Hongguang Mosque

Hongguang Mosque

Hongguang Mosque. It is the only mosque built within Xunhua by the captured Red Army soldiers of the Western Route Army under the coercion of Ma Bufang. Construction took place between 1939 and 1946. The mosque features a unique architectural style, remains well-preserved, and holds significant cultural preservation value.

In early 1938, Ma Bufang reorganized over 400 captured soldiers of the Western Route Army into a supplementary engineering battalion, also referred to as the Forest Bureau, and detained them at the Zanbuhu concentration camp. From 1939 to 1946, these Red Army engineers were forced to engage in various forms of hard labor—including logging, land reclamation, road construction, and building houses—in areas such as Zanbuhu, Jianshetang, Zongwu, Zhànqún, and along the banks of the Yellow River. It was during this time that the Zanbuhu Mosque was constructed. Despite suffering extreme cruelty, the captured Red Army soldiers remained unyielding in their commitment to liberating the working masses across China. Through various means, they carried out persistent resistance against their captors, writing an exceptionally tragic yet heroic chapter in the history of China’s revolutionary wars. While constructing the Zanbuhu Mosque, these imprisoned soldiers firmly believed that the revolution would ultimately triumph. Undeterred by danger and fearless of bloodshed or sacrifice, they secretly carved revolutionary symbols such as the five-pointed star, the party flag, insignia, and the Red Army emblem onto bricks under the enemy's close surveillance. These were then installed on both sides of the vase atop the main ridge of the mosque. These precious revolutionary emblems embody the soldiers’ courageous resilience and unwavering spirit of resistance, serving as powerful physical artifacts to inspire the people of all ethnic groups in our county and educate future generations.