Former Site of the Xiyin Uprising Peasants' Association

Former Site of the Xiyin Uprising Peasants' Association

The Former Site of the Xiyin Uprising Peasants' Association is a classic red tourism destination.

Former Site of the Xiyin Uprising Peasants' Association (1927)

In the summer of 1926, spontaneous struggles among peasants were frequent across Xiushui, especially after the establishment of the CCP Xiushui organization, which strengthened its leadership over the peasant movement and further mobilized peasants to engage in revolutionary struggle. After the Northern Expeditionary Army recaptured Xiushui, the CCP Xiushui Branch Committee sent party members to the countryside to carry out revolutionary activities and organize peasants' associations.

In early April 1927, Chen Ruirén, principal of Zhuxi Renyi Primary School and a CCP member, was dispatched by the party organization to return to his hometown of Xiyin to organize a peasants' association. The CCP Pingjiang County Committee also sent Zhang Yutu and Zhang Jiangu to Xiyin to assist. In mid-April, a mass meeting was held at the Chen Family Ancestral Hall in Xiyin, where Chen Ruirén was elected as chairman and Wu Bingqing as vice-chairman.

After the establishment of the peasant association, it directly targeted the feudal temple estate managers and corrupt officials who oppressed the peasants; their struggle also focused on Chen Zuiliu, a major local tyrant in Xiyin and a provisional county magistrate of Changsha. This man was deeply hated by the people of Ren Township, and a folk rhyme circulated at the time: “One stroke of Zuiliu’s pen costs families seventeen hundred; one word from Zuiliu’s mouth makes the poor sell their wives.” At the mass meeting, Chen Ruirén, chairman of the Xiyin Peasants' Association, exposed Chen Zuiliu’s crimes, accusing him of rampant evil in the village. Upon hearing this, Chen Zuiliu gnashed his teeth in hatred. At noon on April 21, he instructed thugs Chen Nanguan, Lu Hongzuo, and others to kill Chen Ruirén while he was asleep.

After Chen Ruirén was killed, the Xiyin Peasants' Association, under the leadership of Vice-Chairman Wu Bingqing, immediately arrested Chen Zuiliu and apprehended the thugs Chen Nanguan, Chen Dechun, and Lu Hongzuo.

On April 23, the Xiyin Peasants' Association held a membership meeting attended by thousands, with representatives from the Zhuxi, Motian, Shangshan, Luyuan, as well as the Hunan Pingjiang Longmen and Jiangshi Peasants' Associations. The association placed the remains of martyr Chen Ruirén in front of the hall of the tyrant Chen Zuiliu, and an angry crowd beat him until his face was bruised and swollen. After the meeting, responding to public demand, the association executed Chen Zuiliu and confiscated all his property, distributing it among the poor peasants.

After the Xiyin Peasant Uprising, peasants' associations in areas such as Daqiao, Zhuxi, Luyuan, and Upper and Lower Shan, under the leadership of CCP members Fan Cean, Lu Zhenlu, and Fan Fan, launched struggles against local tyrants and evil gentry. They drove out major landlords Wu Shiying, Wu Weidong, and Wu Youcheng, confiscated all their property, and burned all their pawnshop contracts and debt notes. From then on, anti-tyranny struggles across the county flourished under the Party’s leadership, becoming an unstoppable force.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units