Former Residence of Martyr Gu Bai (Sima Mansion)

Former Residence of Martyr Gu Bai (Sima Mansion)

The Former Residence of Martyr Gu Bai (Sima Mansion) is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

The Former Residence of Martyr Gu Bai (Sima Mansion) is located in Qinyuanchun Village, Chenguang Town, Xunwu County, and was built during the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty. It faces southeast and is situated to the northwest, featuring a three-bay width, two courtyards with three halls, two wing rooms, and one enclosed courtyard. The structure is made of brick and wood, using a post-and-lintel system with a hanging gable roof. The entire building is square-shaped, with both the width and depth measuring 90 meters. The outer walls of the enclosed courtyard are built with river pebbles or rammed with lime-soil mixture. The gate tower features an inscription on the lintel that reads “Sima Mansion” in large characters. The upper, middle, and lower halls are supported by 12 symmetrical wooden pillars. The central hall has an octagonal caisson ceiling, and the interior of the halls is adorned with exquisitely carved beams and painted rafters. On the right side of the enclosed courtyard stands a five-story square watchtower, built with river stones and lime-soil mixture, standing 16 meters high with each side measuring 15 meters. In January 1906, Gu Bai, an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China and an excellent commander of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, was born here.

The entire residence is grand in scale, structurally sound, and largely well-preserved, holding significant historical, artistic, and revolutionary cultural value.

Gu Bai (1906–1935) was Mao Zedong’s secretary during his time in Jiangxi. Born in 1906 in Xunwu County, Jiangxi Province, he attended Guangyi Middle School in Meicheng in 1922. In the spring of 1924, an anti-imperialist patriotic student movement broke out at Guangyi Middle School, leading over 200 students to leave the school in protest. Gu Bai was one of the leaders of this movement. Together with several progressive students, he established Xueyi Middle School, using the premises of Xu’s House at Beimen Gang in Meicheng and the Zhong Family Ancestral Hall at Chenghuang Temple as school buildings. In the summer of 1925, as the chairman of the Meizhou Student Union, he attended the Guangdong Provincial Student Representatives Conference to support the Canton–Hong Kong strike, becoming one of the key leaders of the student movement in Meizhou at the time. In December of the same year, Gu Bai joined the Communist Party of China in Meicheng and held positions such as secretary of the Meizhou District Committee of the Communist Youth League. When the anti-revolutionary coup of April 12th took place in 1927, Gu Bai served as a committee member of the Armed Struggle Committee (abbreviated as “Douwei”) formed jointly by the Meizhou District Committee of the CPC and the Meizhou District Committee of the Communist Youth League. At the end of May 1927, together with Li Renhua and Yang Xueru (both early CPC members and martyrs from Meizhou), Gu Bai risked their lives to travel to Wuhan to establish contact with the Central Committee of the CPC. Upon returning to Meizhou in July, he went back to his hometown Xunwu to carry out revolutionary activities. In March 1928, following the failure of the armed uprising in Xunwu, Gu Bai returned to Meicheng and served as the propaganda minister of the County Youth League Committee, engaging in underground revolutionary work in Meicheng.

In early 1929, when Mao Zedong and Zhu De led the Fourth Red Army into Xunwu and established the Xunwu Military Commission, Gu Bai was appointed as its director. In early May 1930, as the Secretary of the Xunwu County Committee of the CPC, Gu Bai fully assisted Mao Zedong in conducting the “Xunwu Investigation.” He was then appointed as the Secretary-General of the Front Committee of the Fourth Red Army, with Mao Zedong serving as the committee secretary. From then on, Gu Bai worked closely with Mao Zedong. During the period in the Central Soviet Area, he successively held positions such as Secretary-General of the General Front Committee of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and Commander of the 11th Red Army. After the Long March of the Central Red Army in October 1934, Gu Bai remained in the rear area of the Central Soviet Area, working in the Rear Area Garrison and serving as Commander of the Guangdong-Gan Guerrilla Unit, among other roles. In February 1935, Gu Bai traveled to the Dongjiang region of Guangdong to convey the spirit of the Zunyi Conference. However, due to betrayal by a traitor, he was surrounded by local Nationalist forces and died heroically in battle at the age of 29.

In an autographed letter to Gu Bai’s family in the autumn of 1937, Mao Zedong wrote: “My friend Gu Bai, handsome and vigorous, sacrificed himself for the nation. His death is deeply mourned. May his compatriots carry forward his legacy and strive together for the goal of freedom and liberation.”