The Battle Site of the Taiping Rebellion Army at Banbishan Mountain and the Mass Grave of a Thousand Soldiers

　　Located on Banbishan Mountain in Fuchi Town, Yangxin County. In the fourth year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1854), in 1854, Zeng Guofan led over ten thousand troops of the Xiang Army eastward along three routes to press toward Jiujiang. In order to contest the upstream stronghold of Tianjing, Qin Rigang, the Prince of Yan of the Taiping Rebellion Army, commanded tens of thousands of Taiping soldiers to set up iron chains across the river between Tianjia Town in Guangji on the northern bank and Banbishan Mountain in Yangxin on the southern bank, aiming to resist the Xiang Army. From November 20 to 24, fierce battles took place on Banbishan Mountain. The Taiping Army suffered defeat, and Banbishan Mountain fell. Over a thousand Taiping soldiers who died in battle were buried by local residents at the western foot of Banbishan Mountain. The grave has the shape of a hollow pit. A stone stele was erected in 1883, with the three large characters “Mass Grave of a Thousand Soldiers” inscribed on the top of the stele, and the text recording the course of the battle. Banbishan Mountain is an isolated peak along the river, featuring a strategically critical terrain. (Third Batch)

　　Source: Hubei Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics