Qiliping Town Changsheng Street Scenic Area

　　Qiliping Town in Hong’an County, Hubei Province, is situated at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains on the border between Hubei and Henan provinces. It is the birthplace of the famous Huangma Uprising, the birthplace of the Fourth Red Army, the re-establishment site of the Twenty-Fifth Red Army, and the reorganization site of the Twenty-Eighth Red Army. It is also the hometown of 143 generals of the People’s Republic, including [names redacted]. There are currently 37 nationally key protected cultural relics. In 2005, it was awarded the title of “China’s Historical and Cultural Famous Town” by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Culture, and recognized as a “National Patriotic Education Base for Youth” by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. It is also designated as a key town and a famous red tourism town in Hubei Province. The town covers an area of 362 square kilometers, governs 69 villages and one neighborhood committee, with 21,444 households and a total population of 93,000. Backed by the Dabie Mountains and adjacent to the greater Wuhan area to the south, it lies just 30 kilometers from Xin County Railway Station in Henan to the north and 35 kilometers from the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway to the west. Provincial highways such as the Yangluo-Futiankou Road and roads traversing the heart of the Dabie Mountains crisscross the area, making transportation extremely convenient.

　　As early as 1924, communist organizations were established here; during the First Revolutionary Civil War, the peasant movement flourished; during the Second Revolutionary Civil War, it became the cradle of the Huangma Autumn Harvest Uprising and the center of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Special Region. In 1931, the Fourth Red Army was founded here, and the town was briefly renamed Liening City. After the founding of the People’s Republic, over 40 revolutionary sites remained, including the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Special Region Soviet, the Fourth Red Army Headquarters, the Hubei County Committee of the Communist Party, the Hubei County Soviet, the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Labor Union, the Bank, and the Lenin Primary School. There are also commemorative sites and related relics such as Pengpai Street, Yangyin Street, Guanghao Gate, Nan Yi Gate, and the square where the Fourth Red Army was established, all named after revolutionary martyrs.

　　Qiliping Changsheng Street

　　During the revolutionary war years, Qiliping was the birthplace of the “Huangma Uprising,” the birthplace of the Fourth Red Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, and the early political, military, economic, and cultural center of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area. Qiliping made outstanding contributions to China’s revolution and has left behind a wealth of revolutionary sites and relics, among which Changsheng Street is one.

