Site Commemorating Chairman Mao’s Inspection of Beiyuan People’s Commune

Site Commemorating Chairman Mao’s Inspection of Beiyuan People’s Commune

The Site Commemorating Chairman Mao’s Inspection of Beiyuan People’s Commune is a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

The Site Commemorating Chairman Mao’s Inspection of Beiyuan People’s Commune is situated in Shuitun Village, Beiyuan Subdistrict, Tianqiao District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China, within the current campus of Beiyuan Middle School, with a total area of 18,000 square meters. On August 9, 1959, Mao Zedong visited the area and proclaimed, “It is still better to establish people’s communes.” On August 20 of the same month, the first people’s commune in Shandong Province—the Beiyuan People’s Commune of Licheng County—was established. This had a significant impact on the nationwide development of the people’s commune movement. The site was built to commemorate this historic event.

The main features of the memorial site include a statue of Mao Zedong erected in 1970 and a large granite archway behind it inscribed with Mao’s calligraphy reading “People’s Communes Are Good” in five gilded Chinese characters. The school playground to the south of the statue was originally a square that could accommodate ten thousand people. On the east and west sides of the statue were formerly exhibition and reception rooms, as well as a greenhouse and a lotus pond (none of which remain today). In addition, the site preserves relics from that time, including the “Happiness Locust Tree” (named because Mao once talked with local poor and lower-middle peasants under this tree) and a shack (which no longer exists). In December 1977, it was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Shandong Province