Former Site of the ShanDou Grain Depot Raid

Former Site of the ShanDou Grain Depot Raid

The Former Site of the ShanDou Grain Depot Raid is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Former Site of the ShanDou Grain Depot Raid is located in Shandou Natural Village, Xiashan Village, Yuanzhuang Town, Xianyou County, Putian City.

In February 1949, after the establishment of the Xiande Working Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Secretary Liu Zuozhou went deep into the Cixiao area to begin organizing local armed forces. After several days of liaison and organizational work, the Cixiao Guerrilla Unit was established, with Huang Yan as captain and Zhao Biqi as deputy captain. To support the Xiande Working Committee’s campaign against the “Three Levies” (conscription, grain levy, and tax levy), the Cixiao Guerrilla Unit decided to raid the grain depot to address the immediate food needs of the impoverished people caught between harvests and to secure provisions for the guerrillas. The guerrillas selected the largest grain depot in the Cixiao area—the ShanDou Grain Depot—as their target. The ShanDou Grain Depot was located in a remote area with weak defenses, usually guarded by only three people. One night in mid-March of the same year, the guerrillas surrounded the ShanDou Grain Depot. As the walls of the depot were thick and solid, making a direct assault impractical, the guerrillas dug a hole beside the back door, then sent someone in to pry it open, allowing them to successfully carry away nearly 30,000 jin of grain. Subsequently, the guerrillas used the same method twice more to completely empty the depot of over 100,000 jin of stored grain.

After the ShanDou Grain Depot incident, the Nationalist Xianyou County Government dispatched police to investigate, and the county militia also conducted searches, but found nothing. They then arrested villagers who had participated in the grain distribution, including Wei Xuanshui, and threw them in jail. Faced with the Nationalist authorities’ crackdown, the guerrillas and local people did not yield but continued their struggle. They incorporated various local bandit groups in the Cixiao area, eliminated the bandit threat, strengthened the guerrilla forces, dismantled the Nationalist local regime in the region, and established the Cixiao Guerrilla Base, effectively taking control of the entire Cixiao area.

The Former Site of the ShanDou Grain Depot Raid is the Chaoran Tulou, a three-story earthen structure with a construction area of 610 square meters. The CPC Putian Municipal Committee Party History Research Office designated it for protected status in December 2011.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Fujian Provincial Committee

Xiashan Village: Xiashan Village is located 1.4 kilometers west of the Yuanzhuang Town government seat. The village committee is stationed in Tingyang. The settlement is crescent-shaped and consists of the following natural villages: Yongchengbian, Sansuo cuo, Xiàlóu, Kukengtou, Xiàlóuxī, Xiàzhài, Dǐngzhài, Liánhú, Datie, Tiánzhōngzhuāng, Tingyang, Dǐngcuò, Hòuwèi, Hòuchéng, Zhōngcuò, Zhōngwèi, Hóngzhuān, Qiánwèi, Xīnjiàn, and Shandou. It has 21 villager groups, with 923 households and a population of 3,968. During the Republican era, it belonged to the Cixiao Township; in 1950, it was part of the Third District; in 1951, the Twelfth District; in 1956, the Fengting District; in 1958, it became part of the Xiasha People's Commune... More details about Xiashan Village++