Monument to the Revolutionary Martyrs of the New Fourth Army in the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area

Monument to the Revolutionary Martyrs of the New Fourth Army in the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area

The Monument to the Revolutionary Martyrs of the New Fourth Army in the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Monument to the Revolutionary Martyrs of the New Fourth Army in the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area is located in Lupu Village, Lupu Township, Funing County.

The monument was built during the smoky years of the War of Resistance against Japan. Under the leadership of General Huang Kecheng, who served as both commander and political commissar of the New Fourth Army’s 3rd Division, the army broke through the encirclement of tens of thousands of Japanese and puppet troops, shattered two major “mopping-up” operations by the enemy, and the land of Yancheng-Lianyungang was stained with the blood of martyrs. To commemorate the fallen heroes and inspire future generations, the Administrative Office of the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area decided to build a monument for perpetual commemoration. Subsequently, a monument construction committee was formed, and its first meeting was held in Lüzhuang, District 5 of Funing County. The meeting was chaired by Zhang Aiping, deputy commander of the 3rd Division, with attendance from Cao Deqiu, director of the Administrative Office, Li Xueshan, political commissar of the 8th Brigade, leaders of the Funing County Anti-Japanese Democratic Government, and local dignitaries. During the meeting, a construction plan for the monument was formulated, and after an on-site survey, it was decided to build the monument at the former site of Shou’an Temple in Lupu.

On June 15, 1943, construction of the monument began. Nearly ten thousand voluntary laborers participated in the building process, with up to nearly two thousand people working in a single day. Even girls as young as fourteen or fifteen enthusiastically joined the brick-carrying efforts. These volunteers helped the construction workers by carrying water, pushing earth, passing bricks, and mixing mortar. They did not consume a single grain of public food—all construction materials were transported by the people, carried on their shoulders or pushed in carts. Villagers from Beiji Township in Lianshui risked their lives to transport bricks and tiles from a location just half a li away from the enemy to the construction site. They said, “If the soldiers can shed blood, we can shed sweat.” On September 10, the monument was completed. Masons Chen Tingmo, Sang Rongxu, and Dong Qigong were recognized as model workers by the monument construction committee and were commended and rewarded. During the construction period, Zhang Aiping, Li Xueshan, and others visited the site five times.

On September 25 of that year, the completion ceremony and memorial service for the monument were held. Division Commander Huang Kecheng, Deputy Commander Zhang Aiping, responsible officials of the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area Party, government, and military, representatives from all walks of life, New Fourth Army officers and soldiers, and local masses totaling over ten thousand people attended the ceremony. Division Commander Huang Kecheng read the memorial address, which was solemnly listened to by all attendees as they mourned the martyrs.

On September 15, 1947, the 133rd Brigade of the Nationalist Army’s 51st Division invaded Lupu. Acting savagely, they first burned down three thatched cottages where the cemetery management staff lived, dug up graves, desecrated thirty corpses, and then arrested six or seven locals, forcing them to demolish the monument. The people, unable to bear it, claimed they couldn’t dig. After brutally beating the villagers, the enemy set up a mortar on the ruins of the Yellow River embankment and shelled the monument, destroying it.

On April 5, 1959, during the Qingming Festival, General Huang Kecheng, then Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, specially sent his wife, Tang Dihua, former Secretary of the Funing County Committee of the Communist Party of China, along with veterans who had fought in the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area, to Lupu from Beijing specifically to pay respects at the martyrs’ tombs. In July of that year, the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government allocated special funds to restore the monument to its original appearance. The President of China personally inscribed the words “Martial Spirit Lasts Forever,” which were engraved on the front of the monument. Inscriptions by leaders such as Chen Yi, Huang Kecheng, and Zhang Aiping were engraved on the sides and back of the monument.

The inscription by Commander Chen Yi reads:

Monument to the Revolutionary Martyrs of the National Revolutionary Army’s Newly Formed 4th Army in the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area

The inscription by Division Commander Huang Kecheng reads:

For the country and the people, fearless and self-sacrificing, the spirit lives on, the martial spirit lasts forever.

The inscription by Deputy Division Commander Zhang Aiping reads:

For the people and the country, fighting across the north and south, achieving victories over the enemy, even in death remains honorable.

Though ambition was unfulfilled, successors carry on. Building this monument and stele forever honors the loyal and heroic.

At the top of the monument stands an iron statue of a New Fourth Army soldier, holding a steel gun and gazing into the distance, appearing valiant and handsome. It was created by Lu Mang, a veteran of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, Central China Branch. Below the monument are three tiers of steps, with twelve large bronze shells placed around the uppermost tier. On both sides of the base stand ten marble steles, each eight feet high and three feet wide, inscribed with the names of 1,890 revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the war years—New Fourth Army soldiers and local cadres and civilians—including more than 40 officers at the regimental level or above, such as Peng Xiong, Chief of Staff of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army, Tian Shouyao, Commander of the 8th Brigade, Liu Zhiguo, Chief of Staff of the 7th Brigade, and Pei Li, Political Commissar of the Independent Regiment. Behind the monument lie 62 martyrs’ tombs, including nine for officers at the regimental level or above. The tombs of Xie Xiangjun, Commander of the 12th Column of the East China Field Army, and Yin Shaoli, Commander of the 4th Division of the 2nd Column, who sacrificed their lives during the Liberation War, are also buried here.

During the Cultural Revolution, the inscriptions by [figures] and Huang Kecheng on the monument were chiseled off, some martyrs’ tombs were leveled, and trees and plants were destroyed. On August 29, 1981, the Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Provincial People’s Government approved the “Request Report on Restoring the Inscriptions of Central Leaders on the Lupu Monument” submitted by the Funing County Committee and County People’s Government. In April 1983, with strong assistance from the Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Factory, the monument’s inscriptions by [figures], Chen Yi, Huang Kecheng, and other leaders were restored. Twenty acres of land around the monument were expanded, and over 500 trees including cedar, dragon juniper, plane trees, and metasequoia were planted, along with various flowers and plants. In 1984, a Revolutionary Martyrs’ Glorious Deeds Exhibition Hall was additionally constructed.

Today, this site has been listed as a Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit. The Funing County People’s Government has established the Lupu Martyrs' Cemetery Management Office, responsible for the management, maintenance of the memorial structures, and receiving officials and masses who come to pay their respects.

On October 7, 2019, the Monument to the Revolutionary Martyrs of the New Fourth Army in the Yancheng-Lianyungang Area was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batches of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units