Martyrs' Tomb and Memorial Monument of Chen Pingshan

Martyrs' Tomb and Memorial Monument of Chen Pingshan

The Martyrs' Tomb and Memorial Monument of Chen Pingshan is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Martyrs' Tomb and Memorial Monument of Chen Pingshan is located in Zhangjiao Village, Tuling Town, Quangang District, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province.

Chen Pingshan was born in 1904 into a poor Christian family in Libiling, Zhangjiao Village, Tuling Township. In the late autumn of 1925, he went to Guangzhou to apply for admission to the Whampoa Military Academy and was accepted into the fifth infantry class. After enrollment, he joined the Communist Youth League of China and became a member of the Communist Party of China the following spring. On December 11, 1927, the Guangzhou Uprising broke out. He escaped from prison with his classmates and joined the revolt. During the fierce battle, he was wounded in the head but continued to fight bravely. After the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, the insurgent forces retreated to the revolutionary base in Haifeng-Lufeng.

In February 1928, he was ordered to return to Fujian, where he reestablished contact with the Fujian Provincial Committee of the CPC in Zhangzhou. Later, he carried out propaganda and mobilization work among the laboring masses in Zhangzhou and Xiamen, encouraging them to join the revolution. In June, he was betrayed by a traitor, arrested by the enemy, and imprisoned in the Zhangzhou ZhenTai Street Court Prison. He endured severe torture in prison, suffering extensive injuries all over his body and falling ill due to the harsh treatment. With the help of a physician who treated inmates, he reestablished contact with the Party organization. The Party then arranged for his rescue from prison. After his release, the Fujian Provincial Committee reassigned him to lead underground work in the Jinjiang–Nan’an–Hui’an area. In mid-September 1929, the Hui’an County Committee of the CPC was officially established, and he became a member. In December, he took over as Secretary of the Hui’an County Committee.

In April 1930, the Fujian Provincial Committee appointed him as the Secretary of the Military Affairs Commission of the Quanzhou Special Committee of the CPC. Together with Lan Feihe, the Organization Minister of the Special Committee, he returned to Hui’an and held meetings at places such as Wumian Palace and Dapuyuan Temple to reorganize and strengthen local revolutionary armed forces, expand the militia, and restore or rebuild a number of village Party branches.

In June, the Provincial Committee decided to launch an armed uprising in Hui’an. He and Lan Feihe leveraged social connections to conduct persuasion and subversion work within the county’s militia reserve units, police squads, and the Marine Corps stationed in Hui’an. In July, Luo Ming, Secretary of the Provincial Committee, came to Quanzhou and Hui’an to inspect the work and decided to establish the Hui’an Command of the Fujian Red Army, appointing Chen Pingshan as Commander-in-Chief. Subsequently, Chen Pingshan and other leaders of the Special Committee and County Committee worked separately to intensify preparations for the uprising. In early August, the Quanzhou Special Committee and Hui’an County Committee held a meeting in Wuchen Mountainwei Village and decided to launch the uprising in mid-September. The plan involved attacking Hui’an, providing support in northern Hui’an, and then jointly attacking the county town before advancing into the Sanping Mountain area to establish a revolutionary base. Two regiments were officially formed under the Fujian Red Army Independent First Division: the First Regiment, based on 500 worker-peasant revolutionary troops from Tuling, was established in northern Hui’an, with Chen Pingshan serving as both Regiment Commander and Political Commissar. The mission of the First Regiment was to attack the Huifeng Railway Station in Tuling, eliminate local landlords and tyrants, and ambush enemy reinforcements coming from Putian at Chentong Pass.

On the night of September 14, soldiers of the Red First Regiment wore “Red Army” armbands and gathered at Hengdetang. Chen Pingshan gave a brief motivational speech and outlined the battle plan. At midnight on the 15th, the uprising began. Some Red Army soldiers took control of Xiwu Village, the hometown of the landlords and tyrants, while others surrounded the Huifeng Railway Station in Tuling, the stronghold of the evil gentry. Due to stubborn resistance from the landlord militias entrenched in the station's fortifications, the Red Army soldiers were unable to break through the iron gates, halting their advance. In the early hours, hundreds of villagers from nearby areas, thinking it was a robbery by bandits, rushed into the streets of Tuling to help. To avoid misunderstanding with the villagers, the Red Army withdrew from the battle and held defensive positions in Sizhou and Hongcuokeng.

After the failure of the Hui’an Uprising, following instructions from the Provincial Committee, Chen Pingshan used villages such as Lingxi, Sizhou, Zhangjiao, Zhaihou, Houlou, and Hongcuokeng as bases to vigorously develop guerrilla activity zones. This led to the emergence of a “red zone” spanning 30 li from Fengting in the north to Yiban in the south.

On January 7, 1931, while preparing to welcome the arrival of the Putian Special Committee and the Red Army Training Team in the Sanping Mountain area, Chen Pingshan returned to Tuling from Xianyou Yuanzhuang. On his way through Kunaicun Village at Kuniulongwan, he was suddenly ambushed by enemy forces, sustaining multiple bullet wounds. He died heroically at the age of 27.

In 1986, the People’s Government of Hui’an County erected the Martyrs’ Monument for Chen Pingshan. Luo Ming, former Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee, inscribed the monument with the words: “Eternal Glory to Chen Pingshan, Commander-in-Chief of the Hui’an Red Army, Martyr.” In December 2001, the government of Quangang District designated it as a cultural relics protection unit. The monument was renovated in 2004.

Source: Luojiang District Party History Research Office

Zhangjiao Village: Overview of Zhangjiao Village

Zhangjiao Village is located in the mountainous northwest of Tuling Town, Quangang District, Quanzhou, approximately 11 kilometers from the town government. It is the hometown of Chen Pingshan, a martyr and former Secretary of the Military Affairs Commission of the Quanzhou Special Committee of the CPC and Commander-in-Chief of the Hui’an Red Army of Fujian. It is also a revolutionary base village in the old liberated area of Quangang District. The village currently has 694 registered households and a population of 2,584 (including 265 ethnic Mongolians), divided into 11 villager groups. The village covers about 8,000 mu of mountainous land and about 905 mu of arable land. The local economy is primarily subsistence-based smallholder farming. Staple crops include rice and sweet potatoes year-round, along with peanuts... More details about Zhangjiao Village++