INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE SOCIETY & CULTURE

MARTYRS PARK

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.
Guangzhou Insurrectional Martyrs Cemetery Park was constructed in
1954 to commemorate martyrs who died bravely and honorably during the
Guangzhou Insurrection led by the Communist Party of China on December 11,
1927. Aiming to retaliate the existing government and continuing the revolution
after the first failed revolutionary uprising, the Chinese Communist Party
decided to launch another uprising in Guangzhou on November 26, 1927. A
committe was formed with Zhang Tailei ( ) as the commander-in-chief.
Zhang Tailei together with Ye Ting ( ), Ye Jianying, Zhou Wenyong ( ),
Yun Daiying () and Chen Yu, held a surprising assault to Kuomintang (
). Joining them were 150 Korean comrades including Choe Yong-gon ( )
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and Soviet Consulate officials in Guangzhou. A Guangzhou-Soviet Government

was also formed to centralize the political powers to Workers, Peasants and Red
Army Soldiers. The armies boldly attacked the enemies and successfully
conquered the city area on the northern side of the Pearl River ( ). However,
this condition only lasted for two days and the war did not cease here.
Kuomintang helped by the imperialists attacked back with even a larger force.
The situation worsened as Zhang Tailei was killed in the battle and the soldiers
lost their leader. To rescue the action, they retreated from Guangzhou and went
to Hai Lu Feng area ( 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
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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
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

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INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE SOCIETY & CULTURE

MARTYRS PARK

T
H

MAJESTIC MAIN ENTRANCE GATE

XUANYUAN PAVILION

THE MEETING ROOM INSIDE THE MUSEUM

THE MEMORIAL AVENUE

THE BIG BOOK

CANON

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INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE SOCIETY & CULTURE

MARTYRS PARK

STAUTES OF HEROES

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