National Martyrs' Cemetery

National Martyrs' Cemetery

The National Martyrs' Cemetery is situated at the southern foot of Anle Mountain (Pagoda Mountain) in Yuhang Subdistrict. Constructed in 1946, it is categorized as a modern-era significant historical site and representative structure.

In 2019, the National Martyrs' Cemetery was announced as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit of Hangzhou City.

1938During the year, Japanese troops conducted “mopping-up” operations in northwestern Yuhang.1937Year12Month13Day, Nanjing fell. The invading Japanese army initiated a planned and premeditated massacre that lasted6weeks. Across China, wherever Japanese forces set foot, sites such as “ten-thousand-person pits” and “thousand-person pits” can often be found. Yuhang in Hangzhou was also an occupied area at the time and suffered greatly under the atrocities of the Japanese invaders. The present-day National Martyrs' Cemetery (commonly referred to as the Yuhang Thousand-Person Pit) sits quietly within Tashan Park in Yuhang Subdistrict. Its current tranquil appearance may make it hard to associate with the era of bombings and bloodshed.1937In the year8Month, Japanese aircraft bombed Yuhang, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. In the same10Year, Japanese forces assembled troops from three divisions in Shanghai and Nanjing to launch an offensive on Hangzhou. By1937Year12Month23Day, Yuhang County had fallen. As the Japanese invaders entered the county seat, they set fire to civilian homes and massacred residents. To suppress resistance from both civilians and soldiers, the Japanese built military bunkers at locations such as Tongji Bridge and Lion Mountain, and executed arrested anti-Japanese military and political personnel as well as civilians in pits after torturing them.

1946In the year, with the support of Xue Zuohong, then magistrate of Yuhang County, the cemetery was established. He inscribed the four characters “国殇公墓” (National Martyrs' Cemetery), so that future generations would remember this history.