Xibaipo, a name echoing the glory of China's revolutionary history, is an ordinary 100-household village located in Pingshan County, Hebei Province. In May 1947, the Party's Working Committee chose this location and in May 1948, under the leadership of Comrade Mao Tse-tung, the Party's Central Committee and the headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army moved to this village. This made it the last rural command center prior to the decisive battles between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. Xibaipo's unique contribution to the revolution has thus bestowed upon it a name that shines in the history books of the Chinese revolution, setting up a historical monument with eternal glory.
In 1991 Zhu Muzhi, who was Minister of the Information Office of the State Council then, wrote this inscription for Xibaipo: “The destiny of China was determined in this village.” His inscription speaks highly of Xibaipo's historical status in China's revolution.
“New China set off from here” is a famous comment attributed to the writer Yan Tao when he wrote a literary report on Xibaipo, entitled “Notes on the Road to the East.” This comment was also used as a subtitle for the document, and is now widely quoted as the best synopsis of Xibaipo's historic contribution.
Xibaipo was selected to be the command center for both the liberating of China and the planning of New China for various reasons. Not only did its unique geographic location and natural surroundings best suit this purpose, Xibaipo also had developed into a strong revolutionary base over the years and therefore stood out for its political preeminence.
Xibaipo is a small village located on the northern banks of the Hutuo River running through the Jixi mountainous region. Not only does it have beautiful scenery, but also rich and fertile soil. The village is located in the middle of Pingshan County, at the crossroads between the North China Plateau and Mountain Taihang. Poised in a horse-foot-shaped valley oriented toward the sun, Xibaipo is surrounded by mountains on its three sides and by water on one side. To its west, it embraces the gateway to Mountain Taihang, and to its east, it borders the Jizhong Plateau. The village is only 90 km from Shijiazhuang, a strategically important city in the North China region. Xibaipo enjoys convenient transportation facilities and is distinguished as a military location of strategic importance. Occupying this location provides for flexibility in either withdrawing into the mountains at a time of emergency or for advancing into cities when necessary.
Revolutionary activity started early in Pingshan County. During the period of the Great Revolution in the 1920s, the Party set up its own organization here. By 1946, there were 608 branch offices, and the number of Party members had increased to 19,535, from just 30 members in 1931. The party gained popular support at the grassroots level. After the War against the Japanese Invasion, Pingshan County was surrounded by two revolutionary bases, i.e. Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei and Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-He'nan, and located here were the command posts of the 4th as well as the 2nd military sub-areas within the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei region. The headquarters of the Party's Northern Bureau, the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei Regional Government and the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei Military Region were also located in Pingshan County for three and half years.
Pingshan is seen as a model county in the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei region, and Xibaipo regarded as a model village. Xibaipo set up its Party organization in 1937. By 1948, the number of Party members had increased to 40 members coming from 33 households, accounting for 12.3% of the total population and 33% of the total number of households. In the neighboring area, the villages were lined up quite densely along the Hutuo River, with an average distance of 1 to 2 km from each other. Xibaipo was close to both the mountains and the river, and known for its rich and fertile soil. Given its favorable agricultural conditions, Xibaipo has two harvest seasons each year. When commenting on the economic conditions in Xibaipo and Pingshan, General Nie Rongzhen noted: “Pingshan County can be perceived as the Ukraine of the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei region.” The relatively developed agricultural economy helped to guarantee logistic support to both troops and the common people, and provided a material base for the Party's Central Committee.
The Party's Working Committee selected Xibaipo as the optimal place for various reasons, including its favorable geographic location, its relatively developed economy, its consistent grassroots support and the reasonable spread of villages.
After an intense period of planning, the Party's Working Committee was set up on July 12, 1947. In order to adapt to the ongoing war, the Working Committee was publicly known as “The Workers' School” and “The Laborers' University”. Liu Shao-chi was appointed the Headmaster, being called “Headmaster Hu” (Hu Fu being Liu's pseudonym). Chu Teh was appointed Director of the school board, and was called the Board-Director Chu.
After the Working Committee relocated to Xibaipo, it assisted in the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei field operations winning 4 big battles, which annihilated 62,000 enemy troops. Among them, the most famous one was the battle that resulted in the liberation of Shijiazhuang.
The liberation of Shijiazhuang connected two liberated areas, i.e. Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei and the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-He'nan. Not only did the victory lay a foundation for integrating the North China region, it also created favorable conditions for the relocation of the Party's Central Committee to this area.
