Yan'an Travel Series (Part 5): Wangjiaping Revolutionary Site
Wangjiaping Revolutionary Site
Wangjiaping was formerly called Mudanping (Peony Flat), because a wealthy landlord surnamed Wang bought most of the land here, and it was renamed Wangjiaping. Wangjiaping lies at the foot of two large mountains: on the left is Naopan Mountain, on the right is Huabao Mountain.
Wangjiaping was the site of the Central Military Commission and the General Headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. Now open to the public are the Military Commission Auditorium, the Political Department Meeting Room, the Military Commission Meeting Room, and the former residences of Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, etc.
The largest building in Wangjiaping is the Military Commission Auditorium. This seven-room tall, spacious tile-roofed building with upturned eaves was designed by Wu Jichan, a carpenter from the 359th Brigade, and built in 1943. Large meetings, evening parties, and other collective activities of the Military Commission headquarters were held here. In December 1943, the Eighth Route Army headquarters held a welcome meeting for labor heroes here to exchange experiences in the Great Production Movement. In his welcome speech to the labor heroes, Zhu De said, 'The true heroes of the world are the broad working masses. In our liberated areas, it is only by relying on the self-reliance of the masses that we have today's ample food and clothing.' On August 15, 1945, a grand commemorative meeting for the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan was held in the Military Commission Auditorium.
Zhu De opened a vegetable garden in Wangjiaping, called 'Little Nanniwan', where he grew more than 20 kinds of vegetables. Zhu De also personally planted two willow trees, which have now grown very large and can be seen during visits.
In January 1946, Mao Zedong moved from Zaoyuan to live in Wangjiaping. Here, he successively wrote works such as 'Some Estimates on the Current International Situation', 'Smash Chiang Kai-shek's Offensive with a War of Self-Defense', 'Concentrate Superior Forces to Annihilate the Enemy One by One', among others, of which eight are included in the 'Selected Works of Mao Zedong'.
On January 7, 1946, Mao Anying arrived in Yan'an. Chairman Mao said to him, 'You have graduated from a university abroad, but the knowledge you have learned is not enough. I am sending you to the countryside to learn from the peasants and attend China's Labor University. Your teacher is Wu Manyou, a famous labor hero. He has been farming on my behalf for the past few years and paying my public grain every year.'
On February 11, 1944, the 'Liberation Daily' published a letter from Wu Manyou to Chairman Mao, which read: 'Dear Chairman Mao: After last year's Border Region Labor Heroes Congress, I plan to open up 4 more shang of wasteland this year and farm 2 dan of fine grain on your behalf (one dan of wheat and one dan of millet). You are very busy with work, and I hope you can concentrate your energy on planning the work of the whole country!' Chairman Mao gladly agreed. From then on, Wu Manyou personally delivered the earliest and best harvest of one dan of wheat and one dan of millet to the Central Office every year. Chairman Mao also inscribed for him the words 'Famous Under Heaven'.
On March 4, 1946, members of the Supreme Military Three-Person Group — U.S. special envoy to China George Marshall, Kuomintang representative Zhang Zhizhong, Communist representative Zhou Enlai, and the three members of the Military Mediation Committee, Walter Robertson, Zheng Jiemin, and Ye Jianying — returned to Yan'an and held friendly talks here with Chairman Mao on issues such as the ceasefire agreement, the Political Consultative Conference, and military reorganization. In the evening, a welcome party was held. After visiting the Military Commission headquarters, Marshall found it incredible and said, 'The Communist Party leads over a million troops, yet the headquarters in the Yan'an mountain valley is only this size.' Chairman Mao wittily replied, 'Our headquarters only issues combat orders; it issues nothing else. No clothes, no food, no money, no guns or artillery.'
