Zhou Hongtao Martyrdom Memorial Site

Zhou Hongtao Martyrdom Memorial Site

The Zhou Hongtao Martyrdom Memorial Site is located on Qingsong Ridge atop the northeast ridge of Shangshisha Village, Yuanxiang Township, Gujiao City. On June 8, 1940, Zhou Hongtao, then County Magistrate of the Taiyuan County Anti-Japanese Democratic Government, along with Dong Yifei and four others, were traveling from the plains to the Eighth Sub-region to report their work to the leadership. They were carrying a mimeograph machine as well as documents, white cotton cloth, towels, paper, pencils, and other items. When they reached Hekou, they were spotted and pursued by Japanese puppet troops. Near a gully close to Shangshisha Village, Zhou Hongtao and Dong Yifei held off the enemy to cover the retreat of their comrades. Both died heroically in battle. Upon hearing the tragic news, Zhang Wanji, then village head of Shangbaiquan Administrative Village, and others buried the two martyrs on the hilltop northeast of Shangshisha Village. In the spring of 1987, Zhou Hongtao’s children, after locating the martyrs’ burial site, transported their remains back to their hometown for reburial, with some ashes placed at the Shuangta Martyrs’ Cemetery in Taiyuan. To forever commemorate the martyrs’ names and honor their noble spirit, the villagers collectively decided to name the hilltop where they were buried as Qingsong Ridge. Zhou Hongtao (1911–1940), originally named Chongyi with the courtesy name Hongtao, was from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1933 and had been engaged in underground activities in Xi’an and Beijing. In the autumn of 1938, he was assigned by the Party to the Shanxi front to take part in the anti-Japanese resistance. He served as an instructor at the 12th Training School of the 4th Column of the Shanxi Anti-Japanese Decisive Battle Detachment and as deputy head of the Mass Work Troupe, among other roles.

Zhou Hongtao, born in 1911 in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. In 1930, he enrolled in Xi’an Zhongshan Middle School and worked in propaganda for the Xi’an Student Anti-Japanese Salvation Association. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1933. In the same year, he entered the Journalism Department of China University and took part in the underground work of the Party in Beijing. In 1934, he went to Shanghai Mongolian-Tibetan College to study and served as the head of a Party cell. In the autumn of 1936, he returned to Xi’an from Shanghai to engage in underground activities.

After the outbreak of the nationwide War of Resistance Against Japan, Zhou Hongtao worked with the Mass Vanguard Corps at the Xi’an Office of the Eighth Route Army. In the spring of 1938, he went to the Minzhong Education Hall in Mizhi County, northern Shaanxi... More details about Zhou Hongtao++

Shangshisha Village: This village is 7.5 kilometers from the township government, has a cultivated land area of 545 mu, a total of 99 households with 264 people, 216 of whom participate in cooperative medical care. The village party committee has 3 members, the village committee 2, and there are 12 Party members in total.

Resident cooperatives include: Xueming Planting and Breeding Cooperative.

The 2013 village development plan includes: 1. Attracting investment to develop local mountain spring water processing industries; 2. Exploring the cultivation of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as Bupleurum and Astragalus through intercropping in forested areas... More details about Shangshisha Village++