Former Site of the Headquarters of the 1st Regiment, 1st Division, 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army

Former Site of the Headquarters of the 1st Regiment, 1st Division, 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army

The former site of the headquarters of the 1st Regiment, 1st Division, 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a classic red tourism attraction.

The former site of the headquarters of the 1st Division, 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army is located at No. 60 Fenghuangshan Road, Xiushui County. It faces east toward Fenghuangshan Road in the county town, borders the county government guesthouse to the north, adjoins the Xiushui Memorial Hall of the Autumn Harvest Uprising to the west, and is adjacent to the Lin Family Ancestral Hall to the south. The building faces south and has a traditional one-courtyard, two-section layout. It is constructed of brick and wood, with small blue tiles on the roof, an interior drainage system, and stone-framed doors. The entire building covers a construction area of 350 square meters and a land area of 1,200 square meters. The front hall was where the first military flag of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was designed and made. On both sides of the front hall are rooms that served as offices and residences for the division commander and deputy commander. The back hall has two rooms on each side, which were used as offices for the eight major departments of the division headquarters. The courtyard is paved with bluestone, and the side rooms served as duty offices for guards Chen Shiji and Han Wei (both later awarded the ranks of general and lieutenant general, respectively, after the founding of the PRC). In front of the main gate of the site was the training ground.

This site was originally the Chamber of Commerce of Xiushui County. In August 1927, the Guard Regiment of the 2nd Army of the 4th Army Group of the National Revolutionary Army, which was preparing to participate in the Nanchang Uprising, arrived in Xiushui after failing to catch up with the uprising forces heading south. On August 12, they captured Xiushui County Town and stayed there for nearly a month. During this time, the Guard Regiment, together with the Pingjiang Workers’ and Peasants’ Volunteer Corps, peasant self-defense forces from Tongcheng, Chongyang, and Xiushui, armed workers from the Anyuan Coal Mine, and the Liuyang Volunteer Corps stationed in Tonggu, were organized into the 1st Army, 1st Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. This division consisted of four regiments and a special service company directly under the division headquarters. The division leadership and the eight major departments of the division headquarters—including staff, adjutant, quartermaster, ordnance, medical, veterinary, uniforms, and supply—were all based here. The first military flag of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was designed and made here by Chen Mingyi (also known as Chen Shuhua), head of the staff department, He Changgong, a staff officer, and Yang Lisan, the adjutant. On September 9, the division headquarters of the 1st Army, 1st Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, along with its 1st and 4th regiments and the special service company, publicly raised the bright red flag of the "Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army" in Xiushui, marking the outbreak of the shocking Autumn Harvest Uprising in the Hunan-Jiangxi border region.

During their stay in Xiushui, the troops of the Autumn Harvest Uprising left behind many precious cultural relics and documents. For example, a well-preserved bronze telescope once used by Yu Benmin, then deputy division commander, was designated as a national first-class cultural relic in 1994. After the troops left Xiushui, the site reverted to being the county chamber of commerce. After the liberation, it became the county central kindergarten. In February 1986, it was placed under the management of the Xiushui Memorial Hall of the Autumn Harvest Uprising. In 1987, the provincial cultural relics bureau allocated special funds for partial renovation of the site, restoring its original layout and opening it to the public. To better protect the division headquarters site, the surrounding environment was improved, high-rise buildings within the strictly controlled zone were demolished, and a construction control zone was established. The division headquarters site is now well preserved and has received millions of visitors. Together with the Xiushui Memorial Hall of the Autumn Harvest Uprising and the former site of the headquarters of the 1st Regiment, 1st Division, 1st Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, it has become an important base for patriotic and revolutionary tradition education across the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi region and beyond.

This site was listed as a Jiangxi Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in December 1987, designated as a National Patriotic Education Demonstration Base by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee in 2001, and recognized as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 2006.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units