Former Residence of He Mengxiong

Former Residence of He Mengxiong

The former residence of He Mengxiong is a cultural heritage site protected by Hunan Province, a classic red tourism attraction, and a patriotic education base.

The former residence of He Mengxiong is located in Longtan Village, Zhongcun Township, Yanling County, Zhuzhou City.

The residence was originally built during the late Qing Dynasty by He Qingyun, the great-great-grandfather of He Mengxiong.

He Mengxiong was born in June 1898 and entered Yuying Middle School in the summer of 1914. In the spring of 1917, he changed his name to He Chun and enrolled in Hunan Public Industrial Specialized School, where he often joined student associations and fellow students such as Mao Zedong, Cai Hesen, Zhang Kundi, and Li Weihan from the Changsha Student Federation in activities. In 1918, with the help of Mr. Yang Changji, he left Changsha for Beijing along with Cai Hesen and others. In March 1920, under the guidance and assistance of Li Dazhao, He Mengxiong joined the first Marxist study group in China—the Marx Study Society at Peking University. In November of the same year, he joined the Beijing Socialist Youth League and the early organization of the Communist Party in Beijing.

In July 1921, when the Communist Party of China was founded, He Mengxiong was among the first 50-plus party members nationwide. In the autumn of the same year, he served as a member of the Northern Labor Combination Secretariat, which led the workers’ movement under the Party’s direction. In the winter of that year, he became the Secretary and Organizational Committee Member of the Peking Municipal Committee of the CPC. On May 1, 1925, he was appointed Secretary-General of the newly established Beijing-Suiyuan Railway General Trade Union. In early 1926, he was transferred to serve as Secretary of the Tangshan Municipal Committee of the CPC. In the winter of 1926, he was assigned to work in Wuhan, then the revolutionary center, where he served as the Organization Minister of the Hankou Municipal Committee of the CPC.

During this period, as an important leader in the Beijing Party organization and labor movement, He Mengxiong helped initiate and lead many major struggles, including strikes at the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway, Kailuan Coal Mine, Tangshan Railway Locomotive Works, Zhengtai Railway, and Beijing-Hankou Railway.

Amid the severe repression following the failure of the Great Revolution, He Mengxiong was dispatched to Shanghai in October 1927, where he held various positions including member of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CPC, Secretary of the Huai’an Special Committee, Standing Committee Member and Secretary of the Peasant Movement Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee, and Secretary of the Military Commission. He participated in leading the recovery of Party organizations across Jiangsu, developing the workers’ and peasants’ movements, and conducting armed struggle.

He Mengxiong attended the 2nd and 3rd National Congresses of the CPC. At the 4th Plenary Session of the 6th CPC Central Committee, he opposed Wang Ming’s “Left” dogmatist errors and suffered persecution as a result. On January 17, 1931, he was arrested in Shanghai due to betrayal by a traitor. While imprisoned, He Mengxiong maintained the firm stance and noble character of a Communist Party member, choosing death over submission and engaging in resolute struggle against the enemy. On February 7 of the same year, he was executed heroically in Shanghai along with 23 other revolutionaries, including Lin Yundong, at the young age of 32. The 7th Plenary Session of the 6th CPC Central Committee later posthumously rehabilitated him.

The former residence of He Mengxiong was designated as a provincial-level cultural heritage site by the People’s Government of Hunan Province in January 2011; in April 2010, it was announced as a patriotic education base of Zhuzhou City by the Propaganda Department of the Zhuzhou Municipal Committee.

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Hunan Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites