Former Site of the First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers of Wanrong County

Former Site of the First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers of Wanrong County

The former site of the First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers of Wanrong County is located at the Yang Family Ancestral Hall in Lingxia, about 1.5 kilometers from Zheqiao Village, Chixing Township. The hall faces south and sits against green hills. It is a brick-and-wood structure with a double-eaved hip roof covered in blue tiles. Both gable walls are ten-meter-high “三”-shaped firewalls made of bricks. The building has three sections—upper, middle, and lower—with arched gateway frames built from blue bricks. Between the lower and middle sections indoors is a patio of approximately 20 square meters. Wooden beams form interlocking trusses, with board walls and wooden pillars supporting the roof. The ancestral hall covers an area of 250 square meters, with the central meeting hall spanning 125 square meters. The middle section has now collapsed, while the upper and lower sections are relatively well-preserved.

The First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers of Wanrong County was held from July 12 to 18, 1930. More than 200 delegates attended the meeting. During the session, the delegates attentively listened to reports from the heads of the county Party committee and the county insurrection committee; they discussed important issues concerning politics, military affairs, economy, and culture across the county, passed corresponding resolutions, formulated relevant regulations and laws, and elected 15 members including Zhou Da, Xin Keming, Wang Jianhua, Bao Xiaoshan, and Huang Shaoting to the first Executive Committee of the County Soviet Government. Zhou Da was appointed as the chairman, officially establishing the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers’ Soviet Government of Wanrong County.

The convening of this congress was the culmination of the revolutionary struggle of the people across the county, a momentous occasion in the political life of the populace, and the beginning of workers’ and peasants’ participation in governance. At the time of the congress, the people of the Soviet area decorated their homes and celebrated enthusiastically. On the day the congress concluded, masses from all over the Soviet area gathered in large groups from all directions to offer their congratulations. The cheers were earth-shaking, marking an unprecedented celebration. The people of Wanyi District even presented the congress with a large red silk banner inscribed with the words “Revolution Succeeds,” celebrating the birth of the County Soviet Government. During the congress, the Zhubao Yuan Pacification Corps, entrenched in the county seat, learned of the meeting and planned to lead a surprise attack on the venue the next day. They also secretly dispatched plainclothes detectives to guard the passes around Zheqiao, prohibiting people from traveling. A 12-year-old Young Pioneer named Yuan Caishun, in order to deliver intelligence about this threat to the congress, hid a secret letter inside the handle of a pigweed hook under the pretense of gathering pig feed, and risked his life to pass through multiple enemy blockades and checkpoints. As a result, the congress was immediately relocated to the Zhangjiatianshan Ancestral Hall in Xinhua Wa, Chixing, allowing Zhubao Yuan’s scheme to fail.

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