Quanzhou Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery

Quanzhou Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery

The Quanzhou Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

The Quanzhou Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery is situated on Lai Mountain in Chengdong Town, Fengze District, covering an area of 45 mu. It includes commemorative buildings such as a memorial monument and a memorial hall, along with supporting facilities like viewing platforms, work studios, parking lots, and mountain gates. It functions as a patriotic education base and national defense education base in Quanzhou, gradually evolving into a “socialist cultural gem that combines commemoration, education, promotion, sightseeing, and leisure.”

The people of Quanzhou have a glorious revolutionary tradition. Since the establishment of the local Communist Party organization in Quanzhou in January 1927, more than 1,700 sons and daughters of Quanzhou have heroically sacrificed their lives for national liberation and the construction of the republic, forging an everlasting historical monument with their blood and lives. In 1991, the Quanzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Quanzhou Municipal People's Government decided to build the Quanzhou Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery to honor the martyrs and educate future generations. In August 1994, the foundation of the Quanzhou Revolutionary Martyrs' Monument was laid, and it was unveiled in October 1996. The martyrs' monument stands 26.12 meters tall and 3.57 meters wide. The front of the main tablet bears the inscription “Eternal Glory to the Revolutionary Martyrs” by a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, while the back features the inscription “Glory Lasting for Millennia, Spirit Soaring High” by Xiang Nan, a former member of the Central Advisory Commission and Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee.

In 1998, the Martyrs Memorial Hall, with a construction area of over 1,300 square meters, was completed. On March 30, 2001, the exhibition arrangement in the memorial hall was finalized and opened to the public. The first floor of the Martyrs Memorial Hall is centered around a preface hall and divided into four major sections: the Period of the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the Anti-Japanese War Period, the Liberation War Period, and the Period of Socialist Construction. Each section uses major historical events as a thread to showcase the life stories, portraits, personal belongings, and related revolutionary documents and photos of over 100 notable revolutionary martyrs, including Li Zifang and Chen Pingshan. Utilizing modern technological methods such as sound, light, and electricity, it vividly recreates the courageous struggles and touching deeds of the people of Quanzhou in the revolutionary cause since the establishment of the Quanzhou Party organization, providing the public with a vivid classroom to learn about Quanzhou’s revolutionary history and receive patriotic and revolutionary tradition education. The second floor is a national defense education exhibition hall, featuring a fixed display area of over 300 square meters that showcases a complete set of images on national defense science knowledge, as well as some calligraphy and photographs reflecting the achievements of Quanzhou’s national defense education.

To strengthen the management, maintenance, development, and utilization of the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, the Quanzhou Civil Affairs Bureau established the Cemetery Management Office in 2000, staffing it with specialized personnel for guiding tours, managing historical materials, landscaping, and security. Since its establishment, the office has earnestly implemented the spirit of the central government’s “Outline for Implementing Patriotic Education” and the “Several Opinions on Further Strengthening and Improving the Ideological and Moral Construction of Minors,” enhancing management, organizing activities carefully, and pioneering innovations, making the cemetery an important site for promoting patriotism and strengthening the ideological and moral development of minors.

Currently, the cemetery enjoys a beautiful environment, with green spaces covering over 20,000 square meters. The Martyrs' Monument remains undamaged and free from rust, the memorial hall is neat and orderly, and the archives, materials, photos, and artifacts of the martyrs are well preserved. In 1998, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit and patriotic education base. In September 2009, it was named as one of the first provincial-level cultural relics protection units and a Party history education base. In May 2010, it was listed as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit and a martyrs' memorial building protection unit.

Source: Fengze District Party History Research Office