The Ever-Shining Red Holy Land — Gutian

Starting from the Yongding Tulou Scenic Area or the Yongfu Terrace Cherry Blossom Tea Garden, it takes just over an hour by car to reach the Gutian Meeting Site in Shanghang, Gutian. As an extremely important meeting in the history of the Communist Party of China, the Gutian Meeting was actually the 9th Congress of the 4th Red Army. The meeting established the correct military and organizational construction policies of the CPC and also put forward the important principle of resolutely implementing the land revolution, laying the foundation for further strengthening the CPC’s military power and achieving victory in the rural revolution. The Gutian Meeting Site is located in a building in Gutian Town, Shanghang County, Longyan City, Fujian Province. It was originally the Liao Clan Ancestral Hall, built in the 28th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1848). It is open all day with no admission fee. Other important red sites still exist in Gutian Town. In mid-December 1929, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and others led the 4th Red Army to station in Gutian, with the leadership offices all set up in Bajia Village. The Political Department of the 4th Red Army’s Front Committee was located in Songyin Hall, while the Command Headquarters was in Zhongxing Hall. Songyin Hall and Zhongxing Hall are not far apart, separated only by a small square. Compared to Songyin Hall, Zhongxing Hall, built in the 10th year of the Jiaqing reign (1805), is slightly more spacious. Zhongxing Hall faces east and sits facing west, built in the Hakka walled house style, with 9 bays wide and 6 bays deep, covering a total area of 1,698 square meters and a building area of 1,186 square meters. The entire building has 3 main halls, 6 smaller halls, 9 courtyards, and 43 rooms. In the courtyard stands a 6-meter-high stone flagpole erected in the 21st year of Jiaqing (1816) to honor Liao Zhanchun, a tribute student who was awarded the title of university student. Many meetings of the 4th Red Army, such as joint meetings of party representatives at all levels, soldiers’ representative meetings, local cadre representative meetings, and women’s representative meetings, were held here. It takes about half an hour to walk from Zhongxing Hall to the Gutian Meeting Site. Mid-March is the season when rapeseed flowers bloom, and the golden rapeseed flowers complement the red characters on the Gutian Meeting Site. At this moment and scene, the eight large characters “Gutian Meeting Shines Forever” evoke even deeper feelings.