Former Site of the Wanan Uprising Action Committee

Former Site of the Wanan Uprising Action Committee

The Former Site of the Wanan Uprising Action Committee is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province, a classic red tourism attraction, and a base for patriotic education.

The Former Site of the Wanan Uprising Action Committee is a two-story brick-and-wood building in the style of a traditional four-wing, six-room residential house. It stands about 7 meters tall, is 13 meters wide, and extends 14 meters deep, covering a total area of 345 square meters. In 1985, it was listed as a county-level cultural relics protection unit; in 2000, it was included in the fourth batch of provincial-level cultural relics protection units; in 2005, it was designated as a municipal-level patriotic education base.

In the 1920s, the shocking Wanan Uprising took place in Wanan, establishing the first county-level Soviet government in Jiangxi Province. Based on the spirit of the August 7th Meeting of the Communist Party, the Wanan Uprising was one of the five major peasant uprisings led by the Chinese Communist Party across the country, ranking alongside the Huang'an Uprising in Hubei, the Liling Uprising in Hunan, the Haifeng-Lufeng Uprising in Guangdong, and the Qiongya Uprising in Hainan.

In 1927, following the Jiangxi Provincial Committee’s decision that “the uprising in southwestern Jiangxi should be launched from Wanan,” the Wanan County Committee established the “Wanan Action Committee,” an uprising leadership body and military command organ, with Zeng Tianyu as secretary and Zhang Shixi, Liu Guangwan, Chen Zhengren, Yu Qiu, Wang Qun, Zeng Yansheng, Xiao Sumin, and others as committee members. Subsequently, a massive armed peasant uprising unfolded vigorously across all districts and townships in the county. The uprising involved four assaults on the county town. The first three failed due to the disparity in strength between the enemy and us, as well as the insurgents’ lack of experience in urban assault. On the fourth attempt, 40,000 peasant soldiers and revolutionary masses attacked Wanan County Town in four columns. On January 9, 1928, the revolutionary red flag was finally raised over the city walls. Following the victory, a celebration assembly and the inaugural meeting of the first Soviet government in Jiangxi’s history were held on January 11, 1928, at Donghu Zhou in the county town. The success of the Wanan Uprising shocked both domestic and international audiences at the time, with reports appearing in Chinese media such as Shanghai’s Mingguo Daily and British outlets like The Times. In July 1928, Zhang Shixi, one of the leaders of the Wanan Uprising and the Secretary of the Wanan County Committee, attended the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Comintern Conference in Moscow, where he delivered a special report on the Wanan Uprising. He outlined the course and experiences of the uprising and summarized the guerrilla warfare tactics known as the “Twenty-Character Formula”: ‘Fortify walls and clear fields, attack when the enemy advances, pursue when they retreat, harass when they stay, and strike when they tire.’ The Wanan Uprising was a significant component of the revolutionary struggle at Jinggangshan, ushering in a new and glorious era of revolution in Jiangxi, and has been enshrined in the Party’s historical records for its uniquely important role.