of the new municipal and municipal party committee headquarters of Putian, with the subdistrict office stationed in Longqiao. Covering an area of 20.6 square kilometers, it includes 992 acres of arable land, 7,626 acres of forestland, and 680 acres of water bodies. It governs five community committees—Longqiao, Taiping, Beimo, Xiamo, and Xing’an—and three village committees—Sihua, Yanshou, and Yangxi—with a permanent population of 59,000. The subdistrict has one Party committee and 23 Party branches, including eight non-public Party branches... More detailed information about Longqiao Subdistrict ++