Site of the Former Headquarters of the Hui’an Special Branch of the CPC, the Tuling Peasant Association, the Tuling Peasant Self-Defense Army, and the Hui’an Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army

Site of the Former Headquarters of the Hui’an Special Branch of the CPC, the Tuling Peasant Association, the Tuling Peasant Self-Defense Army, and the Hui’an Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army

The site of the former headquarters of the Hui’an Special Branch of the CPC, the Tuling Peasant Association, the Tuling Peasant Self-Defense Army, and the Hui’an Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army is located at Tuling Central Primary School in Tuling Town, Quangang District, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province.

On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched a -- in Shanghai. Hui’an soon followed with a “Party Purge,” and the political situation changed abruptly. The Provisional Committee of the Hui’an County CPC quickly moved from the county town to the countryside to continue the struggle. Communist Party members Wu Guozhen and Wu Dunren withdrew to Tuling to continue organizing peasant —. The CPC Minnan Regional Committee instructed the Provisional Committee of the Hui’an County CPC that “the direction of future work should be to take Tuling in northern Hui’an as a base and arm the peasant masses,” and also sent Communist Party members Shi Cengnon (alias Zhang Yifeng) and Xu Caiying (alias Lin Yimin) to work in Tuling. Shi Cengnon and Xu Caiying taught at Dingxin School, using their teaching positions as cover, and together with Wu Dunren and others, organized a “Mutual Aid Group” in Tuling with 60 members. The group’s headquarters was located at Kuixing Tower. Using the Mutual Aid Group as the core, they held peasant training sessions and night schools to train — leaders and expand their influence.

After extensive mobilization, on June 14, the Tuling Peasant Association and Peasant Self-Defense Army held a grand meeting in Linjiaopu (village) to officially announce their establishment, with over 1,000 peasant association members and more than 300 peasant self-defense troops. Shi Cengnon, as the leader of both the association and the self-defense force, presided over the founding meeting and delivered a speech. After the meeting, a -- was held, and the spirited procession marched straight to Kuixing Tower Square. Thereafter, the peasant association and self-defense army used Kuixing Tower as their headquarters and office, carrying out vigorous struggles such as punishing —, cracking down on local tyrants, banning opium dens, and resisting bandits.

In August, following instructions from the Provisional Committee of the CPC Minnan Region, Wang Dezhang, former head of the Provisional Committee of the Hui’an County CPC, returned to Hui’an from Xiamen and established the Hui’an Special Branch of the CPC in Tuling. Wang Dezhang served as the branch secretary, and its headquarters was also located at Kuixing Tower. The special branch had three subordinate party branches in Tuling, Linjiao, and Sizhou, with 12 party members. Under the leadership of the special branch, the peasant — in Tuling spread like wildfire, quickly expanding to all 21 villages in the township as well as 13 stronghold villages in the border area of Jinjiang, Hui’an, and Xianyou counties in the Sanping Mountain region. Membership reached over 1,200, the peasant self-defense army exceeded 500 members, and there was a standing force of 21. Tuling became the center of the county’s peasant —. The peasant association and self-defense army vigorously carried out the “Five Resistances” struggle (against rent, debt, levies, taxes, and grain requisition), staging three anti-levy battles. They repelled a platoon led by Chen Minzhong, head of the Hui’an “Land Bureau” of the Kuomintang, and a company led by Zhou Junlie, head of the Quanzhou “Land Bureau,” and also fought fiercely against a regular marine battalion attempting to suppress the peasant association and forcibly collect levies in Yiban Village, achieving victory.

In November 1927, the Provisional Committee of the CPC Minnan Region recalled Shi Cengnon and Xu Caiying to Xiamen, and assigned Lin Zemin (also known as Zhang Kemin, a Taiwanese and Whampoa Military Academy student) and Lin Shuxun (also known as Lin Jianping, a Taiwanese and Whampoa Military Academy student) to strengthen the peasant movement and armed struggle in Hui’an. On December 1, the Hui’an Special Branch reorganized the over 1,000-strong Tuling Peasant Self-Defense Army into two battalions and 13 companies at Dapuyuan Temple, renaming them the Hui’an Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army, and began formal military training. Lin Zemin and Lin Shuxun were responsible for military training, while Wang Dezhang handled political training. The revolutionary army’s headquarters remained at Kuixing Tower.

After the establishment of the workers’ and peasants’ revolutionary army, reactionary forces launched a fierce counterattack. At midnight on January 11, 1928, the Lin Bingzhou Regiment of the Nationalist Navy Marines, led by Lin Shouguo, launched a surprise attack on Kuixing Tower. Comrades Wang Dezhang, Lin Zemin, Lin Shuxun, and Liao Li were unfortunately captured. Comrade Wu Guozhen immediately mobilized the revolutionary army to pursue and attempt a rescue, chasing all the way to the northern outskirts of the county town, but ultimately failed to save the captured comrades due to the enemy closing the city gates. On January 16, over 300 troops from the Yang Xianqiu Battalion of the Navy Marines, led by Lin Shouguo, infiltrated the western mountainous area of Tuling from Xianyou Yuanzhuang, attempting to eliminate the workers’ and peasants’ revolutionary army. Upon receiving the intelligence, leaders Wu Dunren, Wu Guozhen, and Chen Dongshui held a military meeting and decided to set up an ambush to encircle and annihilate the enemy in the Sizhou River valley. After more than two hours of fierce fighting, over 30 enemies were killed, more than 70 captured, and over 200 — seized, striking terror into the hearts of the enemy. At this time, the area within a radius of thirty to forty li in Tuling became a domain controlled by the peasant association and the workers’ and peasants’ revolutionary army.

In July 1930, the Fujian Provincial Committee of the CPC, the Quanzhou Special Committee, and the Hui’an County Committee decided to prepare for an armed uprising in Hui’an. They established the Hui’an Command of the Fujian Red Army and the 1st Independent Division of the Fujian Red Army, incorporating over 500 workers’ and peasants’ revolutionary troops from Tuling into the 1st Regiment. The regimental commander and political commissar was Chen Pingshan, commander of the Hui’an Command of the Fujian Red Army and secretary of the Quanzhou Special Committee’s Military Affairs Commission. In the early hours of September 15, after gathering at Hengde Temple in Changxiang Village, the 1st Red Regiment, under the leadership of Chen Pingshan, quickly surrounded the stronghold of the local despotic landlords in Hui’feng Station in Tuling, marking the beginning of the Hui’bei Uprising.

Kuixing Tower was demolished in July 1992 due to the construction of the Wenchang Teaching Building at Tuling Central Primary School. In 2006, a new Kuixing Tower was rebuilt near the original site. The new tower largely retains the appearance of the original structure but is built with cement, covering a floor area of 162 square meters. The interior is arranged as an exhibition hall on the revolutionary history of the old Tuling base area, with the name of the exhibition hall inscribed by Xu Jiming, former vice-chairman of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Kuixing Tower has become an important patriotic education base in Quangang District.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Quangang District Committee

Tuling Town: Located in the southwest of Quangang District, Tuling Town borders the three counties/districts of Hui’an, Luojiang, and Xianyou. The town covers a total area of 157 square kilometers, accounting for half of the land area of Quangang District. It governs 21 administrative villages and 1 community, with a population of over 50,000. The town’s Party committee oversees 39 Party branches, including 2 rural Party general branches, 19 Party branches, 1 community Party branch, 17 directly affiliated units, and 1,524 Party members. Tuling Town is known for its simple folkways, orderly jurisdiction, and social stability. Tuling natives are spread across the country in business, industry, and government, including many with substantial influence... More details about Tuling Town++