Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain

Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain

The Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain serve as a patriotic education base.

The Han Wengong Temple, situated on a mid-mountain terrace of Wufeng Mountain to the north of Changli County, has been restored for 22 years. It is now named the "Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain" and has been successively designated as a patriotic education base at the county (Changli), city (Qinhuangdao), and provincial (Hebei) levels. Together with the former residence memorial hall of Li Dazhao established in July 1958 in Daheituo Village, Leting County, and the Li Dazhao Memorial Hall built in August 1997 in Leting County town, these sites collectively form important commemorative landmarks of Li Dazhao in his hometown region.

The Han Wengong Temple, also known as the Han Changli Temple, is a shrine built specifically to commemorate Han Yu, the great literary figure of the Tang Dynasty. The Han Wengong Temple at Wufeng Mountain was first constructed in the late Ming Dynasty under the initiative of Fan Zhiwan, a scholar from Yucheng, Henan, who served as the Shan Shi Dao (an official stationed at Shanhaiguan). Han Yu took pride in his ancestral connection to Changli Commandery—established during the Eastern Han Dynasty in the Liaodong dependencies—and was posthumously honored as the “Changli Marquis” during the Northern Song Dynasty based on this affiliation. By the late Yuan and early Ming periods, a Han Wengong Temple had been erected in Changli County, making it one of the official sites for worshipping Han Yu. In the spring of 1641 during the Ming Dynasty’s Chongzhen reign, Fan Zhiwan visited the Han Wengong Temple in Changli. While touring Jieshi Mountain, he was captivated by the serene and fairy-like beauty of the West Wufeng Mountain—famed for its “Five Peaks Screened Like Opened Screens”—and praised the site as a “Heavenly Literary Brush Peak.” He proposed constructing another Han Wengong Temple there. This proposal was endorsed by the Yongping Prefecture and Changli County officials accompanying him on the trip, and that same year, funds were raised to build a Han Wengong Temple on the terrace west of Yuantong Temple on the mid-mountain of West Wufeng Mountain. Additionally, Jiang Sanjie, the magistrate of Changli County, repurposed a nearby stone cave originally called “Liujiu Cave” on the mountainside of Guayue Peak—very close to the new Han Wengong Temple—into a “Fan Gong Cave.” He expanded the cave entrance, inspired by a local saying (“If you want the cave door open, Liujiu must come”) that seemed to match Fan Zhiwan’s nickname, and enshrined a stone statue of Fan inside. Moreover, the statues of Han Yu worshipped in the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple were flanked by those of Fan Zhiwan and his superior, Zhu Guodong, the military supervisor of Shanhai. The altar table also displayed plaques for officials such as Zhu Guodong and Fan Zhiwan. In reality, Fan Zhiwan and others took the opportunity of constructing the Han Wengong Temple at Wufeng Mountain to erect their own posthumous shrines.

Initially built in the late Ming Dynasty, the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple was modest in scale and cramped in area. By the 15th year of the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi reign (1676), local residents pooled funds to “renew the Buddhist halls, move the main shrine to the right, renovate the temple courtyards, and demolish and repair the rooms,” as well as “expand the front area to make it more spacious” (as recorded in Zhang Zhuanglin’s “Inscription on the Additional Construction of the West Wufeng Shrine Halls, Courtyards, and Foundations”). These efforts finally gave the Han Wengong Temple a more regular, commodious, and well-formed structure. In the spring of the 13th year of the Qing Tongzhi reign (1874), Han Xiaoshan, a successful candidate in the imperial examinations from Changli County and purported descendant of Han Yu, oversaw extensive renovation work at Wufeng Mountain. He repaired the halls, added reception rooms, and expanded the Han Wengong Temple to fully occupy the abandoned site of Yuantong Temple. It became the main structure on the mountain terrace, arranged with three central main halls, three east-side reception rooms, and two west-side wing rooms. By this time, guards began residing in the two western wing rooms, while the reception rooms were used to host visitors staying overnight in the mountains. The newly built three-room reception area featured two bright rooms and one inner chamber. The larger room had a connected north-south heated brick bed, while the smaller (eastern) room also had a small east-west heated bed near its southern window. The interiors were bright, clean, and exuded an elegant simplicity. Thus, the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple became the premier destination for those seeking tranquility and scenic beauty in Jieshi Mountain. It attracted a continuous stream of visitors and mountain-dwelling travelers.

In the early 20th century, the site became a favorite secluded ancient shrine of Li Dazhao, a pioneer of the Chinese communist movement and a great Marxist. During his lifetime, Li Dazhao visited and stayed here many times. Using the mountain retreats as an opportunity to escape the summer heat, he carried out pioneering, foundational, and protective activities crucial for spreading Marxism in China. He also sought refuge here from arrest by the Beiyang warlord government, thus etching the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple into the annals of China’s revolutionary history.

