Former Sites of the Yutian and Taoyuan Party Branches

Former Sites of the Yutian and Taoyuan Party Branches

The former sites of the Yutian and Taoyuan Party Branches are classic red tourism destinations.

The former sites of the Yutian and Taoyuan Party Branches are located in the Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall in Yutian Village, Yutian Town, and the Zheng Clan Branch Ancestral Hall in Taoyuan Village, Yutian Town, both in Changle District.

In June 1926, the Party cell of Fuzhou Union Middle School sent students in Fuzhou such as Zheng Nai zhi, Zhao Zhongying, and Zheng Yin to return to Yutian to mobilize the peasant masses, organize a peasant association, and oppose the Kuomintang’s issuance of “gold treasury bonds.” A mass meeting was held at the Yutian Ancestral Hall where they struggled against the corrupt official Wu Ziqing, recovered embezzled funds, and achieved victory in this struggle. On April 3, 1927, the -- Incident occurred in Fuzhou, where Communists in the Fuzhou area were nearly all slaughtered and the Party organization was severely damaged. In October, Liu Qianchu, a special envoy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, came to Fuzhou to reorganize and restore the underground Party organization, while also initiating peasant movements in the Yutian area. In February 1928 (after the Spring Festival), the Fuzhou Municipal Committee sent Jiang Muxuan, Zheng Nai zhi, Sun Jian, Fu Binggong, Zhao Zhongying, and Chen Rencai to the Yutian area. Under the guise of establishing Yutian and Taoyuan Primary Schools, they carried out revolutionary activities, formed a Party cell with Jiang Muxuan as the leader and in charge of organization, Sun Jian as the propaganda officer, and Zheng Nai zhi responsible for -- and peasant association work. They developed over thirty peasant Party members and established two Party branches in Yutian and Taoyuan in April, with Jiang Laihuan as the secretary of the Yutian branch and Zheng Matang as the secretary of the Taoyuan branch. The Fuzhou Municipal Committee also arranged for Huang Yuan and Wang Jieshan to infiltrate the militia and assume leadership roles to control armed forces. In June, the Municipal Committee held a training class for peasant cadres at the Taoyuan Branch Ancestral Hall to cultivate leaders for the peasant movement, with both Liu Qianchu and Yang Junhui, Secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee, personally giving lectures to the peasants. Following the instructions of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee, efforts were further made to mobilize the masses to carry out the “25% rent reduction” and anti-tax campaigns. Huang Yuan, Wang Jieshan, and others detained Zheng Jingjing, the ringleader of the gentry opposed to rent reduction, and paraded him through the villages, dealing a heavy blow to local reactionary forces. However, because the rent reduction and tax resistance efforts infringed upon the interests of Zheng Tingtai (a Communist Party member and son of a landlord), Zheng conspired with local gentry to inform the Provincial Defense Command. In August, the reactionary faction of the Kuomintang mobilized troops to surround Yutian and Taoyuan villages under the cover of night. Jiang Muxuan, Zheng Nai zhi, Sun Jian, and others were arrested and sentenced. After their release, Jiang Muxuan was ordered to study in the Soviet Union, Zheng Nai zhi was sent to Guangdong to infiltrate the 19th Route Army, Zheng Matang fled to Southeast Asia, and other key members also left the area. The vigorous and year-long revolutionary struggle temporarily subsided due to sabotage by the reactionary faction of the Kuomintang.

To commemorate the glorious achievements of the revolutionary predecessors, the Changle County Committee of the CPC erected a monument at the former site of Taoyuan Primary School. The front of the monument reads “Site of the Founding Meeting of the Taoyuan and Yutian Party Branches of the Communist Party of China,” and the back describes the process of the establishment of the Party branches. At the original site of Taoyuan Primary School, a painting of revolutionaries holding a meeting hangs on the front wall, and couplets composed by Liu Qianchu at the time are inscribed on the wooden pillars on both sides. The upper line reads, “Amid peach blossoms and willows, who rules over this splendid land?”; the lower line reads, “With clear sources and pure streams, I stand with you for the revolutionary cause.”

Both the Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall and the branch ancestral hall were built during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era. The ancestral hall faces southeast, has two courtyards, six bays, and five rooms, is 18.28 meters wide, the front section is 20.4 meters deep with five pillars, the rear section is 24.5 meters deep with seven pillars, and is 7.55 meters high. In August 1995, the Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Changle City by the Changle Municipal People’s Government. In August 2001, the Zheng Clan Branch Ancestral Hall was also designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Changle City by the Changle Municipal People’s Government, and simultaneously recognized as a patriotic education base of Changle City by the Changle Municipal Committee of the CPC and the Changle Municipal People’s Government.

Yutian Village: Yutian Village has 1,343 households and a population of 4,945. It covers a total area of approximately 7.4 square kilometers, including over 1,700 mu of arable land and over 10,900 mu of forest land.

… Detailed information about Yutian Village++