Former Site of the Central Bureau of the Chinese Soviet Area & Former Site of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee

　　This is a typical two-hall-one-courtyard residential house in the Jiangnan style, built in 1924. Its original owner, Xie Shenlan, found the house plagued by misfortunes shortly after moving in, leading him to believe it had bad feng shui. He left it vacant and moved elsewhere. Later, it became the office site of the Central Bureau of the Chinese Soviet Area.

　　The Central Bureau of the Chinese Soviet Area was the highest party leadership body in the national Soviet areas. Established on January 15, 1931, in Xiaobu, Ningdu, its members included [names redacted], with [another name redacted] serving as the Secretary. Before [name] arrived in the Soviet Area, Xiang Ying and Mao Zedong served as acting secretaries in succession.

　　In its early days, the Central Bureau of the Chinese Soviet Area had an incomplete structure and insufficient personnel, often relocating along with the Red Army headquarters. By September 1931, it moved from Yongfeng Longgang to Ruijin, and this private residence of the Xie family became its permanent office location. The Bureau included departments such as Organization and Propaganda, with a Women’s Department established after the Sixth Plenum of the Fifth CPC Central Committee. Ren Bishi once served as Head of Organization, while Gu Zuolin and Pan Hannian were Heads of Propaganda; Zhou Yuelin and Li Jianzhen were Heads of the Women’s Department. The Central Bureau made significant contributions to party building, army development, and Soviet government construction, publishing journals like Truth and Party Building. On February 4, 1933, it launched its official newspaper Struggle. As a dispatched organ of the Provisional Central Committee, it was often controlled remotely by the “Left”-leaning Provisional Central, leading to the implementation of erroneous policies on key issues. In 1933, after the Provisional Central Committee moved from Shanghai to Ruijin, it merged with the Central Bureau to form a new Central Bureau.

　　At the time, Mao Zedong, [names redacted], Wang Jiaxiang, Ren Bishi, and some staff lived and worked on the upper floor, while the lower floor housed local residents. These leaders often engaged closely with the public, understanding and resolving their hardships, fostering strong relationships. Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Chinese Soviet Republic and a member of the Central Bureau, noticed that the room of Xie Dama on the ground floor was so dark that she had to use an oil lamp even during daytime to work. He instructed He Zizhen to call a local carpenter and personally designed a solution—replacing some small blue tiles on the roof with glass tiles and cutting an opening in the floor for a skylight. Light filtered through the glass tiles into the skylight, brightening Xie Dama’s home, eliminating the need for an oil lamp.

　　In April 1933, the Central Bureau of the Chinese Soviet Area relocated to Xiashao Village, Shazhouba. The house was later occupied by local residents and workers involved in constructing memorials such as the Monument to Red Army Martyrs. On March 4, 1961, this site was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the State Council.