“Ye Ting and Macao” Seminar Held at the University of Macau

“Ye Ting and Macao” Seminar, jointly organized by Yancheng Culture Radio Film and TV and Tourism Administration, New Fourth Army Memorial Hall and CCHC. It was held at CCHC on the morning of 21 September, 2022.

Ye Ting was one of the main leaders of the New Fourth Army. He commanded the Nanchang Uprising and served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy. He was the commander-in-chief of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army when he participated in the Guangzhou Uprising, and served as the commander of the New Fourth Army during the Anti-Japanese War. As the founder of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and an important leader of the New Fourth Army, Ye Ting experienced many ups and downs in his life. He became famous as a young man and wrote a legend of the Northern Expedition and the anti-Japanese war. He experienced overseas exile and five years of imprisonment, and his song “Song for the Prisoner” became a reflection of his steadfast revolutionary spirit.

Ye Ting and his family had a close relationship with Macao. The former residence of General Ye Ting, located at No. 76, R. do Alm. Costa Cabral, was the residence of Ye Ting’s family in Macao from 1932 to 1942. Seven of his nine children were born here and spent most of their childhood here. Since 2012, the Macao government has been restoring the former residence of Ye Ting. On May 28, 2014, the “General Ye Ting’s Former Residence” was officially opened to the public. Since then, the “General Ye Ting’s Former Residence” has become an important historical and cultural attraction in Macao.

The seminar invited Professor Qiu Jinbiao, Director of the New Fourth Army Memorial Hall in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, Professor Pang Chuan, Legislative Councillor of Macao, President of the Yancheng Friendship Association of Macao, Vice President of the Macau University of Science and Technology, Professor Chan Wei Ming, President of Macau Millennium College, Professor Xu Jie, Dean of FAH, Professor Lam Iok Fong, Director of the Centre for Macau Studies, Professor Fu Tianhong, visiting professor of CCHC, Professor Zhu Shoutong, Director of CCHC, Ye Zhudi, Editor-in-Chief of Shanghai’s “Exploration and Free Views” magazine and other scholars to participate in the discussion.

In the online speech, Ms. Ye Lin, granddaughter of General Ye Ting, said that her grandfather had a deep affection for Macao throughout his life, and that her grandmother had brought several children to live in Macao for a long period of time when her grandfather joined the revolution. It was only after the outbreak of the New Forth Army Incident and the imprisonment of her grandfather by the Kuomintang that her grandmother left Macau with her family. Her father, Mr. Ye Zhingda, returned to Macao in 1993 after a long absence of 50 years, as the communication and airport construction in Macao was in its initial stage. Ms. Ye Lian expressed her gratitude to the organizer of the seminar on “Ye Ting and Macao”, and wished the event a great success.

The seminar was chaired by Professor Zhu Shoutong, Director of CCHC, and a number of experts and scholars conducted a broad and in-depth academic exchange on the patriotic spirit and indomitable revolutionary spirit of General Ye Ting, as well as his legendary life. The organizer hoped that through the academic seminar jointly organized by Suzhou and Macao, the historical and humanistic materials of Macao represented by General Ye Ting will be explored in depth, further enriching the connotation of Macao’s historical literature and contributing to the construction of Macao as a base for exchange and cooperation with Chinese culture as the mainstream and the coexistence of multiple cultures.

After the seminar, guests were invited to visit the exhibition “Youth and War Flames – Young Figures of the New Fourth Army” which will be launched on 22 September.