Former Site of the Revolutionary Committee of the Qian-Dong Special District

Former Site of the Revolutionary Committee of the Qian-Dong Special District

The Former Site of the Revolutionary Committee of the Qian-Dong Special District is a cultural relics protection unit of Guizhou Province.

The site of the “Qian-Dong Special District” Revolutionary Committee in Tudiwan, Shuitan, Qiaojia Town, Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County, is located about 45 kilometers from the county seat, covering an area of over 1,200 square meters. The site backs onto a range of mountains and faces a clear stream. It is a single-story wooden building constructed in the eighth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1869 AD) by the scholar Tian Taiyu, and later inhabited by his descendants over generations.

In May 1934, the Third Red Army, led by He Long, Xia Xi, and Guan Xiangying, crossed the Wujiang River westward from Pengshui County and advanced into the northeastern part of Guizhou. On May 14, they entered the territory of Yanhe County in northeastern Guizhou.

To break out of a passive situation and reverse unfavorable conditions, on June 19, 1934, He Long, Xia Xi, and Guan Xiangying held a meeting of the Central Bureau of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan Soviet Area in Fengxiangxi, Yanhe County (transferred to Dejiang County in 1942)—the famous “Fengxiangxi Meeting.” The meeting decided to establish the Qian-Dong Special District Revolutionary Base in the contiguous areas of Yanhe, Dejiang, Yinjiang, and Songtao counties in Guizhou, as well as Xiushan and Youyang counties in Sichuan.

From July 21 to 22, 1934, the “First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers’ Soviets of the Qian-Dong Special District” was held at the Zhang Family Ancestral Hall in Qianchangba, Yanhe County. In addition to leaders of the Third Red Army, the congress was attended by 135 delegates elected from Yanhe, Dejiang, and Yinjiang counties, as well as Red Army delegates (delegates from Youyang and Xiushan were unable to arrive). The congress elected a new Soviet revolutionary government—the Revolutionary Committee of the Qian-Dong Special District (also known as the “United County Government,” and referred to as the “Provincial Government” by the masses), headquartered in Tudiwan, Yanhe County, with subordinate departments including the Military Affairs Department, Economic Affairs Department, Political Affairs Department, and Security Bureau. It was the first red political power established by the Communist Party of China on the Guizhou Plateau, leading the broad laboring masses.

The command organ of the Qian-Dong Revolutionary Base, primarily represented by the Revolutionary Committee of the Qian-Dong Special District, was located in Tudiwan, Baishi, Qiaojia Town, Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County. Major affiliated organs were distributed within a span of 100 meters from east to west and 2,500 meters from north to south, totaling eight locations. The former site of the Qian-Dong Revolutionary Committee was renovated in 2004. Currently, the site of the First Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers’ Soviets of the Qian-Dong Special District and key affiliated structures remain—such as the Qian-Dong Special District Training Institute, Armory, Red Army Hospital, Red Army School, and the barracks of the Qian-Dong Special District Revolutionary Committee’s directly affiliated Guard Company—though these are in urgent need of restoration.

The former site of the Qian-Dong Revolutionary Committee is a 600-square-meter wooden quadrangle courtyard. The main house serves as an exhibition room, with the wooden plaque reading “Revolutionary Committee of the Qian-Dong Special District” inscribed by Liao Hansheng, former political commissar of the 9th Division of the Third Red Army and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Cultural Relics Protection Units in Guizhou Province

· Sixth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level