Former Residence of Mo Cuihua

Former Residence of Mo Cuihua

The former residence of Mo Cuihua is located at No. 17, Lane 10, Southeast Fang, Hongwuwu Village, Hongmei Town, Dongguan City. The original structure was a traditional three-bay, two-corridor Qing-style brick-and-tile house, measuring 9.2 meters in both length and width, covering an area of over 80 square meters. In 1904, Mo Cuihua, the founder of the Chinese Communist Party organization in Dongguan, was born here.

In March 1922, while working as a laborer in Guangzhou, Mo Cuihua joined the Socialist Youth League. In the autumn of 1923, he was dispatched by the Guangdong Regional Committee of the Socialist Youth League to return to his hometown of Hongwuwu Village to carry out league-building activities. In October, he established the Dongguan Branch directly under the Guangdong Regional Committee of the Socialist Youth League in Hongwuwu. This was the first Socialist Youth League branch in Dongguan, with Mo Cuihua serving as branch secretary. In July 1924, he attended the first term of the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Institute. In September of the same year, he was appointed as a special commissioner of the Kuomintang Central Peasant Department and sent back to Dongguan to promote the peasant movement. Peng Pai, a leader of the Guangdong peasant movement, visited Mo Cuihua’s home multiple times, using Hongwuwu as a base to advance the peasant movement in Dongguan. In December 1924, the first Chinese Communist Party branch in Dongguan was established, with Mo Cuihua as its secretary. In November 1925, the Dongguan branch was reorganized into the Dongguan Special Branch of the CCP, and Mo Cuihua was elected as the first special branch secretary. In May 1926, Mo Cuihua was transferred to work with the Guangdong Regional Committee of the CCP.

In the summer of 1927, Mo Cuihua, then serving as secretary of the Sihui County Special Branch of the CCP, returned to Dongguan. Together with other comrades, he fearlessly mobilized armed peasant uprisings, using Hongwuwu, Dasha, and Jinzhou as bases to carry out underground struggles. In March 1928, the Dongguan County Committee of the CCP was reorganized, and Mo Cuihua was elected to the Standing Committee. In December 1928 and February 1929, the county committee’s headquarters were raided twice, and the authorities offered rewards for the arrest of its leaders. Mo Cuihua returned to his former residence to hide. With the approval of the party organization, he changed his name and joined the bandit group led by Ding Fu from Dongguan’s water town area as a clerk, waiting for the opportunity to win over the armed bandits. In early 1929, while fighting against the local Kuomintang force led by Yuan Huazhao in Xiancun, Zengcheng, with Ding Fu’s bandit troops, Mo Cuihua was unfortunately shot and killed. His remains were brought back to Hongwuwu for burial.

After Mo Cuihua’s death, his wife raised their four young children—two sons and two daughters. She spent the rest of her life in the former residence, which was later inherited by their eldest son. In 1966, the residence was demolished by Mo Zhihui, the eldest grandson of the eldest son, due to its dilapidated condition, and replaced with a straight-roofed house. The new house was built south of the original site and remained a brick-and-tile structure (with many materials reused from the old residence). The front eaves are 4.3 meters high, featuring a small balcony; the rear eaves are 4 meters high. The house faces east and sits west, with its back door opening to the north. Upon entering is the kitchen, followed by a room and a living area inside—a common layout for local houses in the 1960s.

Mo Cuihua (1904–1929), from Hongwuwu Village, Hongmei, Dongguan. Joined the Socialist Youth League in the spring of 1923 in Guangzhou. In the same year’s autumn, he was sent back to Dongguan to work. In October, the Dongguan Branch directly under the Guangdong Regional Committee of the Socialist Youth League was established, with Mo Cuihua as its secretary. In July 1924, he attended the first term of the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Institute hosted by Peng Pai. He graduated in August and was then appointed as a special commissioner of the Kuomintang Central Peasant Department, returning to Dongguan to promote the peasant movement. In November, he became the first Communist Party member in Dongguan County. In December, the Dongguan Branch of the CCP was established, and Mo... More details on Mo Cuihua ++

Hongwuwu Village: Overview of Hongwuwu Village

Hongwuwu Village is located southwest of Hongmei Town, adjacent to Humen Port and separated only by a river from Lisha Island. It is the largest village in terms of area and population within the town. The village has a population of 6,436 and covers an area of 15 square kilometers, including over 12,500 mu of land, making it rich in land resources. In terms of transportation, the main road of Hongmei Town, Wangsha Road, runs through the entire village. To the south, it connects to the along-the-river expressway, about a 30-minute drive from Shenzhen and Guangzhou. To the north lies the planned Houhong Highway, which starts from Hongwuwu... More details on Hongwuwu Village ++