Jinggangshan is known as the birthplace of the Chinese Red Army (the People's Liberation Army of China) and the "cradle of the Chinese revolution". After the Kuomintang (KMT) turned against the Communist Party during the Shanghai Massacre of 1927, the Communists either went underground or fled to the countryside. Following the unsuccessful Autumn Harvest Uprising in Changsha, Mao Zedong led his 10...[Full]

Jinggangshan is known as the birthplace of the Chinese Red Army (the People's Liberation Army of China) and the "cradle of the Chinese revolution". After the Kuomintang (KMT) turned against the Communist Party during the Shanghai Massacre of 1927, the Communists either went underground or fled to the countryside. Following the unsuccessful Autumn Harvest Uprising in Changsha, Mao Zedong led his 1000 remaining men to Jinggangshan, where he set up his first peasant soviet.

Mao reorganised his forces at the mountain village of Sanwan, consolidating his forces into a single regiment - the "1st Regiment, 1st Division, of the First Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army". Mao then made an alliance with the local bandit chieftains Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai, who had previously had little association with the Communists. For the first year he set up military headquarters at the town of Maoping, a small market town encircled by low hills guarding the main western route into Jingangshan. In November, the army occupied Chaling, some 80 km to the west, though this was quickly overrun by KMT troops.

Along with Mao Zedong's hometown Shaoshan, Jinggangshan became one of the most important sites of the Communist Revolution. It was celebrated on posters, songs and operas.[Close]

Jinggangshan is known as the birthplace of the Chinese Red Army (the People's Liberation Army of China) and the "cradle of the Chinese revolution". After the Kuomintang (KMT) turned against the Communist Party during the Shanghai Massacre of 1927, the Communists either went underground or fled to the countryside. Following the unsuccessful Autumn Harvest Uprising in Changsha, Mao Zedong led his 10...[Full]