The two pictures attached are old photos of a Christian church located in Shima Liberation West Road, Longhai City, Zhangzhou, Fujian. In 1859, a Christian meeting place was set up in Xizibian, Daxiangqian, Shima, in an “old fashioned house, Junai Hall, bought from a man with the last name of Wang”.
In 1927, the church staff of Shima Church found that “the six-brick column in the center of Junai Hall obstructed the line of sight, and in 12th year the color of the centre sill seemed to change suddenly. They believed that the column was damaged by worms and about to collapse”. Under the proposal of Pastor Ang Khek Chhiong, the Shima Church decided to “tear down the old walls and rebuild a new foundation”. In twelve years (from 1915 to 1927), the church collected 17,257 yuan from believers at home and abroad, then a new spectacular Shima Christian church was built in the following year at the cost of 17,400 yuan. The new church had an elegant environment. The middle of it was a lobby of typical Chinese architectural style. There were also two buildings around the church: the clergy house and the deacon Building. The whole architecture was surrounded by walls. Inside the walls are all kinds of flowers and trees introduced from home and abroad. A flagpole was erected, setting off this magnificent Chinese palatial architecture.
This palatial church, rarely seen in China, was the former headquarters of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Central Red Army 88 years ago. In April 1932, Chairman Mao Zedong led the Central Red Army to conquer Zhangzhou. The Third Army of the Red Army entered Zhangzhou through the north gate and joined the Fourth Army of the Red Army, which entered the city from the west gate. After the victory of Zhangzhou on the 20th, according to the deployment of the headquarters of the East Route Army, the Fourth Army of the Red Army, under the leadership of the commander Wang Liang and the chief of staff He Ting, was stationed at Shima on the afternoon of April 21st. The military headquarters was set up in this Chinese-style church. The Red Army stationed in Shima strictly implemented the urban policy, carefully differentiated among the people, and made every effort not to commit the slightest offense against the civilians. They went into the countryside to fight the local tyrants and evil gentry, burned the land deeds, distributed the land and grain, and helped the poor people. During this period, the Shima Revolutionary Committee of Workers and Peasants was established. The Committee cooperated with the Red Army in accomplishing three tasks, namely, encouraging the masses to participate in the revolutionary struggle, writing revolutionary slogans, and setting up podiums to preach revolutionary principles. Three large-scale mass meetings were held in Shima to propagate to the masses the revolutionary proposition of overthrowing the Kuomintang reactionaries, establishing areas as Soviets, and making the poor the masters of the country, as well as the anti-Japanese proposition of the Party and the Red Army.
In Shima, the Fourth Army of the Red Army also added four to five hundred Red Army soldiers, many of whom were young intellectuals, thus consolidating and expanding the Western Fujian Soviet Area. They developed the guerrilla warfare in the Southern Fujian Area, and effectively promoted the development of the Longhai Soviet Area.
Interestingly, the above photos of several Red Army soldiers, including the army commander and chief of staff of the Fourth Army of the Red Army, were shot by a Christian church elder, Zhu Zhifu, whose father was Zhu Jichang, the owner of Zhu Jichang Photo Studio (After liberation, it was renamed Shima Liberation East Photo Studio). The photos were provided by the grandson of Zhu Zhifu, Mr. Zhu, who is presently the vice-chairman of Zhangzhou CC&TSPM and the director of Shima Jiexi Church.
