Pingjiang Uprising Memorial Hall

Pingjiang Uprising Memorial Hall

The Pingjiang Uprising Memorial Hall is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The Pingjiang Uprising Memorial Hall is located on Dongxing Avenue, Tianyue Economic Development Zone, Pingjiang County, Yueyang City.

The memorial consists of the site of the Pingjiang Uprising, the Peng Dehuai Statue Square, and the Pingjiang Uprising Historical Exhibition Hall. The complex covers an area of 30,000 square meters.

After the failure of the “March City Assault” in Pingjiang, the Kuomintang’s Hunan Provincial Pacification Office immediately dispatched Zhou Pan’s Independent 5th Division from Nanxian County to Pingjiang to “suppress” the Communists. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd regiments of this division arrived in Pingjiang successively between June 18 and 19, 1928. The 1st Regiment was stationed in the county seat, the 2nd Regiment in the areas around Nanjiangqiao and Meixian, and the 3rd Regiment in areas around Changshou, Jiayi, and Xianzhong. The division’s accompanying military school was stationed in Yueyang. Within this unit, Communist organizations had already been established, including Communists such as Peng Dehuai, commander of the 1st Regiment; Deng Ping, the regimental adjutant; Li Guang, Peng Dehuai’s bodyguard; Li Can, company commander of the 2nd Company, 1st Battalion; Huang Chunyi, company commander of the 9th Company, 1st Battalion; Zhang Yunsheng, squad leader of the 1st Company; Huang Gonglue, battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment; and He Guozhong, head of the accompanying military school. They organized a secret Soldiers' Committee to unite the soldiers and led them in launching a pay protest in Nanxian County, which succeeded. The “Soldiers' Committee” enjoyed high prestige among the troops. The Party organization also used the committee to educate soldiers in revolutionary ideology, gradually raising their class consciousness. In the spring of 1928, the Party organization within the 1st Regiment of the 5th Division had considered an armed uprising while in Nanxian County. By June, upon receiving orders to move to Pingjiang, they decided to reconsider the uprising after arriving there. Upon reaching Pingjiang, they failed to establish contact with the local Party organization. In early July, the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party sent Teng Daiyuan, Secretary of the Xiangdong Special Committee, to Liuyang and Pingjiang to re-establish the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Border Special Committee. On July 17, Teng Daiyuan arrived in Pingjiang from Liuyang and made contact with the Party organization of the 1st Regiment of the Independent 5th Division. On July 18, Peng Dehuai intercepted two secret telegrams at the Pingjiang telegraph office, learning that the Nanhua’an Special Committee had been compromised, Huang Gonglue’s Communist identity exposed, and that Division Commander Zhou Pan had secretly ordered Huang’s arrest. The situation was extremely urgent. The 1st Regiment’s Party organization discussed with Teng Daiyuan and others and decided to launch the uprising immediately, sending someone to Jiayi to notify Huang Gonglue. At 10:00 a.m. on July 22, Peng Dehuai convened a meeting with officers of the 1st and 3rd battalions stationed in the county seat and its suburbs to mobilize for the uprising. He removed the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, citing unclear financial dealings and collusion with local tyrants, and appointed Huang Chunyi as acting battalion commander. Other wavering officers were also dismissed. At 11:30 a.m., all officers and soldiers of the 1st Company, 1st Battalion, assembled fully armed in the square of Tianyue Academy in Pingjiang. Peng Dehuai delivered a rallying speech, denouncing the crimes of the reactionary Kuomintang and outlining the future of the worker-peasant revolution. The soldiers were filled with righteous indignation and eager for action. At 1:00 p.m., the troops set off toward the county seat according to plan. Li Can, commander of the 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, led his unit and two other companies in a swift attack on the county government and security forces’ quarters, capturing the county government and taking prisoner County Magistrate Liu Zuozhu, Provincial Pacification Inspector Yang Pengyi, Police Chief Huang Xidu, and Taxation Office Director Xiang Yuxia. Huang Chunyi, commander of the 9th Company, led his unit and two other companies to surround the training headquarters of the division—the Catholic church—and unexpectedly seized the weapons of the division’s special operations company. Aside from the training office head Li Zi, who escaped, all officers were captured. Zhou Yucheng, squad leader of the 1st Company, disarmed the pacification squad stationed at Chen’s residence on West Street, while Li Shouxuan, squad leader of the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, led soldiers in breaking into the prison on Lower West Street, rescuing over 300 revolutionary comrades. The entire uprising took just three to four hours, resulting in the capture of over 800 rifles and a million rounds of ammunition. At 4:00 p.m., the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment returned to the county seat from Sicun. Huang Gonglue had launched his own uprising a day earlier on the afternoon of July 21 in Jiayi, executing Jiayi Pacification Squad Chief Yang Danhou, seizing over 20 rifles, rescuing imprisoned comrades, and helping the Jiayi Party organization suppress a group of extremely reactionary landlords and local tyrants before marching toward the county seat. At 4:00 p.m. on July 23, Huang Gonglue joined forces with the uprising troops in the county. On the same day, over 100 officers and soldiers of the accompanying military school led by He Guozhong arrived in Pingjiang County. On July 23, responsible members of the Pingjiang County Committee of the CCP entered the city and contacted Peng Dehuai. Starting on July 24, the uprising troops and local citizens held a celebration assembly at Yuechi Pond to mark the victory of the uprising. The assembly announced the establishment of the 5th Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army and the Pingjiang County Soviet Government of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers. On July 29, the Hunan Provincial Government of the Kuomintang urgently dispatched three regiments to “suppress” Pingjiang. On July 30, after fierce fighting, the uprising troops put up a strong resistance, but Battalion Commander Huang Chunyi of the 7th Regiment was killed. Due to the disparity in forces, the uprising troops had to withdraw from the county seat. On July 31, the uprising troops failed in their attack on Changshou Street and retreated to Longmen the same day. After helping establish a Soviet government in Longmen, they moved toward Jiangxi, fighting across the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi border region and thus establishing the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Revolutionary Base Area.

In October 1990, a bronze statue of Comrade Peng Dehuai, inscribed by former President Yang Shangkun and gifted by the Central Military Commission, was installed on the left side of the old site square. In 1998, the main structure of the old site was comprehensively renovated, the “Pingjiang Uprising Monument” was erected, the “Pingjiang Uprising Historical Exhibition” was updated, and new exhibits were added, including “The Glorious Achievements of Comrade Peng Dehuai,” “Biographies of Comrades Teng Daiyuan and Huang Gonglue,” and “The Glorious Pingjiang Uprising Regiment.”

The site of the Pingjiang Uprising was designated as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by the State Council in January 1988. The Pingjiang Uprising Memorial Hall was recognized as a National Patriotic Education Demonstration Base by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee in June 2001.

Scenic Area Address: Dongxing Avenue, Development Zone, Pingjiang County, Yueyang City

Transportation: Take a bus from Yueyang to Pingjiang County, then transfer to a minibus to reach the site.