Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute

Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute

The Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

Originally named Beidiyan, the Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute is located in Baxue Village, Wuzhuan Town, Donglan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It lies 38 kilometers from the county seat and 4 kilometers from Wuzhuan Town. This natural limestone cave features a wide entrance measuring 64 meters, a height of 43 meters, and a depth of 137 meters. The interior is spacious, bright, dry, and flat, capable of accommodating thousands of people. In March 1922, Wei Baqun organized a revolutionary alliance here and issued the “Open Letter to Compatriots.” In September 1925, Wei Baqun, Chen Bomin, and others established the First Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute inside the cave. In February 1930, Zhang Yunyi, Commander of the Red Seventh Army, visited Wuzhuan and, recognizing that Wei Baqun had promoted Marxism-Leninism at Beidiyan, suggested renaming it “Lenin Cave.” On June 26, 1962, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region designated it as a key cultural relic protection unit at the autonomous region level, referring to it as the “Former Site of the First Guangxi Donglan Peasant Movement Institute.” In 1977, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region allocated funds to renovate Lenin Cave, restoring it to its 1925 appearance and setting up exhibition panels. In 1978, Ye Jianying, Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, inscribed the words “Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute,” which were enlarged and carved above the cave entrance.

Historical Origins

In the summer of 1925, Wei Baqun, an early leader of the Guangxi peasant movement who had studied at the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Institute organized by Mao Zedong, returned to his hometown—Wuzhuan Town, Donglan County, Guangxi. In September, Wei Baqun founded the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute. Guided by Marxist-Leninist theory, he ignited the flames of the peasant revolutionary movement on this red soil. The Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute is located in a cave called Beidiyan on Lajia Mountain, about four kilometers southeast of Wuzhuan Town, Donglan County. In 1931, Zhang Yunyi, Commander of the Red Seventh Army, visited Beidiyan and proposed renaming it Lenin Cave.

Lenin Cave is 64 meters wide, 43 meters high, and 137 meters deep, with a total area of over 8,000 square meters. The interior is spacious, bright, dry, and flat, capable of holding more than two thousand people. A clear spring flows deep inside the cave, with the sound of murmuring water, and a tunnel over 300 meters long leads to the back of the mountain. Outside the cave, tall trees provide dense shade, and a green river flows quietly eastward. From the cave entrance, one can overlook the surrounding scenery within a radius of one kilometer from a high vantage point. The location is strategically important, suitable for both offense and defense.

The classroom of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute was set up in the main hall at the cave entrance. The desks were made of bamboo strips, and the tung oil lamps placed on them evoke the image of the blazing revolutionary fire of those years. The lectern was built from mud and stone.

The small house made of mud bricks served as the teachers' dormitory. On both sides of the door were couplets reading “No cause is more joyful than revolution,” with the horizontal inscription “Unity, Mutual Assistance, Struggle, Sacrifice.” Above the doorway hung portraits of Marx, Lenin, and Sun Yat-sen. On both sides of the classroom were bamboo-fenced quarters for the students.

In the summer of 1925, the newly established Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute attracted over 270 progressive youths from more than 10 counties in the Youjiang region, including Donglan, Fengshan, Baise, Hechi, Tiandong, and Tianyang, to study here.

The main curriculum for the students included “History of Social Development,” “History of the Russian Revolution,” “Peasant Movement Charter,” “Introduction to Political Economy,” “Draft of International Law,” and “Women’s Issues.”

The institute organized students to undergo rigorous military training to prepare cadres for armed struggle. Students studied and drilled during the day and conducted field investigations in rural areas at night. The institute also organized students to promote revolutionary truths at nearby markets and actively guided peasants in conducting settlement struggles against local tyrants and evil gentry. After three months of study, all the first batch of students returned to their hometowns to widely propagate revolutionary ideas among the laboring masses, establish peasant associations, organize peasant self-defense forces, and carry out armed struggle. The flames of the peasant revolution spread across both banks of the Hongshui River and swept through the Youjiang River basin.

Impact

The establishment of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute laid the foundation for the creation of the Youjiang Revolutionary Base and facilitated the founding of the Red Seventh Army and the Youjiang Soviet Government. In October 1929, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, representative of the CPC Central Committee, the peasant revolutionary forces led by Wei Baqun rushed to Pingma Town, Baise, to participate in the famous Baise Uprising. In 1978, Ye Jianying personally inscribed the name of the Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute. In December 1995, with the approval of the Autonomous Region Party Committee and the Autonomous Region People's Government, it was designated as an Autonomous Region Patriotic Education Base.

Wuzhuan Town: Located in the southwest of Donglan County, Wuzhuan Town is the hometown of Wei Baqun, one of China’s three earliest leaders of the peasant movement. It is the birthplace of the Youjiang Revolutionary Base and a place where veteran proletarian revolutionaries such as -, Zhang Yunyi, and Wei Baqun fought and lived. It is a renowned revolutionary old base area. The town boasts beautiful scenery, picturesque rural landscapes, and numerous revolutionary sites and relics. Among them, Kuixing Tower (former site of the Red Seventh Army Front Committee) and Lenin Cave (Former Site of the Guangxi Peasant Movement Institute) have been designated by the autonomous region as key cultural relic protection units and patriotic education bases, attracting descendants to pay homage to the revolutionary martyrs... Detailed information about Wuzhuan Town++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites