Cloud-Stacking Cave

　　The renowned Taoist temple Cloud-Stacking Cave (former site of the Hedong Special Committee Revolutionary Base) is located in Dongou Village, Dongtou Town, 25 kilometers west of Xia County. It was first built in the early Yuan Dynasty, nestled at the foot of Mount Jiwang and hidden among the loess gullies. The architectural complex earned its name “Cloud-Stacking Cave” because, when viewed from afar, the buildings resemble layers of clouds stacked upon one another, and visitors enter through cave entrances connected by stepped passageways. Through continuous additions and expansions during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it developed into an architectural wonder of “houses built atop houses, courtyards within courtyards, and caves hidden within caves,” blending naturally with the landscape in a layered structure. It has long been hailed as the “Little Potala” and praised as an “enlarged bonsai, a condensed fairyland.” In 1922, revolutionary martyr Jia Kangjie founded the “People’s Middle School” in this Taoist temple, using it as a platform to spread new ideas and culture. The school enrolled over 1,200 students from nine northern provinces, most of whom became key figures in revolutionary activities. In June 1928, Wang Ming, Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee, presided over a meeting of the Hedong regional party organization here, officially establishing the Hedong Special Committee. In April 1929, Secretary Wang Ming reconvened a meeting of the Hedong Special Committee at Cloud-Stacking Cave. In response to the evolving struggle, the Special Committee was restructured into a Special Branch. As the secret operational center of the Hedong Special Committee for ten years, Cloud-Stacking Cave led the people of southern Shanxi in vigorous revolutionary struggles. To this day, it preserves revolutionary relics such as a “secret printing press, underground tunnels, a well passage, and hidden refuge caves.” Revolutionary predecessors including Jia Kangjie, Chai Zemin, Sun Yuting, Jia Hao, Jin Changgeng, and Zhao Tingchen studied, lived, and fought here, making indelible contributions to revolutionary movements in southern Shanxi and beyond. It is honored as the cradle of the revolution in southern Shanxi. In 1985, the People’s Government of Shanxi Province designated it as a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit. In 2004, it was recognized as a Shanxi Patriotic Education Base, and in October 2008, it became one of the first provincial-level practical teaching bases for ideological and political theory courses in higher education. It is a famous attraction in the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Henan Golden Triangle region along the Yellow River.