Shuangfeng Fortress

Shuangfeng Fortress

Shuangfeng Fortress is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit, a classic red tourism destination, and a base for patriotic education.

Shuangfeng Fortress, also known as Shitang Fortress, is situated in Shitang Town, 19 kilometers west of Renhua County. It was initially built in 1899 (the 15th year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty) and completed in 1910 (the 2nd year of the Xuantong reign). The construction was funded by Li Zisheng with 30,000 yuan and took 12 years to complete. The fortress is rectangular, built with lime and blue bricks, measuring 73 meters from north to south and 70 meters from east to west. It features one main tower and four watchtowers, all connected by surrounding walls. The walls stand 9 meters high and are 1.3 meters thick. Each of the four watchtowers has four floors and is 13 meters tall, while the main tower has five floors and reaches 15.3 meters in height. The surrounding walls are equipped on all sides with covered corridors roofed with tiles, each 1.2 meters wide. The lower level is called the half-floor, which is 3.15 meters wide. The corridors and the five watchtowers together have 55 gun ports. The fortress also has a main gate, above which is inscribed the phrase “Shuangfeng Protection.” Originally, access to the fortress was via a drawbridge. Surrounding the fortress is a moat, 13.7 meters wide and approximately 2 meters deep. The fortress building covers an area of 4,664 square meters, with a total site area of 9,486.6 square meters (including the moat).

Shuangfeng Fortress (Shitang Fortress) served as the office of the Shitang Township Peasant Association during the Great Revolution and was a red fortress for the peasant movement. After the “April 12 Incident” in 1927, the reactionary Kuomintang cracked down on Communists and revolutionary masses, causing the peasant movement to suffer a temporary setback. In the winter of 1927, Zhu De and Chen Yi led the troops from the “August 1 Nanchang Uprising,” traveling from Rucheng in Hunan through Renhua Chengkou to Dongtang in Renhua (Fifth District), providing strong support for the peasant movement. They helped establish a people’s armed force in Renhua, targeted local tyrants and landlords, attacked the county seat of Renhua, and promoted the spirit of the “August 7 Conference.” The Guangdong Provincial Committee dispatched committee member Ruan Xiaoxian to Renhua to establish the Renhua County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the County Revolutionary Committee, creating a Soviet government, organizing and commanding the vigorous Renhua Peasant Movement, holding armed assemblies, attacking the county seat, organizing battles at Huayang Fortress and Shitang Fortress, and establishing the guerrilla base in the Sixi Mountain area.

On March 12, 1928, the Fourth Battalion of the Eighth Independent Regiment retreated to Shitang Fortress and was subjected to a prolonged siege by three regiments of the Seventh Division (later renamed the Third Division of the Fifteenth Army) of the Kuomintang’s Eighth Route Army, led by Lü Huanyan and Ye Dasen. Over 700 soldiers and civilians inside the fortress united and bravely resisted the enemy. The Kuomintang tried every means to breach the fortress—launching repeated artillery attacks that failed to break through—and attempted methods such as tunneling to cut off water, setting fire to the fortress walls, and using “iron turtles” (armored vehicles) for cover during assaults, but none succeeded. The defenders, united in purpose and fighting bravely, held out for eight months. Eventually, due to heavy casualties, ammunition and food shortages, and repeated bombings by enemy aircraft that destroyed a corner of the fortress wall, the defenders organized a breakout on the night of November 11 through three routes. Only one route succeeded, allowing them to escape into the Sixi Mountains to continue guerrilla warfare. Shitang Fortress thus fell to the Kuomintang. In this battle, over 100 enemies were killed, and more than 400 defenders sacrificed their lives. At the end of November the same year, the “In Memory of the Martyrs Who Died” article, passed at the Second Expanded Meeting of the Guangdong Provincial Committee, referred to the Renhua Uprising as “the greatest battle in the Guangdong Peasant Movement.” Between June and July 1928, the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Moscow. Ruan Xiaoxian introduced the experiences and lessons of the Renhua struggle to the Comintern, which were translated into Russian and preserved in the archives in Moscow.

Shuangfeng Fortress is now a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit, a Guangdong Provincial Patriotic Education Base, and a Chinese Revolutionary History Education Base.

Shitang Village: Shitang Village…… More details about Shitang Village++

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units