Former Site of the Red Tenth Army Command in Wanshitang

Former Site of the Red Tenth Army Command in Wanshitang

Located in Wanshitang Village, Yaoshe Township. Wanshitang is a large village with a long history in the township, dotted with ancient residential buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The “Red Army Building,” originally named “Guanmei Ancestral Hall,” is a Qing dynasty structure facing east and built with brick, wood, and stone. In late July 1932, Shao Shiping, a member of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and Secretary of the Military Committee of the Northeastern Jiangxi Soviet, inspected Wanshitang on three separate occasions. In 1933, when over a thousand soldiers of the Red Tenth Army marched south to join the Central Red Army, they stayed in the village for five days, during which they suppressed a major local tyrant, the gang leader at Wantou, and the puppet head of the self-defense militia. The command post was set up inside the building, and slogans written on the walls can still be found today. After the Red Army withdrew, the command post continued to be referred to as the “Red Army Building.”

The “Red Army Building” is a two-courtyard structure, with rooms on both sides of the upper courtyard featuring an upper floor. It is 14 meters wide, 19.7 meters deep, with walls 7.6 meters high, covering a total area of 275.8 square meters. The lower part of the walls consists of two layers of stone slabs. Above the doorway, the stone slab is carved with delicate patterns, some of which were damaged during the Cultural Revolution. A pair of intact stone-engraved couplets in regular script flank the doorway. The wooden brackets inside the ancestral hall are carved with fine patterns that are clearly visible. On the walls to the south and north of the central courtyard, ten slogans written by the Red Army are preserved, in black ink on white background and written with brush pens. Due to age, parts of the writing have become illegible, but the clearer ones include: “The Anti-Communist Corps is an organization used by the gentry, landlords, and the Kuomintang to suppress the workers’ and peasants’ revolution,” “Workers and peasants, rise up and eliminate the Anti-Communist Corps!” “Workers and peasants, do not join the Anti-Communist Corps of the gentry, landlords, and the Kuomintang!” “Workers have the right to freedom!” “Workers and peasants, rise up and eliminate the Anti-Communist Corps, and capture its commander alive!” The signature reads “Propaganda Department of the Red Army Unit Y.”

In addition, more than ten slogans written by the Red Army are found on both sides of the gate in the courtyard of a local residence. Their contents are as follows: “The Red Army is the army of the workers and peasants themselves!” “Oppose forced conscription!” “Welcome the militiamen to return home and farm!” “The Red Army takes nothing from the workers and peasants!” “Welcome the peasants to rise up and carry out the land revolution!” “The grain of the local tyrants is free—distributed to the poor!” “Down with imperialism!” “Welcome soldiers and junior officers to join the Red Army!” “Welcome the peasants to fight the local tyrants and distribute the land!” All are signed “Propaganda Department of the Red Army Unit Y.”

Furthermore, there is also a clear ink painting of a Kuomintang officer on the screen wall in front of the courtyard gate.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units