Xingmin School

　　   After the failure of the Great Revolution in 1927, the 0s stationed in Zhangpu earnestly implemented the decisions of the Special Committee by moving to rural areas to continue carrying out workers' and peasants' movements. Danjing Village is situated northeast of Zhangpu County, just over 10 kilometers from the county seat, lying on the essential route to Zhangzhou. To the east, it leads to Guanshen Town. During the Great Revolution period, this area saw vigorous peasant movement activities, thus laying a relatively solid foundation for the peasant association. In accordance with the Special Committee’s decision, the 0s in Zhangpu promptly relocated to Danjing Village in Gegou, Changqiao to promote the peasant movement. A group of 0s, including Li Lianxing, a member of the 0 Southern Fujian Special Committee and an executive committee member of the 0 Fujian Provincial Provisional Committee, as well as Wang Zhanchun and Cai Yongfa, used running rural night schools as a cover to reorganize the peasant associations. They established Xingmin School at the ancestral hall of the Chen family in Gegou, Danjing Village. Drawing on real-life rural content, they developed teaching materials and employed methods such as performing plays and teaching local folk songs to vividly expose the conditions of class exploitation and oppression to the peasants, thereby awakening and raising their class consciousness. Lines from the songs included: “The iron in the warlords’ hands, the blood on the necks of workers and peasants,” and “Reaping rice in June is truly hard, sweat drips down the back; the local tyrants and landlords forcibly collect rent, everyone rise up against taxes and rents.” These were not only easy to understand but also resonated with the rural realities, striking a deep chord among the people and achieving excellent propaganda effects. While reorganizing and developing the peasant associations, they also focused on identifying and training key members, recruiting activists into the Party, and establishing the Danjing Village Party Branch. They led the peasants from peaceful forms of struggle toward armed resistance against taxes and levies, making it one of the earliest rural Party branches and local armed peasant forces established in Zhangpu.

　　   The former site of Xingmin School, the Chen family ancestral hall, has been renovated in recent years and protected with a memorial stele, and is in relatively good condition. In June 2004, Xingmin School was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Zhangpu County by the Zhangpu County People's Government.

　　    ----- Source: Party History Research Office of Zhangpu County