Former Site of the Headquarters of the Minzhong Detachment, Min-Zhe-Gan People's Guerrilla Column

Former Site of the Headquarters of the Minzhong Detachment, Min-Zhe-Gan People's Guerrilla Column

The former site of the headquarters of the Minzhong Detachment, Min-Zhe-Gan People's Guerrilla Column is a cultural relic protection unit in Hanjiang District, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The former site of the headquarters of the Minzhong Detachment, Min-Zhe-Gan People's Guerrilla Column is located in Yangbian Natural Village, Yang Village, Dayang Township, Hanjiang District, Putian City, Fujian Province.

The Minzhong Detachment was part of the Min-Zhe-Gan People's Guerrilla Column of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and a regular armed force directly under the leadership of the Minzhong Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China. The headquarters of the Minzhong Detachment was established in February 1949 at the Dayang Ferry Primary School in Putian, with Huang Guozhang serving as both commander and political commissar, Chen Hengyuan as deputy commander, and Lin Runan as deputy political commissar. From then on, Dayang became the center of party leadership and military command in the Minzhong region.

After its establishment, the Minzhong Detachment Headquarters, noting that the guerrilla forces in various counties lacked formal organizational structure and had confusing unit designations, decided to carry out training and reorganization while continuing the struggle. By the end of June, the reorganization was largely completed. The guerrilla forces from various counties and districts were unified and reorganized into guerrilla brigades, each with companies under them, and leaders for the armed forces in each county and district were appointed. At this point, the forces under the Minzhong Detachment Headquarters totaled approximately 6,000 troops, with about 20,000 additional irregular forces. The area of operation spanned nearly 20 counties and cities, extending from Minqing and Fuzhou in the north to Tong’an and Xiamen in the south. Through reorganization, the structure of the Minzhong People’s Guerrilla forces was improved, and their combat effectiveness was enhanced.

Under the unified leadership and command of the Minzhong Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Minzhong Detachment Headquarters, local party organizations and guerrilla forces further mobilized the masses, launching struggles against the “Three Levies” (grain, livestock, and labor conscription) and organizing warehouse raids and grain distribution. Building on this, the Minzhong Regional Committee and the Detachment Headquarters timely put forward the slogan “dig up Chiang Kai-shek’s foundation,” prompting the guerrilla forces to transition from mass struggles to armed struggle. They began taking the initiative to attack and dismantle grassroots Kuomintang political power. When the People’s Liberation Army entered Fujian, they actively raised grain to support the front lines and carried out defection campaigns, making significant contributions to the liberation of the Minzhong region. In total, they raided over 30,000 dan (a traditional unit of measurement) of grain, destroyed 88 township (township) offices, police stations, and tax collection offices, seized 2,721 rifles, killed, wounded, or captured over 10,000 enemies, induced 32 defections involving more than 5,200 people, and raised over 300,000 dan of grain for frontline support. These efforts greatly undermined the social foundation of Kuomintang rule and fully prepared the region to welcome the arrival of the People’s Liberation Army.

On July 25, the advance unit of the 29th Army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army arrived at the Minzhong Detachment Headquarters in Dayang and successfully joined forces with the Minzhong guerrillas. In early August, the 29th Army, with the support of the Minzhong guerrillas, successively liberated Yongtai, Minqing, Fuqing, and Changle counties, completing the encirclement of Fuzhou from the south. On the morning of the 17th, the PLA launched a full-scale assault on downtown Fuzhou. On the same day, fleeing enemies heading south from Fuzhou and toward Yongtai were intercepted and annihilated, and Fuzhou was declared liberated. The victory in the Battle of Fuzhou greatly accelerated the liberation process of the Minzhong region. On the 21st, the Putian Guerrilla Brigade took over the Putian County Government, liberating Putian. On the 25th, the Xiande Guerrilla Brigade entered Xianyou County seat, liberating Xianyou. Around the same time, counties in the Quanzhou area were also successively liberated. Subsequently, counties in the Minzhong region continued to organize frontline support activities for the Zhangzhou-Xiamen Campaign. By November 24, the entire Minzhong region, except for a few islands, was liberated. The Minzhong Detachment Headquarters and the guerrilla forces it led made outstanding contributions to supporting the southern advancing army in the liberation of Minzhong.

The former site of the Minzhong Detachment Headquarters was rebuilt in 1991 and has since undergone multiple renovations and expansions. It now covers an area of 80 mu (approximately 5.3 hectares) and includes a former site exhibition hall, a memorial pavilion, a revolutionary epic stele park, a sculpture of a group of revolutionary heroes, and a memorial square. The exhibition hall has a construction area of 450 square meters and features three display rooms, systematically introducing the revolutionary struggle history of the underground party in Minzhong from the period of the Great Revolution to the War of Liberation. Inside the hall, there is a 10-square-meter sand table that recreates an overview of the Minzhong guerrillas’ revolutionary activities in Dayang. Additionally, related revolutionary relics are displayed, including over 80 items such as proclamations, leaflets, pamphlets, and revolutionary songs used by the guerrillas, as well as over 100 items such as firearms, cannons, broadswords, handguns, seals, armbands, uniforms, and daily necessities.

The Minzhong Revolutionary Epic Stele Park covers an area of approximately 15 mu and mainly consists of six corridors and 48 stone steles. The inscriptions on the steles include the Minzhong Revolutionary Epic and calligraphy by veterans such as Cheng Xu, Su Hua, and Xu Jiming. The revolutionary poems are written by nationally renowned calligraphers.

The former site of the Minzhong Detachment Headquarters was designated as a Fujian Provincial Youth Revolutionary Tradition Education Base by the Communist Youth League Fujian Provincial Committee in April 1994, recognized as a Putian County Cultural Relic Protection Unit by the Putian County People’s Government in December 1997, announced as a Putian Municipal Patriotic Education Base by the Putian Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Putian Municipal People’s Government in July 2000, and designated as a Fujian Provincial Party History Education Base by the Party History Research Office of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China in September 2009.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee