Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China – Banli, Shuikou, Dehua

Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China – Dehua Shuikou Banli

The Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China – Dehua Shuikou Banli is a Dehua County cultural relics protection unit, a classic red tourism destination, a patriotic education base, and a national defense education base.

The Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (Banli) is located in Kunban Village, Shuikou Town, Dehua County. The exhibition hall at the Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (Banli) primarily depicts the historical event of the provincial committee’s relocation southward to Banli.

In the autumn of 1943, the die-hard faction of the Kuomintang intensified their offensive against northern Fujian. The CPC Fujian Provincial Committee, then based in northern Fujian, faced an increasingly worsening situation, with great difficulty in carrying out its operations. To break the deadlock and extricate itself from the predicament, following the important directive from the Central Committee of the Party on “concealing strength and ensuring elite forces,” the Fujian Provincial Committee made the strategic decision to relocate its headquarters southward to Banli.

Banli is located at the junction of Dehua County with Xianyou and Yongtai counties. With high mountains and dense forests, it is a relatively remote natural village with simple folkways and a solid mass foundation. After establishing underground communication lines and conducting effective mass work, the CPC Provincial Committee, in March 1944, gradually relocated from Qingxi in Yongtai to Niulaogou in Banli, Dehua. In early May, the main armed force of the Provincial Committee, the “Tenacious Detachment” consisting of over 30 members, led by Huang YiYu, Secretary of the Minjiang Special Committee, Zuo Fengmei, Standing Committee Member of the Provincial Committee, and Ye Liangyun, Commander of the Provincial Column, broke through multiple enemy encirclements after traveling through Gutian, crossing the Min River, and passing through Minqing and Yongtai. They arrived at Niulaogou in Banli and reunited with the Provincial Committee cadres who had arrived earlier, thus completing the major task of relocating the Provincial Committee southward. Banli, situated at a strategic point in central Fujian, once became the command center for the Provincial Committee’s leadership in the anti-Japanese and anti-diehard struggles across the province.

During the Provincial Committee’s stay in Banli, rectification campaigns were carried out, documents were studied, and revolutionary integrity education was conducted. In the “Grand Auditorium” within Niulaogou, Provincial Committee Secretary Zeng Jingbing organized the study of essays such as “On the Cultivation of Communist Party Members” and “How to Be a Communist Party Member.” In early May, the Provincial Committee held a summary meeting for the “Red May” campaign, during which Secretary Zeng Jingbing delivered a report titled “Opposing Subjectivism in the Struggle” and led concentrated study and discussion sessions with key leaders from both the Provincial Committee and the Minjiang Special Committee. On June 10, the Provincial Committee issued the “Decision on Rectifying the Study Style” from Banli, laying out arrangements for the rectification work. During their study period in Banli, the Provincial Committee produced wall newspapers, summarized the educational efforts directed at the troops, and distributed two issues of the publication “Tenacious Fighters” to party organizations across the province.

During the nearly four-month stay of the Provincial Committee in Banli, the number of personnel reached a peak of over 100. In Niulaogou, Banli, the Provincial Committee set up 18 bamboo sheds, opened two training grounds, installed radio equipment, and carried out a series of revolutionary publicity and education activities. Local residents voluntarily provided intelligence, transported food, and supplied daily necessities to the Provincial Committee members. Under the protection of the revolutionary masses, the Provincial Committee suffered no casualties or losses of supplies throughout its more than 100 days stationed in Banli. After the Provincial Committee evacuated Banli, local residents immediately destroyed all activity sites and planted vegetables and crops on the original locations. In November of the following year, a Kuomintang security regiment with three detachments was stationed in Banli to carry out “anti-communist suppression.” All roads in Banli village were—, some villagers were forced to guide searches in the mountains, others were interrogated and even tortured, but not a single villager revealed any information about the Provincial Committee’s presence in Banli. The people of Banli paid a price for the Party’s revolutionary cause, and neither the Party nor the people have forgotten the contributions made by the old revolutionary base of Banli toward the liberation of the people.

Since the liberation, Party committees and governments at all levels have placed great emphasis on the development of the old revolutionary base area of Banli, investing millions of yuan to support production, improve infrastructure, and raise living standards, allowing the people of the old base area to feel the care of the Party and government. The Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China was listed as a county-level cultural relics protection unit on April 20, 1983. In October 1994, Comrade Xiang Nan personally inscribed the immortal monument “Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China” for Banli. In July 2002, the Former Site of the Provincial Committee was approved by the Quanzhou Municipal Committee as the “Third Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units and Patriotic Education Bases.” In June 2003, the construction of the Exhibition Hall of the Former Site of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (Banli) was officially completed and an opening ceremony was held. In the same month, it was approved by the Provincial Committee as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit and patriotic education base. In December 2007, it was designated as a Fujian Provincial National Defense Education Base by the provincial government.

Source: Yongchun County Party History Research Office