Feng Yuxiang's Northwestern Army Grain Depot Museum

Feng Yuxiang's Northwestern Army Grain Depot Museum

The establishment of Feng Yuxiang’s grain depot has an interesting backstory.

In the spring of 1926, the National Revolutionary Army, composed of Feng Yuxiang’s Northwestern Army, was defeated by the Zhili (Zhang Zuolin) and Fengtian (Wu Peifu) warlords at Nankou near Beiping. Influenced by the Chinese Communist Party member Li Dazhao, Feng Yuxiang traveled to the Soviet Union and returned in September of the same year. At that time, he followed Li Dazhao’s advice and resolutely decided on the strategic policy of “consolidating Gansu, supporting Shaanxi, allying with Shanxi, and planning for Henan.” He gathered his former troops in Wuyuan, reorganized them into 13 divisions, stationed them in the Hetao region, raised the flag of the National Revolutionary Army once again, and held the world-famous Wuyuan Oath-taking Ceremony. He was determined to join the Northern Expedition to fight for the liberation of the Chinese nation.

When General Feng Yuxiang led 400,000 troops westward to support Gansu and pacify Shaanxi, drawing on the legacy of Zuo Zongtang’s grain relay stations, he also set up supply depots and grain depots here to transport provisions for the large army. At that time, San Sheng Gong was the wealthiest place in Dengkou County, with various shops, workshops, and the Catholic Church, which was the largest church in the Hetao region. Therefore, Dengkou County established the San Sheng Gong District here and began organizing grain transportation, mainly transporting millet and wheat. From July 1926 when they started moving westward through Dengkou until November 1927 when they had all left Dengkou, a total of 720,000 jin (2,400 dan, with each dan being 300 jin) of grain were transported.

After the Oath-taking Ceremony in Wuyuan, as Feng Yuxiang advanced westward to support Gansu and pacify Shaanxi, he first sent road surveying and construction troops ahead to build roads and bridges to ensure the smooth westward movement of the main army. When the planned route passed through Dengkou, there was no government institution established there yet. It was Feng Yuxiang who, after arriving in Dengkou, based on the actual development of the area, submitted a report to the Nanjing Nationalist Government applying for the establishment of a county here, which was officially approved in 1929. The county government was located in San Sheng Gong, and the first county magistrate was Wu Qifeng, appointed by Feng Yuxiang.

General Feng Yuxiang, stationed in Dengkou, took a strategic view from the perspective of the national interest, establishing county governance and strengthening the construction of military supply depots and grain depots. This not only ensured the needs of the Northwestern Army participating in the Northern Expedition but also reflected General Feng Yuxiang’s strict military discipline and patriotic spirit in caring about the future development of the country.

After the founding of New China, this grain depot continued to make significant contributions to national grain storage and transportation, ensuring people's livelihoods and supporting key projects. It records over 100 years of grain storage history in Dengkou from the late Qing Dynasty to the early years of the People’s Republic of China, carrying the historical and folk culture of grain storage in Dengkou. It is a valuable physical artifact for studying the grain storage system and grain depot architecture in the western region of Inner Mongolia.

In 2014, the county party committee and government decided to renovate the original site in the style of “repairing the old as the old,” restoring and reinforcing Feng Yuxiang’s grain depot, reinstalling exhibits, and establishing a special leading group for the construction of the Feng Yuxiang Grain Depot Former Site Museum, headed by Tian Youguang, director of the People’s Congress, with the participation of relevant departments, specifically responsible for the project construction. The total investment for the project was about 10 million yuan. Of this, the renovation and construction part required an investment of more than 4 million yuan, including the maintenance and reinforcement of the old grain depot that had weathered the years, restoring the original working scenes and facilities, as well as constructing grain depots, guard towers, gate towers, canteens, and other structures in the yard. The interior exhibition required an investment of more than 5 million yuan, including the recreation of historical scenes, displays on the evolution of crop cultivation in the Hetao region, historical and cultural materials on the history of the San Sheng Gong area, and displays on modern agricultural culture. Currently, the interior exhibition is underway, and it is expected to be fully completed before the Watermelon Festival, opening officially to visitors.

The museum covers an area of more than 5,000 square meters, with a building area of more than 2,000 square meters. It is divided into three exhibition areas: the first exhibition area features a three-story guard tower, traditional grain depot models such as earthen round warehouses, straw round warehouses, and cellar warehouses; the second exhibition area displays the process of grain transportation and related physical objects; the third exhibition area showcases the role of the grain depot after the founding of New China.

