INTRODUCTIONTOCHINESESOCIETY&CULTUREMARTYRSPARK

Itharshan

11952797
Class A
Introduction to Chinese Society & Culture
22nd October, 2015

GUANGZHOU INSURRECTIONAL MARTYRS PARK -

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Besides the Mausoleum of 72 Martyrs, Guangzhou also boasts another modern martyrs
memorial called Guangzhou Insurrectional Martyrs Cemetery Park. Together with my friends, I
decided to explore this site out of curiosity after of one year in China. Our first year in China was quite
busy in learning the language and getting to know the culture. The site is located next to my campus
and we do share common wall as one of the boundaries and is easily accessed by bus or metro for who
were willing to visit. If you take metro, just stop at Martyrs Park station. In the first year of my life in
Guangzhou, I still remember passing by this place every time I took metro to travel to other places. As
I observed the site while passing by, I thought it was a grand Buddhist temple since it has red gates or
a cultural park since it covers a massive area, but eventually I got to know it is not so.
The park indeed offers solemn and beautiful view, making it such a grand place to pay tribute to
the martyrs. Situated in an area of 186 km2, the park is divided into two zones the memorial and the
garden. In many memorial buildings of the park, epigraphs by Zhou Enlai (), Zhu De (),
Deng Xiaoping (), Ye Jianying () and other leaders can be found. Some interesting
points in the park include the Main Entrance Gate, Memorial Avenue, Guangzhou Insurrection
Monument, Tomb of the Martyrs of Guangzhou Commune, Four Martyrs Tomb, Comrade Ye
Jianying Monument, the Blood Sacrificed Xuanyuan Pavilion, Sino-North Korea Friendship Blood
Sacrificed Pavilion, Sino-Soviet Friendship Blood Sacrificed Pavilion and other sites like Senior
Citizens Activity Area, Children Playground, JianMei Sports Center, Skating Ground, Flower Hall and
Land of Wonders. The best time to view the park is in the morning when the sun rises. As you watch
the sun rises, you could see the monument is bathed with suns rays as if it carried the rising of
revolutionary spirit.
GuangzhouInsurrectionalMartyrsCemeteryParkwasconstructedin1954tocommemorate
martyrswhodiedbravelyandhonorablyduringtheGuangzhouInsurrectionledbytheCommunist
PartyofChinaonDecember11,1927.Aimingtoretaliatetheexistinggovernmentandcontinuing
therevolutionafterthefirstfailedrevolutionaryuprising,theChineseCommunistPartydecidedto
launchanotheruprisinginGuangzhouonNovember26,1927.AcommittewasformedwithZhang
Tailei()asthecommanderinchief.ZhangTaileitogetherwithYeTing(),YeJianying,
ZhouWenyong(),YunDaiying()andChenYu,heldasurprisingassaulttoKuomintang
(). Joining them were 150 Korean comrades including Choe Yonggon () and Soviet
ConsulateofficialsinGuangzhou.AGuangzhouSovietGovernmentwasalsoformedtocentralizethe
politicalpowerstoWorkers,PeasantsandRedArmySoldiers.Thearmiesboldlyattackedtheenemies
andsuccessfullyconqueredthecityareaonthenorthernsideofthePearlRiver().However,
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thisconditiononlylastedfortwodaysandthewardidnotceasehere.Kuomintanghelpedbythe
imperialistsattackedbackwithevenalargerforce.ThesituationworsenedasZhangTaileiwaskilled
inthebattleandthesoldierslosttheirleader.Torescuetheaction,theyretreatedfromGuangzhou
andwenttoHaiLuFengarea(or Hailufeng Soviet), while the rest remained in Guangzhou
and had to fight a bloody fight with the enemy. Most of them died a martyr's death. The massive attacks
from Kuomintang resulted in the massacre of the communist armies, ending the war with multitude
dead bodies lying on the ground and their blood flowing all over the Guanyin mountain () and
the banks of the Pearl River. Regretfully, the uprising ended in an ultimate failure resulting in the death
of over 5,700 people including international revolutionaries from the Soviet Union and Korea.
Although the uprising only lasted for three days, it has given significant impact to the development of
revolutionary movement in Guangzhou in search for people's government. Following the uprising,
there were Nanchang uprising () and Autumn Harvest uprising () leading to
independent war and people's army.
Opened to public in May 1958, the memorial park is as a national key cultural protected site
for martyrs monument that serves as an exemplary base for national patriotism education and a national
education base for primary and secondary students. It is also listed as one of the national revolution
tourism sites and protected sites for cultural relics of the Guangdong province. The park functions as
a multifunctional park as it is not only a historical site but also a source of public education and
sightseeing park. The park occasionally hosts horticulture, photography, calligraphy and art
exhibitions too.
Since the park covers a massive area, there are many route options you could take. Instead of
walking straight along the avenue to reach the Insurrection Monument, I and my friends decided to
turn left first and found a museum there.
In the western part of the park stands the Museum of the Revolutionary History of Guangdong.
Positioning in a total area of 2,000 m2, the museum was started in 1957 and completed in 1959. It has
a round top and two storeys. The museum keeps a collection of over 13,000 pieces of cultural relics
and literature and over 13,000 photos recording the history of Guangzhous revolutionary movements
for national independence from the Opium War in 1840 to the national liberation in 1949. Many
important occasions took place in this museum. The museum used to be the place where revolutionists
gathered to proclaim independence of Guangzhou on October 1911, Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated, the
second and third national congresses of Kuomintang were held, and Mao Ze Dong used to work.
As we kept exploring the park, we found a place that has a collection of martyrs statues. Out
of high reference to the martyrs, those statues are beautifully chiseled as if trying to best reflect the
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face of the great martyrs. If you want to know how the heroes looked like at that time, you can visit
this place and I have given below some of their photos from my gallery.
If you choose to walk straight along the memorial avenue, you will be directly led to the center
point of the park where the Insurrection Monument is located. The monument is a symbolic
architecture, which has the form of a hand upholding a rifle that bursts through three blocks of stones
with its tip pointing to the bright sky. It represents the undying spirit of the Chinese to fight for
liberation and freedom. On front of the monument is engraved ten big golden Chinese characters
stating "Eternal glory to the martyrs of the Guangzhou Uprising".
Guangzhou Martyrs Park is an impressive way to commemorate the hard struggles of Chinese
ancestors to fight for their national liberation. This architecture is a resemblance that Chinese people,
no matter where they are, have to appreciate their predecessors struggles. No wonder the Chinese are
very proud of their national identity. This is something valuable we have to learn from such a big
nation like China.

WORDS 1244
PHOTOS

THE MAJESTIC MAIN ENTRANCE GATE

THE MEMORIAL AVENUE

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XUANYUAN PAVILION

THE BIG BOOK

THE MEETING ROOM INSIDE THE MUSEUM

CANON

STAUTES OF HEROES

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