Site of the CPC Dongguan County Special Commissioner’s Office

Site of the CPC Dongguan County Special Commissioner’s Office

The site of the CPC Dongguan County Special Commissioner’s Office is located at the home of Yuan Zeguang (a native of Wentang Township who joined the Communist Party of China in February 1938) in Wentang Community, Dongcheng Subdistrict. GPS coordinates: 23°02'59.8"N, 113°49'49.5"E, elevation 34 meters.

In April 1943, the first- and second-line county committees of the CPC Dongguan were abolished and replaced by the Special Commissioner system. Chen Mingyan was appointed as the CPC Dongguan County Special Commissioner, with Fang Ding, Wang Wenkui, and Liu Zhiyuan serving as deputy special commissioners. The Dongguan County Special Commissioner’s Office was under the leadership of the CPC Dongjiang Frontline Provisional Working Committee, with its office located at Yuan Zeguang’s home in Wentang Township. It administered six districts: Houjie, Taiping, Dalingshan, Shuixiang, Qingxi, and Changping. Chen Mingyan oversaw the county’s work from Wentang and, when conducting rural visits, insisted on eating sweet potatoes, congee, and wild vegetables with the locals, which further enhanced the Communist Party’s reputation among the people. In the first half of 1943, to overcome severe economic hardships, the CPC Dongguan organization led the masses in self-rescue production, planting a large number of upland crops and autumn harvest crops. At the same time, they mobilized the public to implement a “25% rent reduction,” helping farmers survive the famine. During those difficult years, the leaders of the Dongguan Party organization shared weal and woe with the people. In July 1944, the Special Commissioner system was abolished.

The site of the CPC Dongguan County Special Commissioner’s Office faces northwest and is situated to the southeast. The original structure was demolished and rebuilt in 1980.

Wentang Community: Located east of Dongcheng Subdistrict in Dongguan City, Wentang Community covers an area of 11.6 square kilometers. The community has 22 shareholding economic cooperatives, with a total of 2,421 households, a resident population of over 50,000 (including over 10,000 local residents and more than 40,000 migrants), and the most common surname is Yuan.

Wentang Community: In 2016, the total collective income of both levels of Wentang Community reached 240 million yuan, including 16 million yuan for the neighborhood committee and 224 million yuan for the shareholding economic cooperatives. The community also has 2,000 mu of protected farmland and over 300 mu of available construction land. More details about Wentang Community++