Monument Commemorating the Red Army's Crossing of the Treacherous Yachi River

Monument Commemorating the Red Army's Crossing of the Treacherous Yachi River

The Monument Commemorating the Red Army's Crossing of the Treacherous Yachi River is a cultural tourism attraction and a classic site of red tourism.

Monument Commemorating the Red Army's Crossing of the Treacherous Yachi River

The Yachi River — an upper tributary of the Wu River, serves as a strategic chokepoint along the Qingzhen-Bijie Highway (National Highway 321). With deep, fast-flowing waters and steep cliffs on both sides, it has historically been known as a “natural stronghold.” On February 2, 1936, the Second and Sixth Armies of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, under the leadership of comrades such as He Long, Ren Bishi, Xiao Ke, and others, and with the cooperation of local residents, bravely and skillfully crossed the ancient ferry crossing (now located one kilometer downstream from the Yachi River Iron Bridge) and successfully advanced into Qianxi. On February 5, He Long, Xiao Ke, Guan Xiangying, and others held an important meeting at the Xinchuan Ancestral Temple in Qianxi County, where He Long was stationed (historically referred to as the Qianxi Meeting). They decided to implement a strategic shift in the regions of Greater Qian (xi), Greater (Fang), and Bi (jie), establishing revolutionary bases and founding the People’s Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic’s Revolutionary Committee for Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou. To commemorate the Second and Sixth Armies of the Red Army’s historic crossing of the Yachi River during the Long March, in 1985, the Qianxi County People’s Government constructed a monument on the left bank of the Yachi River at Xiaojingpo Hilltop (two kilometers from the now-national-level tourist attraction Dongfeng Lake Scenic Area), situated approximately two kilometers from the original Red Army crossing site along the winding National Highway 321. The monument body is made of poured concrete with white mosaic facing. The first tier is 3.6 meters high, symbolizing the time of the Red Army’s crossing; the second tier is 1.25 meters high, representing the year the monument was built; the middle features stone-carved azaleas, signifying the offering of the region’s renowned flower to the Red Army by all ethnic groups. The top of the monument features a 2.6-meter sculpture symbolizing the Second and Sixth Armies; it depicts a boatman forcefully rowing a wooden boat carrying three Red Army soldiers as they surge through the waves. The edge of the platform in front of the monument is inlaid with chicken-blood marble, inscribed with eight large characters: “Red Army Forces Cross the Treacherous Yachi River.” The design of the Red Army Crossing Monument is simple yet solemn and dignified, making it a meaningful site for people to honor the martyrs, reflect on revolutionary history, and engage in revolutionary heritage education.