Former Site of the Longchuan County Peasant Movement Training Institute

Former Site of the Longchuan County Peasant Movement Training Institute

The former site of the Longchuan County Peasant Movement Training Institute is a cultural heritage site protected by Longchuan County.

The former site of the Longchuan County Peasant Movement Training Institute is located at the Zheng and Ye Family Ancestral Halls on Baishou Street in Tuocheng Town, Longchuan County.

Influenced by the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute, in January 1927, Huang Ziqiang, a graduate of the fifth session of the Guangzhou institute, established the county’s Peasant Movement Training Institute at the Zheng Family Ancestral Hall in Longchuan. Luo Junchao, the head of the county, also served as the head instructor, with Huang as the deputy instructor specifically responsible for class affairs. The Longchuan institute followed the educational objectives and operational methods of the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute, organizing training sessions for the peasant movement and enrolling 100 students. Half of the students were selected from various districts and townships of Longchuan, while the other half came from Xingning, Heyuan, and Heping counties. All students paid their own expenses, lived and ate at local inns, and attended three classes and two drills each day at the institute. A reading room was also available for students to access progressive literature. Although the institute originally planned for a four-month program, it ended early due to Chiang Kai-shek’s coup, and the students returned to their respective areas to carry out peasant movement activities. The former site of the county’s institute was located at the Zheng and Ye Family Ancestral Halls in the county seat. Both ancestral halls were built during the Qing Dynasty and feature a traditional quadrangle courtyard layout with four courtyards. The Zheng Family Ancestral Hall covers nearly 600 square meters with flush gable roofs and elaborately carved beams and eaves, and still has surrounding passageways and corridors. Today, most of it is used and has been modified by the Tuocheng Health Clinic, though some parts retain their original appearance. On September 3, 1986, it was designated as a cultural heritage site under the protection of Longchuan County Government.