Xunyang County Red Army Memorial Park

　　The "Red Army Ancestor" Tomb and Red Army Memorial Hall are located on a small hill behind the Hongjun Township government in Shuanghe District, eastern Xunyang County, bordering Zhen’an County and Yunxi County of Hubei Province. The hill is covered with lush trees and has a solemn atmosphere. It is a local memorial hall dedicated to the revolutionary activities of the Red Army. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, this site was an important part of the Hubei-Henan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Area. The Twenty-Fifth Red Army and the Seventy-Fourth Red Army Regiment conducted three years of armed struggle here, establishing two district-level and nine township-level Soviet governments in the region. Countless Red Army martyrs rest in this land.

　　The so-called "Red Army Ancestor" Tomb refers to the joint burial site of two soldiers from the Second Squad of the Sixth Guerrilla Brigade of the Eyu (Hubei-Yunnan-Shaanxi) Military Region, who sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Nianzigou on October 10, 1935. In 1935, while the Seventy-Fourth Red Army Regiment was passing through Panjiahe in Xunyang, a political instructor (Gao Zhongkuan, instructor of the Second Battalion Special Task Squad of the Seventy-Fourth Red Army Regiment) and a squad leader (Shang **, squad leader of the Second Battalion Special Task Squad of the Seventy-Fourth Red Army Regiment) heroically died and were laid to rest at the foot of Jiulong Mountain. Local villagers risked their lives to secretly bury them together in Nianzigou, Fengji Township, Panjiahe. They built a grave, erected a stele, created a statue, and enshrined the martyrs’ memorial tablets at home, revering them as the "Red Army Ancestors." Instructor Gao Zhongkuan had treated over a hundred impoverished peasants from more than 80 households during his lifetime, earning him the title of a miraculous "divine doctor" among locals. In 1946, local farmers spontaneously built a tomb and erected a stele to commemorate this "immortal divine doctor."

　　After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Xunyang County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Xunyang County Government renovated the tomb site. The Nianzigou Valley where the martyrs were buried was renamed Hongjun Valley, Anjia Village became Hongjun Village, Fengji Township became Hongjun Township, and Panjiahe River was renamed Hongjun River, making it the only place in China named entirely after the "Red Army." In 1958, the production brigade where the martyrs were buried was renamed Hongjun Brigade, and Hongjun Township became Hongjun People’s Commune. In 1984, it was renamed Hongjun Township again; and during the 1996 administrative reform, Shengjia Township and Zhutong Township upstream of Panjiahe were merged into Hongjun Township.

　　"In the past, they relieved the people's suffering; now their loyal bones lie beneath the green hills. Today, with a renewed world, incense is offered to honor the ancestors." Locals from the Eyu border region continuously visit the "Red Army Ancestor Tomb" to pay tribute, with incense burning incessantly. The martyr’s tomb is embraced by two towering, steep cliffs reaching into the clouds, and a mountain stream murmurs like music year-round, accompanying the resting heroes. The Red Army Memorial Hall has full-time staff and is affiliated with the Xunyang County Museum. On average, the hall receives tens of thousands of visitors annually, including people from all walks of life who come to pay respects and visit graves.

　　To commemorate the revolutionary martyrs, construction of the "Red Army Memorial Park" began on April 25, 1977. Inside the hall, there are exhibitions introducing the Red Army’s revolutionary struggles, along with a martyrs’ monument inscribed with the words "Eternal Glory to the Red Army Martyrs," personally written by General Chen Xianrui, former commander of the Seventy-Fourth Red Army Regiment. The Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau allocated special funds to build the Red Army Memorial Hall, collecting 136 pieces of Red Army slogans, ballads, plaques, and stone carvings. There are also inscription steles from Mao Zedong, Li Xiannian, and Cheng Zihua, a comic strip series about the "Red Army Ancestors," and 13 collected Red Army relics. The site has been designated as both a "Shaanxi Provincial Youth Patriotic Education Base" and a "National Defense Education Base." To better utilize this red tourism resource, the park commissioned Yuanjian Travel Research to create a detailed construction plan. Twenty-five acres of land were acquired, and the government completed the "Three Supplies and One Leveling" project. To establish a red tourism brand, the county government decided to rebuild the Red Army Memorial Hall, develop a red tourism route, and secure project support to mobilize society in constructing the Red Army Memorial Park.

　　In 1996, 2000, and 2004, it was successively awarded the titles of "Xunyang County Primary and Secondary School Moral Education Base" by the Xunyang County Education Bureau, "Shaanxi Provincial Youth Education Base" by the Provincial Youth League Committee, and "National Defense Education Base" by the Provincial People’s Government. The Provincial Tourism Bureau listed Xunyang as a key county connecting the Silk Road of Northwest and Southwest China and the Yangtze River Three Gorges tourism route, with Hongjun Township designated as an eastern red tourism spot in Xunyang.

　　To honor the martyrs, inherit traditions, promote the spirit of "Three Creativities," meet the needs of the times, achieve breakthrough development in Xunyang’s economy and society, and advance the construction of a modern river-source civilization, the county government decided to rebuild the "Red Army Memorial Park."

　　In 2004, departments and individuals across the county donated 123,000 yuan for the construction of the Red Army Memorial Park; in 2005, donations amounted to 21,500 yuan; in 2007, contributions reached 1.16 million yuan. Mr. He Minzhu, head of Jinxin Mining, donated over 500,000 yuan to build the monument. More than 50 successful entrepreneurs from Hongjun Township who work outside donated over 500,000 yuan for the scenic area gate. Qingtonggou Mercury-Antimony Company contributed 250,000 yuan. County-level leaders, various units, numerous workers and cadres, community figures, and local residents also donated, bringing the total contributions to 204,000 yuan...

　　On December 28, 2007, Xunyang County officially launched the construction of the "Red Army Memorial Park" covering 30,000 square meters with a total investment of 6.8 million yuan. On that day, a mobilization meeting for the park’s construction was held in Hongjun Township. Participants in the memorial ceremony generously donated, raising 86,370 yuan within just one hour.

　　The new park is located at the entrance of Hongjun Valley, Hongjun Village, Hongjun Township, Xunyang County. The plan is to complete it within three years. So far, 1.81 million yuan has been invested, covering a construction area of 58 mu, with 40 hectares of ecological protection zone and a total investment of 24 million yuan. Key projects such as the scenic area gate, memorial hall, monument, exhibition hall, Ancestor Tomb, worship plaza, memorial wall, roads, land acquisition, relocation, and landscaping have received over 9.6 million yuan in funding.

　　On April 2, 2008, a thousand officials and residents of Xunyang County gathered at the Red Army Memorial Park to hold a public memorial for the Red Army martyrs revered locally as the "Red Army Ancestors." Participants from across the county offered flower baskets and wreaths to the martyrs and bowed three times solemnly in front of the tomb. Leaders of the Xunyang County Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Standing Committee of the County People’s Congress, the County People’s Government, and the County Political Consultative Conference represented the 450,000 people of Xunyang in offering incense to the "Red Army Ancestors."

　　The Red Army Memorial Hall will be developed into a national AAA-level premium red tourism attraction integrating "paying homage to revolutionary martyrs, receiving traditional education, eco-rural tourism, and leisure vacation," presenting itself to the public with a brand-new and perfect image.