Former Site of the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC (Former Residence of Martyr Qian Jiadong)

Former Site of the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC (Former Residence of Martyr Qian Jiadong)

The Former Site of the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC (Former Residence of Martyr Qian Jiadong) is a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province and a patriotic education base.

The Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC was established in March 1938 by Comrades Qian Jiadong and Qiao Haiqiu at Qian Jiadong’s home in Xiaoyanmiao Village, Yangliu Town, Sishui County. The Memorial Hall of the Former Site of the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC (Former Residence of Martyr Qian Jiadong) was initially built in the mid-1980s and was named the "Poverty Alleviation Project of the Ten Thousand Villages Book Project" by the China Cultural Poverty Alleviation Committee in 2000, collecting over 2,000 volumes (items) of party history books, collections, and commemorative relics. It opened to the public free of charge in September 2003. In 2007, it was designated as the "Second Batch of Juvenile Patriotic Education Bases in Jining City." In 2015, it was recognized as a Patriotic Education Base of Shandong Province, the Fifth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units, a Party History Education Base of Jining City, and the Second Batch of Provincial Party History Education Bases of Shandong Province.

Currently, the Former Site of the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC (Former Residence of Martyr Qian Jiadong) has four management personnel and two tour guides. A strict management and duty system has been established. In addition to the former residence, the memorial hall includes two exhibition rooms and a library, featuring seven thematic sections: "Ambitious Hearts Joining the Revolution," "Establishing Organizations and Expanding Strength," "Guerrilla Warfare and Regional Expansion," "Forging Positions and Sustaining Resistance," "Mobilizing the Masses for Armed Struggle," "Full Support for Victory," and "Upholding Reform and Facing the Future." Since its opening, it has annually received numerous government agencies and enterprises for patriotic education.

In recent years, with strong support from various levels of departments, the influence and recognition of the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC and Martyr Qian Jiadong have continued to grow, attracting visitors from both within and outside the county. The family of Martyr Qian Jiadong has also consistently monitored the preservation of his former residence. In 1993, when Qian Qiguo (nephew of Qian Jiadong, son of his younger brother Qian Zhendong, then a council member of the China Overseas Friendship Association and honorary president of the Australia-China Business Council), returned to China to discuss technological cooperation, he learned from his father that Qian Jiadong’s former residence had been repaired and permanently protected. He subsequently sent a handwritten letter to the Yangliu Town Party Committee to express gratitude. During the Qingming Festival in April 2016, Qian Rujing (uncle of Qian Jiadong and former head of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Commerce) made a special trip to pay his respects.

Qian Jiadong (1912–1941), given name Rubin and alias Jiang Hong, was the first member of the Communist Party of China in the history of Sishui County. He was from Xiaoyanmiao Village, Yangliu Township, Sishui County. He joined the CPC in 1931. In March 1938, the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC was established, and he served as one of the principal leaders, in charge of united front work. In June 1938, the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee was dissolved, and the Sishui County Committee of the CPC was formed, where he served as a committee member. In January 1939, he took over as secretary. He passed away in 1941 in Junan County at the age of 29. After the liberation of Sishui in 1945, the government relocated his remains to his hometown of Xiaoyanmiao Village.

Qian Jiadong was born in 1912 into a large rural family. As a child, he studied at a private school at home, demonstrating intelligence, diligence, and excellent character, which earned him the affection of elders. In 1925, he enrolled in the affiliated primary school of Qufu No. 2 Normal School, and in 1927, he entered Jining No. 7 Middle School. Honest and upright, he stood up for justice but was expelled from school for participating in student activism. In 1930, he changed his name to Qian Jiadong and transferred to Jinan Zhengyi Middle School. Pursuing truth and embracing Marxism, he risked imprisonment and execution. In February 1931, he joined the CPC through the introduction of Cheng Minghan. After the September 18th Incident, under the Party’s leadership, he bravely led student protests demanding resistance against Japan, opposing surrender, and marching to Nanjing.

After 1932, he taught in Boxiang and Sishui. He was dismissed by schools for promoting resistance against Japan and supporting student movements. In 1933, he enrolled in Liaocheng No. 3 Normal School. At the time, the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee had suffered severe setbacks, and the environment was perilous. He remained steadfast, persisting in underground activities, developing Party organizations, and contacting Party members to establish the Central Branch of the Party, where he served as a committee member. He also ventured out to seek higher-level Party organizations. By frequenting the library and playing basketball, he made many friends, earning the goodwill of both new and veteran comrades and uniting a large group of people. He proposed using teachers as a cover to carry out secret, legal, and diverse forms of struggle to combat enemies and expand the Party’s influence. Known for his strategic thinking and resolute struggle, he earned the nickname "Iron Qian" and contributed significantly to Party-building efforts in western Shandong.

