Qu Qiubai Memorial Hall

　　    Qu Qiubai Memorial Hall, originally the ancestral shrine of the Qu family in the western part of the city, was donated and built by Qu Gengfu, Qu Qiubai’s great-uncle, during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty when he served as the Hubei Provincial Administration Commissioner. Covering an area of 1,025 square meters, it consists of two large courtyards, east and west, each with four sections. Due to financial hardship, the Qu family lived in the eastern courtyard from 1912 to 1916. Qu Qiubai’s former residence was designated as a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit on March 25, 1982, by the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government. With the approval of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, it was officially opened to the public on June 18, 1985, the 50th anniversary of Comrade Qu Qiubai’s martyrdom. The gilded horizontal plaque under the memorial’s gate, inscribed with “Comrade Qu Qiubai Memorial Hall,” was written by [Name]. The main exhibition, “The Life and Deeds of Qu Qiubai Exhibition,” is located in the western courtyard, while the “Qu Qiubai Former Residence Exhibition” is in the eastern courtyard. Thematic exhibitions such as the “Exhibition of Paintings and Calligraphy in Memory of Qu Qiubai” are also featured. Since its establishment, the museum has hosted state leaders, 16 foreign political and party delegations and scholars from countries including North Korea, as well as hundreds of thousands of visitors. It has also published the works “A Swan from the South” and “Qu Qiubai Studies” (a serial publication), and printed the “Qu Qiubai Research Information.” It serves as an important base for commemorating, studying, promoting, and researching Qu Qiubai.

　　    Qu Qiubai (1899–1935) was one of the key early leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, a great Marxist, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, theorist, and propagandist, as well as one of the founders of China’s revolutionary literature.

　　    He participated in the Party’s 3rd to 6th National Congresses, was elected as a member of the Central Committee, the Central Bureau, and the Politburo Standing Committee. At the critical moment after the failure of the first Great Revolution, he presided over the August 7th Meeting, and subsequently led the Central Committee work. At the 6th CPC Central Committee’s 4th Plenary Session in January 1931, he was attacked by Wang Ming and others, and was removed from central leadership positions. Afterward, he led the left-wing cultural movement in Shanghai together with Lu Xun. In 1934, he went to the Soviet Area to serve as the People’s Commissar of Education of the Chinese Soviet Republic. After the Red Army’s Long March, he remained in the Soviet Area and was captured by the [Nationalist] army on February 26, 1935, in Xiaojing Village, Shuikou Town, Changting County, Fujian Province. On June 18 of the same year, he was martyred at Luohan Ridge in Changting County.

　　    Qu Qiubai’s former residence includes his birthplace, the Tianxiang Tower in Bagui Hall, and the Qu family ancestral shrine in the western part of the city where he moved in 1912. The shrine was built by Qu Gengfu, Qu Qiubai’s great-uncle and the Hubei Provincial Administration Commissioner in the late Qing Dynasty.

　　    Bagui Hall is located at No. 82 Qingguo Lane. Originally one of the “Eight Ming-Era Tang Family Residences,” it covered an area of 3.6 mu. Later it became the residence of the Qu family, consisting of an eastern and a western courtyard, with more than 80 rooms including a sedan hall, main hall, scripture tower (Tianxiang Tower), etc. On January 29, 1899, Qu Qiubai was born in the west room on the second floor of Tianxiang Tower.

　　    The Qu family ancestral shrine covers an area of over one mu and has both eastern and western courtyards. The western courtyard was originally used to store ancestral tablets, while the eastern courtyard was where the Qu family lived. It was restored in 1985 and the Qu Qiubai Memorial Hall was established and opened to the public.