The exhibition area is in the south courtyard, covering a total area of about 2,800 square meters. The guard tower was reconstructed based on the ruins of the San Sheng Gong grain depot guard tower, showcasing the main content on the first, second, and third floors. The first and second floors display the living, sitting, resting scenes of 2–3 Northwest Army sentries, including weapons such as big swords, daily necessities, and sleeping quarters. The third floor features a model of a fully armed sentry standing guard. The Northwest Army soldiers were made using silicone materials at a 1:1 ratio.

A 1.2-meter-high gateboard is installed at the entrance of the grain depot. A bridge board is placed between the gateboard and the ground in front of the door, serving as a walkway for people to carry grain into the warehouse. The remaining gateboards are placed next to the warehouse doors.

Inside the warehouse, the bulk wheat is piled about 1.0 meter high. Two people are working inside the grain depot: one carries a sack on their shoulder, pouring the grain out from the downward-facing sack opening, while the other uses a scraper to level the grain.

This museum is the first in our region to use grain depots as the theme for its exhibitions. The construction of this attraction is another concrete step by our county in building a major tourism destination. There are only two grain museums in the country built on their original sites. In addition to the Feng Yuxiang Grain Museum under construction in our county, the other is the Jiangsu Grain Museum. Therefore, the construction of this museum holds special significance for cultural heritage, historical research, and tourism experiences.

Dengkou is located by the Yellow River, a hub for water and land transport, and also part of the ancient route from Beijing through Suiyuan to the northwest. It connects to the Yinchuan Plain to the west and embraces the Hetao Plain to the east, historically a strategic military location. From the late Qing Dynasty when Zuo Zongtang campaigned in the northwest to the recovery of Xinjiang, Mongolian soldiers and civilians from the Alxa Banner relay stations transported military provisions, weapons, and relayed military intelligence through Dengkou, earning everlasting fame for safeguarding national unity.

This grain depot was built in the late Qing Dynasty when Zuo Zongtang quelled the rebellion in Xinjiang and set up a grain relay station here, which had three main purposes:

First, it served as an information hub for quelling the northwest and recovering Xinjiang. Eleven provisional relay stations were set up from Zhongwei to Dengkou to transmit official documents and reports traveling back and forth through the Hexi Corridor via Ordos.

Second, it functioned as a transportation hub for grain and military equipment. Thirteen grain supply relay stations from Guihua City to Dengkou received grain, provisions, gunpowder, lead shot, and other supplies from Ningxia’s Mancheng and Gui-Sui, and along the Sui-Xin route, 7 million jin of grain were transported between 1875–1876 without any loss, making it the most economical route into Xinjiang.

Third, it acted as a formidable fortress for quelling warfare. The Qing court equipped the Banner Army with weapons such as lifting guns, nine-section cannons, and long-dragon cannons, highlighting the Qing army’s outstanding achievements in pacifying the northwest.

The establishment of Dengkou County is closely linked to the famous patriotic general Feng Yuxiang. In September 1926, after successfully holding the Oath-taking Ceremony in Wuyuan, General Feng Yuxiang, following the advice of Communist Party members such as Li Dazhao, decided to move south to “pacify Gansu, support Shaanxi, ally with Shanxi, and plan for Henan,” leading his troops to join the Northern Expedition. After dispatching his troops in Wuyuan, he traveled by vehicle through Dengkou to reach his troops’ garrison. Due to vehicle repairs needed along the way, he stopped to rest and repair the vehicles in San Sheng Gong. During the break, he met with priests and nuns from the San Sheng Gong Catholic Church for discussions. As evening fell, he stayed overnight at the old Dengkou water and land port. That night, he addressed local Han, Mongolian, and Hui residents, promoting the National Revolution and [ideology], and based on Dengkou’s geographical location, decided to establish county governance on the basis of the Dengkou military station, submitting a written request to the Nationalist Government for approval and appointing Wu Qifeng as the county magistrate. Thus, Wu Qifeng became the first county magistrate of Dengkou. In January 1929, the Nationalist Government officially approved the establishment of Dengkou County, which is how the county came into being.

He wrote in his memoirs: “Dengkou is located by the Yellow River, originally under the jurisdiction of the Alxa Banner. To the west of Dengkou, a type of herb called Cistanche is produced, which is sold to Guangdong and Southeast Asia, generating annual revenues of over one hundred thousand yuan. China is vast and rich in resources—there are treasures everywhere...”

Source: Dengkou County Tourism Bureau