Former Site of the Toubao Peasant Uprising – Lin Clan Ancestral Hall

Former Site of the Toubao Peasant Uprising – Lin Clan Ancestral Hall

The Former Site of the Toubao Peasant Uprising – Lin Clan Ancestral Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Lianjiang County.

The Former Site of the Toubao Peasant Uprising – Lin Clan Ancestral Hall is located in Chengli, Beijie, Toubao Town, Lianjiang County.

In July 1931, after the establishment of the Fuzhou Central Municipal Committee of the CPC, the focus of its work shifted from urban to rural areas. On October 9, Deng Zihui (alias Lin Zuqing), a leader of the Fuzhou Central Municipal Committee of the CPC (Rural Work Inspector of the Municipal Committee), arrived in Jinglu, Lianjiang. He immediately convened an expanded meeting of the special branch to convey and deploy the struggle for rent reduction and debt resistance, achieving initial success. In order to guide peasants in their prolonged struggle against reactionary forces and to safeguard their hard-won gains, the Lianjiang Special Branch gradually established peasant self-defense teams and led the masses onto the path of armed struggle.

After Deng Zihui returned to Fuzhou, the Municipal Committee assigned Zhang Tie (Secretary-General of the Municipal Committee’s Military Affairs Commission) to stay in Toubao to assist Yang Erqiang in advancing the peasant movement in Lianjiang. Through the enlightenment and education provided by Deng Zihui, Yang Erqiang improved both his political awareness and leadership skills through practical experience in the peasant rent reduction struggle. He keenly realized that the local landlords and despots would never willingly accept reduced exploitation income. Therefore, he convened a meeting of key party members at the headquarters of the Toubao Peasant Association – the Lin Clan Ancestral Hall – to establish a peasant self-defense team, monitor the activities of the landlords, and provide armed protection for the gains of the rent reduction struggle.

In the early hours of November 16, hundreds of militiamen, armed with spears and carrying torches, charged toward the Peasant Association under the leadership of local gentry such as Yang Xiaoyou, Huang Fucheng, and Yang Qing, known as the “Five Tigers and Six Leopards.” Faced with the fierce offensive of the reactionary forces, Yang Erqiang and others decided to launch the Toubao Uprising to defend the achievements of the rent reduction and debt resistance struggle through armed resistance. Yang Erqiang led a rebel force of thousands of peasant self-defense members in a brave counterattack. The intense street fighting lasted for three days and nights but ultimately ended in failure.

The Toubao Peasant Uprising was the first armed peasant struggle led by the underground CPC organization in Lianjiang during the land revolution period, representing an initial attempt at establishing a worker-peasant armed stronghold. Its failure was mainly due to the immaturity of both subjective and objective conditions. Firstly, a strong revolutionary worker-peasant armed force capable of resisting repression had not yet been forged through harsh struggle. Secondly, insufficient ideological education had been conducted among the peasants, particularly regarding the deeply rooted feudal clan concepts in their minds, which allowed them to be oppressed and manipulated by the landlords. Thirdly, there was a certain degree of underestimation and complacency towards the strength of the landlord gentry.

The Lin Clan Ancestral Hall covers a construction area of 358 square meters. It is a Qing Dynasty building featuring a flush-gable roof and a post-and-lintel wooden frame structure, with three bays in width and two connected courtyards. It is currently well-preserved.

The Former Site of the Toubao Peasant Uprising – Lin Clan Ancestral Hall was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Lianjiang County by the Lianjiang County People’s Government in June 1961. In June 2011, it was recognized as a Revolutionary Traditional Education Base for Youth in Fuzhou by the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee Party History Research Office, the Fuzhou Municipal Association for the Elderly, and the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the Young Pioneers.