Departure Site of the Long March of the 25th Red Army

Departure Site of the Long March of the 25th Red Army

The departure site of the Long March of the 25th Red Army is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a classic red tourism destination.

The departure site of the Long March of the 25th Red Army is located in Hejiachong, Tiepu Township, Luoshan County, Henan Province, and is one of the four major departure sites of the Red Army’s Long March in modern Chinese revolutionary history.

The 25th Red Army was established in October 1931 in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base Area, affiliated with the Fourth Front Army, and made significant contributions to consolidating and defending the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base Area. In the autumn of 1934, under orders from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Chairman -, the 25th Red Army set out on the Long March from Hejiachong, becoming the first Red Army unit to reach northern Shaanxi during the Long March, and writing a glorious chapter in the history of the Red Army’s Long March.

Hejiachong is located on the northwestern slope of Jigong Mountain at the western end of the Dabie Mountains and is an important part of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base Area. The current departure site of the 25th Red Army’s Long March in Hejiachong mainly includes three parts: the former site of the 25th Red Army headquarters, the site of the assembly point for the Long March departure, and the former site of the 25th Red Army hospital.

The former site of the 25th Red Army headquarters is the He Family Ancestral Hall. The He Family Ancestral Hall was first built during the Ming Dynasty, and more than ten rooms still remain. Before the 25th Red Army set out on the Long March, the army’s headquarters organs such as the guardhouse, political department, and staff department were stationed here, and leaders of the 25th Red Army such as Cheng Zihua, Xu Haidong, and Wu Huanxian also lived here.

The site of the Long March departure assembly point includes relics such as a ginkgo tree and a Red Army millstone. The ginkgo tree is now located at the entrance of Hejiachong Village, standing over 20 meters tall. On November 16, 1934, nearly 3,000 officers and soldiers of the 25th Red Army gathered here, holding high the banner of the “Second Advance Detachment of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army Marching North to Resist Japan,” and pledged to begin the Long March.

The former site of the 25th Red Army hospital consists of four courtyards. The original site was built during the Ming Dynasty, and more than 80 rooms still remain. The 25th Red Army headquarters hospital was established at the end of 1932 and continued to operate until the departure of the 25th Red Army for the Long March, treating a large number of wounded and sick Red Army soldiers.

In 1996, the departure site of the 25th Red Army’s Long March was designated by the State Council as part of the fourth group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units