Former Site of the Soviet in Chicheng County

Former Site of the Soviet in Chicheng County

The former site of the Soviet in Chicheng County is a protected cultural heritage site of Henan Province and a classic red tourism destination.

The former site of the Chicheng County Soviet Government is located in Chengguan, Shangcheng County, Xinyang City, Henan Province. It is accessible via National Highway 312, Provincial Highway S216, and the Xinye Expressway. Among the many revolutionary sites in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base Area, this site holds a particularly important position. It is also a classic example of a classical Jiangnan-style Ming and Qing garden courtyard, and is of high historical, scientific, and artistic value.

In 1979, it was designated as a county-level cultural heritage protection unit; in 1986, it was listed as a cultural heritage protection unit of Henan Province; and in 2004, it was approved as one of the first batch of patriotic education demonstration bases in Xinyang City. In the same year, six cultural relics experts from Henan jointly recommended, and the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau formally submitted an application to the National Cultural Relics Bureau to designate the former site of the Chicheng County Soviet Government (Zhangjia Garden) as a national-level cultural heritage protection unit.

Zhangjia Garden was originally built during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, and was expanded in the 15th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1889) into a garden courtyard with connected corridors, pavilions, and serene pavilions, covering an area of approximately 10,000 square meters. On May 6, 1929, the Shangcheng Uprising succeeded in one fell swoop, and on December 25 of the same year, the Red Army first captured Shangcheng and established the County Soviet Government. In February 1932, the Fourth Red Army achieved a great victory in the Shang (Cheng)–Huang (Chuan) Campaign, and on the 10th, the Red Army captured Shangcheng for the third time. To commemorate the great victory of the Shang–Huang Campaign and the recapture of Shangcheng, the county name was changed to “Chicheng.” The Chicheng County Soviet Government was headquartered at Zhangjia Garden. The Henan–Southeast District Committee of the Communist Party of China and the District Soviet Government were also stationed here. Party, government, and military leaders such as Li Xiannian, Xu Xiangqian, Shen Zemin, Gao Jingting, Chen Geng, Guo Shushen, Kuang Jixun, Xu Haidong, and Wang Shusheng once discussed strategies, issued military orders, and turned the site into the command center of the land revolution in the southeast of Henan.

On May 6, 1929, the Shangcheng Uprising succeeded in one fell swoop, and on December 25 of the same year, the Red Army first captured Shangcheng and established the County Soviet Government. In February 1932, the Fourth Red Army achieved a great victory in the Shang (Cheng)–Huang (Chuan) Campaign, and on the 10th, the Red Army captured Shangcheng for the third time. To commemorate the great victory of the Shang–Huang Campaign and the recapture of Shangcheng, the county name was changed to “Chicheng.” The Chicheng County Soviet Government was headquartered at Zhangjia Garden. This liberation lasted for more than seven months, and the entire county was largely under red control, marking the peak of the Shangcheng Soviet Area. In the summer of that year, the Henan–Southeast District Committee of the Communist Party of China and the District Soviet Government were established in Chicheng, also operating from Zhangjia Garden. Party, government, and military leaders such as Li Xiannian, Xu Xiangqian, Shen Zemin, Gao Jingting, Guo Shushen, Kuang Jixun, Chen Geng, Xu Haidong, and Wang Shusheng once discussed strategies, issued military orders, and turned the site into the command center of the land revolution in the southeast of Henan. In the autumn of that year, the Red Army suffered a setback in the fourth counter-“encirclement and suppression” campaign. On September 14, Nationalist troops occupied Shangcheng, forcing the Red Army and Soviet personnel to retreat to the deep mountainous areas in the southeastern part of the county and engage in arduous guerrilla warfare.

During the Anti-Japanese War, in the autumn of 1938, Japanese troops ravaged Shangcheng, leaving the county town in ruins. The garden was once again used as the county government offices. In 1942, the girls’ division of Xinyang Normal School’s Shangcheng branch was added to the backyard. Due to such frequent changes in use, the garden gradually fell into disrepair.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Henan Province