Dequ Book Room

Dequ Book Room

Dequ Book Room is a radiant jewel on this land of revolution. Located in Haicheng County, east of Peng Pai’s former residence, it faces southward to the beautiful and clear Longjin River. The building spans three bays with a width of 12 meters and extends 8 meters deep, featuring traditional wind-fire gables. Beside it stands a tall and sturdy red cotton tree, adding an air of grandeur to the site.

Dequ Book Room was originally Peng Pai’s personal study. In the summer of 1922, Comrade Peng Pai began promoting and organizing the peasant movement. Here, he established Haifeng’s “Six-Person Peasant Association” with five young farmers—Zhang Ma’an and Li Sixian from Chishan and Longshan. In March 1925, after the first Eastern Expedition of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Army succeeded, Comrade — helped establish the Hailufeng Special Branch of the Party here. After the failure of the Soviet in March 1928, Dequ Book Room was burned down by reactionary forces. In 1952, the People's Government funded its reconstruction to its original appearance. On July 7, 1962, the Guangdong Provincial People's Committee designated it as a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit.

The reason Dequ Book Room became a revolutionary landmark is its close connection to Peng Pai’s revolutionary activities. In the vibrant spring of 1921, Peng Pai returned to China after graduating with a degree in economics from Waseda University in Japan. In the same year, amid the fragrance of osmanthus and chrysanthemums, he took office as the Director of Education in Haifeng County. However, on May 5th of the following year, he was dismissed on charges of being a “petty bureaucrat.” This made him realize that the correct path to revolution was mobilizing the masses to fight. He thus began promoting the peasant movement and moved into Dequ Book Room with his wife, Su Ping. Peng Pai’s first experimental rural propaganda efforts started right here. At that time, although Cai Suping did not fully understand the revolutionary ideals Peng Pai spoke of, she was moved by his passion and happily accepted her role—as the target of the propaganda. The two practiced question-and-answer sessions until the cock crowed three times.

During Peng Pai’s first trip from Dequ Book Room to the countryside for propaganda, he was mistaken for a rent collector because he wore a white straw hat and sports shoes. As a result, farmers avoided and kept their distance from him. Later, he borrowed a set of coarse traditional Chinese clothes from an old farmhand and adapted the folk song form known as “Shunkouliu” from Haifeng to compose revolutionary ballads such as “The Farmhand Scolds the Landlord,” which quickly became widely sung by both old and young. He also placed a gramophone under the large banyan tree by the river in front of Tianfei Temple on Longshan Mountain, east of Dequ Book Room, to attract crowds and propagate revolutionary ideas. Peng Pai’s propaganda efforts yielded great results, igniting the spark of revolution in Dequ Book Room. And then, on the evening of July 29th during the cicada-loud summer of that year, Peng Pai, Zhang Ma’an, Lin Pei, Lin Huan, Old Man Li, and Li Sixian formed China’s first peasant association—the Six-Person Peasant Association—a new type of farmer organization officially came into being. In Dequ Book Room, Peng Pai wrote a glorious chapter in the history of China’s peasant movement.

Peng Pai also composed some heroic classical poems at Dequ Book Room, including two seven-character quatrains. One reads: “A noble talent sings the grand wind, / By the shallow Longjin, the hidden dragon stirs. / Wishing to ease all people’s suffering, / Till all live beneath the rule of sage emperors.” The other: “With bold genius he challenges all China, / His earthly fame is nothing to boast. / When weeds are cleared in years to come, / Freedom’s blossoms will cover the land.”

In the flowery spring of 1925, after the first Eastern Expedition of the Guangdong National Revolutionary Army reached Haifeng, Comrade — helped establish the Hailufeng Special Branch of the Party here, which was the first Party organization in both counties. The military advisors of the National Revolutionary Army, Borodin and Galen, also left their footprints at Dequ Book Room. By the end of that year, shortly after the establishment of the Hailufeng District Committee, it too operated from Dequ Book Room before relocating to Jianhu in the county seat. In March 1928, after the failure of the Hailufeng Soviet regime, Dequ Book Room was burned down by reactionary troops. In 1958, the Haifeng County People’s Government funded its reconstruction to its original appearance, and it underwent renovation again in 1977.

Visitors from home and abroad flock to pay homage to Dequ Book Room. Since liberation, Chinese party and state leaders such as —, Nie Rongzhen, —, and Tao Zhu; famous actors like Hong Xianü and Chen Baoshou; writers such as Du Ai, Yuman, Zhang Yongmei, Han Xiao, Lin Yi, and Yang Yong; painters including Liu Haisu, Chen Wu, Xu Guling, Hu Yichuan, Wang Yunshan, Ma Ruoyu, Huang Dingzhong, and Zheng Sunti; and calligraphers such as Huang Yong, Lian Jiasheng, Wei Lai, Chen Daoyan, and Lin Shuqun have all visited this site.