Former Site of the Sangzhi Uprising

Former Site of the Sangzhi Uprising

The former site of the Sangzhi Uprising is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

Former Site of the Sangzhi Uprising

It is located within the government compound on Dongzheng Street in Liyuan Town, Sangzhi County, Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province.

After the failure of the Nanchang Uprising, He Long voluntarily requested permission from the Party Central Committee to return to western Hunan to organize a revolutionary force. In January 1928, the Party Central Committee approved He Long’s request and established the Northwestern Hunan Special Committee of the Party to strengthen leadership. On January 11, 1928, He Long and Zhou Yiqun traveled from Shanghai to northwestern Hunan to mobilize the masses, establish a workers’ and peasants’ armed force, launch an armed uprising, and create a revolutionary base area. On February 28, the Northwestern Hunan Special Committee arrived in Hongjiaguan, Sangzhi County, where they immediately began mobilizing the masses, establishing the Sangzhi County Committee of the Party, and organizing a workers’ and peasants’ armed force. Within just one month, they formed a workers’ and peasants’ revolutionary army consisting of over 3,000 personnel and more than 700 firearms. On April 2, the workers’ and peasants’ revolutionary army launched an armed uprising along three routes, captured the county seat of Sangzhi, and established the Sangzhi County Soviet Government, with Li Liangyao serving as the Chairman of the County Soviet Government.

The Sangzhi Uprising was another large-scale armed uprising led by Chinese Communists following the Nanchang Uprising, the Autumn Harvest Uprising, the Southern Hunan Uprising, and the Guangzhou Uprising. It marked a successful practice of the shift in focus from urban to rural areas and the strategy of encircling cities from the countryside after the failure of the Great Revolution.

Between 1928 and 1935, He Long led the workers’ and peasants’ revolutionary army, the Fourth Red Army, the Second Red Army Corps, and the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps in eight years of operations across the Western Hunan–Hubei and Western Hunan–Hubei–Sichuan–Guizhou Base Areas, during which they captured the county seat of Sangzhi five times. The former site served as the location for the Sangzhi County Soviet Government on three occasions and saw the establishment of the Sangzhi County Committee of the Party twice.

The former site was originally a Confucian temple, built during the Qing Dynasty. In August 2006, the former site of the Sangzhi Uprising was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hunan Province