Site of the Activities of the Fuzhou Local Committee of the CPC and the Former Residence of Fang Erhao

Site of the Activities of the Fuzhou Local Committee of the CPC and the Former Residence of Fang Erhao

The Site of the Activities of the Fuzhou Local Committee of the CPC and the Former Residence of Fang Erhao is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Site of the Activities of the Fuzhou Local Committee of the CPC and the Former Residence of Fang Erhao is located at No. 13 Beihou Street, Beida Road, Fuzhou City (formerly the barracks on Beihou Street).

Fang Erhao was born in 1904 in Fuzhou, with ancestral roots in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. As a youth, he was ambitious and diligent in his studies. At the age of 15, he entered Yangguang Middle School in Fuzhou to study French. When the May Fourth Movement broke out, the spread of Marxism became the mainstream of the New Culture Movement. Fang Erhao was influenced by revolutionary ideals and actively participated in… the struggle against the establishment of a Japanese consulate in Fuzhou by Japanese imperialism.

In the spring of 1922, Fang Erhao transferred to the senior high school department of Fuzhou No. 2 Middle School. He subsequently co-founded the progressive group “Min Society” with Chen Renmin and Ye Minxiu. In December, he and Chen Renmin launched the weekly magazine Chongjue, with Chen Renmin as editor-in-chief. This was the first publication in Fuzhou to promote Marxism. From then on, organized communist activities began in Fuzhou. In 1923, Fang Erhao, together with Chen Renmin, Chen Juikui, and Jiang Xuewu, formed the Min Dao Society based on Min Society, reading and disseminating revolutionary publications such as Xiangdao (The Guide) and Xianfeng (The Pioneer). The following January, the Fuzhou branch of the Youth Study Society merged with Min Dao Society to form the Fujian Youth Society.

In early 1925, Fang Erhao, Chen Renmin, and Chen Juikui discussed the establishment of a Communist Youth League organization. In mid-March, Fang Erhao, Chen Juikui, Lin Zheng, Weng Liangyu, and nine others joined the Communist Youth League. With approval from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Fuzhou Branch of the Communist Youth League was officially established on April 1, with Chen Juikui as branch secretary and Fang Erhao as one of the key leaders. After the establishment of the League organization, it further led Fuzhou students in patriotic struggles against imperialism and feudalism. During these struggles, the League grew stronger. A few months later, to adapt to the deepening anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggle and the expanding League organization, the Central Committee decided to appoint Fang Erhao as a special envoy to return to Fuzhou to reorganize the League and establish the Fuzhou Local Committee of the Communist Youth League. After the establishment of the local committee, efforts were also made to prepare for the formation of the Fuzhou General Labor Union and the Fujian General Labor Union.

In September 1925, while ill, Fang Erhao wrote to the Central Committee of the CPC requesting to join the Party. In February 1926, Fang Erhao went to Shanghai to report on his work. In late March, he returned to Fuzhou from Shanghai and, following instructions from the Central Committee, reorganized the local League committee. He and 17 other outstanding members of the League, including Lin Zheng and Chen Juikui, became CPC members. In April, with approval from the Central Committee, the Fuzhou Local Committee of the CPC was officially established, with Fang Erhao as the committee secretary. At the same time, he also served as secretary of the reorganized Fuzhou Local Committee of the Communist Youth League. The establishment of the Fuzhou Local Committee of the CPC strengthened the leadership of the revolutionary movement in the Fuzhou area. As the committee secretary, Fang Erhao devoted himself fully to the work, mobilizing and leading the masses and pushing the revolutionary activities in the Fuzhou area to new heights.

In March 1927, Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution, causing unrest in Fuzhou and a surge in activities by reactionary Kuomintang forces. On April 3, the reactionary faction held a “Support Chiang and Defend the Party” rally at Nanjiaochang, openly attacking the communists and brutally murdering the communist Fang Yiwei. A reign of terror engulfed all of Fuzhou. That night, all city gates in Fuzhou were controlled by reactionary Kuomintang forces, and undercover agents searched the streets for communists. Fang Erhao rushed home and promptly destroyed documents of the Party and the League. In the early hours of April 4, he and four others, including Chen Yingzhong, were arrested due to betrayal by a traitor. In prison, Fang Erhao engaged in indomitable resistance against the reactionary faction. On April 28, the vicious reactionaries, ignoring public opposition, brutally executed Fang Erhao and five others at the Jiaojiulang Execution Ground in Fuzhou’s West Gate. Fang Erhao was only 23 years old at the time of his martyrdom.

The Fuzhou Local Committee of the CPC was the earliest Party organization established in Fuzhou and the first local-level Party committee in the city. In its early days, most activities were conducted at Fang Erhao’s residence in the former barracks on Beihou Street. There was a large garden behind the house that led directly to West Lake, and many meetings of the local committee were held there. After Fang Erhao’s martyrdom, the committee withdrew, the family dispersed, and the residence fell into disrepair. During the Cultural Revolution, it was repurposed as the Beida Market, and in the 1990s, it was demolished. The site is now occupied by residential and commercial buildings.

(Source: “Overview of Revolutionary Sites in Fuzhou”)

Fang Erhao

(1904–1927)

Milk name: Sisi; also known as Erhao, Yihao, or Fanghao; aliases: Cao, Fangcao, Fuqiaocao. Ancestral home in Zhejiang, native of Min County, residing at the entrance of Taishan Lane, Beihou Street, in the city. After the May Fourth Movement, he devoted himself to… In the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), he co-founded the “Min Society” with Chen Renmin and others at Provincial No. 2 Middle School, launching the weekly magazine Chongjue. He also founded the “Fujian Engineering Study Society” within the school, publishing the Gongxue Bao (Engineering Study Journal) to guide young students in reading Marxist-Leninist works. The following year, he organized the “Min Dao Society.” In the Republic of China 1… [More details about Fang Erhao]++