A special list of “Good People in Hunan” was released on July 10 to commend the collectives and individuals that have made prominent contributions in the protection and inheritance of revolutionary relics, in which Yu Xinguo from Yizhang County, Chenzhou City was one of the candidates.

Chayuan Natural Village in Xianghua Village is one important monument of Nianguan Uprising (also known as Hunan Uprising), when the brutal enemies burnt out all the houses of the village and killed the people of 55 households. There were 79 households in total.

As a farmer hero in the revolutionary wars along Hunan-Guangdong boundary, Yu Jingbang was also the founder of Chayuan Revolutionary Base, the commander in chief of Yizhang Peasant Association as well as the battalion commander of the independent battalion of the guerrilla area along Hunan-Guangdong boundary. In 1928, he led a self-defence corps of peasants with over 400 people to Jinggang Mountain, and met another one led by Huang Kecheng which was pursued by an enemy troop.

Therefore, in order to cover the main force, he led his corps to fight with the enemy. As a result, most of the peasants died. Then he assembled dozens of remained soldiers and carried out guerrilla wars around Meihua Town, Ruyuan County, Guangdong Province.

In 1931, Yu and his army provided money and food for the Seventh Army Group led by Deng Xiaoping and Li Mingrui when the army passed the town, and fought with the enemies to cover the army group. Unfortunately, he was badly wounded and thus lost the opportunity to go to the revolutionary base in Jiangxi Province.

During his recovery from the wound, he was betrayed and died bravely. Yu and his crops made great contribution to the revolutionary causes, whose deeds and spirits of self-sacrifice have moved numerous people and been widely spread in local areas.

Yu Xinguo’s father, Yu Jisheng repeatedly reminded his children to carry forward the revolutionary spirits of their grandfather and the old generation. In March 2018, Yu Xinguo gave a vivid and moving explanation of the red Chayuan in the interview of “connecting with red places” conducted by the provincial publicity department, but it was a pity that there were few remains in Yu Jingbang’s Former Residence. Then Yu realized it was of great necessity and urgency to collect, sort out and protect the remains and relics of the red Chayuan. 

On weekends and holidays, he retraced his grandfather’s revolutionary journey and with in-depth investigation and interviews, he wrote a biography of his grandfather named Yu Jingbang, Leader of the Peasant Movement. 

While conducing investigations in Meihua Town, Ruyuan County, Guangdong Province, he found a suitcase which his grandfather often carried on him. He collected lots of new historical materials and sent them to the county’s Party’s history office for verification. Then, he raised more than 200,000 yuan to make display boards, decorate the exhibition rooms, repair the roads and set up signposts.

He has built several exhibition rooms such as the Exhibition Room of Yu Jingbang’s Former Residence, the Exhibition Room of Chayuan Peasant Association and the Exhibition Room of Bai Lingyuan’s Former Residence. The Site of Chayuan Red Base was opened to the public on July 1, 2018, which gained popularity among the local people and drew in numerous visitors.

Yu Xinguo serves as both a narrator and a guide with a loudspeaker hanging around his waist. In the past three years, he has received over 10,000 people of more than 300 groups, who came here for study.

Although mouth parched and tongue scorched, he gives attractive explanations with high spirits. He said that to carry forward the revolutionary spirits is the best reward for him, when he saw the deeply moved audiences shed tears.

Chayuan Red Base has been listed as a key revolutionary monument of Chenzhou City and Yizhang County. Now Yu Xinguo is busy rebuilding the revolutionary sites and red exhibition rooms in Chayuan and writing a long reportage on the revolutionary struggles of Chayuan people. He plans to cultivate young people into narrators and guides.

Besides, he is raising money to rehearse a Qi Opera, “The Female Red Army in Chayuan” created by the county’s troupe in the 1960s. Yu actively cooperates with local officials to develop the rural tourism based on the red resources. He said, “Chayuan Village, once making great contribution to the revolution, is now a pioneer of rural revitalization.