Former Site of the Yunlong Reorganization of the Qiongya Red Army

　　The Former Site of the Yunlong Reorganization of the Qiongya Red Army is one of the first 100 national patriotic education bases, a cultural relics protection unit of Hainan Province, and a revolutionary tradition education base for Hainan youth. It is located in Yunlong Market, Qiongshan District, Haikou City, and is managed by the Civil Affairs Bureau of Qiongshan District, Haikou City.

　　The site was first built in 1952 and was expanded and renovated in 1984, 1989, and 1998 by the then People’s Government of Qiongshan County. Originally the site of the “June Po” Temple, it was named after the reorganization of the Qiongya Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army into the “14th District Independent Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps” on December 5, 1938. Covering an area of 15 mu, the site features a marble pillar on the right side of the main gate inscribed with the words “Former Site of the Yunlong Reorganization of the Qiongya Red Army,” written by Comrade Ma Baishan (a veteran of the Qiongya Column and former deputy commander of the Hainan Military Region). Sixteen meters directly in front of the gate stands a full-body bronze statue of an independent battalion soldier holding a rifle, standing 10.4 meters tall in total, with the statue itself being 4.6 meters high and the base 5.8 meters high. The front of the base is inscribed with the inscription “Pioneer of the Qiongya Anti-Japanese Resistance” by Marshal Xu Xiangqian, while the back bears an “Introduction to the Yunlong Reorganization.”

　　Behind the statue is the memorial hall, measuring 40 meters long, 8 meters wide, and 7 meters high, with a blue glazed tile roof, covering an area of over 300 square meters. Around the hall are planted 23 pine trees, symbolizing the glorious 23-year history of the Qiongya revolutionary armed struggle where the red flag never fell. To the left of the hall is a winding corridor and wall gallery, 38 meters long and 3 meters high, engraved with inscriptions by proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation such as Zhu De, Chen Yi, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, Yang Shangkun, Peng Zhen, and Bo Yibo. The exhibition hall displays pistols, grenades, military uniforms, flags, historical photos, letters, and other items used by the people's army at the time, presenting a moving historical panorama of the Qiongya revolutionary struggle. To the northwest of the statue is the reception hall, where woodcut paintings such as “Hard Times,” “Fighting the Japanese,” and “Crossing the Sea for Battle” are hung. To the east of the statue are the “Bandit-Suppressing Pavilion” and the “Triumph Pavilion.”

　　After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, the Qiongya Special Committee of the Chinese Communist Party implemented the CPC Central Committee’s policy on establishing an anti-Japanese national united front, proposing to the Kuomintang authorities the idea of “ceasing the civil war and uniting to resist Japan,” expressing willingness to reorganize the Qiongya Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army under the premise of unity against Japan, and reaching an agreement with the Qiongya Kuomintang authorities on October 22, 1938. On December 5, the reorganization ceremony and the oath-taking assembly for resisting Japan were grandly held at the “June Po” Temple in Yunlong. The unit was designated as the “14th District Independent Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps” (abbreviated as the “Qiongya Anti-Japanese Independent Battalion”), with Feng Baiju as its commander. People from all walks of life, local KMT officials in Qiongya, and tens of thousands of masses from various places attended the reorganization ceremony. Feng Baiju, representing the officers and soldiers of the independent battalion, delivered a speech expressing the determination to defend Qiongya and proclaiming the birth of the Qiongya people’s anti-Japanese force. Starting from March 1939, the independent battalion was successively expanded into the Independent Brigade and the Independent Column. In October 1947, it was officially named the “Chinese People’s Liberation Army Qiongya Column” by the Central Military Commission, with Feng Baiju serving as both commander and political commissar.

　　The Yunlong Reorganization was a major event in the history of the Qiongya revolutionary armed struggle under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and also a significant milestone in the history of relations between the KMT and the CCP in Qiongya. It marked the victory of the anti-Japanese national united front policy in Qiongya, reflected the common aspiration of the Qiongya people to unite and resist Japan, and strengthened the people’s confidence in the anti-Japanese struggle. From then on, under the leadership of the Qiongya Special Committee of the CCP, the independent battalion adhered to the principles of KMT-CCP cooperation and unity in resisting Japan, independently developed and grew, mobilized the masses, carried out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines, and became the vanguard and mainstay of the anti-Japanese resistance in Qiongya.