Author: Ye Shuming
Chen Jitang (1890-1954) was a native of Fangcheng, Guangdong (now part of Guangxi). The word Bernan. He graduated from the Guangdong Army Primary School in 1907 and joined the League the following year to participate in the anti-Qing revolution. In 1916, he joined the National Guard Army as a company commander and battalion commander, and later transferred to the Cantonese Army. In 1922, he participated in the campaign against Chen Jiongming and Shen Hongying, and served as a brigade commander and chief of staff of the Xijiang Supervision Office. In 1925, he was appointed commander of the 11th Division of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
After the Start of the Northern Expedition in 1926, Chen Jitang remained in Guangdong and served as the commander of the Qinlian Garrison. After the failure of the Communist-led Nanchang Uprising in 1927, Chen Jitang blocked Ye Ting and He Long in Guangdong and led an army south. In 1928, Chen Jitang was promoted to commander of the Fourth Army, and the following year he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, and later expanded the Eighth Route Army into the First Army. In 1931, Chen Jitang expelled the provincial chairman Chen Mingshu, declared his opposition to Chiang Kai-shek (Jieshi), and in early 1932 established two major organs, the Southwest Executive Department of the Kuomintang Central Executive Supervision Committee and the Southwest Political Affairs Committee of the Nationalist Government, and seized the political, military, and financial powers of Guangdong, and was known as the "Southern Heavenly King".
In 1930, Chen Jitang's mansion was built in Meihua Village, he became the most powerful resident in Meihua Village, many high-ranking officials and dignitaries also followed suit, building residences in Meihua Village, making it the power center of Guangdong and even the entire southwest region, Chen Jitang became the "village chief" of Meihua Village, handling official affairs here and giving orders. During this period, many important construction plans in Guangdong and Guangzhou were discussed and decided in Meihua Village.
Meihua Village Chen Mansion
During his reign in Guangdong, Chen Jitang devoted himself to the construction of Guangdong industry and Guangzhou municipality. In Guangzhou, xicun in the first industrial zone, Henan in the second industrial zone, and Fangcun (South Stone) in the third industrial zone were established, and a fertilizer field material factory, a nitric acid factory, a soda factory, a cement factory, a paper mill, an alcohol factory, a textile factory, a sugar factory, and an arsenal were established, especially the textile and sugar industry was the most impressive, and the products were sufficient for the province's use and could be exported to other places and overseas markets; the huangpu port was developed and built; and the overseas Chinese industrial bank was also set up to encourage overseas Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots to return to China to invest; in terms of municipal construction, we actively built roads to serve the dongshan model residential area. In the past three years, Guangzhou has opened up more than 30 roads; built the Zhuhai Railway, built the Zhuhai Bridge, opened a radio station, and expanded the power plant; was also quite enthusiastic about education, founding Deming Middle School, expanding Sun Yat-sen University, advocating the reading of the Scriptures by Zun kong, encouraging the academic circles to sort out the national history, compiling classics, examining the Six Classics, and publishing biographies.
On New Year's Day 1933, Chen Jitang approved the promulgation of the "Three-Year Administrative Plan of Guangdong Province", a programmatic document composed of two parts: "sorting out" and "construction", and the finishing part was divided into "official management and sorting" and "financial consolidation". According to this plan, Guangdong will establish a large-scale provincial industrial system, as an economic leader, and spend huge sums of money to build 24 large factories, including sugar mills, paper mills, nitrogen fertilizer factories, cotton yarn mills, fishing boat manufacturing plants, steel plants and hydropower plants. Industry and commerce are like a powerful steam locomotive, driving society forward, and the city is becoming more and more prosperous. On February 15 of the same year, a large-scale exhibition introducing Guangdong's construction achievements, the "Guangzhou Exhibition", was opened, which was divided into 10 parts of municipal administration, industry and commerce, agriculture, education, art, antiquities, folklore, photography, armament, and revolutionary souvenirs, showing chen Jitang's achievements during his reign in Guangdong.
