Site of the Dongbao Detachment Headquarters of the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps

Site of the Dongbao Detachment Headquarters of the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps

The site of the Dongbao Detachment Headquarters of the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps is located in Yangmeigang Village, Qingxi Town. GPS coordinates: 22°50'45.0"N, 114°10'08.7"E, elevation 38 meters.

In October 1938, Japanese troops invaded the lower reaches of the Dongjiang River. When the news reached overseas, overseas Chinese from Huizhou residing in Malaysia and Indonesia were filled with righteous indignation and actively launched activities to save the nation and their hometown. In mid-January 1939, the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps was officially established in Danshui Town, Huiyang County, Huizhou, with the aim of mobilizing the masses of the Dongjiang region to assist the army and the people's armed forces in resisting the war, as well as rescuing wounded soldiers and refugees, and guiding the public in organizing various resistance groups. Ye Feng served as the head of the corps. In early March of the same year, following instructions from the Southeast Guangdong Special Committee, the Dongguan-Bao'an Joint County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party established the Dongbao (Dongguan-Bao'an) Detachment of the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps in Yangmeigang Village, Qingxi, Dongguan. The detachment headquarters was set up at the home of Yang Jinzhi. Wang Qiguang served as the detachment leader, with Lu Kemin and Qi Feng as deputy leaders. It initially had three squads and a membership of 30, which later grew to over 60. Most of these members were overseas Chinese or returned overseas youth.

The Dongbao Detachment of the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps went deep into the rural areas of Dongguan and Bao'an counties, establishing dozens of wartime elementary schools, night schools, and literacy classes, and organizing hundreds of anti-Japanese salvation groups such as women’s associations, women’s rescue societies, youth resistance associations, farmers’ resistance associations, reading clubs, and children’s groups. Using these platforms and organizations, they carried out anti-Japanese propaganda efforts. The members promoted the cause of resistance through home visits, teaching patriotic songs, organizing cultural evening events, giving public speeches, and putting up wall newspapers, thereby boosting the public’s confidence in resisting the Japanese. They also actively engaged in medical relief and battlefield services, setting up civilian service rooms to distribute medicine, cotton-padded clothes, and food donated by overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong and Macau to the local people. They cooperated closely with anti-Japanese forces in the struggle against the enemy. Before each Japanese “mopping-up” operation, they assisted the anti-Japanese troops in preparing for counter-sweeps, mobilized the public to destroy roads and impede enemy advances, organized civilians to evacuate and hide supplies, and sometimes even participated directly in combat, contributing to the national resistance against Japan.

In June 1940, influenced by the first wave of suppression launched by the die-hard faction of the Kuomintang, the Dongguan County Government of the Kuomintang shut down the headquarters of the Dongbao Detachment of the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps. The detachment was forced to disband, but most of its members continued to persist in the anti-Japanese struggle in the Dongguan-Bao'an area.

In the 1990s, during the redevelopment of Yangmeigang Village in Qingxi, the site of the Dongbao Detachment Headquarters of the Dongjiang Overseas Chinese Homecoming Service Corps was demolished.

Qingxi Town: Located in the southeastern part of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, Qingxi Town borders Hong Kong and Macau and is adjacent to Shenzhen and Huizhou. Covering an area of 143 square kilometers, it boasts a beautiful ecological environment and well-developed urban infrastructure. It has been designated as a "National Comprehensive Experimental Zone for Social Development," a "National Pilot Town for Small Town Construction," and a "National Pilot Town for Comprehensive Reform." It has also received honors such as "National Top 100 Town for Afforestation and Greening," "National Top 10 Town for Export Earnings by Foreign-Funded Enterprises," and "National Sanitary Town." Among the top 1,000 towns in China, it ranks in the top 50.

Entering the 1990s,... More details about Qingxi Town++