Site of the Haimen Mass Grave

Site of the Haimen Mass Grave

The Haimen Mass Grave site is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Guangdong and also a patriotic education base.

The Haimen Mass Grave is a cemetery that interred the remains of over ten thousand fellow Haimen residents who died during the War of Resistance against Japan. It is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Guangdong and also a patriotic education base.

Haimen Mass Grave

During the War of Resistance, on the morning of August 21, 1939, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Japanese warships anchored in Haimen Bay and bombarded the urban area of Haimen with artillery, destroying more than 1,400 civilian houses. They then landed via rubber boats, looted the area, and left. They left behind numerous scars on Haimen. On March 25, 1941, after the fall of Shantou and Chaoyang, the Japanese occupied Haimen and began implementing their “three alls” policy (kill all, burn all, loot all). They set up checkpoints on land routes and enforced a naval blockade. Fellow Haimen residents who passed through checkpoints faced execution for even minor infractions. After the Japanese military occupied Haimen, they seized the port, destroyed fishing boats, and carried out indiscriminate massacres, plunging the people of Haimen into a abyss of starvation and slaughter. Especially during the summer of 1943, when famine and epidemics struck, deaths occurred in large numbers. During the Japanese occupation of Haimen, over 30,000 people died, leaving bones strewn everywhere in a scene too horrible to behold.

After the victory of the War of Resistance, charitable organizations and overseas Chinese initiated the collection and proper burial of over 11,000 sets of remains from the “Red Sand Pit” on the seashore, constructing the mass grave mound and a memorial pavilion. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the government allocated funds multiple times for renovations, forming what is now known as the “Mass Grave.” The remains interred here represent only a portion of the total Haimen victims.

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the government carried out restoration work on the grave site. In 1979, it was designated as a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Guangdong. In 1995, the Lianhua Peak Management Office raised funds to expand it into a 4,000-square-meter garden-style cemetery, featuring a memorial pavilion measuring 6.5 meters in length, 3.2 meters in width, and 3.1 meters in height. The engraved stone tablet reads: “Tomb of Compatriots Who Died When Haimen Fell to the Japanese in the Summer of Guiwei Year.” The accompanying elegiac couplet reads: “Historic wounds remain in chronicles, Resentment fills wind and waves.” Inscriptions by notable figures include: “Recalling the past fills us with endless sorrow, Our resolve swallows the barbarians’ might” and “Awaken from slumber, vow to avenge national humiliation, Stir the nation to strive for strength.” Dozens of stone carvings depict the atrocities committed by the Japanese army during their invasion of China.

The Haimen Mass Grave is a unique historical imprint left during that extraordinary period of history. It is a true reflection of the suffering and humiliation endured by the Chinese people and stands as one of the pieces of evidence of the Japanese invasion of China.

Dozens of stone carvings in the cemetery depict the brutal tortures inflicted by the Japanese army on the local populace during their occupation of Haimen: those caught fishing illegally were either force-fed kerosene, trampled repeatedly, then set on fire, or had iron wires threaded through their shoulders and were driven in lines into the sea to drown... The scenes of unimaginable cruelty stir deep indignation. The remains depicted in the images—with mouths agape and bodies crawling upward in instinctive bids for survival, those hunched over in agony, and those bound with iron wires and shackles—through their eternal postures, denounce the crimes of Japanese militarism. They serve as a constant reminder to the people never to forget national humiliation, to strive for strength, to learn from history, to look toward the future, and to remember the historical lesson that backwardness invites aggression. To endure hardship and strengthen resolve, to revive the national spirit, and to unite in striving together for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Dahao Subdistrict: Located in the central part of - District, Dahao Subdistrict borders Guang’ao Subdistrict to the east, extends to the Dahao section of the Shenshan Expressway to the west, faces - to the south, and connects to the Shantou Bay Bridge to the north, covering a total area of 20.2 square kilometers. Established in early 1987, it governs 10 neighborhood committees including Hao Bin, Dahao, Dabu, Chigang, Chilong, Qinglan, Qinglin, Qingyan, Gezhou, and Xidui, as well as three fishery economic cooperatives: Baofan, Fangdiao, and Chihao. It has a total population of over 73,000, with nearly 30,000 overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. It is the location of the District 0 government and serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of the entire district.

The industrial foundation is relatively solid... More detailed information about Dahao Subdistrict++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units