Former Site of the Social Department of the CPC Central Committee at Zaoyuan

In February 1939, the Social Department of the CPC Central Committee was established in Hougou, Zaoyuan, Yan’an. To address the complex and severe domestic and international situation at the time, the Central Committee needed to gather intelligence on a broader scale and at a higher level. As a result, the Secretariat of the Central Committee made the decision to establish the Central Social Department. In September 1941, building on this foundation, the Central Intelligence Department was formed — a unified military and political strategic intelligence agency of both the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission.

　　The staff of the Central Social Department were primarily selected from comrades of the Central Special Branch during the Shanghai period and the Central Political Security Bureau during the Jiangxi Soviet Area period. Its main functions were to strengthen the leadership of anti-spy and security work in the various anti-Japanese base areas and intelligence operations in the border regions. Specifically: First, to systematically combat traitors and enemy spies to prevent them from infiltrating the Party, ensuring the execution of the Party’s political and military tasks and the consolidation of the organization. Second, to systematically dispatch comrades and sympathizers to infiltrate the enemy’s ranks by taking advantage of all possible opportunities and using all available means, leveraging anyone within the enemy who could be useful, thereby strengthening internal enemy work to protect ourselves. Third, to collect concrete materials and facts about the activities of enemy spies and traitors to educate comrades and enhance their vigilance. Fourth, to manage the work of confidential departments and ensure the implementation of secrecy measures. Fifth, to regularly select and train cadres capable of undertaking such work.

　　The establishment of the Central Social Department started from a high point. First, it insisted that intelligence work serve the Party’s overall line, strategy, and tactics. To politically win over the hearts of people in enemy-occupied areas, most underground workers engaged in labor, peasant, and student movements, as well as covert united front work, mobilizing and guiding the masses to support the Communist Party. Comrades on the hidden front made friends, established strongholds, and fully utilized social connections to gather a large amount of valuable intelligence. Second, emphasis was placed on strengthening internal institutional norms. Zhou Enlai required the Central Social Department to adhere to the principle of “remaining concealed, maintaining a lean force, accumulating strength, and waiting for the right moment.” Based on the characteristics of work in Kuomintang-controlled areas, he creatively proposed the “Three Diligences” (diligent study, diligent work, diligent socializing) and “Three Transformations” (professionalization, socialization, legalization) policies, providing fundamental guidance for the smooth conduct of the Party’s covert front work. Third, efforts were made to continuously improve intelligence capabilities through practice. Zhou Enlai repeatedly emphasized the close integration of meticulous and systematic investigative work with intelligence operations, delving into the party, government, military, and special agencies of Japan, the puppet regime, and the Kuomintang to directly understand insider information. Cadre operatives from different local Party units were systematically sent to study at the Soviet Red Army Military Academy, focusing on military intelligence gathering and demolition techniques. After returning to China, they were assigned to conduct secret operations in enemy-occupied areas to collect intelligence on Japanese and puppet military forces.

　　On the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Central Social Department was disbanded. During its existence, our Party’s intelligence and security work underwent a qualitative transformation — from sporadic to large-scale, from local to comprehensive, from single-function to systematic, from gathering general intelligence to acquiring military and political strategic intelligence, and from purely underground activities to a combination of overt and covert operations. It made significant contributions to defending Yan’an, safeguarding the Party Central Committee, and achieving victory in the Chinese revolution.

Former Site of the Social Department of the CPC Central Committee at Zaoyuan

The Former Site of the Social Department of the CPC Central Committee at Zaoyuan is a cultural relic protection unit of Shaanxi Province.

Former Site of the Social Department of the CPC Central Committee at Zaoyuan

Era: 1938–1947

Address: Zaoyuan Village, Zaoyuan Office, Baota District, Yan’an City

Protected Area: Within the courtyard of the original site.

Construction Control Zone: 100 meters beyond the perimeter of Area A.

In 2018, the Former Site of the Social Department of the CPC Central Committee at Zaoyuan was announced by the People’s Government of Shaanxi Province as a part of the seventh batch of provincial cultural relic protection units.