Former Residence of Xiang Jingyu in Hankou

Former Residence of Xiang Jingyu in Hankou

The Former Residence of Xiang Jingyu in Hankou is a provincial-level cultural heritage site and a classic red tourism attraction.

No. 27, Sandi Lane, Jiang’an District, a provincial-level cultural heritage site. The Sandi Lane in Hankou where Xiang Jingyu once lived was built in the late Qing Dynasty. It features a European-style two-story brick-and-wood row house structure, with its unit layout drawing inspiration from the traditional Chinese courtyard (siheyuan), creating an inward-facing, enclosed space with a small inner courtyard — a unique design. It remains residential housing to this day. Were it not for the two plaques embedded in the wall — “Hubei Provincial Cultural Heritage Site: Former Residence of Xiang Jingyu” and “Introduction to the Former Residence of Xiang Jingyu” — it would be hard to imagine that this was the home of the revolutionary martyr Xiang Jingyu.

In April 1927, Xiang Jingyu came to Wuhan, the center of the Great Revolution. Following the July 15 counterrevolutionary coup led by Wang Jingwei, Xiang Jingyu, undaunted by danger, resolutely chose to stay in Wuhan and shifted to underground struggle. She frequently changed residences to avoid detection, moving around in Hankou’s Guangfu Lane, Xianle Lane, Changnian Lane, and He Street over the course of half a year, before finally relocating to No. 27, Sandi Lane in the French Concession.

At the time, Xiang Jingyu shared the residence with Chen Huanqiao, a female assistant assigned to her by the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Party. They presented themselves outwardly as aunt and niece-in-law. Xiang Jingyu used the alias Xia Yishi and posed as an unemployed elementary school teacher, while Chen Huanqiao went by the alias Yi Chenshi and pretended to be a housewife. Using job-seeking as a cover, they went out daily for activities, and the place also became an important secret contact point for our Party.

At the time, Xiang Jingyu served as the chief editor of the secret organ newspaper of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Da Jiang (The Great River), overseeing its editing and publishing. According to memoirs written by Chen Huanqiao: “Our residence served both as the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Committee and the editorial office of the newspaper. Sister (i.e., Xiang Jingyu) was often out, visiting factories or other units to make contacts, attend meetings, and so on... She often stayed up all night writing editorials.” Xiang Jingyu’s articles were incisive and struck right at the heart of issues.

Due to betrayal by a traitor, on March 20, 1928, Xiang Jingyu was arrested at her residence on Sandi Lane. She was executed on May 1.

Xiang Jingyu

(1895–1928)

Minister of Women's Affairs of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Revolutionary Martyr.

Born in September 1895 in Shupu County, Hunan Province, originally named Xiang Junxian, of Tujia ethnicity. She was born in 1895 into a merchant family in the county seat of Shupu. After graduating from Zhounan Girls' School in November 1916, filled with the lofty ideal of saving the nation through education, she returned to Shupu to establish the coeducational Shupu Girls’ School. In running the school, she worked hard to reform the curriculum, abolishing classes focused solely on rote learning of the Four Books and Five Classics, and introduced practical courses such as sewing and home economics. She promoted education as a means of national salvation and worked to abolish the feudal practice of foot-binding among women. With a focus on self-governance… More details about Xiang Jingyu ++