Tomb of the Five Overseas Chinese Martyrs

Tomb of the Five Overseas Chinese Martyrs

The Tomb of the Five Overseas Chinese Martyrs is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangzhou City.

The Tomb of the Five Overseas Chinese Martyrs is located on Xianlie Middle Road, Dongshan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. It is the joint burial site of five patriotic overseas Chinese martyrs: Xie Bayao, Deng Boyao, Zheng Xingguo, Tan Zhenxiong, and Fan Yunjun.

On June 16, 1922, warlord Chen Jiongming betrayed the revolution by shelling the Presidential Palace, though Sun Yat-sen narrowly escaped harm. Revolutionary Xie Bayao was deeply outraged and secretly contacted fellow overseas Chinese revolutionaries Deng Boyao, Tan Zhenxiong, Zheng Xingguo, and Fan Yunjun. They swore to assassinate Chen Jiongming and rid the people of this menace. Unfortunately, their plot failed. On July 16, all five were arrested and executed, their bodies left exposed at the foot of Baiyun Mountain. Overseas Chinese revolutionaries secretly transported the bodies for burial and erected a memorial stone. Fearing reprisals, they credited the monument to “Citizens of Henan” and changed the name of martyr Fan Yunjun to Guo Jiaxin. After Chen Jiongming was ousted, on October 10, 1924, the National Revolutionary Government relocated the tomb to Xianlie Road and erected a new monument. The tomb stands 4 meters high with an 8-meter-long base. The front of the gravestone bears an inscription in Sun Yat-sen’s handwriting reading “Tomb of the Five Martyrs,” while the back features the “Inscription on the Tomb of the Five Martyrs.” Nearby are the original burial marker from when the five were first laid to rest, as well as two stone tablets inscribed by Hu Hanmin (then acting Grand Marshal of the Nationalist Government), documenting the revolutionary deeds of the five martyrs. In 1983, it was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Guangzhou City.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Guangzhou Cultural Relic Protection Units