Deep within the brick-and-wood walls of No. 15 Xuci Alley, a white marble stele lay hidden for decades. Discovered during recent restorations, the cold stone records the destruction of the Xu Family Shrine during the catastrophic 1938 Changsha Fire. Before the flames consumed this 460-square-meter compound, it operated as the Eighth Route Army Hunan Communications Office.

In December 1937, senior counselor Xu Teli and director Wang Lingbo transformed this traditional clan shrine into a bustling resistance hub. The architecture shaped their daily operations. Visitors passed beneath a hard-gable roof covered in small gray tiles, walking through a ground-floor transitional hall. A traditional skylight courtyard separated the front section from the main hall, where ten lattice-patterned vermilion wooden doors formed a striking screen wall. Behind these red doors, workers coordinated the transfer of over 50,000 pieces of medical supplies and communication equipment to the front lines.

The courtyard echoed with the footsteps of 680 young recruits answering the call to arms. Xu Teli frequently stepped outside these fire-sealing gable walls to deliver impassioned public speeches, his voice drawing massive crowds and inspiring a generation to fight. On the night the November 1938 fire swept through Changsha, Zhou Enlai directed the final evacuation from these very rooms, guiding his staff away from the approaching inferno.

The Changsha Municipal People's Government meticulously reconstructed the two-story structure in 1975, matching its original appearance. Today, the scent of newly planted golden osmanthus and the sight of red plum blossoms fill the surrounding square. These living elements soften the rigid geometry of the restored gray tiles and wooden beams. The reconstructed shrine stands as a quiet space of memory on Cai'e Middle Road. The recreated living quarters and preserved documents inside offer a direct link to the winter of 1937, capturing the exact moment a family shrine became the nerve center of a regional resistance.