Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai

Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai

The Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaocheng City, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai is located 1,000 meters south of Zhanglu Town in Shen County.

Ma Benzhai, an ethnic Hui, was born in Dongxinzhuang Village, Xian County, Hebei Province (present-day Dongcun Village, Benzhai Hui Autonomous Township, Xian County, Hebei Province). After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, when Beiping and Tianjin fell and Japanese troops swiftly advanced southward to launch a major offensive across North China, Ma Benzhai, witnessing the desecration of his homeland, resolutely organized over 70 young and middle-aged villagers, raised the banner of resistance, and formed the "Hui People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Team." In early 1938, Ma Benzhai led his team to join the Hebei Guerrilla Army, where they were organized as the Central Hebei Hui People's Instructional Unit. In October of the same year, he joined the Communist Party of China. He successively served as the head of the Hui Instructional Unit, overall commander, commander of the 3rd Column Hui Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, and commander of both the 3rd Sub-district of the Jinan-Lu-Yu Military Region and the Hui Detachment. Under his leadership, the Central Hebei Hui Detachment fought across the Central Hebei Plain and operated throughout the Jinan-Lu-Yu border area, achieving remarkable military successes. During the anti-Japanese struggle in Central Hebei, the Hui Detachment under Ma Benzhai’s command repeatedly distinguished itself in battle and was hailed as an “indomitable and unbreakable” iron army. In early 1944, the Hui Detachment was ordered to move to Yan’an. Due to years of strenuous warfare, Ma Benzhai had overworked himself into a severe illness and could not accompany the troops. Under the harsh conditions at the time, his condition worsened, and he passed away on February 7 at the rear hospital of the Jinan-Lu-Yu Military Region (now Xiaotun Village, Puyang County, Henan Province) at the age of 43. In accordance with Ma Benzhai’s last wishes, his remains were transported to Zhangluji Village, a settlement of the Hui people in Shen County. The local mosque donated ten acres of land to establish his burial site. The Hui community held the most solemn “Gao Tai” funeral ceremony to lay him to rest. The local government and residents erected a monument, built a pavilion, planted trees, and established the “Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai.”

After Ma Benzhai’s death, central leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Zhou Enlai each wrote elegiac couplets to express deep condolences and spoke highly of his life. The Party Central Committee held a memorial service for him in Yan’an, where Chief of the General Staff Ye Jianying highly praised his glorious struggle and outstanding military leadership.

In 1954, Ma Benzhai’s remains were moved to the North China Martyrs’ Cemetery in Shijiazhuang. In 1985, the “Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai” was rebuilt at the original burial site. The cemetery covers 10 acres, faces south, and is enclosed by brick walls. Its main structures include the gateway, stele pavilion, martyrs’ tomb, and memorial pavilion. The gateway features an Arabic-style domed archway, 4 meters wide inside and 15 meters wide outside, with the inscription “Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai” in both Chinese and Hui scripts. The Chinese characters, written in standard script by Ma Guochao (Ma Benzhai’s son), are in regular script, while the Arabic calligraphy was done by former Hui Detachment imam Cai Yongqing. The stele pavilion is hexagonal, situated on a 20-meter square concrete platform 0.75 meters high, featuring a single-eave roof covered with glazed tiles. Inside the pavilion stands the martyrs’ memorial stele, which is 2.18 meters high, 0.84 meters wide, and 0.3 meters thick, inscribed with four large characters: “Immortal Glory.” The memorial hall houses a half-length white marble statue of the martyr, with commemorative couplets written by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and others displayed on the sides. The cemetery is shaded by lush cypresses and covered with green grass. The rebuilt cemetery combines elements of ancient Chinese and Arabic architecture, conveying solemnity, elegance, and reverence. On Tomb-Sweeping Day each year, many visitors come to pay their respects. Song Renqiong, Duan Junyi, and others have also visited to honor his memory.

In April 1999, the Martyrs' Cemetery of Ma Benzhai was designated as a municipal-level key cultural relic protection unit by the Liaocheng Municipal People’s Government. Starting in 2009, the “Forever Follow the Party” social practice team from the School of Automotive Engineering at Liaocheng University frequently visited the cemetery to trace the footsteps of the martyrs and explore the roots of harmony.

Yusuf Ma Benzhai (1901–1944) was the Islamic name of the anti-Japanese hero Ma Benzhai. His birth name was Ma Shouqing. He was a male ethnic Hui, a member of the Communist Party of China, and originally from Xian County, Cangzhou, Hebei Province. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, he founded the Hui Detachment of the Eighth Route Army’s Central Hebei Military District and was a national hero of the anti-Japanese struggle. He led the Hui Detachment in valiant combat across the Central Hebei Plain, earning widespread fame. Comrade Mao Zedong called it the “ever-victorious Hui Detachment.” In 1944, while en route to Yan’an with his unit, Ma Benzhai contracted herpes zoster and subsequently developed pneumonia, passing away in Shen County, Shandong Province. In September 2009, Ma Benzhai was... More details about Ma Benzhai++

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