Top: Chen Jitang and Mo Xiuying; Bottom: Chen Jitang and his family in Meihua Village
On June 1, 1936, the Southwest Executive Department of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee and the Southwest Political Affairs Committee of the National Government held a joint meeting, and resolved to petition the central leadership to resist Japan, and sent a telegram to the unanimous response of the whole country. On 4 June, Chen Jitang, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and 36 others sent a telegram to the Central Party Department, the Southwest Executive Department of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang Government, and the Southwest Administrative Affairs Committee of the National Government, proposing that "they should go north to resist Japan and go to the Tang Dynasty and fight the fire, and they did not dare to resign, and sent a telegram to the whole country, calling on the armed compatriots to fight the war in unison." It was the "Two Cantons Incident" that shook the current situation.
Although this incident was under the banner of anti-Japanese resistance, it was actually an anti-Chiang Kai-shek civil war, so it could not be supported by public opinion and the army, and was quickly defeated by Chiang Kai-shek. On July 13, Chen Jitang was dismissed from his post and went abroad to investigate. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1937, Chen Jitang returned to China and went to the national disaster, successively serving as a member of the National Government, a member of the Supreme National Defense Commission, and was elected as an executive member of the Kuomintang Central Committee. In 1943, he became Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Jitang served as an envoy to Liangguang and Taiwan. In 1946, he returned to Guangdong and founded Zhuhai University. When Song Ziwen was the chairman of Guangdong Province, Chen Jitang ceded his mansion in Meihua Village to Song Ziwen. In 1949, Chen Jitang was appointed chief executive and commander of the Hainan Island Special Administrative Region. He went to Taiwan in 1950 and died in Taiwan on November 3, 1954. His posthumous works include "Escape from Danger in Hong Kong", "Autobiography of Chen Jitang" and "Poetry Manuscript of Mr. Chen Bonan".
Explore the plum blossom village
Chen Jitang Mansion
Chen Jitang Mansion in Meihua Village, built in 1930, was designed by the Public Works Bureau Jizo Luo Mingyi, is a garden-style building. The courtyard door of the mansion is to the east, and the door is built with a pointed hexagonal pavilion, green glazed tiles, water-brushed stone meters on the outer wall, and a window on each side, and a door on the front and back. The main building is built in the middle of the courtyard, with an annex to the east and west, and a staircase connecting to the main building. To the south of the yard there are fish ponds and rockeries, which have now been converted into office buildings. The total area of the existing building is about 2150 square meters.
The main building is two and a half stories high, divided into front and back seats, sitting north and facing south, brick and concrete structure, and the external wall is a red brick clear water wall. The front seat of the main building is 19.8 meters wide, 21.2 meters deep, and covers an area of 420 square meters. The south entrance is equipped with a porch, the top of the door is shishan flowers, and the four columns run through the second floor, supporting the eaves, which looks magnificent and elegant. The door is on the second floor by a staircase at the back, flanked by rooms. The top of the second floor is the roof, and the roof is equipped with Aquarius railings on all four sides. A domed pavilion was built in the front part of the roof, and a house was built in the rear part.
There is a staircase behind the second floor to access the back seat. The back seat is also two stories high, with a width of 29.7 meters, a depth of 7.2 meters, covering an area of 214 square meters, with corridors on the south side of the first and second floors, and rooms on the north side. The east and west annexes are in brick and concrete structures, red brick exterior walls, are two stories high, the west seat sits west to east, the width is 2.5 meters, the depth is 8 meters, covering an area of 100 square meters; the east seat sits north and south, with a width of 32.1 meters and a depth of 12.8 meters. Covered with red glazed tiles, the south side is the corridor and the north side is the room.
Inside and outside the mansion
(The mansion picture was taken and provided by the laughing half fairy, thank you very much!) ）
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