Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery

Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery

Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery is located on the south side of Zhongxing Avenue in the development zone of Pingjiang County, Yueyang City.

Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery features an antique-style entrance inscribed with the words "Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery," written by Zhang Zhen, former Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The cemetery’s iconic structure is the Monument to the People's Heroes, which bears the inscription "The People's Heroes Shall Live Forever." The base of the monument is 19.28 meters wide, symbolizing the year 1928 when the Pingjiang Uprising took place. The base is surrounded by four relief sculptures: the front depicts the "Pingjiang Uprising," the right side shows the "March City Assault," the left side portrays the "Anti-Japanese Resistance in Southern Jiangnan," and the back features the "Light of Enlightenment." On either side of the monument lie the tombs of 33 founding generals from Pingjiang, including -, Fu Qiutao, and Zhong Qiguang. Pingjiang is a revolutionary base known for its early start, long endurance, great contributions, and heavy sacrifices, with numerous revolutionary martyrs. As early as the winter of 1922, the Chinese Communist Party had established an organization in Pingjiang. In 1923, a party branch was formed, one of the earliest in Hunan Province. After its establishment, the Pingjiang Party organization led the people in a series of indomitable struggles. In 1923, in cooperation with the Kuomintang organization in Pingjiang, a massive peasant movement was launched, with up to 300,000 members joining the Peasant Association across the county. "All power to the Peasant Association" — peasants took control of their own governance, and the local gentry lost their influence. In May 1927, after the Ma Ri Incident in Changsha, the reactionary Kuomintang suppressed the revolution, and local landlords and elites retaliated violently, plunging the county into chaos, with many Communists being killed. To counter the offensive of the reactionaries, the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party dispatched committee members Mao Jianqing, Li Liuru, and Xia Minghan, among others, to return to Pingjiang to organize the Autumn Harvest Uprising, with Mao Jianqing serving as the county party secretary. In March 1928, the county party committee and the uprising committee organized over 200,000 peasant soldiers to launch the famous "March City Assault," which dealt a strong blow to the arrogance of the reactionaries. The Kuomintang authorities were greatly alarmed and quickly deployed the Independent 5th Division of the Hunan Army to Pingjiang to "suppress the Communists." Communist Party member Peng Dehuai served as the regimental commander of the 1st Regiment of the division, while Huang Gonglue was the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment. On July 22, 1928, the "Pingjiang Uprising" led by Peng Dehuai, Teng Daiyuan, and Huang Gonglue succeeded. They announced the establishment of the 5th Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army and simultaneously declared the formation of the Pingjiang County Soviet Government of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers. After the Pingjiang Uprising, the Kuomintang government immediately mobilized several divisions to organize the "Pingliu Suppression Campaign," vowing that "it is better to wrongly kill three thousand than to let one escape." The people of the Pingjiang Soviet Area once again suffered brutal suppression by the Kuomintang army and government. In October 1930, after the end of the war between Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan, Chiang concentrated 100,000 troops to carry out the "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Area and the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Revolutionary Base. The Pingliu Pacification Office was established, and the "Ten Major Execution Orders" were issued, implementing the "Three Alls" policy (kill all, burn all, loot all). The people of Pingjiang and the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Soviet Area, together with the Red Army guerrillas, engaged in head-on resistance against the reactionaries, smashing the first, second, third, and fourth "encirclement and suppression" campaigns by the Kuomintang government. The fifth campaign failed due to the erroneous leadership of the "Left" opportunism within the Party. From then on, the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi region entered a harsh three-year period of guerrilla warfare. During this time, the Kuomintang government organized a joint "mopping-up" operation across three provinces, employing military tactics such as "mopping-up," "assault," "stationary defense," and "search and destroy," along with even more brutal suppression. They also forcibly relocated mountain residents to open plains and implemented economic blockades in areas where the Red Army operated, attempting to starve out the guerrilla forces. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party initiated their second united front. A group of cadres and soldiers preserved by the blood and lives of the people of the Pingjiang Soviet Area were promptly reorganized into the 1st Regiment of the 1st Detachment of the New Fourth Army and sent to the anti-Japanese front in southern Anhui. Later, the people of Pingjiang continued to join the fight against Japanese invaders one after another. Throughout the long years of revolutionary struggle, Pingjiang mobilized over 80,000 young people to join the Red Army and guerrilla forces, and transformed four local armed groups into regular Red Army units. The Kuomintang government carried out nine large-scale "mopping-up" operations in the Pingjiang Soviet Area, resulting in the killing of more than 14,000 Communist Party members and revolutionary cadres by the Kuomintang. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, 21,329 individuals were officially recognized as revolutionary martyrs, accounting for one-fifth of the total number of martyrs in Hunan Province.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, to ensure that future generations would forever remember the martyrs’ extraordinary contributions and promote their revolutionary spirit, in 1951, Pingjiang County built a martyrs' cemetery and memorial monument on South Street in Chengguan Town, naming it the "Pingjiang County Chengguan Martyrs' Cemetery." In 1975, a Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery was added behind the monument, where the remains of 77 martyrs were laid to rest, including those of Ling Shuxia, former Secretary of the Pingjiang County Party Committee. The cemetery covers an area of 6,127 square meters, with commemorative structures occupying over 200 square meters. The main structure, the Martyrs' Monument, stands over 17 meters tall and has a five-faced design, with a five-pointed star at the top symbolizing the star of the Chinese revolution, and five torches at the base representing the spark that can start a prairie fire. Other structures within the cemetery cover an area of over 500 square meters.

Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery was designated as a Provincial Key Revolutionary Memorial Building Protection Unit by the People's Government of Hunan Province in May 1987; it was recognized as a Patriotic Education Base by the Department of Civil Affairs of Hunan Province in April 1995. In 2001, following appeals from veteran Pingjiang generals, soldiers, and millions of people from the old revolutionary base, the Pingjiang County Party Committee and County Government decided to relocate the entire cemetery. In September 2002, with approval from the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, construction of the new cemetery began, and it was completed in 2008, covering an area of 396 acres. It was then renamed "Pingjiang Martyrs' Cemetery." In March 2009, it was designated as a National Key Martyrs' Memorial Building Protection Unit by the State Council.