Site of the former Red Army Building

Site of the Red Army Building

The site of the Red Army Building is a classic red tourism attraction.

Site of the “Red Army Building”:

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” was originally named “Guanmei Ancestral Hall,” a Qing Dynasty structure facing east and built with brick, wood, and stone. In late July 1932, Shao Shiping, member of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and Secretary of the Military Committee of the Northeastern Jiangxi Soviet, visited Wanshitang on three separate occasions. In 1933, when over a thousand soldiers of the Red Tenth Army marched south to join forces with the Central Red Army, they were stationed here for five days, during which time they suppressed a major local tyrant, the gang leader at Wantou, and the puppet self-defense team captain. The headquarters was set up inside the building, and slogans from that time can still be found on the walls today. After the Red Army withdrew, the headquarters 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 and 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 features exquisitely carved patterns, some of which were damaged during the Cultural Revolution. On both sides of the door, a pair of intact engraved vertical plaques with regular script calligraphy remains. Intricately carved patterns can be clearly seen on the wooden beams inside the ancestral hall. On the south and north walls of the central courtyard, ten slogans written by the Red Army at the time are preserved, in black ink on white backgrounds and brush-written. Due to age, some ink has become illegible, but the clearer ones include: “The Anti-Communist Corps is an organization used by the gentry, landlords, and 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 gentry, landlords, and Kuomintang’s Anti-Communist Corps!” “Workers have the freedom to strike!” “Workers and peasants, rise up and eliminate the Anti-Communist Corps, capture the commander of the Anti-Communist Corps alive!” The signature reads “Propaganda Department of the Red Army United Team No. 3.”

In addition, more than ten other slogans written by the Red Army are found on both sides of the gate in the yard of a local residence, reading: “The Red Army is the army of the workers and peasants!” “Oppose the conscription of laborers by the White Army!” “Welcome the members of the Pacification Corps 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—distribute it to the poor!” “Down with imperialism!” “Welcome the White Army 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 United Team No. 3.”

Furthermore, there is also a brush-painted portrait of a Kuomintang officer on the screen wall in front of the gate of the yard, which is still clearly recognizable.

Yaoshe Township: Yaoshe Township is located at the southeastern tip of Dongxiang County. The township government seat, Yaoshe Street, is 30 kilometers from the county seat. To the northeast, it borders Maquan Township of Yugan County; to the southeast, it adjoins Duiqiao, Lufang, and Shuangtang Townships of Jinxi County; to the northwest, it neighbors Lixu Town and Wangqiao Township of the same county. The total area is about 67 square kilometers, with cultivated land covering 19,312 mu (approximately 1,287 hectares), accounting for 18.5% of the total area. Hills account for about 72.8%, and water bodies for 6.1%. The per capita cultivated land is 1.7 mu. The township administers 7 administrative villages, 63 natural villages, and 77 villager groups, with a total population of 11,936.

… More detailed information about Yaoshe Township++