Former Site of the Lüshun Prison

Former Site of the Lüshun Prison

The Former Site of the Lüshun Prison is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Lüshun Prison is located in Yuanbaofang, within the old town area of Lüshunkou District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province.

The Lüshun Prison was a fascist hellhole for the Chinese people during the period when the region of Lüshun (Port Arthur) and Dalian was under the rule of Tsarist Russia and Japanese imperialism. This prison was established by Tsarist Russian invaders in 1898. After Japan occupied Lüshun-Dalian, the Japanese Kwantung Governor-General’s Office decided in 1907 to expand the prison originally built by Tsarist Russia. The number of prison cells increased from the original 85 to 253, capable of holding over 2,000 inmates at the same time. The prison covered an area of more than 26,000 square meters, surrounded by a 4-meter-high, 725-meter-long red brick wall. Beyond the wall, large plots of land were occupied to construct residential buildings, brick kilns, and other facilities, bringing the total inner and outer area to over 226,000 square meters. In the early days of Japanese rule over Lüshun-Dalian, the “Kwantung Governor-General’s Prison Administration” was located here. In 1919, it was renamed the “Kwantung Government Prison Administration.” On October 26, 1909, Korean national hero Ahn Jung-geun, who was arrested after assassinating Japanese Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi at Harbin Railway Station, was imprisoned and executed in this prison. After 1934, following the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the site was renamed the “Lüshun Penal Labor Camp.”

The front of the prison housed the administrative office. Upon entering through the main gate, one could see a three-pronged cell block extending to the left, center, and right. At the central junction of the three-pronged structure was a guard tower. From this elevated platform, guards could not only monitor all cells in the three directions but also those on the lower floors. The flooring between the levels was embedded with iron bars spaced apart, allowing guards to oversee multiple floors simultaneously. Beneath the prison building, four solitary confinement cells were specially constructed. These pitch-dark cells, devoid of any light, were used to incarcerate revolutionary activists.

In addition to brutal torture, prisoners were subjected to forced labor. Within the prison walls, there were 15 workshops including machinery, printing, metalworking, carpentry, textiles, and garment production. These factories compelled inmates to manufacture military supplies and daily necessities. In the southeastern corner of the prison stood a gallows chamber — a separate two-story small building. The second floor housed the gallows, equipped with three nooses. Below the nooses was an automatically flipping trapdoor. When a “prisoner’s” neck was placed in the noose, the guard would pull a lever, causing the hidden floorboard to flip, resulting in the prisoner’s death by hanging within minutes. The body would then be lowered through the trapdoor to the first floor, placed into a pre-prepared wooden barrel, which was nailed shut. Other prisoners were then forced to carry the barrel to be buried behind Ma Ying on the eastern side of the prison. According to incomplete statistics, between 1942 and August 1945 alone, over 700 Communists and revolutionary activists were killed here. During the 7 years of Tsarist Russian rule and the 40 years of Japanese imperialist occupation of Lüshun-Dalian, the total number of lives lost within these walls remains incalculable. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relics Protection Units of Liaoning Province

· Third Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units