Minghan Park

Minghan Park

Minghan Park is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

Minghan Park is located on Minghan Road in Hengyang City.

In August 1990, on the 90th anniversary of the birth of martyr Xia Minghan, the Hengyang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government decided to cast a bronze statue of martyr Xia Minghan and place it in West Lake Park to promote his fearless revolutionary spirit and willingness to die for his beliefs. On August 25, the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the bronze statue of martyr Xia Minghan was held in West Lake Park (Minghan Park), attended by leaders such as Song Renqiong, Zhang Aiping, Zhang Pinghua, Xiong Qingquan, and Xia Minghan’s granddaughter Xia Qian. The bronze statue was completed and erected in Minghan Park in December 1993.

Xia Minghan is one of the most renowned martyrs from Hengyang. During the May Fourth Movement in 1919, he co-founded the Xiangnan Student Federation with Jiang Xianyun and others, where they studied, researched, and promoted Marxism, actively organizing students to participate in anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggles. In the autumn of 1920, he went to Changsha and worked under the direct leadership of Mao Zedong. In August 1921, he joined the Communist Party of China through the introduction of Mao Zedong and He Shuheng at the Hunan Self-Study University, becoming the first native of Hengyang to join the CPC. In October of the same year, he accompanied Mao Zedong to Hengyang and helped establish the first local CPC organization in the region—the Hunan Third Normal School CPC Group. In early 1927, he went to Wuchang to assist Mao Zedong and served as Secretary-General of the National Peasant Association and Secretary of the Central Peasant Movement Training Institute. After the failure of the Great Revolution, he was sent back to Hunan by the Party to serve as a member of the Hunan Provincial Committee and head of the Organization Department, where he helped lead the Pingjiang–Liuyang Uprising during the Autumn Harvest Uprising. In early 1928, Xia Minghan was assigned by the Central Committee to become a member of the Hubei Provincial Committee. Shortly after the Lantern Festival in 1928, he was arrested in Hankou due to betrayal. In prison, with unwavering communist faith and iron will, he endured brutal torture and interrogation by the enemy, kept the Party’s secrets, and maintained the noble integrity and heroic spirit of a Communist. On March 20 of the same year, he was executed heroically in Hankou at the age of 28. Before his execution, he wrote the stirring poem “Beheading is nothing, so long as the cause is true; Even if Xia Minghan dies, there will be successors,” demonstrating the fearless heroism of Communists who are willing to die for the revolution and the people’s interests.

The bronze statue of martyr Xia Minghan was originally placed in the square at the southwest gate of Minghan Park in December 1993. Later, at the request of the martyr’s family and with approval from municipal and provincial leaders, it was relocated to the cherry blossom grove near the west side of Furong Pavilion in Minghan Park on January 17, 2003. On April 1, 2003, the remains of martyr Xia Minghan’s wife, Zheng Jiajun, were moved from the Hunan Revolutionary Cemetery to the tomb behind the statue by her grandson Zhang Pu and granddaughter-in-law Guo Yang. On the morning of April 2, 2003, a grand ceremony was held in Minghan Park to unveil the relocated statue and inter the ashes of Xia Minghan’s wife.

In March 2007, the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government decided to develop Hengyang as a National Excellent Tourism City and expand the Minghan scenic area within Minghan Park. In accordance with the standards of a national AAA-level tourist attraction, and following expert review, it was decided to elevate the bronze statue of martyr Xia Minghan by an additional 1.3 meters and to construct a Minghan Memorial Square in front of the statue. The square measures 43.7 meters in length and 15 meters in width, covering a total area of 655.5 square meters. In 1995, Minghan Park was recognized as an Advanced Unit in Hunan Province for Garden and Greening; in August 1997, it was awarded the title of Best Park in the province; and in 2009, it was rated as a Three-Star Civilized Unit in Hengyang City.

In May 2010, Minghan Park was designated as a Hengyang Patriotic Education Base by the Hengyang Municipal Propaganda Department.