The 100th Anniversary of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China: Children Actors in the Drama “Guangjili” to “Restore” Historical Characters
On January 11th, 2025, at the Fourth Plenum Memorial Hall in Hongkou District of Shanghai, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Fourth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, the publication of “The History of the Fourth Plenum of the CPC” was launched, the offline branch home of “Red Living Room” was launched for the first time, and the first public performance of the children’s red immersive scenario drama “Guangjili” was held.
The year 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party. The Fourth Plenum of the Communist Party of China was held at Guangjili in Hongkou from January 11th to 22nd in 1925. The conference put forward for the first time the issue of the leadership of the proletariat in the democratic revolution and the issue of the union between workers and peasants, established the organizational route of strengthening party leadership, expanding party organization, and popularizing party activities, laying a foundation for the Communist Party of China to transform from a “propagandistic political group” to a “truly mass party”. At the same time, it was the first time that the party’s basic organization was established as a “branch”, and the highest leader of the party was changed from the title of chairman to general secretary for the first time.
Li Qian, secretary of Hongkou District Party Committee, said that from Shidi in Wuchang to Fudi in Wusong, and then to Guangjili for the Fourth Plenum, the Communist Party has successfully realized a great leap from a propaganda political group to a union between workers and peasants and a mass party. From Shukumen to Tiananmen, party branch construction laid the foundation for the party to grow stronger and more mature. The great spirit of party building has become more deeply rooted in people’s hearts over the past century.
From the streets and alleys of Hongkou District, branch party secretaries made speeches. (Pengpai News/Chen Yue Photo)
The “Red Living Room” Offline Branch Home Launch
Party branches are the basic organizations of the party and the foundation of its work and combat capability. A hundred years ago, at the Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, party branches were first identified as the basic organization of the party, marking the historical starting point for their construction.
On January 11th afternoon, guided by People’s Daily Online and the Committee of Hongkou District, Shanghai Municipality, and jointly organized by Fourth Plenum Memorial Hall and People’s Daily Online Shanghai Channel, a commemorative event was held to mark the 100th anniversary of the Fourth Plenum and branch construction. At the event, guests visited the exhibition “I am a Street Party Secretary”, which focuses on governance challenges in various districts and streets in Shanghai, solutions paths for branches, long-term mechanisms, and insights from new party secretaries. Three branch party secretaries from Jing’an, Hongkou, and Baoshan districts delivered speeches, and a roundtable discussion was held among multiple branch party secretaries. The exhibition “People’s City: I am a Street Party Secretary” and roundtable discussions will be held regularly in the future.
In 2024, People’s Daily Online launched a branch program in Shanghai that focuses on grassroots party branches and builds a propaganda ecosystem through cross-border exploration. To promote the “Red Living Room” from online to offline, Fourth Plenum Memorial Hall and People’s Daily Online Shanghai Channel have launched an offline branch home. This will become a place for grassroots party branches to exchange offline, for party members to learn and rest, and for integrating party building and business. Regular interactive activities such as roundtable dialogues and light exhibitions will be held for grassroots party branches.
The “Red Flights” theme flights and theme cruise were announced to start sailing at Guangjili theme event. The award ceremony for winners of the “Red Trace: Youth Art Creation Project” was also held during this event along with launch events for new books such as “Decoding ‘Force Source’: A Hundred Years since The Fourth Plenum”, which went online on Shanghai’s learning platform “Learning Power”. Additionally, in celebration of its 100th anniversary, Fourth Plenum Memorial Hall teamed up with Hongkou District Data Bureau to launch a “Four Hundred Years in Hongkou” column on Shaishentao cloud platform to digitally restore offline venues related to Guangjili online.
First performance of “Guangjili”: seeing history through children’s eyes
In the afternoon of that day, an immersive scenario drama about children’s red history titled “Guangjili” premiered at Fourth Plenum Memorial Hall in collaboration with Shanghai Theatre Academy.
The entire scenario drama was performed within Fourth Plenum Memorial Hall’s exhibition hall as Shukumen
