Shangrao Concentration Camp Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery

Shangrao Concentration Camp Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery

The Shangrao Concentration Camp Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province and a classic red tourism attraction.

The world-renowned Shangrao Concentration Camp was a massive fascist-style hellhole established by the Kuomintang in March 1941, shortly after the shocking Wannan Incident in early January of the same year. It was set up in various locations in Shangrao, Jiangxi, including Zhoutian, Maojialing, Licun, and Qifengyan. At the time, the prison was surrounded by barbed wire and managed by military intelligence agents from the Kang Ze faction. A reinforced platoon from the Special Service Regiment of the Third War Zone was deployed as guards, and armed soldiers stood guard day and night at the prison gates. The camp primarily held over 700 individuals, including New Fourth Army Commander Ye Ting, who was captured during negotiations in the Wannan Incident, as well as New Fourth Army officers and soldiers above the rank of platoon leader who were captured when they ran out of ammunition and supplies. There were also Communists and other patriotic progressives arrested from various regions in southeastern China. Under the leadership of the secret party organization within the prison, these patriots bravely struggled against the brutal Kuomintang agents. They successfully carried out the famous Maojialing Uprising and Chishi Uprising, composing heroic hymns of proletarian righteousness.

To commemorate the nearly 200 revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the concentration camp and to carry on their legacy, the Party and the people's government established the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery in Maojialing in 1955. They subsequently built structures such as the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, Monument, Memorial Hall, and Memorial Pavilion. In August 1988, the cemetery was approved by the State Council as part of the second batch of National Key Revolutionary Martyrs' Memorial Buildings. Later, it was designated as a Patriotic Education Base by the Nanjing Military Region and the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee and Government. In 1996, it was jointly named a National Patriotic Education Base for Primary and Secondary Schools by the State Education Commission, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Culture, State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Communist Youth League Central Committee, and the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army. Veteran proletarian revolutionaries such as Zhou Enlai and Zhu De, as well as new-generation Party and state leaders including Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Liu Huaqing, and others, inscribed words for the cemetery. With convenient transportation, spacious grounds, and a beautiful environment, it serves as an excellent destination to learn about history, engage in patriotic education, hold group induction ceremonies for the Youth League, military service, or the Communist Party, and for sightseeing.

Shangrao Concentration Camp is located in Maojialing, in the southern suburbs of Shangrao City. In March 1941, the reactionary Kuomintang imprisoned over 600 New Fourth Army officers and cadres who failed to break through during the Wannan Incident, along with more than 80 Communists, anti-Japanese youths, and patriotic figures arrested in five southeastern provinces, in places such as Qifengyan (detention room), Zhoutian (hard labor camp), and Licun (high-level reformation center) in Maojialing, establishing the large-scale Shangrao Concentration Camp.

New Fourth Army Commander Ye Ting was held in the detention room at Qifengyan. The Shangrao Concentration Camp was surrounded by walls, barbed wire, and numerous guard posts, with strict security measures and an inner security perimeter set up within a 30-li radius. The imprisoned revolutionaries put up firm resistance against the enemy and staged the famous Maojialing Uprising on May 25, 1942. In June 1942, when the Japanese army occupied Shangrao, the concentration camp was relocated to Fujian. On the way, when passing through Chishi Town in Chongan, Fujian, the imprisoned revolutionaries staged an uprising, historically known as the "Chishi Uprising." In 1955, the people's government built a martyrs' cemetery and monument in Maojialing. The monument bears the nine large characters inscribed by Zhou Enlai: "Eternal Glory to the Revolutionary Martyrs." In 1980, it was renovated and a Revolutionary Martyrs' Memorial Hall was established.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Jiangxi Province