Former Site of Mao Zedong’s Inspection of the Tangxia Agricultural Production Cooperative

Former Site of Mao Zedong’s Inspection of the Tangxia Agricultural Production Cooperative

The former site of Mao Zedong’s inspection of the Tangxia Agricultural Production Cooperative is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangzhou City.

The former site of Mao Zedong’s inspection of the Tangxia Agricultural Production Cooperative is located at No. 27 Dashan Street, Tangxia. Originally the Zhan Chuan Zhong Ancestral Hall, it was built during the Ming Dynasty, renovated in the late Qing Dynasty and the 1980s, and underwent major repairs again in 1993. Zhong Zhan Chuan, the 14th-generation ancestor of the Zhong family in Tangxia and the son of Zhong Ying Zhang, had his own ancestral hall, as did his father.

The ancestral hall has a two-courtyard layout with a single skywell, featuring three bays in width, a central main hall, corridors on both sides, an overall depth of 15.2 meters, a total width of 8.7 meters, and a floor area of 132 square meters. It has a flush-gable roof, grey plaster ridge ornaments, clinker-fired tube tiles, and dripping eaves with trimmed edges. On both sides of the skywell are rolled-canopy corridors, and the center of the skywell is covered with a canopy that connects enclosedly with the front and rear courtyards. The facade features a granite gate frame and a black-lacquered wooden plaque with golden characters reading “Chairman Mao Inspected Tangxia Memorial Hall.” The eaves’ decorative boards are carved with intricate scroll patterns, elegant and refined. On the second-courtyard platform stands a conference table and two long benches.

From 1954 to early 1956, this ancestral hall served as the site of the Tangxia First Agricultural Cooperative. In 1956, it became the site of the Tangxia Advanced Agricultural Cooperative, remaining so until 1959 when the cooperative relocated.

On April 30, 1958, Chairman Mao Zedong personally visited Tangxia for an inspection. At the site of the Tangxia Agricultural Production Cooperative, he, together with Tao Zhu, the then First Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Zhu Guang, the Mayor of Guangzhou, met with some cadres of the Tangxia Cooperative and engaged in warm and cordial conversations. Chairman Mao humorously referred to this discussion as a “six-level cadre meeting” (referring to the six administrative levels: central, provincial, municipal, district, township, and cooperative). Afterwards, Chairman Mao and others went to the farmland to inspect the growth of rice. Later, the site of the Tangxia Agricultural Production Cooperative was moved elsewhere. In 1968, a Mao Zedong Inspected Tangxia Memorial Hall was established here, attracting tens of thousands of cooperative members, masses, and young students to visit.

A bamboo hat worn by Mao Zedong during the inspection is preserved at this site. The hat bears the black characters “Guangzhou Suburban Supervision Committee.” It was summer at the time, and the sunlight was very strong. A comrade from the Guangzhou Suburban Supervision Committee gave their own bamboo hat to Chairman Mao Zedong to wear.

In July 2000, the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government designated this site as a cultural relic protection unit.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Guangzhou Cultural Relic Protection Units