Jinggangshan Mountains
| Jinggang Range | |
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| 井冈山 / 井岡山 | |
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 2,120 m (6,960 ft) |
| Coordinates | 26°36′13″N 114°11′45″E / 26.60361°N 114.19583°ECoordinates: 26°36′13″N 114°11′45″E / 26.60361°N 114.19583°E |
| Geography | |
 Jinggang Range
Location in China
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| Location | Hunan and Jiangxi, China |
| Parent range | Luoxiao Mountains |
The Jinggang Mountains (Chinese: 井冈山; pinyin: Jǐnggāngshān; also Jinggang Shan or Jinggangshan) are a mountain range of the Luoxiao Mountains System (罗霄山), in the remote border region of Jiangxi and Hunan Provinces, in Central and East China.
The range lies at the junction of four counties - Ninggang, Yongxing, Suichuan and Lingxian. The mountains cover some 670 km2 (260 sq mi), with an average elevation of 381.5 metres (1,252 ft) above sea level. The highest point is 2,120 m (6,960 ft) above sea level.
The range's massif consists of a number of thickly forested parallel ridges. On the heights there is not much farmland and most settlements at the base of the mountains. The main settlement is at Ciping, which is surrounded by five villages whose literal meanings are Big Well, Little Well, Middle Well, Lower Well, and Upper Well. Henceforth came the name of the mountain range—"井冈山" literally means "Well Ridge Mountains".
The Jinggang Mountains is known as the birthplace of the Chinese Red Army, predecessor of the People's Liberation Army) and the "cradle of the Chinese revolution". After the Kuomintang (KMT) turned against the Communist Party during the April 12 Incident, the Communists either went underground or fled to the countryside. Following the unsuccessful Autumn Harvest Uprising in Changsha, Mao Zedong led his 1,000 remaining men here, setting up his first peasant soviet.
Mao reorganised his forces at the mountain village of Sanwan, consolidating them into a single regiment - the "1st Regiment, 1st Division, of the First Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army". Mao then made an alliance with the local bandit chieftains Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai, who had previously had little association with the Communists. For the first year he set up military headquarters at Maoping, a small market town encircled by low hills guarding the main western route into the mountains. In November, the army occupied Chaling, some 80 km (50 mi) to the west, though this was quickly overrun by KMT troops.
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Wikipedia