(The original article is published by Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
上面二幅是座落在龙海市石码解放西路基督教堂的老照片。1859年，基督教会在石码大港墘溪仔边，“以屋购自王姓”的“旧式翻筑讵耐堂”设讲道所（即礼拜堂）。
1927年教会发现该礼拜堂的“讵耐堂中立六砖柱於视线殊形阻碍，且于十二年仰观中樑色忽变异，虑遭蛀坏崩折”，在时任牧师洪克昌先生的倡仪下， 石码教会决定“拆毁旧壁，重开新基”，海内外信徒从1915年至1927年的十二年间共筹得大洋17257元，一座造价17400大洋的雄伟壮观的新石码基督教礼拜堂于次年建成，新石码基督教礼拜堂环境优雅，正中是一座具有典型中国建筑风格的大堂，周边还设有牧师楼和执事楼两座，整体建筑外有围墙，围墙内中有从国内外引进的各种花木，竖有升旗杆，映衬着雄伟壮观的中国宫殿式建筑。
这座中国少有宫殿式礼拜堂，88年前也是中国中央红军第四军军部的旧址。1932年4月毛泽东率领中央红军攻克漳州，红三军从北门进入漳州，与从西门进城的红四军汇合，20日胜利攻克漳州之后，根据东路军总部的部署，红四军在军长王良和参谋长鹤亭的带领下，于4月21日下午进驻石码，军部就设立在这座中国式的教堂里，红军进驻石码，严格执行城市政策、注意区分对象，力求做到对老百姓秋毫无犯，深入乡村打土豪劣绅、烧地契借据、分田地粮食，接济穷苦百姓，期间成立了石码工农革命委员会，委员会配合红军完成三大任务，宣传发动群众参加革命斗争，书写革命标语，搭建演讲台宣讲革命道理，先后在石码召开3次较大规模的群众集会，向群众宣传打倒国民党反动派、建立苏维埃、穷苦人当家做主人的革命主张，宣传党和红军的抗日主张。
在石码红四军还补充红军战士四、五百人，其中有不少是青年知识分子，从而巩固和扩大了闽西苏区，发展了闽南地区的游击战争，有力推动了龙海苏区篷勃发展。
有意思的是，上面红4军军长和参谋长等几位红军战士在石码的留影的照片是当年在石码基督教会任长老，始创于1910年朱继昌照相馆朱继昌之子朱植福拍摄的（解放后更名为石码解放东照相馆 ），由朱植福孙子，现为漳州市基督教两会副主席和石码解西堂主任朱先生提供。
教堂风采：一座中国宫殿式的教堂，88年前曾是红四军军部址
The two pictures attached are old photos of a Christian church located in Shima Liberation West Road, Longhai City, Zhangzhou, Fujian. In 1859, a Christian meeting place was set up in Xizibian, Daxiangqian, Shima, in an “old fashioned house, Junai Hall, bought from a man with the last name of Wang”.
In 1927, the church staff of Shima Church found that “the six-brick column in the center of Junai Hall obstructed the line of sight, and in 12th year the color of the centre sill seemed to change suddenly. They believed that the column was damaged by worms and about to collapse”. Under the proposal of Pastor Ang Khek Chhiong, the Shima Church decided to “tear down the old walls and rebuild a new foundation”. In twelve years (from 1915 to 1927), the church collected 17,257 yuan from believers at home and abroad, then a new spectacular Shima Christian church was built in the following year at the cost of 17,400 yuan. The new church had an elegant environment. The middle of it was a lobby of typical Chinese architectural style. There were also two buildings around the church: the clergy house and the deacon Building. The whole architecture was surrounded by walls. Inside the walls are all kinds of flowers and trees introduced from home and abroad. A flagpole was erected, setting off this magnificent Chinese palatial architecture.
This palatial church, rarely seen in China, was the former headquarters of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Central Red Army 88 years ago. In April 1932, Chairman Mao Zedong led the Central Red Army to conquer Zhangzhou. The Third Army of the Red Army entered Zhangzhou through the north gate and joined the Fourth Army of the Red Army, which entered the city from the west gate. After the victory of Zhangzhou on the 20th, according to the deployment of the headquarters of the East Route Army, the Fourth Army of the Red Army, under the leadership of the commander Wang Liang and the chief of staff He Ting, was stationed at Shima on the afternoon of April 21st. The military headquarters was set up in this Chinese-style church. The Red Army stationed in Shima strictly implemented the urban policy, carefully differentiated among the people, and made every effort not to commit the slightest offense against the civilians. They went into the countryside to fight the local tyrants and evil gentry, burned the land deeds, distributed the land and grain, and helped the poor people. During this period, the Shima Revolutionary Committee of Workers and Peasants was established. The Committee cooperated with the Red Army in accomplishing three tasks, namely, encouraging the masses to participate in the revolutionary struggle, writing revolutionary slogans, and setting up podiums to preach revolutionary principles. Three large-scale mass meetings were held in Shima to propagate to the masses the revolutionary proposition of overthrowing the Kuomintang reactionaries, establishing areas as Soviets, and making the poor the masters of the country, as well as the anti-Japanese proposition of the Party and the Red Army.
In Shima, the Fourth Army of the Red Army also added four to five hundred Red Army soldiers, many of whom were young intellectuals, thus consolidating and expanding the Western Fujian Soviet Area. They developed the guerrilla warfare in the Southern Fujian Area, and effectively promoted the development of the Longhai Soviet Area.
Interestingly, the above photos of several Red Army soldiers, including the army commander and chief of staff of the Fourth Army of the Red Army, were shot by a Christian church elder, Zhu Zhifu, whose father was Zhu Jichang, the owner of Zhu Jichang Photo Studio (After liberation, it was renamed Shima Liberation East Photo Studio). The photos were provided by the grandson of Zhu Zhifu, Mr. Zhu, who is presently the vice-chairman of Zhangzhou CC&TSPM and the director of Shima Jiexi Church.
(The original article is published by Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
A Chinese Palatial Church, Once Headquarters of the Fourth Army of the Red Army
