The Revolutionary Base of Zhongdong

The Revolutionary Base of Zhongdong

The Revolutionary Base of Zhongdong is a patriotic education base.

Zhongdong is located in the northeast of Gaotan, an old Soviet area in Huidong County, at the junction of Haifeng, Lufeng, Huidong, and Zijin counties. In the early stages of the Agrarian Revolutionary War, it served as a crucial rear base for the Haifeng-Lufeng-Huidong-Zijin Revolutionary Base.

In the late autumn of 1922, Peng Pai, a leader of the peasant movement, came to Gaotan to mobilize the peasants. In 1925, during the First Eastern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army, a special branch was established in Gaotan. The following year, two branches were set up in Zhongdong. After the "April 12th Incident" in 1927, the Dongjiang Special Committee of the Chinese Communist Party organized and launched the first armed uprising in Dongjiang. Following the uprising, Peng Pai decided to develop Zhongdong into a rear base, and the workers' and peasants' armed forces from the four counties of Haifeng, Lufeng, Huidong, and Zijin successively moved into Zhongdong. Subsequently, the Dongjiang Special Committee of the CCP and the Dongjiang Revolutionary Committee also relocated to Zhongdong, leading and commanding the victorious Autumn Harvest Uprising in Dongjiang. In October, the troops from the Nanchang Uprising moved into Dongjiang, and the remaining forces of the 24th Regiment of the 11th Army entered Zhongdong, where they were reorganized into the 2nd Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army (later known as the Red 2nd Division). This marked the formal establishment of the Zhongdong rear base, referred to in the history of the Dongjiang Revolution as the "Dongjiang Red Capital." At the end of October, the Third Armed Uprising in Dongjiang broke out, and the Red 2nd Division, along with the peasant armed forces, set out from Zhongdong to reclaim various towns in Haifeng and Lufeng, as well as parts of Huidong and Zijin. In mid-November, after the establishment of the Gaotan District Soviet Government, a township Soviet government was also set up in Zhongdong, ushering in the heyday of the Zhongdong rear base.

During the Great Revolution and the Agrarian Revolutionary War, Zhongdong, serving as a rear base, was subjected to the Kuomintang’s brutal “Three Alls” policy — “sweep three times, burn even the stones.” The entire village was razed to the ground. Of a population of less than a thousand, over 700 were killed or forced to flee, and more than 160 families were wiped out. The people of Zhongdong made indelible contributions to the Chinese revolution with their blood and lives.

In January 2002, the party committees and governments of Huizhou City and Huidong County began restoring the revolutionary sites of Zhongdong, with work largely completed by November. The former sites of the Dongjiang Special Committee of the CCP, the Dongjiang Revolutionary Committee, the headquarters of the 2nd Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, as well as the printing house of the Dongjiang Special Committee, the Red Army well, the Red Army supply office, the rear garrison office, the Red Army hospital, the Red Army arms factory, the Red Army uniform factory, the Red Army club, the Red Army artillery position, and the watchtower were all restored, and the Zhongdong Revolutionary Martyrs Monument was rebuilt.

After the restoration of the revolutionary sites in Zhongdong, it has now become an educational base for CCP history in Huizhou City, a patriotic education base in Huizhou City, a youth education base in Huizhou City, and a Party member education base in Huizhou City.

Zhongdong Village: Zhongdong Village is under the jurisdiction of Gaotan Town, Huidong County, situated at the junction of five counties—Haifeng, Lufeng, Huidong, Zijin, and Wuhua. It is 112 kilometers from Huidong County, 45 kilometers from Haifeng County, and 50 kilometers from Zijin County. Covering a total area of 22.07 square kilometers with a population of approximately 890, Zhongdong Village is known in the history of the Dongjiang Revolution as the “Dongjiang Red Capital.” Today, the restored Baiqing Building, which once housed the Dongjiang Special Committee of the CCP, the Dongjiang Revolutionary Committee, and the headquarters of the Red 2nd Division, stands solemn and majestic. It is the site of the earliest district-level Soviet government in China and... More details about Zhongdong Village++