Tombstone of Martyr Jin Guanzhen

Tombstone of Martyr Jin Guanzhen

The Tombstone of Martyr Jin Guanzhen is a cultural tourism attraction and a classic red tourism site.

Jin Guanzhen (1902–1930), originally named Jiaji, was from Yantou Village in Yongjia County. In 1919, he was admitted to Zhejiang Provincial No. 10 Middle School. In 1923, he co-founded new literary groups such as the “Blood Wave Society” and “Hongwen Association” with Cai Xiong and Su Yuanlei, and established the “Xishan Academic Association” and “Youth Progress Association” with Li Dezao and Jin Shengzhen, promoting the New Culture Movement. Due to his excellent character and academic performance, his commitment to justice, pursuit of truth, and courage in struggle, the school principal Jin Rongxuan renamed him “Guanzhen” (meaning “to penetrate the truth”), encouraging him to strive for the realization of truth.

In the winter of 1924, he joined the Socialist Youth League through the introduction of Xie Wenjin. The following spring, he became a member of the Chinese Communist Party and was a key member of the Wenzhou Independent Branch of the CPC. During the Northern Expedition, he served as secretary and party group secretary at the General Headquarters of the Eastern Route Army. In the autumn of 1927, he went to the Soviet Union to study at Sun Yat-sen University. He returned to China in August 1929. The following January, he was appointed as an inspector for the Central Committee of the CPC. In May, he became the political commissar of the 13th Red Army. On the 20th of that month, he was unfortunately arrested in downtown Wenzhou and was martyred heroically at the foot of Songtai Mountain that same night. On June 11 of the same year, Li Dezao, secretary of the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, wrote an article in mourning for Jin Guanzhen in the CPC Central Committee’s official newspaper Red Flag, calling him a “model of a Bolshevik.” In August, Zhou Enlai praised him in Moscow as “Zhejiang’s Golden Dragon.”

The Tombstone of Martyr Jin Guanzhen is located at the southern foot of Yushan Mountain in Yantou Village, Yantou Town, Yongjia County. It was first built in 1973 and renovated in 1985. The tombstone faces south and has a depth of 15.8 meters and a width of 12.7 meters, covering an area of 200 square meters. There are 74 stone steps on the northern side of the mountain slope in front of the tomb leading up to the memorial site. At the center-rear of the tomb chamber stands a memorial monument, which is 7.55 meters tall. The front side of the monument, made of bluestone, bears the inscription “Eternal Glory to Martyr Jin Guanzhen,” written by General Zhang Aiping, then Minister of National Defense.

The Tombstone of Martyr Jin Guanzhen is a cultural heritage protection unit of Yongjia County and a patriotic education base of Wenzhou City.

Information source: Party History Research Office of the Wenzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC

Yantou Town: Located in the northern part of Yongjia County and along the middle and upper reaches of the Nanxi River, Yantou Town covers a total land area of 56.10 km². It is a semi-mountainous township characterized mainly by mountainous terrain with river valley basins, and also serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of the northern mountainous region of Yongjia County. It boasts “four major highlights”: First, it is a populous town, with a total population of 46,000, ranking fourth in the county. Spanning an area of 65 km², it governs 36 administrative villages and one neighborhood committee. Second, it is a cultural town, with 10 ancient villages dating back to the late Tang Dynasty, including Furong Village known for its “Seven Stars and Eight Battlegrounds” layout, Cangpo Village known for its “Four Treasures of the Study” design, and Jin… Detailed information about Yantou Town++