North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery

North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery

The North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, a classic red tourism site, and a patriotic education base.

The North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery is located at No. 343 Zhongshan West Road, Shijiazhuang City, the capital of Hebei Province. Facing south with its back to the north, it covers an area of 210,000 square meters. For over 40 years, the cemetery has received warm care from Party committees and governments at all levels as well as relevant departments. In the new historical period, especially since the issuance of the CPC Central Committee’s “Outline for Implementing Patriotic Education,” the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and Government have placed great emphasis on the construction of this patriotic education base.

Major structures include: the Martyrs’ Monument, the Inscription Hall, the Martyrs’ Memorial Museum, the Martyrs’ Memorial Hall, the Revolutionary Relics Exhibition Hall, the Tomb of Dr. Norman Bethune and the “Bethune Memorial Hall,” the Tomb of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis and the “Indian Medical Mission to China Memorial Hall,” the Monument Pavilion for Dong Zhentang and Zhao Boxeng, the Martyrs’ Memorial Pavilion, the Audio-Visual Hall, and more.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan in July 1937, the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army was dispatched by the Party Central Committee to advance into the Wutai Mountain area to carry out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Following the victory at the Battle of Pingxingguan, the main force of the division moved southward, and the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was established under the leadership of Nie Rongzhen. After eight years of bloody fighting, they established the Jin-Cha-Ji Liberated Area, covering 800,000 square kilometers east of the Tongpu Railway, north of the Zhengtai and Shide Railways, south of Zhangjiakou, Duolun, Ningcheng, and Jinzhou, and west of the Bohai Sea, becoming one of the largest liberated areas under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, due to the evolving war situation, in May 1948, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was disbanded and the North China Military Region was established. During the War of Resistance Against Japan and the Liberation War, the Party, government, military, and civilians of the region made tremendous sacrifices and contributions for the liberation of the Chinese nation and the establishment of New China.

In the autumn of 1948, when Commander-in-Chief Zhu De visited Shijiazhuang, he proposed establishing a martyrs' cemetery on the site of the former “Victory Park” to commemorate the revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives on the North China Plain. Subsequently, the North China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the North China Administrative Council, and the North China Military Region decided to build the “North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery.” Construction officially began in March 1950.

Party and state leaders such as Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, He Long, Chen Yi, Xu Xiangqian, and Nie Rongzhen successively inscribed words for the establishment of the cemetery. It was completed in June 1953, and a grand unveiling ceremony was held on August 1, 1954. Representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the North China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the North China Administrative Council, the North China Military Region, and the Party and government agencies of Hebei, Shanxi, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region attended the ceremony.

The establishment of the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery fully reflects the deep remembrance of the people of North China for the revolutionary predecessors who fought and sacrificed on this land. It is one of the earlier, larger-scale, and artistically designed martyrs' cemeteries built in China.

The new-style memorial structure — the Martyrs’ Memorial Hall — is located in the deepest northern part of the cemetery, covering an area of 1,400 square meters. The central hall inside is the “Jin-Cha-Ji Revolutionary Memorial Hall,” displaying historical photos and relics from the revolutionary period. On the east side of the hall is the Martyrs’ Ashes Repository, which currently houses the ashes of over 600 revolutionary predecessors; the west side is the Martyrs’ Portrait Room. The square in front of the memorial hall is covered with lush green grass and dense pine trees. On the east and west sides of the square are the monument pavilions for Dong Zhentang, leader of the Ningdu Uprising and former commander of the Fifth Red Army Corps, and Zhao Boxeng, deputy commander of the Fifth Red Army Corps, who both sacrificed their lives during the Second Revolutionary Civil War.

In 1986, the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery was listed by the State Council as a National Key Martyrs’ Memorial Building Protection Unit. In 1995, it was designated as an “Hebei Provincial Patriotic Education Base” by the provincial Party committee and government, and in 1996, it was named a “National Patriotic Education Base for Primary and Secondary Schools” by the National Education Commission and five other ministries.

The North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery adopts China’s traditional central axis layout, with major buildings distributed along three axes, separated by hedges. The layout is rigorous, symmetrical along the east-west axis, and clearly layered. Enhanced by countless lush pine and cypress trees, it appears even more majestic, solemn, and spectacular.

On the square in front of the Inscription Hall stand three sets of large bronze statues. The group on the east consists of two Eighth Route Army soldiers holding steel rifles and ready to fight, symbolizing the heroic spirit of our army advancing bravely and fighting the enemy courageously; the group on the west depicts a male and female militia member on guard while laying mines, showing their vigorous spirit. These two groups of statues represent the two main armed forces on the North China battlefield at that time — the military and the civilians. The central main statue features three fully armed People's Liberation Army soldiers, with one holding high the “August 1st” Army flag and looking into the distance, symbolizing the glorious journey of our army growing from small to large, from weak to strong, and ultimately defeating the enemy to achieve victory. On either side of the statue base are white marble reliefs depicting “Joining the Army” and “Supporting the Front.”

Along the central north-south axis, from south to north, are the cemetery gate, the mourning square, the Inscription Hall, the martyrs’ tomb cluster, and the Martyrs’ Memorial Hall. The cemetery gate is built from granite and bluestone, with the 15 golden characters “Chinese People’s Liberation Army North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery” engraved on the gate wall. The gate wall connects to stainless steel gates on the east and west sides, forming this magnificent memorial structure. The tall and majestic monument is inscribed with calligraphy from three generations of leaders: Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin. It stands in the center of the mourning square, which can accommodate 10,000 people. On the east side of the square is the Revolutionary Relics Exhibition Hall, and on the west side is the Audio-Visual Hall.

To the north of the square is the Inscription Hall, the central memorial structure of the entire cemetery. The exterior of the Inscription Hall is built from granite, giving it a particularly solemn and dignified appearance. In the center of the hall is a large white marble horizontal stele inscribed with Mao Zedong’s eight golden characters: “Died for the Country, Immortalized Forever.” At the top of the stele on a white marble stone platform rests a copper wreath meticulously crafted by Austrian expatriate Gaisert. The names of 248 martyrs are engraved on the central section of the north wall of the Inscription Hall. The walls on the east and west sides of the hall are inlaid with word steles written by Party and state leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, Peng Zhen, He Long, Luo Ronghuan, Xu Xiangqian, and Nie Rongzhen, all offering high praise for the martyrs’ achievements.

Behind the Inscription Hall is the martyrs’ tomb cluster. The eastern and western tomb sections are connected by three central monuments to form a unified whole. The martyrs’ tombs are made of granite, with largely uniform specifications, breaking away from the traditional format of a front stele and rear tomb. Behind each tomb is a white marble stele, and the top of each tomb has a flower bed. The remains of 317 martyrs are laid to rest here amid the lush pine and cypress trees.

The memorial structures along the two auxiliary east-west axes of the cemetery adopt a symmetrical layout in the traditional Chinese style. On the southern auxiliary axis, the west side houses the tomb of the internationalist fighter Dr. Norman Bethune, while the east side features the tomb of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, the monuments for Dr. Edward and Dr. Basu. In the center of the squares in front of the two tombs stand tall white marble full-body statues of Bethune and Kotnis, highlighting the internationalist spirit of the entire cemetery.

On the northern auxiliary axis, the commemorative pavilion and exhibition hall on the west side are symmetrical with the Martyrs’ Memorial Hall on the east side. The commemorative pavilion consists of six polished stone pillars encircling a large white marble stele, which bears inscriptions from the North China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the North China Administrative Council, and the North China Military Region, in memory of the achievements of the predecessors. The exhibition hall has a construction area of 1,280 square meters. The east hall is the “Bethune Memorial Hall” inscribed by Nie Rongzhen, showcasing over 130 photos of Bethune’s life and 22 precious cultural relics, recreating his great and glorious life. The west hall is the “Indian Medical Mission to China Memorial Hall” inscribed by Nie Rongzhen, with an 85-meter-long exhibition of photos that fully demonstrate the outstanding contributions of the Indian Medical Mission to the liberation of the Chinese nation and the development of China-India friendship. At the center of the front wall of the Martyrs’ Memorial Hall is engraved the “Record of the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery” written by the North China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The hall displays the deeds of 25 notable martyrs.

The North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery houses the remains of 248 revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Jin-Cha-Ji and North China Military Region during the Great Revolution, the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Liberation War, and the Korean War, as well as the ashes of over 600 martyrs since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Among them are labor movement leader Gao Keqian, the famous commander of the Hui Detachment of Central Hebei and national hero Ma Benzhai, Yu Shiyu, the renowned county magistrate of Jiaohe County, Li Hunzi, the hero of the Jin-Cha-Ji militia, the famed general Chu Daming, Liu Yunbiao, founder of the Red Army Cavalry Regiment and commander of the First Cavalry Regiment, and Rong Guanxiu, nationally renowned as the “Mother of the Soldiers.”

The cemetery houses over 10,000 pieces of revolutionary historical relics and martyrs’ personal effects. Among them are two surgical instruments invented and used by Bethune — the “Iron Assistant Doctor” and the “Rib Cutter” — gifted to the Chinese people by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1973, and a half-length bronze statue of Bethune gifted to the Chinese people by Canadian Foreign Minister Mark MacGuigan on behalf of the Canadian government in 1978.

The North China Revolutionary War Memorial Hall is located at the northernmost part of the North China Martyrs' Cemetery in Shijiazhuang City.

Following the central axis of the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery northward leads to the North China Revolutionary War Memorial Hall. Ascending the steps, at the entrance, a solemn and weighty relief wall of the Taihang Mountains features striking red characters: “Red Taihang, Eternal Witness; Heroic Hebei, Immortal History.” From 1919 to 1949, the military and civilians of Hebei fearlessly and valiantly struggled, making enormous sacrifices and achieving great accomplishments. The historical contributions of Hebei’s people to the Chinese revolution will be forever recorded in history.

After more than a year of exhibition arrangement, the memorial hall comprehensively showcases this history, filling a gap in similar exhibitions in the province. The May Fourth Movement marked the beginning of China’s New Democratic Revolution, and revolutionary movements surged across the land of Hebei. Hebei is the hometown of Li Dazhao, one of the main founders of the Communist Party of China, one of the earliest provinces where the CPC established organizations, and a central hub for movements in the north during the Great Revolution and the Agrarian Revolutionary Period.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the three main forces of the Eighth Route Army arrived in Hebei, establishing the exemplary anti-Japanese bases of Jin-Cha-Ji and Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu. The military and civilians of Hebei fought bravely against the enemy, making great sacrifices. During the Liberation War, Hebei was an important battlefield. In May 1948, the CPC Central Committee moved to Xibaipo, making Hebei the command center for the Chinese revolution and the nationwide Liberation War. The Hebei Party organization mobilized the masses to enthusiastically join the army and support the front, making historic contributions to the Chinese revolution.

The arrangement of the memorial hall’s exhibitions took over a year. A total of 435 photos, 227 exhibits, 10 sculpture works, 3 oil paintings, and 10 media playback systems were displayed. Through historical photos, precious relics, sculptures, and audiovisual elements, audiences can directly understand the history.

The Tomb of Bethune is located on the west side of the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery on Zhongshan Road, Shijiazhuang City.

The tomb has a granite base and a semi-circular top. In front of the tomb is a white marble gravestone inscribed with “Tomb of Dr. Bethune.” On both sides of the tomb are corridors displaying photos of Bethune’s revolutionary activities. In the square in front of the tomb stands a full-body statue of Bethune.

Norman Bethune (Henry Norman Bethune, 1890–1939) was a Canadian Communist Party member and a world-renowned thoracic surgeon. During China’s War of Resistance Against Japan, he was dispatched by Canada and the United States and arrived in Yan’an between March and April 1938. Soon after, he moved to work in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region, serving as the medical advisor to the military region. In the winter of 1939, while rescuing the wounded on the frontline at Motianling, Laiyuan, his finger became infected and poisoned. Despite treatment, he passed away on the morning of November 12 in Huangshikou Village, Tang County, and was buried on November 17 in the southern part of Tang County at the Jin-Cha-Ji Martyrs' Cemetery. In 1953, he was reinterred in the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery.

The grave of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis is located within the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. On July 23, 1982, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the People's Government of Hebei Province.

Dr. Kotnis (1910–1942) was an Indian physician who joined the Indian Medical Mission to China in 1935. He once served as the director of the Bethune International Peace Hospital in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, led by the Chinese Communist Party. On July 7, 1942, he became a member of the Chinese Communist Party. On the morning of December 9 of the same year, he passed away from epilepsy in Gegong Village, Tang County, Hebei Province, at the age of 32. To commemorate this Indian friend, local soldiers and civilians buried his coffin in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Martyrs' Cemetery in Nanguan, Tang County.

In 1953, the People's Government of Hebei Province approved the relocation of the coffins of Dr. Kotnis and Dr. Bethune to the North China Military Region Martyrs' Cemetery in Shijiazhuang, where they were laid to rest side by side west of the fountain. In June 1970, Dr. Kotnis’s grave was moved to the east side of the fountain, facing Dr. Bethune’s grave. In 1971, photo galleries were built on both sides of the gravesite. In November 1979, a 2.7-meter-tall full-body statue of Dr. Kotnis was erected in the center of the square in front of the grave. In September 1982, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dr. Kotnis’s death, the concrete railings around the grave base were replaced with granite, and the photo galleries on both sides were extended.

The newly built grave of Dr. Kotnis features a seven-step concrete base. The tomb faces west and is oriented east, with a round top and square base, constructed from granite. The base of the tomb is inscribed with a biography of Dr. Kotnis. In front of the grave, a white marble tombstone bears the golden-lettered inscription “Grave of Dr. Kotnis.” To the right of the tombstone stands the Edward Memorial, and to the left is the Basuva Memorial. Behind the grave is a stone screen with a glazed tile ridge.

This site records the history of the revolutionary struggle of the people of North China. Here, we face the yesterday of the republic, written in the blood and lives of the martyrs.

Further reading:

· Second Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Hebei Province