On March 14, 1947, just before the evacuation of Yan'an, Chairman Mao held a lengthy talk here with responsible comrades from the New Fourth Brigade, including Zhang Xianyue, Huang Zhentang, and Cheng Yuechang, repeatedly explaining the great significance of abandoning Yan'an. At that time, many officers and soldiers could not understand the Central Committee's decision to abandon Yan'an. During the meeting, everyone excitedly expressed their determination to defend the Party Central Committee, defend Chairman Mao, and defend Yan'an to the death. Chairman Mao smiled and said: 'Your determination is very good. Yan'an must be defended. We have lived in Yan'an for ten years, dug caves, eaten millet, studied Marxism-Leninism, trained cadres, and guided the Chinese revolution. All of China and the whole world know that there is a Yan'an. Yan'an cannot but be defended. However, Yan'an also cannot but be abandoned. Because Chiang Kai-shek has mobilized 230,000 troops, with the support of U.S. imperialism, possessing aircraft, tanks, and artillery, while our troops defending Yan'an number only over 20,000, basically still millet plus rifles. It is difficult for over 20,000 men to wipe out 230,000 enemies at once.' Chairman Mao also used examples from past revolutionary wars to repeatedly explain that combat does not lie in the gain or loss of a single city or pond, but mainly in the principle of annihilating the enemy's effective strength. Chairman Mao said, 'Abandoning Yan'an today means that in the future we will liberate Xi'an, liberate Nanjing, and liberate all of China.' He also said, 'Our tactic is the "mushroom tactic," which is to lead the enemy by the nose in circles through the mountain valleys, dragging the fat ones thin, and the thin ones down, exhausting them, and then concentrate superior forces to annihilate them one by one. Your main task now is to tie down the enemy and make them unable to pull their feet out of here. Besides you, plus me, Mao Zedong, and also Xinhua News Agency, we will all stay in northern Shaanxi.' Chairman Mao's words greatly boosted everyone's confidence. At the end, Chairman Mao instructed, 'After returning, explain to the soldiers the reason for evacuating Yan'an, and tell them that in at least one year, at most two years, we will still return to Yan'an.' Chairman Mao saw the comrades to the door, shaking hands with everyone and smiling, saying, 'Good! Where will we meet next time? Maybe not Yan'an, perhaps Nanjing, Shanghai, or Beiping!' History completely confirmed Mao Zedong's wise foresight. The Kuomintang occupied Yan'an on March 19, 1947. We recaptured Yan'an on April 22, 1948. The enemy occupied Yan'an for only one year, one month, and three days, and Yan'an returned to the hands of the people.
In March 1947, Hu Zongnan's Kuomintang forces launched a key offensive against the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, sending large numbers of planes to bomb Wangjiaping repeatedly, dropping many bombs. At this time, Chairman Mao still sat calmly in his cave dwelling working. Several guards repeatedly asked the Chairman to go to the air-raid shelter, but he always said, 'It's okay, the cave is fine, it's thick.' As he was speaking, guard Shi Guorui picked up a piece of shrapnel from outside and brought it to Chairman Mao. He took the shrapnel, weighed it in his hand, and said, 'This is very good! It can be used to make two kitchen knives.' On March 16, the enemy approached the southern gate of Yan'an. The situation was very urgent, and everyone urged Chairman Mao to leave Yan'an early. He smiled and said, 'It's okay, there's still time. The big road leads to the sky, each person takes half. He goes his way, I go mine. He is on that mountain, I am on this mountain. There is nothing to fear.'
On March 18, the sound of gunfire from the front line was clearly heard in Yan'an city. Peng Dehuai was very worried about the Chairman's safety and repeatedly urged Chairman Mao to evacuate. He said he wanted to see what Hu Zongnan's soldiers looked like before leaving. At around 4 pm, Zhou Enlai again asked Mao Zedong to set off. He said, 'Alright! Let's eat dinner first before leaving! If the enemy wants to come, let them come! We will clean the cave, set the tables and chairs straight, arrange the teacups neatly, and tell Hu Zongnan that Yan'an is ours, and we will return.' At 8 pm, when Chairman Mao learned that the masses, cadres, and organs had been safely evacuated, he left Yan'an together with Zhou Enlai and others, embarking on the journey of fighting in northern Shaanxi.
After Hu Zongnan occupied Yan'an, Wangjiaping was used by Kuomintang troops, and their panicked escape also began from here.
(Author: Dasong Wanjun, written on September 17, 2020)
