Hushi Gully Mass Grave

Hushi Gully Mass Grave

Hushi Gully Mass Grave is a cultural relic protection unit of Yingkou City.

Hushi Gully Mass Grave is located in Shengshui Village, Nanlou Town, Dashiqiao City, within the Hushi Gully of Xiaoshengshui Temple. The exhibition hall consists of a main building and two auxiliary buildings, covering an area of over 500 square meters. Excavations were carried out here in the 1960s, leading to the establishment of the "Hushi Gully Mass Grave Exhibition Hall." It was renovated in 1991, the auxiliary building was rebuilt in 1997, and in 2004, the Dashiqiao Municipal Government comprehensively renovated both the main and auxiliary buildings.

Upon entering the exhibition hall, visitors are confronted with a harrowing sight: piles of bones upon bones, skeletons stacked on skeletons. Within just 140 square meters of surface area, 174 sets of remains were exposed, with excavation reaching less than three meters deep. Seven layers of remains were found. Among these tragically deceased compatriots were anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters and underground operatives who bravely sacrificed themselves for China’s liberation, as well as forcibly conscripted miners and innocent civilians falsely labeled as “political prisoners,” “thought criminals,” “economic criminals,” or “suspects.” From 1939 to 1945, at least 17,000 people were persecuted to death by Japanese invaders and dumped into this mass grave. Among the most striking sights in the grave are 11 sets of remains lying side by side with no gaps in between. According to witnesses, these were 11 revolutionaries who had fought in the mines and the puppet Yingkou Second Prison—some were anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters, others were underground operatives. They were collectively executed and buried at the same time. On August 15, 1945, the Japanese Emperor announced unconditional surrender. Since then, Japanese war criminals and their accomplices have been brought before the tribunal of history. Let past mistakes be a lesson for the future. Dashiqiao’s Hushi Gully Mass Grave will forever stand as irrefutable evidence of that dark chapter.

As a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit in Yingkou, the Hushi Gully Mass Grave has received over two million visitors and mourners since its establishment in 1964, including more than a thousand from Japan, South Korea, and overseas, sparking strong reactions both domestically and internationally. The value of the Hushi Gully Mass Grave lies in its truthful documentation of this painful chapter in Chinese history and the heinous crimes committed by Japanese invaders in Northeast China. Preserving and managing the site as historical evidence benefits the present and leaves a lasting legacy for generations to come.

In 1918, in order to plunder China’s mineral resources, Japanese imperialism established the "South Manchuria Mining Co., Ltd." They deceived and forcibly conscripted Chinese laborers to mine magnesite in places such as Shengshui Temple in Dashiqiao. Alongside this large-scale exploitation, in 1939, they set up the puppet "Yingkou Second Prison" and "Correctional Guidance Institute" here, forcing laborers to work under inhumane conditions. By August 13, 1945, when Japan surrendered, over 10 million tons of magnesite and 3 million tons of sintered magnesium blocks had been looted, while tens of thousands of Chinese laborers were persecuted or worked to death.

Excavations have revealed that within just 5,000 square meters of Hushi Gully, there are 17,000 piles of human bones—those of deceased Chinese laborers. The gully, strewn with corpses and bones, stands as stark evidence of Japanese imperialism’s brutal invasion of China.

In 1964, Hushi Gully Mass Grave was designated as an educational site, and in 1993, it was recognized by the Yingkou Municipal People’s Government as a moral education base.

In 1990, the Yingkou Municipal People’s Government (Document No. Ying Zheng Fa [1990] 38) designated Hushi Gully Mass Grave as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit. The protected area and construction control zone announced at the same time include: 10 meters east, west, and north of the remains exhibition hall, and 50 meters to the south, all marked as the protected zone.

Source: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, News, Radio, Television, and Tourism. Contributor: Dong Wenjie.