Former Site of the Expanded Meeting of the Communist Party of China's YuXi Special Committee

Former Site of the Expanded Meeting of the Communist Party of China's YuXi Special Committee

The former site of the expanded meeting of the Communist Party of China's YuXi Special Committee is a cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province and a classic red tourism attraction.

The former site of the expanded meeting of the Communist Party of China's YuXi Special Committee is located in an ordinary brick-arched cave dwelling within a courtyard at No. 24, Hailu North Street, Dongguan, Chengguan Town, Mianchi County. The cave faces south, with an east-west road passing above it on the northern side, while residential houses border its eastern, western, and southern sides. Well-preserved, the site is situated in the northern part of a residential courtyard within a brick-arched cave dwelling, featuring a brick-and-stone structure with one main chamber and three rooms — one central doorway and one window each on the eastern and western sides, covering an area equivalent to three residential rooms. The original meeting scene has been restored and is now open to the public free of charge.

After Liu Shaoqi arrived in Mianchi, in order to better guide the work of the Party in the YuXi region, he presided over the Expanded Meeting of the Communist Party of China's YuXi Special Committee on December 20, 1938. The meeting was held in a set of three interconnected brick-arched cave dwellings near the Mianchi military station. Participants included: Liu Zijiu, Secretary of the YuXi Special Committee; Wang Zhijie, Deputy Secretary and head of the Propaganda Department; Guo Xiaotang, head of the Propaganda Department; Xi Guoguang (also known as Ji Xi), head of the Organization Department; Wu Yingxian (also known as Wu Ping), head of the Women’s Department; Wu Zuyi, head of the Youth Department, as well as over 30 responsible comrades from central county committees in Xinmi, Lingbao, Luoning, Yanshi, and other key county committees in the YuXi region. All attendees had arrived in Mianchi a day earlier to register. Since party activities in Mianchi were still underground at the time, for security and confidentiality, the committee required everyone to stay and eat in the cave dwellings and not go out casually. The meeting was chaired by Liu Zijiu, with Liu Shaoqi conveying the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He also spoke about Mao Zedong’s “On Protracted War,” particularly addressing the war situation in YuXi: emphasizing that local party organizations should be prepared at all times, and immediately launch guerrilla warfare to establish anti-Japanese bases once the area fell. At the same time, they needed to vigorously develop party membership, strengthen the party organization, enhance united front work, and build relationships with allied parties, allied troops, and local figures. After the meeting, Liu Shaoqi listened to work reports from the YuXi Special Committee and the various central county committees. In accordance with the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth CPC Central Committee and the conditions of the struggle in YuXi, Liu Shaoqi put forward six directives: first, actively organize armed forces and prepare to launch guerrilla warfare when the Japanese invaded YuXi; second, vigorously expand the strength of the Party and establish Party organizations at the county level from top to bottom; third, focus on recruiting Party members among peasants; fourth, in line with the central directive, rename the YuXi Special Committee as the YuXi Provincial Committee and the central county committees as prefectural committees; fifth, establish cadre training classes to train a group of core personnel; sixth, send a large number of progressive educated youth to the anti-Japanese base areas.

Finally, Liu Shaoqi presided over a meeting to reorganize and adjust the Party structure, deciding to rename the YuXi Special Committee as the YuXi Provincial Committee (the predecessor of the Henan Provincial Committee), and converting the five subordinate central county committees into five prefectural committees. Liu Zijiu was appointed Secretary of the YuXi Provincial Committee, Wang Zhijie as Deputy Secretary and head of the Propaganda Department, Liu Xiangsan as head of the Military Department, Xi Guoguang as head of the Organization Department, Wu Zuyi as head of the Youth Department, Wu Yingxian as head of the Women’s Department, and Wang Jiren as Secretary-General. Among them, the Luoning Prefectural Committee oversaw the Party work in Luoning, Mianchi, Yiyang, and Xin’an counties, with Han Dasheng as Party Secretary, Qu Naisheng as head of the Organization Department, and He Chongsheng as head of the Propaganda Department. For confidentiality, the code words “Ren (Benevolence), Yi (Righteousness), Li (Propriety), Zhi (Wisdom), and Xin (Integrity)” were used as secret designations for the Yanshi, Luoning, Lingbao, Mishi, and Linru prefectural committees to facilitate communication. This meeting lasted seven days and concluded on December 26, 1938. The convening of the Mianchi Meeting played a tremendous role in advancing and guiding the anti-Japanese war efforts in the YuXi region, developing the Party organization, establishing and expanding anti-Japanese bases, training local Party cadres, and uniting people from all social strata in the common fight against Japan.

On June 2, 1963, the former site of the Expanded Meeting of the Communist Party of China's YuXi Special Committee was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit by the People's Government of Henan Province. In 2005, it was listed by the Provincial Tourism Bureau as a premium red tourism route under the theme “Red Journey – Party Spirit Cultivation Tour.” It has also been recognized by the Sanmenxia Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, and Municipal Civilization Office as the “Sanmenxia Revolutionary Tradition Education Base” and the “Minors’ Ideological and Moral Education Base,” among other honors.