Memorial Pavilion at the Site Where Martyr He Shuheng Died a Heroic Death

Memorial Pavilion at the Site Where Martyr He Shuheng Died a Heroic Death

The Memorial Pavilion at the Site Where Martyr He Shuheng Died a Heroic Death is a cultural heritage site of Changting County, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The Memorial Pavilion at the Site Where Martyr He Shuheng Died a Heroic Death is located in Meijing Village, Zhuotian Town, Changting County, Longyan City, Fujian Province.

He Shuheng (1876–1935) was from Ningxiang, Hunan Province. In 1914, he met Mao Zedong in Changsha and became close friends. In April 1918, he co-founded the New People’s Study Society with Mao Zedong and served as executive committee director. In 1920, he initiated the Russian Studies Association with Mao Zedong and others, and co-established the early Communist Party organization in Changsha. In July 1921, he attended the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China and later served as a member of the CPC Hunan Regional Committee. During the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation period, he was an executive and supervisory committee member of the KMT Hunan Provincial Party Department. After the Ma Ri Incident in Changsha in 1927, he went to Shanghai to establish underground printing presses for the Party. In June 1928, he traveled to the Soviet Union to attend the Sixth National Congress of the CPC, and in September entered the Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, where he studied in a special class with Xu Teli, Wu Yuzhang, Dong Biwu, and Lin Boqu. He returned to China in July 1930 and worked in Shanghai for the National Mutual Aid Association, organizing the rescue of arrested comrades and transferring those whose identities had been exposed to the Soviet Area. In November 1931, he was ordered to go to the Central Revolutionary Base Area and participated in the leadership of the government of the Chinese Soviet Republic with Mao Zedong and others. After the main force of the Central Red Army began the Long March in October 1934, he remained in the Central Revolutionary Base Area to continue guerrilla warfare.

In the early hours of February 24, 1935, He Shuheng, Qu Qiubai, and others arrived in Shuikou, Changting, from Jiangxi, planning to go to Hong Kong and then to Shanghai for medical treatment, but were discovered by the Kuomintang “encirclement and suppression” troops. During the breakout, He Shuheng leaped off a cliff to avoid slowing down his comrades and died a heroic death.

The Memorial Pavilion at the Site Where Martyr He Shuheng Died a Heroic Death is a hexagonal pavilion structure covering an area of 112 square meters. Inside the pavilion stands a memorial stele, which was erected in January 1964 and moved here in February 1992. The stele is 2.5 meters tall, with a base 0.6 meters high, and the front is inscribed with the words “Site Where Martyr He Shuheng Died a Heroic Death” by Dong Biwu.

The Memorial Pavilion at the Site Where Martyr He Shuheng Died a Heroic Death was designated as a cultural heritage site of Changting County by the Changting County People’s Government in January 1990, and as a protected martyrs’ memorial building of Fujian Province by the Fujian Provincial Department of Civil Affairs in January 1990.