Site of the First Representative Conference of the Peasant Association of Putian County

Site of the First Representative Conference of the Peasant Association of Putian County

The site of the First Representative Conference of the Peasant Association of Putian County is a cultural heritage conservation unit of Fujian Province and a classic red tourism attraction.

The site of the First Representative Conference of the Peasant Association of Putian County is located in the middle section of Wenxian Road, Zhenhai Subdistrict, Licheng District, Putian City.

During the early days of the Party’s founding, Putian paid attention to launching peasant movements. During the period of the First United Front between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the Northern Expedition, in July 1926, after Chen Guozhu returned to Putian from Guangzhou, he actively cooperated with left-wing members of the Kuomintang such as Zeng Tianyi, Zheng Bingyan, Chen Zhen, Zheng Chunrong, Lin Haichuan, and Zheng Xiuyu, secretly planning the establishment of the Preparatory Office of the Kuomintang Putian County Committee. After the Northern Expeditionary Army captured Putian in December, the Preparatory Office of the County Committee openly set up offices at “Gulou Top” (i.e., the ancient drum tower) in the city center, gaining the support of the majority of peasants and urban lower- and middle-class intellectuals. In the more active northern routes (suburbs), Hanjiang, Jiangkou, Guangye, and Chantai districts, district-level Preparatory Offices of the Party Committee were also successively established, openly registering and developing party members, who were then issued party membership cards by the unified Preparatory Office of the County Committee.

In late December 1926, the Preparatory Office of the Kuomintang Fujian Provincial Committee appointed Chen Guozhu and Lin Qinghan as special envoys for the peasant movement in Putian, responsible for establishing the Putian Peasant Association. Thus, Chen Guozhu, in the name of the County Committee Preparatory Office, notified all districts across the county to elect peasant association representatives to gather at the ancient drum tower on December 29 for the first representative conference of the peasant association, preparing to elect the county peasant association committee and its chair and vice-chair. At that time, over a hundred peasant association representatives from across the county attended the meeting. Unexpectedly, during the conference, more than 30 thugs hired by anti-communist elements of the Kuomintang from Huating, along with some local hooligans, stormed into the venue, causing a violent brawl and opening fire. Many representatives were forced to escape by jumping off the building, an incident that became known among the people as the “Drum Tower Jumping Incident.” After the meeting was forced to halt, the representatives and peasant movement cadres separately went deep into rural areas to establish grassroots peasant association organizations. By the end of the same month, the County Peasant Association was officially established.

The site of the First Representative Conference of the Peasant Association of Putian County is the ancient drum tower, originally built in the eighth year of the Taiping Xingguo era of the Song Dynasty (983 AD) when the government office of Xinghua Army was relocated to Putian, serving as the gate and gatehouse of the inner city. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, and the current structure was reconstructed in the 36th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1697) and renovated in the 8th year of the Jiaqing reign (1803). The building has three stories, faces south, and is rectangular in shape, approximately 50 meters long and 25 meters high, featuring a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof structure, covering an area of 912 square meters. The ground floor base is built of stone, with a central gateway, above which is embedded a stone plaque inscribed with “Ancient Drum Tower.” The ends of the base protrude in a concave shape. Above the base is a two-story wooden pavilion, seven bays wide and five bays deep, with some structures retaining remnants from the late Ming and early Qing periods. The third floor is surrounded by a corridor with decorative brick and stone railings. There are a total of 100 wooden pillars on the second and third floors. In March 1961, it was designated as a cultural heritage conservation unit of Fujian Province by the People’s Government of Fujian Province, and it is the only well-preserved drum tower structure remaining in Fujian. In December 2011, the Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee of the CPC granted it protected status.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee

Zhenhai Subdistrict: Zhenhai Subdistrict is located in the eastern part of Putian urban area, Fujian Province, under the jurisdiction of Licheng District. It borders Xindu Town to the east, Fenghuangshan Subdistrict to the south, faces Longqiao Subdistrict across the street to the west, and neighbors Gongchen Subdistrict to the north. It covers an area of about 7.5 square kilometers, with a total population of over 24,000. It governs 7 neighborhood committees and 4 administrative villages. It is the central urban area and the political, economic, and cultural hub of Licheng District. Covering an area of about 7.5 square kilometers, with a total population of over 24,000, it boasts a diverse range of dining and service options.

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