Tomb of the New Fourth Army Martyrs Who Died in the War of Resistance Against Japan

Tomb of the New Fourth Army Martyrs Who Died in the War of Resistance Against Japan

The Tomb of the New Fourth Army Martyrs Who Died in the War of Resistance Against Japan is a cultural relic protection unit of Anhui Province.

The Tomb of the New Fourth Army Martyrs Who Died in the War of Resistance Against Japan is located on Huanglonggang Hill behind Nanbao Village, Yunling Township, approximately 25 kilometers northwest of Jing County.

The tomb contains the remains of 131 officers and soldiers of the New Fourth Army, including Cai Qi. The site is an earthen ridge about 10 meters high and 1 kilometer long, stretching from north to south. Viewed from afar, it resembles a coiled dragon, hence the name Huanglonggang. A footpath runs along the ridge, which was the main route between Yunling and Jing County in earlier times. About 7 meters to the right of the path, atop the earthen mound, stands a burial mound. The tomb itself is 2 meters high and 3 meters long, with a gravestone in front that is 1 meter high and 0.78 meters wide. The inscription, written in regular script on the 20th day of the intercalary fifth month of 1952, is signed by 51 individuals, including Liu Songlin and Zhang Zhiming.

After the Southern Anhui Incident, the martyrs’ graves were scattered across the hills of Yunling and could not be openly visited or tended to. Members of the local Peasant Anti-Japanese Association spontaneously organized the “Lonely Graves Society,” gathering the remains and constructing a single tomb. Every year during the Qingming Festival, under the pretext of tending to lonely graves, they would add soil and pay respects to the martyrs. This grassroots commemorative activity continued until 1964, when the Tomb of the Martyrs Who Died in the War of Resistance Against Japan was taken over by the Yunling Memorial Hall. In November 1956, the Tomb of the Martyrs Who Died in the War of Resistance Against Japan was designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the People’s Government of Anhui Province.