On March 20, 1948, the Party's Central Committee made a decision to join the Working Committee and relocate to the North China region. On March 23rd, under the leadership of Mao Tse-tung, Chou En-lai and Ren Bishi, the Central Committee crossed the Yellow River at Chuankou in Shanxi Province's Wupu County Shanxiand headed east to Xibaipo, leaving the Shanbei Revolutionary Base where they had worked and lived for 13 years. On March 24th, they arrived at the stationing location of the Working Committee's rear office, i.e. Shuangta Village in Shanxi Province's Lin County.
On April 11th, they arrived at the posts of Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei Military Regional Command, located at Chengnan Village in Fuping County. On April 23rd, Chou En-lai and Ren Bishi, leading an advance group, arrived at Xibaipo and finally successfully joined up with the Working Committee. On May 1st, the Central Committee started its operations in Xibaipo, while the operations of the Party's Front Office, Working Committee and Rear Office were all simultaneously discharged.
Because Mao Tse-tung was preparing for negotiations to be held in the USSR at the time, he remained in Fuping awhile and arrived in Xibaipo on May 26th. By then, the Central Committee's five Secretary-Generals had finally reunited in Xibaipo after one year of separation. The reunion marked the successful completion of the strategic relocation organized by the Central Committee. Now, Xibaipo became the leadership nucleus for the Chinese revolution.
On March 23, 1949, the headquarters of the Party's Central Committee, the Military Central Committee and the Chinese People's Liberation Army set off from Xibaipo and advanced towards Beiping. Prior to departure, Mao Tse-tung collected all cadres and security personnel within the Central Committee and reminded them: “We are about to enter Beiping. Our entry into this city should be different from that of Li Zicheng. They became corrupted in Beijing. We Communists will continue our revolutionary activities and construct socialism until the realization of communism.”
The Party's Central Committee, though only residing in Xibaipo for ten months, had inscribed a remarkable chapter in China's revolutionary-history books. This period of time saw the sunrise of a new China. Just like Jing Gangshan, Ruijin and Yan'an, Xibaipo became one of the revered sites of the Chinese revolution.
On February 26, 1973, Chou En-lai wrote a inscription for Xibaipo: “Xibaipo is the last rural command center before Chairman Mao and the Party's Central Committee entered Beiping, liberating China. It was in Xibaipo that the Central Committee commanded the Three Major Campaigns and convened the 2nd Plenary Session of the 7th Central Committee.”
In 1956 the Hubei provincial government designated the original site of the Central Committee as a historical artifacts preservation unit. Due to the construction of the Hangnan Dam in 1958, the original site was flooded and removed to a hillside to the north of the village. The currently restored buildings were in the central courtyard located to the east of Xibaipo, occupying an area of 16,440 sq m. The restored buildings' original appearance has been basically preserved.
When the Working Committee started relocating to Xibaipo, there were no surrounding walls. When the Party's Central Committee moved in, 2-m-high earthen walls were built behind the residences of Mao Tse-tung, Liu Shao-chi, Chou En-lai and Ren Bishi, due to security considerations. In addition, air-raid shelters were built on the hillside behind their houses.
Upon entry into the area of the Xibaipo Memorial Museum, you will see a grand Xibaipo Memorial Monument standing amidst lush green cypress and pine trees. The name of the monument, “Xibaipo,” was inscribed by Deng Xiaoping. Comrade Jiang Zemin wrote an inscription during his visit to Xibaipo on September 21, 1991: “Bear in mind the two musts, and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Four major historical scenes were artistically carved in relief around the monument, i.e. the Central Committee's arrival in Xibaipo; the National Land Conference; the Three Major Campaigns; the full meeting of the 2nd Session of the 7th Central Committee; and the entry into Beiping. All these carvings vividly demonstrate the historical contributions made by Xibaipo and the activities undertaken by the Party during that period of time. On either sides of the monument stand the original site of the Party's Central Committee and the Xibaipo Memorial Museum.
On March 11, 1982, the State Council designated the original location of the Party's Central Committee at Xibaipo as a national-level historical artifacts preservation site. Like Mountain Jinggang and Yan'an, Xibaipo is one of the 100 educational bases for patriotism, designated by the Ministry of Publicity and is a well-known memorial site of Chinese revolutionary history.
Now Xibaipo faces the blue ripples of Xibaipo Lake and is nestled against lush green Xibaipo Ridge. The scenery is harmonious, delightful and uniquely charming.
Xibaipo has become a national model work unit for the development of spiritual civilization, and one of the major national scenic sites with a AAAA rating. The former Deputy Premier of the State Council, Mr. Qian Qishen, once described Xibaipo as “a revered revolutionary site and a enchanting tourist site.”
Xibaipo——a “red tourism” scenic site!
Xibaipo——a revered patriotic education site!! |
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