"China's First Red Street" is located in Wuchang District, Wuhan City, on the south bank of the Haohao Yangtze River, at the foot of the Weiwei Bridge, less than a kilometer away from Zhonghua Road to Hongxiang, and in turn, the Wuchang Central Peasant Movement Training Center, The Former Residence of Mao Zedong, the Chen Tanqiu Martyrs Memorial Hall, and the site of the Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of China. Green bricks and gray tiles, stone slab paving, the street side of the trees towering in the sky, bamboo shadows swaying, it looks like just an ordinary alley in the old town of Wuchang, but it is closely linked to the history of the republic, becoming a sacred place in the hearts of many patriots, and the audience is endless. The red cultural gene is passed down from generation to generation, rooted in the tireless yearning for a better life in people's hearts, and rooted in the surging revolutionary pride in people's blood.
The former site of the Central Peasant Movement Training Center in Wuchang Dufu Causeway. Jingchu Network reporter Liu Jianwei photographed
The Wuchang Central Peasant Movement Training Institute was a school initiated by Mao Zedong to train cadres of the peasant movement throughout the country during the period of the first period of Kuomintang-Communist cooperation. It was restored in 1958, and the plaque on the gate reads "The Former Site of the Central Peasant Movement Training Institute Sponsored by Comrade Mao Zedong" was personally inscribed by Premier Zhou Enlai. The Peasants' Lecture Institute "is to train a group of talents who can lead the rural revolution, to have a deep understanding of the peasant problem, to study in detail, to correctly solve the problem, and to temper the determination of the peasant movement, and after a few months, they all went to the countryside to call on the broad masses of peasants to rise up, carry out the rural revolution, and overthrow the feudal forces." The Central Peasant Movement Training Center can be said to be the base camp of the peasant revolution. "A large number of outstanding cadres have been trained for the revolution. Mao Zedong, Yun Daiying, Qu Qiubai, Peng Pan, Fang Zhimin, Xia Minghan, Li Da, and others respectively taught the main courses, and the Agricultural Lecture Institute also set up military courses to guide trainees to participate in the actual revolutionary armed struggle.
The picture on the left shows Mao Zedong in Wuhan in 1927. The picture on the right shows Mao Zedong's "Report on the Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan" written in Wuhan. Xinhua News Agency (file photo)
Comrade Mao Zedong's former residence, where Mao Zedong lived in the first half of 1927 when he was engaged in revolutionary activities in Wuhan, was rebuilt and opened to the public in 1967 according to its original appearance, and houses precious historical relics such as a rusty iron box and a lacquer-mottled grandfather clock. Comrade Mao Zedong's former residence witnessed Mao Zedong's writing of the "Report on the Inspection of the Peasant Movement in Hunan", presided over the Wuchang Central Peasant Movement Training Institute, participated in important historical activities such as the Five National Congresses of the Communist Party of China, and also witnessed the warm life of Mao Zedong and his wife Yang Kaihui, sons Mao Anying, Mao Anying and Mao Anlong in the last period of reunion.
Former residence of Comrade Mao Zedong. Image source: Wuhan Revolution Museum official website
The site of the Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China covers an area of 7,900 square meters, and seven brick and wood buildings are arranged in the shape of "Hui", which was originally the primary school attached to the National Wuchang Higher Normal School, witnessing the early revolutionary activities of Mao Zedong and Chen Tanqiu. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched the April 12 counter-revolutionary coup and raised a butcher's knife to the Communists and the revolutionary masses, and the Great Revolution fell into a trough. In the face of the complicated, sharp and fierce domestic and foreign political situation, the Chinese Communists need to have a sober understanding and take decisive action to save the revolution. The Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held against this background, and the delegates attending the congress included 82 people, including Chen Duxiu, Qu Qiubai, Cai Hesen, Li Weihan, Mao Zedong, Chen Tanqiu, and Li Lisan, representing more than 57,000 party members throughout the country at that time. The Comintern was also represented at the Congress.
The site of the Fifth Congress of the Communist Party of China and the site of Chen Tanqiu's early revolutionary activities. Image source: Wuhan Revolution Museum official website
Reminiscing about the past, the years are thick. "China's First Red Street" witnessed the arduous struggle of the Chinese Communists, and the red revolutionary spirit of throwing away their heads and spilling blood for the happiness of the people still inspires people with lofty ideals to forge ahead. In the past hundred years, the Communist Party of China has found the correct path of historical development. In July 1945, when Huang Yanpei asked Mao Zedong in Yangjialing, Yan'an, how to avoid the "historical cycle rate" of "its rise and fall, its demise is also neglected", Mao Zedong replied: "We have found a new way, we can jump out of this cycle rate." This new road is democracy, and only by allowing the people to supervise the government can the government dare not slacken off. Only when everyone rises up and takes responsibility will no one die in politics. "Rivers flow forever. A political party that truly attaches importance to the interests of the people and serves the people wholeheartedly will always win the trust of the people and gain the support of the people, and will be able to overcome any difficulties and be invincible.
Source: Jingchu Network
Author: Liu Baochang (Editor and Researcher, Jianghan Forum Magazine, Hubei Academy of Social Sciences)