Xishunhe Twenty-Six Martyrs' Cemetery

Xishunhe Twenty-Six Martyrs' Cemetery

Xishunhe Twenty-Six Martyrs' Cemetery is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a classic red tourism destination.

Xishunhe Twenty-Six Martyrs' Cemetery is located on Cemetery Road.

On February 17, 1945 (the fifth day of the first lunar month), officers and soldiers of the 52nd Regiment, 1st Division of the New Fourth Army fought a heroic defensive battle against Japanese puppet forces at Shibao in Xishunhe to crush their scheme to attack Huainan and defend the New Fourth Army Headquarters in Huanghua Tang and the lives and property of the people in the anti-Japanese base area. Within one day, they repelled 14 enemy charges, killed 72 Japanese soldiers and over 200 puppet troops, while 26 of our own soldiers sacrificed their lives. At the memorial service, Zhang Yunyi, Deputy Commander of the New Fourth Army, spoke highly of the battle, saying, “The bloody battle at Shunheji thoroughly shattered the Japanese invaders’ plot to divide their forces into eight routes to attack Huainan and 'sweep' the New Fourth Army Headquarters.” To commemorate the 26 martyrs who gave their lives in the battle at Shunheji, the local government and residents built a martyrs' tomb and erected a stone stele at the site of the battle, east of Zhangfu River. On April 5, 1977, to facilitate commemorative activities and expand the cemetery, the Huaiyin County Party Committee and Government, along with the Xishunhe Town Party Committee and Government, relocated the 26 martyrs’ tombs to the west side of Zhangfu River, where the Twenty-Six Martyrs’ Cemetery stands today. In March 2004, the Xishunhe Town Party Committee and Government allocated over 200,000 yuan for a large-scale renovation of the cemetery, constructing a stele pavilion, repairing the cemetery’s archway, martyr tombs, and memorial monument. On Tomb Sweeping Day in 2010, as part of the “Martyrs’ Comfort Project,” four martyrs buried separately across the town were reinterred in the southwestern corner of the cemetery, all in horizontal graves. In 2014, the Huaiyin County Government and Xishunhe Town Party Committee and Government secured special funds from the provincial civil affairs department, supplemented by matching county and town funds, totaling 15 million yuan, to redesign and rebuild the cemetery on its original site. This project included the construction of the Huaiyin Martyrs Memorial Hall and the 26 Martyrs Exhibition Hall.

Covering an area of 7,000 square meters, Xishunhe Twenty-Six Martyrs' Cemetery was enclosed with walls as early as 1982 to protect the site. The cemetery includes a joint tomb for the 26 martyrs, a memorial tower, a memorial archway, a memorial pavilion, a main gate building, exhibition rooms, and 26 cedar trees symbolizing the everlasting spirit of the 26 revolutionary martyrs.

A couplet is inscribed on both sides of the cemetery gate: “The sacred land forever blooms, covering the martyrs’ bones; the blessing waters forever flow, comforting the loyal souls.” Above the second gate are six red characters reading “Twenty-Six Martyrs’ Tomb,” inscribed by Xu Jun, then mayor of Shunhe City. The Twenty-Six Martyrs Memorial Tower stands in the center of the cemetery, facing east and backed by the west, standing 20 meters tall and painted white. At the top front of the tower is a red five-pointed star, and the front is engraved with golden characters reading “Memorial Tower for the Twenty-Six Martyrs of the 52nd Regiment, 1st Division, New Fourth Army.” Behind the memorial tower lies the joint tomb of the 26 martyrs, a hemispherical concrete structure 3 meters high. In front of the tomb stands a 1-meter-high memorial stele inscribed with “Twenty-Six Martyrs’ Tomb.” To the southeast of the memorial tower is a stele pavilion housing a memorial stone tablet, with the names of the martyrs engraved on the front and an inscription on the back as a tribute.