Former Site of Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union

Former Site of Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union

The Former Site of Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Wusheng Temple at the Former Site of Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union is located at No. 39 (formerly No. 12), Longlingding, Shanghang, Taijiang District, Fuzhou City.

Shanghang in Taijiang District, situated on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Min River with numerous tributaries, had the locational advantage of convenient waterway transportation. Businesses such as warehouses, trading companies, well-known shops, and long-established stores flourished, enjoying prosperous trade. However, the business community was a mix of good and bad. Some unscrupulous merchants, driven solely by profit, resorted to opportunistic tactics to seek substantial gains and cheated customers. At the same time, these unethical businesses disregarded the legitimate rights and interests of shop assistants, arbitrarily tearing up contracts, withholding wages, increasing workloads, and extending working hours. As a result, labor-capital conflicts and disputes occurred frequently.

To safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of employees, in January 1927, Communist Party members such as Chen Bisheng and Cai Shan, under the assignment of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC, established the Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union inside the Wusheng Temple at Longlingding, Dashan, Shanghang. After its establishment, the union grew rapidly in organization and scale, with shop assistants from nearly 40 industries joining, including money shops, department stores, paint shops, fabric stores, pharmacies, gauze shops, local product shops, rice businesses, sugar businesses, tea businesses, and paper businesses, totaling over ten thousand members. The industry unions under the Shop Assistants' General Union mobilized shop assistants and workers to fight for improved political treatment, higher wages, and better working conditions. They also engaged in head-on struggles against the official yellow union—the Fuzhou General Union—formed through the collusion of the Kuomintang and unscrupulous merchants. This struggle was characterized by a combination of political and economic activism.

On March 9, 1927, the Shop Assistants' General Union mobilized over 3,000 shop assistants and workers to participate in a mass rally of ten thousand people against the Kuomintang’s attempt to usurp party power, held at Nanzhaochang and led by the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC. A demonstration followed the rally. On April 3, the Kuomintang launched a counterattack by having the Fuzhou General Union convene a “Support Chiang and Defend the Party” assembly. This was the April 3rd Counterrevolutionary Coup in Fuzhou, which preceded Chiang Kai-shek’s April 12th Counterrevolutionary Coup. Subsequently, open suppression was implemented, and the situation deteriorated rapidly. The Kuomintang forcibly disbanded the Shop Assistants' General Union. Following party instructions, the Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union went underground. Some shop assistants and workers from handicrafts, rickshaws, and telephone companies in Taijiang District secretly joined the “Red Trade Union” led by the Party.

In 1933, when the 19th Route Army entered Fujian and established the People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China, the political atmosphere became more active. The “Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union” resumed public activities. Industry branches such as those for fabrics and silk were also established under the Shop Assistants' General Union’s Nantai branch, and the rickshaw union even organized a workers' patrol team to maintain public security.

After the failure of the Fujian Incident in 1934, the Shop Assistants' General Union once again went underground and continued its secret activities until the liberation of Fuzhou.

The Wusheng Temple at Longlingding was originally built during the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. It covers a construction area of 430.49 square meters, featuring a five-peaked gate wall facing the sky, a stone base, red brick cladding, and a square stone door frame in the central section with a bluestone lintel inscribed with “Wusheng Temple.” The main hall has three bays in width and five columns in depth. The outer surface of the stone eaves pillars contains engraved text, and the structure is generally well-preserved.

The Wusheng Temple at the Former Site of Fuzhou Shop Assistants' General Union was designated as a Fuzhou Patriotic Education Base by the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC and the Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government in August 1991, and was listed as a protected municipal landmark by the Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government in January 1992.

(Source: "A Survey of Revolutionary Sites in Fuzhou")