Site of the Yang Ancestral Hall Uprising

Site of the Yang Ancestral Hall Uprising

The Site of the Yang Ancestral Hall Uprising is a cultural heritage site protected by Jiangxi Province and a classic red tourism destination.

Site of the Yang Ancestral Hall Uprising --- Shaping Mangjue Temple, Quanfeng Yang Ancestral Hall

On March 1, 1928, in line with the needs of the revolutionary situation, the Provisional County Committee of the CPC in Xiushui held a county-wide meeting of party activists at Taizhuang Shutang. The meeting reviewed the positive momentum since the Autumn Harvest Uprising and also clearly recognized that the Kuomintang authorities in Xiushui, Tonggu, and Wuning were preparing to launch a furious retaliation against the peasant revolution in Xiushui. Therefore, preparations had to be made to counter the enemy’s counterattack. The meeting decided to rapidly expand the workers’ and peasants’ armed forces and carry out armed struggle. First, the Yang Ancestral Hall Uprising Committee was established, and the Xiuwu-Tong Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army Guerrilla Unit was formed. The director of the Uprising Committee and the leader of the guerrilla unit were both Comrade Yu Jingbang, who had just returned from Jinggangshan after participating in the Autumn Harvest Uprising; the deputy leader was Comrade Yang Wanying. Second, Gan Tewu, Chen Qiuguang, and others were assigned to organize thousands of people in Zhuxi, Daqiao, Taizhuang, and other areas to support the peasant revolutionary struggle in Pingjiang, thereby training the troops and cultivating backbone forces for larger-scale uprisings in the future.

In early March, the Provisional County Committee of the CPC in Xiushui held the founding conference of the Yang Ancestral Hall Uprising Committee at Shaping Mangjue Temple. The Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Committee dispatched Shen Guozhen from Puchi and Liu Yongkang from Tongcheng to assist the Uprising Committee.

After its establishment, the Uprising Committee moved into the Yang Ancestral Hall and promptly set up an iron foundry to manufacture homemade cannons, guns, muskets, and sabers. The force grew from over 600 to more than 1,000 members. Under the leadership of Yu Jingbang and others, the Xiuwu-Tong Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army Guerrilla Unit successively overthrew the local despots and gentry in Tangcheng, Shaping, and Quanfeng, confiscating large quantities of grain and property which were then distributed to poor peasants.

The tremendous momentum of the Yang Ancestral Hall Uprising alarmed the enemy. On the evening of April 3, the landlords of Cao Family in Shangyuan, Quanfeng, conspired with the Wu Fu Yi Pacification Corps and the local despots and gentry in the western part of the county. Learning that the defenses at the Yang Ancestral Hall were lax, they surrounded it from two directions at midnight through the intersection. At that time, over 70 leaders of the Uprising Committee and key figures in the peasant movement were holding a meeting there. The enemy opened fire on the main gate. Yu Jingbang and more than ten others bravely broke through the gate, fighting their way out and creating a bloody path to escape. The rest of the comrades heroically sacrificed their lives during the breakout.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Heritage Sites Protected by Jiangxi Province