Huang You Pavilion

Huang You Pavilion

Huang You Pavilion is located on the western side of Huaguoshan Mountain in Fenggang Town, Dongguan City. It has a floor area of 17.2 square meters and covers a land area of 86 square meters. The pavilion is supported by four reinforced concrete columns, with a distance of 4.15 meters between two adjacent columns. It stands 5 meters tall, with a deep red cylindrical top and a square shape covered by dark red glazed tiles. On the eastern crossbeam of the pavilion is the name “Huang You Pavilion,” inscribed by Liu Tianfu, former Governor of Guangdong Province. Inside the pavilion, there are cement-backed benches on both the northern and southern sides. The floor is paved with granite, and in the center of the pavilion stands a black stone stele. The stele consists of a base and the main tablet. The base is made of granite, measuring 1.16 meters in length, 0.59 meters in width, and 0.58 meters in height; the tablet is 1.25 meters high, 0.75 meters wide, and 0.21 meters thick. The inscription on the stele was written by He Tong, former captain of the Flying Eagles unit of the Dongjiang Column, and calligraphed by Zhang Songhe, former head of the New Third District of the Anti-Japanese Democratic Government in East Lu. It records the life of Huang You and the details of his sacrifice.

Huang You (1927–1944) was from Fengdeling, Fenggang Town. In 1942, he joined the anti-Japanese guerrilla forces and served as a squad leader in the Independent Third Squadron (Flying Eagles) of the Dongjiang Column. He achieved numerous military merits in battles such as those at Xiangongtan and Fenghuangshan. On July 22, 1944, he died a heroic death while covering the main force’s breakout. After the battle, the Dongjiang Column posthumously awarded Huang You the title of “Anti-Japanese Hero,” named the youth squad of the Flying Eagles as the “Huang You Model Squad,” and the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China further recognized him as a “Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Combat Hero” and a “Model CPC Member.”

On the morning of July 22, 1944, the Flying Eagles unit of the Dongjiang Column attacked a Japanese garrison in Pinghu. On their way back, they encountered over 400 Japanese soldiers at the foot of Laohushan Mountain in Fenggang. Huang You, the squad leader of the youth squad, led eight soldiers to cover the retreat of the main force. The Japanese unleashed artillery shells and machine gun fire relentlessly, launching repeated assaults. Surrounded by the enemy and unable to break through, Huang You shouted, “Comrades, we will not retreat a single step to cover the main force’s retreat. Even if we die, it is an honor!” Calmly fighting back, Huang You and his comrades repelled multiple enemy charges using pistols, grenades, and rifles, killing more than ten Japanese soldiers. The youth squad also suffered heavy casualties. Fighters Fu Tiancong, Lai Zhiqiang, Li Ming, and Yin Lin were successively killed in action. Severely wounded, Huang You buried his pistol in the ground and shredded and buried the “Party Member’s Handbook.” As the enemy charged again, Huang You threw his last grenade, was shot in the chest, and died a heroic death at the age of just 17.

The fellow villagers of Fengdeling buried Huang You and his comrades’ remains at the foot of Laohushan Mountain. In 1973, with the support of the Dongguan County Committee, the Fenggang Town government erected a stele on Huaguoshan Mountain and reburied the remains of Huang You and his comrades beneath it, though without inscribing any names. In 1995, the Fenggang Town government allocated funds to build Huang You Pavilion. On July 22 of the same year, the Fenggang Town Party Committee and Town Government held a grand inauguration ceremony for Huang You Pavilion on Huaguoshan Mountain.

Fenggang Town: Historically known as Tanglexue. In the early years of the Republic of China, the name “Fenggang” was established with the construction of the new Fenggang market.

Fenggang Town is located in the southeastern part of Dongguan City, at 22°40′35″N latitude and 114°6′42″E longitude. It borders Huizhou and Bao’an (now Longgang and Bao’an districts of Shenzhen) to the southeast, south, and west, and connects to Tangxia and Qingxi in the same city to the north. It is over 50 kilometers away from downtown Dongguan.

Fenggang is a hilly and mountainous region with continuous ridges. The terrain is higher in the northeast and lower in the southwest. There are seven peaks exceeding 200 meters in elevation, including one located in Huangdong Village… More detailed information about Fenggang Town++