Former Site of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army in Renju

The Former Site of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army in Renju

The Former Site of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army in Renju is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The Former Site of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army in Renju (including the former site of the Column Headquarters, the former site of the Column Quartermaster Department, the former site of the Column Logistics Department, and Red Army slogans on Old Dongmen Street) is located in Renju Village, Renju Town, Pingyuan County. In 2012, it was designated as part of the seventh batch of cultural relics protection units by the People's Government of Guangdong Province.

The Red Army Memorial Park in Pingyuan County is situated at Dongjiaochang in Renju Town, the place where the Fourth Red Army held mass rallies and propagated revolutionary ideals at that time. It is the first memorial park in Guangdong themed around commemorating the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. The park spans a planned area of over 200 acres, featuring four main functional zones: the exhibition hall area, the memorial tower area, the memorial pavilion area, and the leisure area. At the Fourth Red Army Memorial Hall, a large number of historical photos and artifacts reflect the revolutionary history of Pingyuan.

In the Red Army Memorial Hall, tour guide Chen Lifang pointed to the wall covered in Red Army slogans and told reporters that during their time in Pingyuan, the Fourth Red Army actively promoted the Party’s political platform by writing slogans all over the streets and alleys. Pingyuan is also the county with the most surviving Red Army slogans painted on walls in Guangdong. “Out of 304 well-preserved, legible, and uniquely worded Red Army wall slogans across the province, 123 are in Pingyuan, including 114 just in Renju Town,” Chen said.

Renju Town not only has many Red Army slogans but also numerous revolutionary sites, including the former site of the vault of the four major banks of Guangdong during the Republic of China, and the Former Site of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army in Renju—both provincial-level key cultural relics protection units. At the former headquarters of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army in Renju, scaffolding can be seen both outside and inside the building, used by workers for renovation. Chen Qianlan, deputy director of the Pingyuan County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press, and Publication, explained that the government secured 400,000 yuan in special funds for the protection of key provincial cultural relics to initiate the restoration project of the headquarters. The restoration of the logistics department site has also been approved. Previously, other protected sites and ruins, such as the former Quartermaster Department of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army in Pingyuan and the former vault of the four major banks of Guangdong, had already been restored, with the bank vault developed into a memorial hall.

According to reports, within the expansion and upgrade plan for the Red Army Memorial Park, the memorial hall will also develop various red tourism souvenirs and link up with nearby sites such as the former headquarters of the First Column of the Fourth Red Army, the quartermaster department, the logistics department, and Xiewu on Dongmen Street, to create a comprehensive red tourism route. In the future, Renju Town will form an overall development layout consisting of “one park, one base, one mountain, and two villages”—“one park” refers to the Red Army Memorial Park, “one base” is the citrus agricultural industry base, “one mountain” is the Dahuashan Scenic Area, and “two villages” are the historic red villages of Renju and the ancient market village of Guding. Among them, Renju Village will be developed into a “Republic of China-style town,” where restored revolutionary sites will recreate the appearance of the wartime period to attract tourists with unique heritage tourism.

Extended Reading:

·Seventh Batch of Cultural Relics Protection Units in Guangdong Province