Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area Generals and Marshals Forest of Stone Tablets

Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area Generals and Marshals Forest of Stone Tablets

The Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area Generals and Marshals Forest of Stone Tablets is a national key cultural relics protection unit, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotism education base.

This Forest of Stone Tablets is situated atop Nanwan Mountain in Bazhou District, Bazhong City, spanning more than 70,000 square meters. It lies adjacent to the Nankan Cliff Carvings, a national key cultural relics protection unit, as well as the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Museum, which serves as a national youth education base and a provincial patriotism education base. It is recognized as a national key cultural relics protection unit, a provincial patriotism education base, and a youth education base.

The entire Forest of Stone Tablets consists of ten major memorial areas: the Memorial Statue Garden of Key Generals of the Fourth Front Army including Xu Xiangqian, Chen Changhao, Li Xiannian, and Zhang Guotao; the Martyr Liu Bojian Memorial Statue Garden; the Forest of Stone Tablets Corridor; the Couplets Corridor; the Monument to the Martyrs of the Red Army in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area; the General Wu Ruilin Memorial Monument; the Red Army Cemetery; the Dedication Monument; the Signboard Monument; and the Viewing Platform. It also houses one J-6 fighter jet and two Type 59 85mm anti-aircraft guns. A total of 3,388 stone tablets are erected, engraved with the names of 100,000 Red Army soldiers. Among these, there are 2,666 individual memorial tablets for Red Army soldiers, and 500 couplet tablets featuring 1,000 couplets. The individual memorial tablets represent Red Army soldiers from 29 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, including 1 Marshal, 18 national leaders, 3 Senior Generals, 28 Lieutenant Generals, 86 Major Generals, 360 Brigadier Generals, and 138 couples who were both in the Red Army. Of the 96,000 names inscribed on the monuments, there are 948 at the provincial/military level, 2,998 at the regional/division level, 1,124 division/regiment-level martyrs who died between 1927 and 1937, 90,000 notable Red Army martyrs, 1,200 soldiers from the Western Route Army and separated Red Army members, and 138 notable female Red Army soldiers.

The construction of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area Generals and Marshals Forest of Stone Tablets began when Zhang Chongyu from Bazhou District, while working at the People's Congress Standing Committee from 1990 to 2000, initiated the project by funding over 800 yuan out of his own pocket to send letters across the country to collect historical materials about the Red Army. Despite having no dedicated personnel or special funding, he overcame numerous challenges, made more than 60 trips covering over 200,000 kilometers, and visited over 800 organizations and 2,000 Red Army veterans and their relatives. He compiled a list of over 6,500 names of Fourth Front Army soldiers, a list of over 100,000 martyrs, and over 100 million characters of Red Army historical documents. He also collected over 5,000 photos and handwritten materials of Red Army soldiers. At the same time, he raised funds from various sources, and after more than ten years of effort, the project was finally completed.

Further Reading:

· China National Third-Class Museum