Wuhan "February 7th" Memorial Hall

Wuhan "February 7th" Memorial Hall

In February 1923, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, workers of the Beijing-Hankou Railway fought against imperialism and feudalism in a struggle to win the freedom to establish a general labor union and to secure political rights for the working class. On February 1st, when the General Union was holding its founding assembly in Zhengzhou, it was disrupted and sabotaged by the warlord Wu Peifu. That evening, it was resolved to hold a general railway strike to protest the crackdown and the slogan "Fight for freedom, fight for the union" was put forward. It was also decided to relocate the General Union’s office to Hankou’s Jiang’an district. On February 4th, the strike began. Workers across the entire Beijing-Hankou Railway acted in unison, halting all train operations. The over 1,200-kilometer-long Beijing-Hankou Railway was completely paralyzed. On February 7th, with the support of imperialist forces, Wu Peifu launched a violent crackdown on striking workers in Hankou’s Jiang’an, Zhengzhou, and Changxindian, among other places. Railway workers fought bravely against their oppressors. Lin Xiangqian, chairman of the Jiang’an branch union, Shi Yang, legal advisor to the General Union, and 50 others were brutally killed, with hundreds injured, in what became the infamous "February 7th Massacre."

This strike received strong support from people across China and workers around the world, greatly enhancing the political prestige of the Chinese Communist Party and demonstrating the great unity and fighting strength of the Chinese working class. It marked a glorious chapter in the history of the Chinese labor movement. February 7th has since become a memorial day for the courageous struggle of the Chinese working class.

To commemorate the great historical event of the February 7th Strike, in 1956, the Ministry of Railways of the People’s Republic of China, along with the Hubei Provincial Government and the Wuhan Municipal People’s Government, built the Wuhan February 7th Memorial Hall at Jiang’an, where the martyrs had fought bravely. It was designated as a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit. In 1958, Mao Zedong inscribed the "Monument to the Martyrs of February 7th." In 1985, due to the limited space of the original exhibition hall, the provincial and municipal governments along with the Ministry of Railways invested in relocating and rebuilding a new museum. In 1986, a new inscription for the relocated "Wuhan February 7th Memorial Hall" was written.

The Wuhan February 7th Memorial Hall covers an area of 27,500 square meters and houses 89 cultural relics and artifacts, including 3 national first-class relics and 17 second-class relics, with an exhibition line stretching 1,200 meters. The Monument to the Martyrs of February 7th, located in the center of the memorial hall square, was relocated and completed in 1999, with a central leader presiding over the unveiling ceremony at the memorial hall.

Through years of continuous improvement, the Wuhan February 7th Memorial Hall has become an important site for both domestic and international visitors to pay tribute to the February 7th revolution. It has been designated by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee as a "National Patriotic Education Demonstration Base."