Donglan County, Guangxi, is the hometown of Wei Guoqing, the founding general of the People's Republic of China.
As an old revolutionary base area, this land gave birth to five founding generals, so it enjoys the reputation of "the hometown of generals of China's ethnic minorities". On November 22 this year, the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the birth of General Wei Guoqing was held in Donglan County.
The commemorative activities attracted the participation of representatives of the descendants of the Red Seventh Army, such as the leaders of Hechi City and Donglan County, Wei Xiaoyi, the son of Wei Guoqing, and Deng Xiaoyan, the daughter of the former vice premier, and Zhang Xiaolong, the grandson of the founding general Zhang Yunyi.
In this commemorative event, the "Inheritance of Red Genes and Continuation of Red Blood-Exhibition of Calligraphy and Painting Works for the High-quality Development of Old Revolutionary Areas" was held.
The participants also visited the Zhuangxiang General Memorial Hall and the former residence of Wei Guoqing. The works in the painting and calligraphy exhibition vividly show the revolutionary process and noble character of General Wei Guoqing.
For example, works such as "Beacon Boy" and "Zhuangxiang Hongerlang" show Wei Guoqing's heroic journey of participating in the Baise Uprising and joining the Seventh Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army at the age of 16.
Many calligraphy works excerpt Wei Guoqing's speeches before his death, one of which is: "The Communist Party talks about a game of chess in the whole country, as long as the truth is explained clearly, the people will understand and support it."
During the commemoration, two calligraphic works stand out, and they present the same content. This is the poem written by his comrade-in-arms Admiral Zhang Aiping in mourning him after Wei Guoqing's death in 1989: "The Red Fellow Comrades attacked the military and politics, galloped on the Long March, and the Soviet and Anhui journeys behind the enemy.
During a visit to the General Zhuangxiang Memorial Hall, participants in the commemorative event presented flowers to the bronze statue of General Wei Guoqing. In 2013, in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of General Wei Guoqing, this memorial hall was built by the local government.
The museum vividly displays Wei Guoqing's combat experience and exploits in historical periods such as the Baise Uprising, the Long March, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the War of Liberation, as well as his special contributions to Guangxi during the construction of New China.
The museum also displays the history of the Red Seventh Army and the Red Eighth Army, as well as the founding generals related to them, such as Zhang Yunyi and Li Tianyou.
Through visiting the memorial hall, some people who do not know much about the deeds of General Wei Guoqing learned that in the early days of the founding of New China, General Wei Guoqing led a military advisory group to Vietnam to assist Vietnam in the War of Resistance against France and army building.
This history lasted for several years, and it was not until 1956 that he returned to China.
Wei Guoqing's former residence is located in Nongying Village, Sanshi Town, Donglan County, which is where he grew up.
In 1913, Wei Guoqing was born in this village surrounded by mountains. When he was 13 years old, his father and grandfather were killed by reactionary forces because of their involvement in the peasant uprising, and his family's ancestral house was burned down.
In 1998, in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Wei Guoqing's birth, Wei Guoqing's relatives rebuilt the house on the original site of the former residence and became the "Wei Guoqing Showroom". Inside the house, some old objects from the early years of the local countryside show what life was like in that era.
On the wall of the hall of the former residence hangs a family photo of Wei Guoqing**.
Before the end of the visit, Wei Guoqing's relatives and descendants of the Red Seventh Army took a group photo with Wei Xiaoyi.
Through this commemorative event, the participants were baptized in their hearts.