Quanzhou Old Prison

Quanzhou Old Prison

Quanzhou Old Prison is a classic red tourism attraction.

Quanzhou Old Prison is located on Xianhou Street in Licheng District.

On June 27, 1949, Xu Jiming, Secretary of the Quanzhou Central County Committee, along with committee members Zhu Yibin, Zheng Zhongzhi, Wang Jingxian, and others, discussed and decided to take advantage of the evening seven o'clock yard time secured through struggles inside the prison. Using a stone toss as a signal, they planned an inside-outside coordinated prison break. Led by Yan Jiaxiang, four elite guerrilla fighters—Zhang Shangchu, Xu Xicong, Lü Qinghe—set out from Qian Mountain in Neikeng and headed straight for Quanzhou City. On the night of June 28, with the assistance of underground Quanzhou Party members Xu Hanguang and Shi Qimin, they successfully rescued five key cadres of the CPC Quanzhou Central County Committee and the CPC Anxi Central County Committee—Shi Nenghe, Wang Xinzhen, Fu Weikui, Huo Jinbo, and Lin Sitai—who were imprisoned in the Kuomintang Jinjiang County Government Jail. This was the sensational “Quanzhou Prison Break” struggle. The success of the “Quanzhou Prison Break” had significant political impact, boosting the morale of the people, striking a blow to the enemy’s morale, leading to the subsequent replacement of the Kuomintang Jinjiang County Magistrate and Commissioner, and even prompting some Kuomintang officers to begin leaning toward the Communist Party.

Source: Licheng District Party History Research Office