General Ridge in She County

General Ridge in She County

General Ridge is located to the north of Chian Village in She County and was originally named Miaopo Ridge. After 1986, the ashes of Marshal - and -, Generals Huang Zhen, Li Da, Wang Xinting, and other former leaders of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army were successively scattered on this hill, hence the name General Ridge. The entire site covers an area of over 6,000 square meters, surrounded by mountains and featuring beautiful scenery. A remarkable discovery beneath General Ridge — the ruins of the Battle of Changping. In October 1990, - personally inscribed the name of the ridge. This is the place, outside of Beijing's Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, where the most marshals and generals of the Republic are laid to rest.

Historical Site: According to on-site investigations by the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, the skeletal pit at General Ridge is the most primitively preserved, most intact, largest in scale, and most archaeologically valuable pit of skeletal remains from the Battle of Changping to date. The pit contains the remains of at least over a hundred soldiers and officers of the Zhao army. This pit and the nearby Pit No. 2 are both deep pits, unlike the trenches the Qin army specially dug to bury captured soldiers. They more closely resemble natural ravines. The Qin army threw the bodies of captives into the gullies and then covered them with a thin layer of soil. It was only after more than two thousand years of time’s passage that these bones ended up buried deep underground.

During the Anti-Japanese War, officers and soldiers of the 129th Division, together with local residents, jointly built the 27-kilometer-long Zhangnan Canal. The people of She County constructed the “Si Yuan Pavilion” by the canal and erected a 12.9-meter-high Zhangnan Canal Monument. Climbing 129 stone steps from the base of the ridge leads to the memorial pavilion of Marshal -. The entire site covers an area of over 6,000 square meters, surrounded by mountains and featuring beautiful scenery. In the distance, verdant mountains frame the view, while nearby waters shimmer like gold. Atop General Ridge, waterfalls cascade down cliffs, stone steps are precisely laid out, statues of marshals and generals stand solemnly, and pine trees and thorny thickets create a secluded, shaded environment. It has now become a nationally renowned patriotic education base, playing a significant role in red tourism and the construction of socialist civilization.

In front of General Ridge, distant green mountains and glistening waters create a picturesque scene, while on the ridge itself, waterfalls tumble down cliffs, pine and cypress trees provide dense cover, and solemn statues of marshals and generals stand along solemn, winding stone steps. Integrated with the former site of the headquarters and the 129th Division Exhibition Hall, it has become a nationally famous patriotic education base.