Former Site of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC in Xianyou

Former Site of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC in Xianyou

The former site of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC in Xianyou is a cultural heritage protection unit of Xianyou and a classic red tourism attraction.

The former site of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC in Xianyou is located in Shanggong Natural Village, Xingshan Village, Youyang Town, Xianyou County, Putian City.

On April 8, 1927, an anti-Communist incident occurred in Putian. The special district committee office of the CPC in Putian was raided, and the district secretary Chen Guozhu moved from Putian’s Changle to the mountainous Shangtai area in Xianyou’s Xingshan for shelter. After arriving in Shanggong, Chen Guozhu took advantage of the local farmers’ difficult living conditions and strong sense of resistance to carry out revolutionary propaganda and establish the Party. He successively recruited eight progressive local farmers, including Lin Jintang and Lin Buting, into the CPC. By the end of April 1927, he established the first CPC branch within Xianyou—the Shanggong Branch—at Xinsan Academy in Shanggong. Lin Jintang served as the branch secretary, under the leadership of the CPC Putian Special District Committee.

After its establishment, the Shanggong Branch of the CPC in Xianyou conducted Marxist-Leninist education through evening schools, spreading revolutionary ideas such as anti-imperialism, anti-feudalism, and anti-warlord rule among the farmers, thereby improving their literacy and ideological awareness. It mobilized farmers to organize peasant associations and launched struggles for rent reduction and tax resistance, establishing the first red grassroots village in the ancient county and playing a positive role in promoting the development of the revolution in Xianyou.

The Xinsan Academy at the former site of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC in Xianyou was initially built during the Song Dynasty, renovated in the sixth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1880), converted into Xinsan Primary School after the Hundred Days’ Reform in 1889, and renamed Xingshan Primary School after the May Fourth Movement. The academy faces south and is built against the mountain, featuring traditional ancient school architecture with earth-and-wood structure. It covers an area of 1,747 square meters and consists of front and rear halls, a central courtyard, and left and right wing rooms.

In 2007, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC, the CPC Xianyou County Committee and the People’s Government of Xianyou County fully renovated Xinsan Academy and established the Memorial Hall of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC in the rear hall of the academy. The memorial hall details the glorious history of how, after the establishment of the Shanggong Branch, the CPC organizations in Xianyou led revolutionary masses in persistent struggle, overcoming numerous hardships, and ultimately achieving revolutionary victory.

The former site of the Shanggong Branch of the CPC was designated as a cultural heritage protection unit of Xianyou County by the Xianyou County People’s Government in November 1989. In May 2007, it was designated as a patriotic education base of Xianyou County by the CPC Xianyou County Committee and the Xianyou County People’s Government. In June 2010, it was designated as a party history education base of Putian City by the Party History Research Office of the CPC Putian Municipal Committee. In September 2010, it was designated as a party history education base of Fujian Province by the Party History Research Office of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee.

Source: Party History Research Office of the CPC Putian Municipal Committee

Xingshan Village: Located in the southeastern part of Youyang Town, Xingshan Village is 15 kilometers from the town government, with an average elevation of 650 meters. It is the birthplace of the first grassroots Party organization in Xianyou County and is designated as a provincial-level revolutionary old base village. The administrative area spans 5.7 square kilometers. The village consists of nine natural villages (Shanggong, Xiagong, Shantou, Zhending, Yangshan, Neichi, Waichi, Yuankou, Panshe, and Meilin). The area includes one primary school, several clinics, and the Xingjiao Ancestral Temple (a provincial cultural heritage site). The total population is 2,396, with 86 Party members and 8 members in the village’s two committees. During the Republican era, it was known as Shanggong Street, then became Youyang Township after liberation in 19... More details about Xingshan Village++