Former Site of the Fourth Branch of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University

Former Site of the Fourth Branch of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University

The former site of the Fourth Branch of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University is a cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province.

The former site of the Fourth Branch of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University is located in Mazhongji, Lizhai Township, about 30 kilometers southwest of Yongcheng City. It consists of three parts: the school site, the headquarters, and a ginkgo tree.

In the summer of 1938, to advance into enemy-occupied territory for resistance against Japan, Comrade Peng Xuefeng was ordered to lead over 370 members of the New Fourth Army guerrilla detachment. On September 29, they pledged their eastward expedition from Zhugou Town, Queshan County, southern Henan. In January 1939, they arrived in the border region of Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, centered around Yongcheng in eastern Henan and Guoyang in northern Anhui, where they began to ignite the flames of resistance across the Central Plains and established the anti-Japanese revolutionary base area of Yu-Wan-Su. In March 1940, based on its mobile training school and with the approval of the Party Central Committee and the main campus of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University, it was renamed the Fourth Branch of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University. The detachment commander, Peng Xuefeng, also served as the university president; the deputy detachment commander, Wu Zhipu, as vice president; the political department head, Xiao Wangdong; and the educational heads were successively Liu Zuofu, Liu Qingming, and Fang Zhongduo, with members of the detachment leadership serving as instructors. The school held two sessions in Yongcheng, training nearly 2,000 anti-Japanese military and political cadres. In mid-May 1941, the Fourth Branch moved with the troops to northern Anhui and other areas for further study, continuing until November 1945, for a total of six sessions, by which time the war of resistance had been won. The establishment of the Fourth Branch timely trained a large number of military and political cadres for the troops and the party and government organs of the Yu-Wan-Su Border Region, making an indelible contribution to the victory of the War of Resistance. It was hailed by local soldiers and civilians as the cradle of revolutionary victory for the people of the Yu-Wan-Su Border Region, a talent-nurturing base for New China, and remains to this day a towering monument in the hearts of the people of the Yu-Wan-Su Border Region, serving as a powerful site for patriotic and revolutionary tradition education for future generations.

Currently, the former site retains two parts: the school site and the ginkgo tree. The three-room adobe and thatched-roof building that once served as the headquarters has collapsed due to years of disrepair. The school site is located on the east side of the north street in Mazhongji, originally the main hall of the Taishan Temple from the late Qing Dynasty. The hall is three bays wide and three bays deep, with a flush-gable roof covered in lime, and served as the auditorium and classrooms for the Fourth Branch at the time. On the east and west walls of the hall, propaganda slogans and bulletin boards written in red ochre pigment by members of the Fourth Branch are still preserved intact. The east wall features the slogan “Study revolutionary theory, strengthen political direction,” below which are the vertically aligned “Song Section” and “Students’ Section.” The west wall bears the slogan “Improve technical skills, strengthen resistance forces,” beneath which are the “Defense Section” and “Current Affairs Section.”

The ginkgo tree is located about one kilometer northeast of Mazhongji, behind Zenglou Village. With a history of a thousand years, the tree has a trunk circumference of 6.5 meters and shades an area of over 400 square meters. It was the place where students of the Fourth Branch studied, gathered, and held meetings in the summer. To this day, the tree remains lush and leafy.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Henan Province