　　Changsheng Street is a main street in Qiliping. Originally called Zheng Street, it was named Yangyin Street in 1930. It is 400 meters long (with an additional 290 meters built after liberation), featuring gate towers at both the northern and southern ends constructed from granite slabs. The buildings along the street are uniformly built with gray bricks, black tiles, wooden lattice windows, and wooden plank doors. Each building’s gable or fireproof wall is decorated with carvings of dragons, snakes, birds, and beasts. The street is about 7 meters wide, paved with granite slabs. Due to Qiliping’s location on the border between Hubei and Henan, commerce on Changsheng Street was very prosperous, with residents on both sides engaged in trade and business. According to the Hong’an County Annals, “In 1927, there were over 30 grain and oil stores operating along Changsheng Street from south to north.” Residents would collect grain, oil, mountain produce, and other specialties daily, transport them by bamboo raft via Daohé River to Yangluo, and sell them in Wuhan. They would then bring back industrial and daily necessities needed by locals from Wuhan and distribute them across the region. At that time, Qiliping was known as the “Little Hankou,” and Changsheng Street was called the “Liuduqiao.” During the Agrarian Revolutionary period, under the leadership of figures such as Zheng Weisan, Dai Kemin, Cao Xuekai, and Wu Huanxian, revolutionary activities in the Qili area flourished. Peasant associations and self-defense teams were established, and movements such as fighting landlords and punishing tyrants gained momentum. Changsheng Street in Qiliping became the center of the revolution. In 1926, in the “Koyisheng” grocery store on Changsheng Street, clerk Zheng Xingrui, in support of the peasant movement, established the “Qiliping Labor Union” at the Pan Family Ancestral Hall and served as its chairman. He formed a workers’ patrol team and later established the earliest labor security organization in the history of the Party—the Hubei County and Hubei-Henan-Anhui Provincial Soviet Government Labor Committee. After the rise of the worker-peasant movement, to punish landlords and tyrants, in early April 1927, the Revolutionary Tribunal was established at the South Temple on Changsheng Street. In accordance with the “Hubei Provisional Regulations on Punishing Landlords and Tyrants,” it lawfully punished major local tyrants such as Ruan Chunjing and Li Jieren in the Qili area, and executed reactionary figures such as Li Yejie, president of the Qiliping Chamber of Commerce, greatly boosting the morale of the peasant and worker associations and effectively striking against the reactionary forces. The tribunal site still exists today. On May 14, 2002, experts attending the Legal Studies Seminar of the [name redacted] praised the site, which was later recognized by the Supreme People’s Court as the first tribunal. In July 1927, the Hubei County Committee of the Communist Party held an emergency meeting outside the South Gate at the Wenchang Palace on Changsheng Street to convey the spirit of the Party’s “August 7th Meeting.” They drafted the “Hubei County Committee Report on Conveying and Implementing the Spirit of the Party’s ‘August 7th Meeting’ and the Provincial Committee’s Directive on Armed Struggle” and the “Hubei County Committee Plan for Armed Struggle.” On November 13 of the same year, the Hubei-Henan Special Committee held a meeting of party and league activists from both counties at the Wenchang Palace, establishing the Hubei-Henan Uprising Command. As a result, Qiliping became a key assembly point for the uprising forces. The vigorous Hubei-Henan Uprising unfolded in Qiliping, becoming one of the earliest armed uprisings in China’s revolution and entering the annals of Chinese revolutionary history. In 1930, given the continuously rising revolutionary movement in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui region, the Party Central Committee dispatched Zeng Zhongsheng as a central special commissioner to the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area. He presided over an emergency meeting of the former Hubei-Henan-Anhui Border Special Committee at the Wenchang Palace in Qiliping, deciding to establish the Pinghan Special District Action Committee and the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Border Special Committee. After research by the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Special Committee, the revolutionary base was established in Qiliping and named “Liening City,” while Changsheng Street was named “Yangyin Street.” At No. 48 Changsheng Street, the “Hubei-Henan-Anhui Special District Soviet Bank” was built, issuing banknotes in denominations of one yuan, five jiao, and two strings, as well as one type of copper coin valued at fifty wen, and two types of oilcloth vouchers (economic commune circulation notes) valued at one string and two strings. At No. 49 Changsheng Street, a Chinese and Western medicine bureau was set up to supply medicine to the Red Army hospital, ensuring treatment for the wounded. At Nos. 52–54 Changsheng Street, the first Soviet economic commune in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Special District was established, providing farmers with seeds, farming tools, and other production supplies. At No. 29 Changsheng Street, a dining cooperative (akin to a guesthouse) was set up where those with an introduction letter from the Soviet government or the Red Army could dine for free. Additionally, the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Primary School, then called the “Lenin Primary School,” was founded on He Street.

　　On November 7, 1931, the Fourth Red Army and the Twenty-Fifth Red Army were merged to form the Fourth Red Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. The founding ceremony was held on the river beach outside the West Gate of Qiliping. [Name redacted] served as commander-in-chief, Chen Changhao as political commissar, and Liu Shiqi as director of the political department. The force had over 30,000 troops, with its headquarters stationed on Changsheng Street. Later, this army became one of the three main forces of the Red Army, making immortal contributions to China’s revolution.

　　Qiliping is a famous old revolutionary base in China, rich in revolutionary sites and relics. In 1988, it was listed as a “National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit” by the State Council, and in 1992, it was included in the chronicles of national historic famous towns. Among these, Changsheng Street is the street with the highest concentration of revolutionary relics. In the early years after liberation, due to construction needs, the north and south gate towers were demolished, the granite slabs were removed, and some residential buildings altered their original appearance. After the reform and opening-up, the Party and government placed great emphasis on the protection of Changsheng Street’s cultural relics and established the “Qiliping Cultural Relics Management Office” to strengthen preservation efforts. Especially in 2002, the Hong’an County Party Committee and County Government decided to focus on restoring Changsheng Street. In March of the same year, the county government...

　　decided to invest 1 million yuan to restore the north and south gate towers, reinstate the granite-paved road surface, widen the sewers, renovate the street facades, standardize utilities, and enrich the restorations and supplementary exhibits within key cultural relic protection units.

　　Changsheng Street is not only a street of revolutionary relics but also an excellent destination for traditional education and tourism. Every year, tens of thousands of visitors come here for tours and educational purposes. It is also a popular filming location for revolutionary-themed movies and TV dramas. In recent years, more than 10 film and television productions have been shot on Changsheng Street, including “Five Watches of the Night,” “Red Flags Fluttering Over the Dabie Mountains,” “The Thunder of Huangma,” and “Prelude to the Great Offensive.”