Monument to Revolutionary Martyrs of the Dasha Battle

Monument to Revolutionary Martyrs of the Dasha Battle

The Monument to Revolutionary Martyrs of the Dasha Battle is a classic site on China's red tourism routes.

The Monument to Revolutionary Martyrs of the Dasha Battle is a patriotic education base in Haikou City, located on the slopes behind Dasha Village, Sanmenpo Town, Qiongshan District, Haikou City. The managing authority is the Civil Affairs Bureau of Qiongshan District, Haikou City.

The Monument to Revolutionary Martyrs of the Dasha Battle was first built in 1957. The site is enclosed by walls, covering a total area of 5 mu. The entire structure was funded by a special allocation from the local government. The monument faces south and stands 10 meters tall and 2 meters wide, shaped like a trapezoidal prism. The structure consists of three sections: the first section is a square platform, 6.4 meters in length at the base, ascending in three steps, with a top surface 5 meters per side; the second section is a mound-like base; the third section is the main column, a rectangular pillar inscribed on the front with “Eternal Glory to Revolutionary Martyrs” and on the back with an inscription titled “Introduction to the Dasha Battle.” In 1983, two symmetrical memorial pavilions were built on either side of the monument. These hexagonal, two-tiered structures, about 7 meters tall with upturned eaves, are made of cement. To the left and right, not far behind the monument, lie the tombs of two martyrs: Ou Dexiu, former Secretary of Qiongshan County, and Huang Dayou, Deputy Commander of the First Detachment of the Qiongya Column.

The Dasha Battle was a major confrontation between the Qiongya Anti-Japanese Independent Brigade and the stubborn forces of the Kuomintang in Qiongshan. On the night of January 23, 1942, the Second Battalion of the Kuomintang’s Seventh Security Regiment in Qiongshan, along with guerrilla units from Wenchang and Qiongshan counties, attempted to transport supplies from Jinshan Beach in Wenchang back to Tanwen, trying to sneak through the Dasha Village in Xianlai Township—the base area of the Independent Brigade. The First and Second Detachments of the Independent Brigade ambushed and intercepted them, killing Li Chunnong, Major General and Commander of the Seventh Regiment. The stubborn Kuomintang forces were encircled and blocked by the First and Second Detachments and retreated into Dasha Village to hold their ground. Due to the enemy’s strong defensive position and reinforcements, after five days and four nights of fighting, the Independent Brigade, having killed or wounded nearly a thousand enemies including Commander Li Chunnong, voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield.

Source: Party History Research Office of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee