Former Residence of Martyr Liang Yizhu

Former Residence of Martyr Liang Yizhu

The former residence of Martyr Liang Yizhu is located at No. 25–27, East Lane, Hongqi Road, Yong’an Neighborhood Committee, Huaiji County, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. Originally built in the 27th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1901), it faces south with a north orientation, features a brick-and-wood structure, a hanging gable roof, blue brick walls, and has three bays, three sections, and four corridors. It spans a total width of 17.35 meters and a depth of 24.1 meters, with a total floor area of 418.14 square meters. Under the eaves are murals depicting landscapes, flowers, plants, and poetry. Liang Yizhu (1901–1929), also known as Piaomiao, was a native of Yong’an Village, Huai’an Town, Huaiji County, and worked as a teacher before becoming one of the earliest Communist Party members in Huaiji. In 1928, he helped establish the Huaiji County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and served as its secretary. In early 1929, he was unfortunately arrested. In March of the same year, he was executed by the Kuomintang reactionaries in Guangxi Province. The overall layout and structure of Liang Yizhu’s former residence are relatively intact, and the building reflects architectural characteristics of the Qing Dynasty, making it of reference value for the study of local architecture.

In 1926, Liang Yizhu officially joined the Chinese Communist Party. In 1927, after Chiang Kai-shek launched the anti-revolutionary “April 12” coup, the Communist organization in Huaiji was disrupted. To support armed uprisings in the Xijiang region, Liang Yizhu was assigned by his superiors to return to Huaiji to rebuild the Party organization.

“After returning to Huaiji, Liang Yizhu became a Chinese language teacher and a scout instructor at Huaiji Middle School,” Tao Muxing told reporters. Using his position as a teacher as cover, Liang continuously instilled progressive ideas in his students, introduced progressive publications, and nurtured activists among teachers and students, laying the foundation for the rebuilding of the Party organization.

After arduous efforts, in the spring of 1928, the first-ever Huaiji County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in the county’s history was formally established, with Liang Yizhu serving as the secretary. To facilitate revolutionary activities, he unhesitatingly vacated his own house, which was near Huaiji Middle School, to serve as an important venue for Party activities.

During his tenure as secretary, he actively led the people of Huaiji in launching peasant and worker movements against exploitation and oppression. With his promotion, workers’ organizations were established, and workers from various industries began to awaken, successively putting forward reasonable demands to their employers for higher wages and improved working and living conditions, thereby invigorating the labor movement. The revolutionary activities in Huaiji County gradually entered a new stage of development.

In February 1929, during the Kuomintang authorities’ “Party Purge” operation in Guangxi, the secret liaison station “Chunpa Bookstore,” set up by the Guangxi Special Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Wuzhou, Guangxi, was discovered by the enemy. During a search of the bookstore, they found letters written by Liang Yizhu. As a result, Liang Yizhu was unfortunately arrested in Huaiji County and imprisoned in Wuzhou. He was eventually executed after the authorities lost patience.

After the victory of the revolution, the local government not only protected Liang Yizhu’s former residence but also widely publicized his heroic, tenacious, and death-defying revolutionary deeds at red education bases such as the Huaiji County Martyrs’ Cemetery.