After Li Dazhao’s heroic martyrdom, the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple gradually fell into disrepair, reduced to ruins before the founding of New China. In the spring of 1959, Li Xinghua, the eldest daughter of Li Dazhao, traveled specially from Beijing to Changli to pay tribute at the ruins of the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple. She wrote articles recalling her father and his connection to Wufeng Mountain, which helped publicize widely the significant revolutionary activities Li Dazhao undertook there. On October 29, 1979, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Li Dazhao’s birth, the people of Changli decided to restore the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple to commemorate his great achievements. A grand foundation-laying ceremony was held at the temple ruins. However, due to long delays in securing construction funding, the project did not commence for some time. In the summer of 1985, the CCP Changli County Committee and the People’s Government of Changli County decided to launch a restoration initiative for the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple through a “public-funded with private assistance” approach spearheaded by the Changli County Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). This move garnered strong public response and quickly sparked a widespread fundraising campaign both within and outside the county. Numerous local and external organizations, factories, schools, government bodies, as well as officials and ordinary citizens, contributed funds. Coupled with allocations from provincial and municipal governments, a total of over 180,000 yuan was raised. In October 1985, Li Baohua, the eldest son of Li Dazhao—who had visited the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple twice with his father—and a member of the Central Advisory Commission of the CPC Central Committee, braved his advanced age and frail health to visit the site. He paid homage to the temple ruins and provided invaluable firsthand accounts for the reconstruction project. In May 1986, the restoration project of the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple commenced. After more than a year of intensive construction, the temple was revived amidst the majestic mountains north of Changli County. On July 30, 1987, the completion ceremony was grandly held beneath a brand-new, 4-meter-tall white marble full-body statue of Li Dazhao erected on Jieshi Ridge in front of Wufeng Mountain.

The newly restored Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple largely regained its original architectural appearance. It includes three main halls, three reception rooms, two wing rooms, as well as a mountain gate and surrounding walls built along the mountain slope. At the center of the main hall stands a newly sculpted, colorful clay statue of Han Yu, with a plaque inscribed with the words “Sage of Literature Through the Ages,” written by Ye Shengtao—a renowned modern educator and man of letters—hanging above the niche. The reception room once inhabited by Li Dazhao has been converted into a memorial chamber dedicated to his revolutionary activities. The inner room has been largely restored to its original state, while the outer room has been arranged as an exhibition space displaying photos and replica cultural relics illustrating Li Dazhao’s life and his significant revolutionary activities at Wufeng Mountain. On the walls of both the inner and outer rooms hang facsimiles of Li Dazhao’s calligraphy couplet reading “With iron shoulders bear the burden of justice; with gifted hands compose writings of distinction,” as well as unearthed stelae featuring poems such as Fan Zhiwan’s “Song of Touring Shuiyan” and Song Wan’s “Lodging at Wufeng Mountain.” There is also an inscribed stone tablet engraved with the “Scenic View of Changli Mountains,” painted by the celebrated local Qing Dynasty artist Dai Kechang during the Tongzhi era. The two wing rooms have been turned into reception areas. To forever commemorate the revolutionary contributions of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain, a 4-meter-tall white marble full-body statue of Li Dazhao was erected on Jieshi Ridge in front of the temple during reconstruction. The statue’s striking presence complements the rugged beauty of Wufeng Mountain, creating a truly luminous tableau. Starting in 1988, the Changli County transportation department oversaw the construction of a mountain switchback road leading to Wufeng Mountain. The county’s cultural relics preservation authorities also embellished and landscaped the area around the Li Dazhao statue and the Han Wengong Temple, and renovated the stone stairways leading up the mountain. These efforts further enhanced the solemnity and dignity of the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple.

In 1997, following its recognition as a patriotic education base at both the county (Changli) and city (Qinhuangdao) levels, the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple was listed as a provincial patriotic education base in Hebei Province. With the addition of commemorative facilities such as the Li Dazhao statue, it was officially named the “Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain.” Starting in 1998, the site underwent renovation and expansion. The interior furnishings of the reception room and wing rooms were restored, and a new exhibition hall for the Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain was built east of the reception room. The platform of the Li Dazhao statue and the parking lot atop Tudi Mountain were refurbished, and a site sign and reception office were constructed at the mountaintop. Additionally, commemorative inscriptions such as “Wonderful Realm on Earth,” “Love of Mountains,” “Only by Leaping Forward, Only by Soaring Boldly,” “Pioneering a New World,” and “Unleashing the Vitality of Youth” were carved into the rock faces along the mountain path.

By July 2000, the renovation and expansion project of the Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain was completed. The newly built exhibition hall is divided into seven sections: “A Man of Ambition Who Loves Mountains,” “Oath at Jieshi,” “Spring Excursion,” “A Call from the Heights That Echoes Through the Mountains,” “Winter Snow Walkers at Wufeng,” “Red Flags Will Fly Over Beijing,” and “Purest Sentiments Gather at Wufeng.” Utilizing a wealth of historical photos, artifacts, and replica cultural relics, the exhibition vividly depicts Li Dazhao’s significant revolutionary activities and the cultivation of his revolutionary spirit at Wufeng Mountain. In 2000, the main structure of the Former Revolutionary Sites of Li Dazhao at Wufeng Mountain—the Wufeng Mountain Han Wengong Temple—was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

Li Dazhao was a pioneer of the Chinese communist movement, a great Marxist, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, and one of the principal founders of the Communist Party of China.

On October 29, 1889 (the sixth day of the tenth month in the fifteenth year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty), Li Dazhao was born in Daheituo Village, Leting County, Hebei Province. From a young age, he aspired to find a way out for suffering China. Proceeding from a patriotic stance, he moved from democracy to communism, and in response to the needs of the era, he was the first in China to raise high the banner of Marxism-Leninism, pointing the way toward a new social... [Li Dazhao Detailed Information++]