Former Site of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC in Fengji

Former Site of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC in Fengji

The former site of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC in Fengji is a classic red tourism attraction.

The former site of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC is located in Ningli Natural Village, Fengji Village, Zhuangbian Town, Hanjiang District, Putian City.

In late July 1936, the Changtai guerrilla base area was subjected to frenzied “mopping-up” operations by the Kuomintang army. To break out of the predicament, the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC decided that the guerrilla forces would temporarily withdraw and move to the old base villages in the areas of Baisha and Zhuangbian in the Guangye District north of Changtai. However, as these locations were relatively close to Changtai and not suitable for long-term stay, Liu Tujun and others decided to establish a new base area at the border between northern Putian and Yongtai.

Ningli is located at the border between Putian and Yongtai, an area never visited by the Kuomintang. In September 1936, following the instructions of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC, Fang Ziming established a new underground base here and gradually expanded the area of activity from Ningli to Liangsan Mountain, Zhaxia, and Qichaan in Yongtai. By the end of October, the Minzhong guerrilla forces moved from Shanjixi to Ningli and Qichaan to hide and rest. The Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC decided to build this place into a solid guerrilla base area, so they sent work teams to conduct mass work in various villages, organizing peasant associations, recruiting party members, establishing party branches, and firmly rooting the guerrilla forces here.

In February 1937, five leaders including Wang Yujie, Secretary of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC, were arrested and martyred due to betrayal by a traitor. In March, the Minzhong Working Committee of the CPC was established to take over the leadership of the Special Committee. In mid-June, Huang Guozhang returned to the Working Committee headquarters in Ningli from Hong Kong and reported to Liu Tujun and Su Hua about his mission to Hong Kong to seek instructions from the “CPC Southern Temporary Committee.” Subsequently, the Minzhong Working Committee of the CPC held an expanded meeting in Ningli, where Huang Guozhang conveyed the directives of the “CPC Southern Temporary Committee” regarding the unified reorganization of the Minzhong Workers’ and Peasants’ Guerrilla Forces into the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army and the initiation of negotiations with the Kuomintang for joint resistance against Japan. The meeting decided to reorganize the Minzhong Workers’ and Peasants’ Guerrilla Forces into the 1st Column of the 7th Route of the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Volunteer Army, with Wu Debiao serving as commander, Liu Tujun as political commissar (also holding the position), and Lei Guangxi and Wang Tiecheng as deputy commanders. The meeting expressed support for the proposal by the CPC Xiamen Working Committee to place the CPC Jin-Nan Working Committee under the leadership of the Minzhong Working Committee, and decided to include Li Gang as a member of the Minzhong Working Committee. From then on, the area under the leadership of the Minzhong Working Committee gradually expanded to Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Nan’an, Anxi, Yongchun, and Dehua. This meeting was of great significance for the Minzhong Working Committee’s implementation of the policy of “uniting with Chiang to resist Japan.” Based on the new situation, the Minzhong Working Committee decided that the guerrilla forces would continue to stay concealed in the Ningli and Qichaan areas for concentrated training in preparation for heading to the front lines to resist Japan, while also urging the local Kuomintang authorities to cease the civil war and unite against Japan.

In early September, after an agreement was reached on the Sino-Communist cooperation for resisting Japan in Minzhong, the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army marched from the borders of Putian, Xianyou, Fuqing, and Yongtai to Chishi in Zhuangbian (now Shangshu Bridge) for training. On October 15, the Minzhong Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army was ordered to descend from the mountains to receive reorganization. In April 1938, they were incorporated into the New Fourth Army and headed to the southern Anhui front to resist Japan. Huang Guozhang, Secretary of the Minzhong Working Committee of the CPC, along with comrades Fang Ziming, Su Hua, Lin Runan, Rao Yunshan, Yang Fenglai, Zhang Kun, and others, continued their work at the local level.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the headquarters of the Minzhong Working Committee (Minnan Special Committee) of the CPC remained in Ningli until it moved to Fengluo in Yongtai in early 1941. The Minzhong Party organization led the guerrilla forces to reclaim land for farming, build kilns for charcoal production in Ningli, and organized several training sessions for county and district cadres to train party members and cadres, consolidating and developing grassroots organizations. Most of these young trainees later became key figures in the Minzhong revolution.

The former site of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC was originally a residence, consisting of a gatehouse, main hall, rear hall, courtyard, one two-story building on the left, and two two-story buildings on the right, all connected, built with earth and wood, covering an area of 760 square meters. Since 2010, local townships and villages have raised funds for restoration, giving the Ningli site a completely renewed look.

In June 2011, the former site of the Minzhong Special Committee of the CPC was designated as a Putian Municipal Party History Education Base by the Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee of the CPC.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Putian Municipal Committee

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