Former Site of the Anti-Japanese Backbone Training Class in Lianjiang County – The Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall

Former Site of the Anti-Japanese Backbone Training Class in Lianjiang County – The Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall

The former site of the Anti-Japanese Backbone Training Class in Lianjiang County is located at the Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall in Xidong Village, Liaoyan Township, Lianjiang County.

In the autumn of 1938, when the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders trampled across much of China, the nation was in peril, rivers wept, and Lianjiang County, situated along the southeastern coast, faced the threat of war. Coastal islands such as Chuan Shi Island and the northern and southern Ganzai Islets of Matsu were occupied by Japanese forces. At this critical moment for the Chinese nation, the Chinese Communist Party unhesitatingly took on the responsibility of saving the country from peril. In early September, Wang Zhu, head of the Propaganda Department and —— Department of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the CCP and director of the Fuzhou Office of the New Fourth Army, secretly recruited Wu Dalin, a native of Lian——, into the Party on Anmin Lane in Nanjie, Fuzhou. Together with Lin Jianqing and Liang Zhen (female), CCP members who had already arrived in Lianjiang, they established the Lianjiang Special Branch of the CCP. The Provincial Committee appointed Lin Jianqing as the head of the Special Branch.

The Lianjiang —— Special Branch followed the instructions from Wang Zhu on behalf of the Provincial Committee to liaise with personnel (progressive individuals), take control of ——, and prepare to establish anti-Japanese armed forces. Since Wu Dalin’s public role was as the head of the Lianjiang Credit Cooperative Office under the Nationalist Government (he retained his Nationalist Party membership after joining the CCP), many tasks were entrusted to him. Wu Dalin raised funds to open the Seaside Bookstore at the crossroads in the county town to occupy a cultural position for anti-Japanese propaganda. He also began cultivating backbone personnel. In November 1938, the Fujian Provincial Rural Cooperation Committee informed Wu Dalin that he was to train cooperative accounting personnel. After seeking instructions from Wang Zhu, the Special Branch believed they could use this opportunity to “repair the plank road openly while secretly crossing Chen Cang.” Thus, citing the tense situation, they set up the cooperative training class at the Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall in Xidong Village in the mountainous area of Liaoyan. The first batch of trainees numbered over 150, most of whom were anti-Japanese backbone personnel from various villages previously connected by Wu Dalin. Among the trainees were many veteran Party members who had survived the failure of the land revolution and dispersed Red Army personnel, such as Liang Renqin, Qiu Hui, Chen Mawu, Lin Guang, and Ye Rongrong. The Fuzhou Office of the New Fourth Army attached great importance to the training class. Director Wang Zhu additionally assigned CCP members Lin Junjiu (younger sister of Lin Bai), Ye Hezhong, and Zhang Ruli to bolster the teaching staff. CCP members such as Wu Dalin, Lin Xiaochu (Jianqing), Lin Junjiu, and Zhuo Piaohong took turns giving lectures to the trainees on topics such as *The Philosophy of the Masses*, spreading basic Marxist-Leninist theories, and promoting the Party’s anti-Japanese national united front policies and programs. They also held a New Year’s Eve celebration with artistic performances, staging anti-Japanese plays such as *Put Down Your Whip*, *Tears of the Mountains and Rivers*, and *The Defense of Wuhan*.

The Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall has a construction area of 1,500 square meters. Originally built in the 13th year of the Jiading era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1220), it was renovated during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is a typical ancient Chinese enclosed “quadrangle” and “three-courtyard” structure, entirely made of wood, with high windproof walls on all sides. It is currently well preserved.

Liaoyan Township: Located in the mountainous northwest of Lianjiang County, bordering Luoyuan County, it is 30 kilometers from the county seat. The township covers an area of 138 square kilometers, with 1,415 hectares of arable land. It governs 23 administrative villages and 115 natural villages, with a population of 28,200. The township is rich in natural resources such as forests, hydropower, and mines. Among them, high-quality developable stone materials such as “664” granite and pyrophyllite amount to 600 million cubic meters. It has become the top stone slab-producing township in Lianjiang County and is also a self-sufficient electricity township in the county.

In 2003, the total industrial and agricultural output value reached 238 million yuan, an increase of 11.3%. … More detailed information about Liaoyan Township++