Former Site of the Red Army Uniform Factory in Jinggangshan

Former Site of the Red Army Uniform Factory in Jinggangshan

The Former Site of the Red Army Uniform Factory in Jinggangshan is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

In October 1927, Mao Zedong led the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to the Jinggang Mountains and decided to establish a revolutionary base there, initiating armed struggle by workers and peasants and creating a red political power in the middle section of the Luoxiao Mountain Range. By this time, winter was approaching, yet military supplies were extremely scarce. The daily food allowance of just five fen per person was often hard to come by. Many soldiers had only two layers of thin clothing, and life was extremely harsh, making the supply issue both urgent and severe. To address this challenge, Mao instructed Yu Benmin to take charge. Using the small amount of cloth seized from local landlords after arriving in the mountains, they hired several local tailors from Ninggang to begin producing uniforms and military supplies in areas such as Ba’Shang, Niu Ya Pi, and Ma Yuan Keng in Maoping Township.

In January 1928, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army captured Suichuan City and seized several hundred dan of white cloth from the enemy in Dafen, which provided a solution to the troops' winter uniform needs. To produce uniforms from this cloth as quickly as possible, the Uniform Factory was officially established in Taoliao Village, Maoping Township.

Taoliao is located at the foot of Huangyangjie, about ten li from Maoping. It was a remote area but had a relatively spacious production facility — the Zhang Family Ancestral Hall. From then on, the signboard of the Uniform Factory was hung at the Zhang Family Ancestral Hall, making it the base for the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army’s uniform production.

Mao Zedong took great interest in the uniform production effort and personally wrote the factory’s signboard. To better serve the troops, the factory was managed not only by Yu Benmin, Yang Lisan, and Fan Shude, but also appointed Lin Shanbin as factory director to oversee operations.

After the factory was established in Taoliao, the number of sewing workers grew to over 40. They dyed the seized white cloth into gray using self-made dyes. Production expanded from single-layer garments, hats, grain bags, leg wrappings, and cartridge belts to include cotton-padded jackets.

In May 1928, the Fourth Red Army captured Yongxin County in one fell swoop. This not only expanded the base area but also resulted in the seizure of large amounts of enemy military supplies, including not just ammunition but also many bolts of cloth, cotton-padded clothes, and six sewing machines. Under these favorable circumstances, the working conditions at the Uniform Factory greatly improved. Staff numbers increased to more than 130, and the factory was divided into 13 teams. Even more encouragingly, the operation transitioned from manual sewing to machine production, with several soldiers skilled in using sewing machines transferred from the front lines to strengthen the team, marking the beginning of large-scale production.

To ensure the needs of uniform production, the factory not only strengthened political education among employees but also established a Party organization among the workers, recruiting outstanding individuals into the Party. At the same time, a quota-based production method was implemented—paying 65 copper coins for each set of clothes produced—which greatly motivated the workers and effectively boosted production progress.

In August 1928, due to the Hunan Provincial Committee’s misjudgment of the enemy situation, the Red Army was ordered to march into southern Hunan, leading to the “August Defeat” in the border region and for the Red Army. To avoid further losses, the Uniform Factory was relocated to Liji Ancestral Hall in Ciping to continue production. In January 1929, after the Red Army suffered defeat against the third “Joint Encirclement” campaign by enemies from both Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, the Uniform Factory had to be disbanded and hidden.

The establishment of the Uniform Factory played an important role in the development and expansion of the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base. Without timely establishment of the factory, it would have been unimaginable for the Red Army soldiers to safely endure two winters. Moreover, the factory’s operation accumulated valuable experience for the later development of our army’s logistical supply industry, becoming a model of hard work and pioneering spirit.