Xinmin Evening News (Reporter Jiang Yuezhong) Gu Zhenghong was an outstanding communist fighter who was nurtured and raised by the Communist Party of China and a pioneer of the Chinese workers' movement. Shanghai Gu Zhenghong Memorial Hall was completed and opened on May 30, 2008, the 83rd anniversary of the May Thirtieth Movement, and is open to all sectors of the community free of charge. After the overall functional upgrading, on the 21st, the Shanghai Patriotic Education Base and the Gu Zhenghong Memorial Hall of the Putuo District Revolution Memorial Site reopened.
Photo: Shanghai Patriotism Education Base and Putuo District Revolution Memorial Gu Zhenghong Memorial Hall reopened Putuo District Information Office Courtesy of (the same below)
In May 1925, Gu Zhenghong, with his young and precious life, ignited the anti-imperialist anger of the Shanghai workers, stimulated the patriotic heart of the people of the whole country, sounded the death knell of imperialism's hegemony on the land of China, and set off the "May Thirtieth" anti-imperialist patriotic movement that shocked China and foreign countries.
Gu Zhenghong Memorial Hall, located at No. 300 Macao Road, Putuo District (former site of guomian no. 2 factory), is an important revolutionary memorial site to commemorate the heroic deeds of Gu Zhenghong, strengthen the education of future generations in revolutionary traditions, and carry out in-depth research on the history of the May Thirtieth Movement and the history of the revolution in western Shanghai.
The physical exhibits the life and labor tools used by Gu Zhenghong and his co-workers, and at the same time uses a large number of reliefs, sculptures, immersive light and shadow experience spaces, interactive installations, miniature models, artistic scene restoration, etc., integrating more interactive display means to create a more vivid display atmosphere.
Gu Zhenghong Memorial Hall updated the basic exhibitions in the museum in 2012, the main building was seismically reinforced in 2013, and the whole museum was upgraded in 2017. In 2021, in order to greet the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the overall goal of building a modern public cultural service system in Putuo District, Gu Zhenghong Memorial Hall carried out the overall function upgrading and transformation. Improve the exhibition method and enrich the display content. Introduce intelligent exhibition methods, further enrich the exhibits and display content, and carry out overall design and transformation of the internal space; improve supporting settings and optimize service quality. Repair and renovation of public toilets, air conditioning and ventilation systems, etc., and increase the number of activity classrooms to provide visitors with a better viewing experience; enhance the overall image and strengthen the cultural brand. The façade of the building, the memorial square (including flagpoles, sculptures, etc.), the martyrdom of Gu Zhenghong, etc. were repaired and transformed to enhance the overall image of the venue and further polish the "red culture" brand of Putuo.
The new museum consists of three parts: a memorial square, an exhibition in the museum, and a martyrdom of Gu Zhenghong. On the left side of the memorial square stands a statue of Gu Zhenghong, designed and built by the Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute in 1959, and a large relief commemorating the May Thirtieth Movement is inlaid on the right wall. The exhibition is composed of five parts: "Years of Suffering", "Awakening and Growth", "Anti-Imperialist Anger", "Burning Fire", and "Eternal Remembrance", through combing and excavating more exhibition spaces and activity spaces, further increasing the exhibition content related to the "May Thirtieth" Movement, and showing the life deeds of martyr Gu Zhenghong and the development process of the "May Thirtieth" anti-imperialist patriotic movement triggered by it in a panoramic manner. At the back of the museum, the original martyr Gu Zhenghong sacrificed a monument with eight characters inscribed by Wei Wenbo, then secretary of the East China Bureau of the Communist Party of China, in 1959, "Gu Zhenghong Martyrdom Place".
Gu Zhenghong Memorial Hall exhibition hall is mainly divided into 5 exhibition areas, the first exhibition area - the years of suffering, from the perspective of "dark old China" and "Gu Zhenghong's painful childhood" to tell the historical background of China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society from the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century; the second exhibition area - awakening and growth, from "to the West Shanghai Japanese Merchant Spinning Mill to work", "growing up in the West Shanghai Workers' Club", "Gloriously joining the Party in the February strike", telling how the workers' movement in western Shanghai started and developed in the 1920s. And the process of Gu Zhenghong's growth from an ordinary worker to a Communist Party member; the third exhibition area - anti-imperialist rage, from "Gu Zhenghong's heroic sacrifice", "Tanziwan public sacrifice of wind and thunder", "May 30 massacre shocked China and foreign countries", "the establishment of the Federation of Trade Unions in the storm", "the three strikes struggle is like a broken bamboo", "the sacrifice of the leader of the labor movement Liu Hua", etc., tells the process of the outbreak of the May Thirtieth anti-imperialist patriotic movement triggered by Gu Zhenghong's sacrifice; the fourth exhibition area - the fire is burning: from "the May Thirtieth Movement swept through the land of China" and "the world supports China's May Thirtieth Fury Wave". The Great Revolutionary Movement after may thirtieth" tells the far-reaching impact of the May Thirtieth Movement and how the Communist Party of China has developed and grown in this movement; the fifth exhibition area, Eternal Remembrance, from "Gu Zhenghong Martyr Memorial", "May Thirtieth Movement Commemoration" and "Historical and Literary works related to Gu Zhenghong and the May Thirtieth Movement after the founding of New China", tells the story of the party and the people through various ways, building a series of memorial facilities, so that Gu Zhenghong martyr and the "May Thirtieth Movement" will always be remembered in people's hearts.