Hengshan County Peasant Movement Memorial Hall

Hengshan County Peasant Movement Memorial Hall

The Hengshan County Peasant Movement Memorial Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The Hengshan County Peasant Movement Memorial Hall is located at No. 9 Yanjiang Avenue, Kaiyun Town, Hengshan County.

During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the peasant movement that flourished in Hengshan County gained considerable fame across the province and even nationwide, exerting significant influence. In April 1923, Mao Zedong and the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China dispatched Liu Dongxuan and Xie Huaidé back to Hengshan to carry out peasant movement activities. On September 16, the Yuebei Peasant Union was established in the Yuebei area of Hengshan. It was the first peasant union organization in Hunan and the third in the country. Serving as a banner of the peasant movement in Hunan, it laid a solid foundation and provided valuable experience for subsequent peasant movements in the province and across the nation.

From the second half of 1926 to the first half of 1927, the peasant movement in Hengshan County developed rapidly. As early as April 1926, several secret peasant associations were active in Hengshan. After the victory of the Northern Expedition, the peasant associations in Hengshan began operating openly. By the end of July of that year, there were 13 district-level peasant associations, 203 township-level ones, and over 20,000 members. By the end of November, a peasant movement training institute had been established in the county, with 149 district-level and 350 township-level associations, and more than 70,000 members, making it “the top county in the province.” Particularly impactful peasant movement events included the attack on Youmago, the women of Baiguo storming the ancestral hall, and the establishment of a peasant bank, all of which had a major influence across the province.

From January 15 to 24, 1927, Mao Zedong conducted a ten-day inspection of the peasant movement in Hengshan. Braving morning winds and evening frost, he walked on foot through towns such as Baiguo, Futian, Songqiao, and Chengguan within the county, covering a distance of over a hundred li. Along the way, he investigated, propagated, and provided guidance, engaging in cheerful conversations and leaving behind glorious footprints in Hengshan.

To commemorate the great achievements of the Hengshan peasant movement, honor Mao Zedong’s revolutionary practice during his inspection of the Hengshan peasant movement, and educate the people of Hengshan to carry forward the revolutionary tradition and strive for greater glory, in 1976, funding from the provincial and regional governments was allocated to begin constructing the Hengshan County Peasant Movement Memorial Hall. It was built beside Kangwang Temple, the former site of the Hengshan Local Committee of the CPC on Xiangjiang Street in Hengshan County along the Xiang River. The hall was officially completed in 1977. Initially named “The Hengshan Memorial Hall for Comrade Mao Zedong’s Inspection of the Hunan Peasant Movement,” it was later, according to a notice from the General Office of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, officially opened to the public on March 5, 1977, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Mao Zedong’s Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan. In 1983, in accordance with higher-level directives, the original name was changed to Hengshan Peasant Movement Memorial Hall.

The Hengshan Peasant Movement Memorial Hall is an exhibition and management institution for revolutionary relics from the peasant movement during the Agrarian Revolutionary War in Hengshan. It includes Kangwang Temple, two exhibition rooms, offices, a materials room, a cultural relics storeroom, a storage room, a reception room, staff dormitories, and other facilities, covering a total area of 1,448 square meters. In 2005, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mao Zehjian’s birth, the Hengshan County Committee and County Government carried out major renovations of the memorial hall. The main entrance, originally facing Xiangjiang Street, was changed to face Yanjiang Avenue; the wax-polished floor in the exhibition room was replaced with maroon tile flooring; iron railings were added; the exercise yard was expanded and fully tiled; a memorial monument was erected; the exhibition content was enriched; exhibits related to the Hengshan Local Committee of the CPC were displayed in Kangwang Temple, those related to the peasant movement were shown in the second exhibition room, and those related to martyr Mao Zehjian were exhibited in the first exhibition room. A batch of new plants and trees were also planted.

The Hengshan County Peasant Movement Memorial Hall was designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the People's Government of Hunan Province in April 1993; it was recognized as a Hengyang Municipal Patriotic Education Base by the Hengyang Municipal Committee Propaganda Department in May 2010.