In 1936, he attended a rural construction training program and served as a branch committee member within the Party. He led efforts to expel fascist instructors and criticized the reformist errors of the rural construction faction, which focused only on national wealth and military strength while neglecting resistance against Japan. This led Liang Shuming to remark, "Two months of my efforts have failed." Qian Jiadong lived frugally and plainly, taking off his scholar’s gown to work in the fields upon returning home. Respecting the elderly and caring for the young, he was praised by relatives and friends as a knowledgeable, virtuous, and capable individual. On his visits home, he used stories of his experiences to explain that the Red Army were not bandits and that "Zhu and Mao" were benevolent figures fighting tyranny and poverty. He advocated against civil war and promoted the CPC’s stance on the peaceful resolution of the Xi’an Incident and united resistance. He also brought progressive publications for his younger brother to read, making his family part of his educational efforts. He visited Shanxi West Primary School and Zhu’gou Town to promote the CPC’s resistance ideals to progressive teachers like Zhang Linfu. He mailed progressive publications and organized revolutionary activities through reading groups. Zhang Linfu recalled having a very positive impression of him and being greatly influenced by him.

In 1937, he became the head of education at the Leling Rural School and a county committee member within the Party. Using his legitimate position, he connected with school staff to develop Party members and educate them on resistance, earning public support. After the July 7th Incident, as Japanese forces attacked Shandong, he and Principal Yang Xuming (a Party member) led students and armed farmers to the front lines. Dispersed in the chaos, he shouted the song "March Forward, Never Retreat, Sacrifice Has Reached the Final Hour" with an optimistic and determined resolve to join the battlefield. Later, following instructions from the Provincial Committee, he returned to his hometown and used his home as a base. Despite exhaustion and risking his life, he tirelessly contacted relatives, classmates, and patriots to mobilize the people for resistance and develop Party members. To strengthen Party leadership, in March 1938, with approval from the Provincial Committee, he established the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee of the CPC. As the head of the committee, he held multiple meetings at home to discuss united front strategies. He dispatched committee members and requested Provincial Committee assistance to persuade the 75th Regiment of the Nationalist Army and local power factions, including Zhang Junhong’s forces, to join the resistance. His and Qiao Haiqiu’s activities, along with the establishment of the Qufu-Sishui Working Committee, expanded the Party’s influence and created new opportunities for post-war development and construction of the CPC organizations in Qufu and Sishui. They laid the ideological, organizational, and cadre foundations for the establishment of the Sishui County Committee and Qufu Working Committee, giving the people reliance and hope for resistance.

In June 1938, the Sishui County Committee of the CPC was established, and he served as a committee member and head of the Organization Department, adopting the alias Jiang Hong. In early 1939, he became the Secretary of the Qufu-Sishui-Ningyang Central County Committee and Political Commissar of the Regiment. Building on the foundation of the Sishui County Committee, under his and the Central County Committee’s leadership, the Qufu-Sishui-Ningyang Base Area was established. Centered around Fengxian Mountain, based in Dongzhuang, with the County Committee at its core, and using the gray regime of the autonomous region as a cover, it extended into enemy-controlled areas of three counties. The Party was vigorously developed, with village-level Party branches and district-level committees established, reaching even into Qufu city and along railway lines, rooting the Party organization among the people and becoming the core of leading the resistance. Following Provincial Committee instructions, Party members and patriotic youth from enemy-controlled areas were mobilized to attend cadre schools and Party schools, training hundreds of young cadres for the Party’s military, political, and civilian efforts. He and the Central County Committee placed great emphasis on developing and establishing local armed forces under Party leadership. The people’s self-defense forces led by the Party were openly organized into the 5th Regiment, while local power faction forces were reorganized into the 3rd Squadron. Huang Rui Zhang’s regiment, with 300–400 soldiers, was persuaded to defect and reorganized into the 3rd Regiment, with Huang Rui Zhang as commander and Jiang Hong as political commissar. Under the Central County Committee’s leadership, the three local anti-Japanese armed forces totaled 600–700 soldiers, effectively combating enemy and puppet "sweeps" and consolidating the Qufu-Sishui-Ningyang Base Area. This facilitated communication between western Shandong and the Shandong Provincial Committee, transportation of supplies, reception of traveling cadres, and support for the 115th Division’s entry into Shandong for resistance. It provided accommodations, rest, supplies, and care for the wounded, earning it the reputation of being the army’s "rear base."

In 1941, as County Committee Secretary and Political Commissar, he was ordered to lead troops in an upgrade mission, strengthening our resistance forces. In early 1940, he was successively appointed as Head of the Organization Department of the Prefectural Committee, Head of the Cadre Department of the Regional Committee, and Deputy Head, serving as a functional assistant to the prefectural and regional committees. He worked diligently to complete tasks, contributing significantly to Party organization development in southern Shandong.

In April 1941, while studying at the Shandong Bureau Party School, he fell seriously ill but persisted in intense study. Due to harsh conditions and limited medical resources, his chronic illness worsened, leading to persistent hemoptysis. He passed away in Huantou Village, Junan County, at the age of 29.