Martyrs' Tomb of Huo Xixiong

Martyrs' Tomb of Huo Xixiong

The Martyrs' Tomb of Huo Xixiong is located at Dutou in Dulang Village, Zhongtang Town, Dongguan City. In April 1987, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Huo Xixiong’s martyrdom, the Zhongtang Town People's Government relocated his remains from Fumei Village, Huiyang County (now Fuxing Village, Luzhou Town, Huicheng District, Huizhou City) to his hometown at Dutou in Dulang Village. The tomb faces west and is circular, with a radius of 2 meters. It is surrounded by a fence about 1 meter high. The gravestone is 3.6 meters tall, narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, built with reinforced concrete. At the top is a red five-pointed star, and the front of the stone is inscribed vertically in red with the words “Tomb of Comrade Huo Xixiong, Revolutionary Martyr.” The base of the gravestone is engraved with a brief biography of Huo Xixiong’s life. The total area of the tomb site is approximately 27 square meters.

Huo Xixiong, also known as Huo Luhong and formerly known as Shi Xiong, was born in 1915 in Dulang Village, Zhongtang Town, Dongguan. In August 1938, he joined the Communist Party of China and subsequently participated in the Regular Team of the Third District of Zengcheng, Guangdong Anti-Japanese Civilian Self-Defense Corps. After the fall of Dongguan, Zengcheng, and other areas, he was ordered to return to his hometown to lead the local people in the anti-Japanese struggle. In early December of the same year, he led armed civilians in resisting Japanese forces at Dulang, killing and injuring several Japanese soldiers.

In the spring of 1944, Huo Xixiong was assigned to the Independent Second Battalion of the Dongjiang Column to take charge of propaganda work. Later that winter, he was transferred to the Fourth Detachment of the Dongjiang Column and appointed as the Chief of the Tax Station. In 1945, he successively served as Deputy District Chief and then District Chief of the Yonghe District Anti-Japanese Democratic Government in Zengcheng County.

In January 1947, Huo Xixiong held a secret meeting at Fumei Village in Huiyang to convey to demobilized members of the Dongjiang Column the decision of the Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese Communist Party to resume armed struggle publicly. Due to betrayal by an informant, over 300 soldiers—including two squadrons of the Nationalist Party’s Bao八 Regiment and local armed forces—surrounded Fumei Village. Comrades Huo Xixiong, Huang Weimin, Liu You, and Guo Gui were killed during the breakout.

To commemorate the four martyrs including Huo Xixiong, local residents of Fumei Village built a memorial monument on the hill behind the village. In September 1998, the governments of Huizhou City and Huiyang County funded the renovation of the monument. The cemetery is located on the hillside behind Fuxing Primary School, covering an area of 99 square meters, and is enclosed by a 1-meter-high fence. The monument faces south and stands 4.2 meters tall, constructed with reinforced concrete, surfaced with white tiles, and topped with a red five-pointed star. The surrounding area is planted with evergreen pine trees. (By Liu Jiongshu, Publicity, Education and Science Department, Zhongtang Town)

Zhongtang Town: Located in the northwest of Dongguan City, Zhongtang Town covers an area of 60 square kilometers. It administers 20 villages (residents’ committees), with a permanent population of nearly 70,000 and a migrant population of over 50,000. Situated along the economic corridor between Guangzhou and Hong Kong, it is traversed by National Highway 107, the Guangzhou-Yangjiang Eastern Expressway, Zhongma Highway, Beiwang Highway, and Zhonghuang Highway. It is 120 km from Hong Kong, 46 km from Guangzhou, 100 km from Shenzhen, 12 km from downtown Dongguan, and 3 km from the exit of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Zhuhai Expressway. Zhongtang nestles along the Dong River, which is surrounded by its tributaries, allowing 1,000-ton vessels to navigate its waters... More details about Zhongtang Town++