Guo Di People: Fighting Life for the People

In Longmen Town, on the outskirts of Longyan, Fujian, an old revolutionary base, an elegant courtyard is located on the riverside. This is a memorial hall for Comrade Guo Di, one of the founders of the Red Army and the Soviet Area in western Fujian.

Entering the gate of the memorial hall, two cypress trees stood upright, and a blue marble tablet recording the life and deeds of Guo Di appeared in front. In his short life at the age of 29, he used his life to leave a strong mark in the history of China's revolution.

Guo Di, formerly known as Guo Shangbin, was born in 1907 in a poor peasant family in Longyan, Fujian Province. As a child, Guo Di studied hard. Later, because his family was poor and could not continue to go to school, he went to Zhangzhou as an apprentice. In 1923, he received financial support from his uncle and went to Xiamen Jimei School to study. He began to come into contact with progressive ideas. The hard life since childhood made Guo Di deeply feel that "the only way out for Chinese peasants to get rid of poverty is to join the revolution".

In 1926, Guo Di attended the Sixth National Peasant Movement Workshop in Guangzhou founded by Mao Zedong and joined the Communist Party of China in the same year. During this period, he systematically studied many Marxist-Leninist writings, combined with the reality of the Chinese revolution for in-depth thinking, and changed his name to "Guo Di people", determined to "bit by bit for the people".

In September of the same year, Guo Diren returned to Longyan and secretly established the grassroots organization of the Communist Party of China. He successively served as the organization member of the Longyan County Party Branch of the Communist Party of China and the organization minister of the Longyan County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China. He often wears a hat on his head and straw sandals. He travels through mountains and rivers to visit the poor and investigate the society. He also followed the practice of the Guangzhou Agricultural Institute and opened a training class for cadres of the Yanpingning Government Supervision Office in the city, and trained a group of outstanding revolutionary cadres in western Fujian.

In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolutionary coup in Shanghai, and Western Fujian was also shrouded in white terror. Guo Di people immediately organized party members and revolutionary cadres to quickly transfer to the countryside and enter the stage of arduous struggle. In March 1928, under the leadership of Guo Di and Deng Zihui, an armed peasant uprising was held in Houtian Village, Longyan, which was called "the first shot of an armed peasant uprising in Fujian". After the uprising, the first guerrilla group in western Fujian was formed. In 1929, Guo Di people led the armed insurrection of farmers in Longyan County, led the guerrillas to cooperate with the Red Fourth Army to fight in Fujian to fight Longyan City, and wiped out the Kuomintang troops guarding the city, making great contributions to the creation of the Western Fujian Soviet Area and even the Central Soviet Area.

In 1934, Guo Di took part in the Long March and did propaganda and agitation work in the Third Army of the First Red Army. Due to long-term travel and fatigue, he had a relapse of lung disease and dysentery during the Long March, often coughing up blood. On November 18, 1936, Guo Di died in Baoan County, northern Shaanxi Province, at the age of 29.

In 1956, Guo Di's bones were transported back to Longyan from northern Shaanxi for public burial. Deng Zihui, then Vice Premier of the State Council, said at the public funeral ceremony: "Comrade Guo Diren, he fought for the liberation of the Chinese proletariat and the Chinese people and completed his glorious life. His life of fighting has set an indelible example for the people of western Fujian and will always be respected and commemorated by the people of western Fujian."

Source: People's Daily Online