Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family

Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family

The Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family is a cultural tourism attraction.

Exiting Jinxi County and traveling 12 kilometers south along National Highway 206, you will see a mountain peak called Ma'er Ridge. At the foot of the mountain lies a picturesque small mountain village—Hou Gong Village in Zuofang Town. Though the village is small and not heavily populated, it is widely renowned for its heroic history during a turbulent revolutionary period, attracting a continuous stream of visitors who come to pay their respects.

Turning off National Highway 206 into the village, you will see a red memorial archway. Although built in modern times, it carries a touch of antiquity. Following the road east of the archway, you can spot from afar a lush, green camphor tree. Beneath the tree stands an ancient ancestral hall—this is the Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family, which was once the former site of the Red First Front Army Headquarters.

In January 1933, after the victory at Huangshidu, the First Front Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army had its directly affiliated troops stationed in the Zuofang area. Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Wang Jiaxiang, and others made Hou Gong Village their base, with the army headquarters set up in the Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family in Hou Gong Village, and the political department located half a li away in Wangjiacangxia. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De resided in a civilian house south of Hou Gong Village near a bamboo grove, where a cave had been dug beside the bamboo for air-raid protection. Commander Zhu held multiple meetings with Red Army officers in the cave to plan military strategies.

During the Qingming Festival, with light rain falling gently, a reporter arrived in Hou Gong Village with a heart full of reverence. In the green fields, iron oxen joyfully worked, yellow oxen vigorously plowed, and farmers were busy with spring planting. An elderly farmer in the fields, seeing the visitors, quickly put down his hoe, approached to ask about their purpose, and upon learning the reason, immediately called out in a loud voice: “Kids, go quickly to the village party secretary’s house and get the keys to the ancestral hall, let the reporters go inside to visit...”

Stepping into the Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family, you’ll find it grand in scale yet simple in architecture. Though it is a typical ancestral temple commonly seen in Jinxi, and has withstood over 70 years of wind and rain, it remains well-preserved. In the center of the main hall hang portraits of 11 great figures. A uniquely designed covered walkway runs through the hall, with four large wooden pillars and a square table in the middle. A local villager explained that this was where Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Wang Jiaxiang, and Red Army generals issued combat orders.

The Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family consists of three connected structures: the main hall, the secondary hall, and the lower wing. The secondary hall is slightly smaller than the main one. Inside the secondary hall hang portraits of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, along with paintings and photos depicting the “Victory at Huangshidu” and stories of Zhu De in Hou Gong Village. The secondary hall also preserves the storage rooms and sickbay of the Red First Front Army Headquarters, with faint but still discernible slogans left by the Red Army—making it a site worthy of reverence and remembrance.

Stepping out of the ancestral hall, a local official from the county’s relevant department explained that generations of villagers in Hou Gong Village have cherished the Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family as a historical treasure. During wartime, some villagers even sacrificed their lives to protect it. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the villagers placed even greater emphasis on its preservation, consistently maintaining and repairing the hall. In recent years, to better protect the Ancestral Hall of the Gong Family, the villagers have raised 70,000 yuan to carry out a comprehensive restoration.