"Martyr Liu Yuansong is an old comrade-in-arms of his grandfather (great-grandfather), he died in a battle to suppress bandits in order to let the people of Daejeon live a happy and stable life, his spirit is immortal, you must always remember him. On March 20, as the Qingming Festival approached, Lin Shoushui, a 76-year-old villager from Baishu Village, Wuling Township, Datian County, took his son, grandson and granddaughter to the Datian County Martyrs Cemetery to sweep the grave of martyr Liu Yuansong. On the same day, the staff of the Datian County Veterans Affairs Bureau accompanied Lin Shoushui and his family to bow and present flowers to the martyrs' tombs.
Guarding the Martyrs' Tombs
Daejeon is a red hot land, where more than 20 high-ranking Red Army generals, including Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Luo Ronghuan, Xun Huaizhou, Su Yu, and Luo Binghui, led the revolutionary struggle, and many heroic figures and heroic deeds emerged. According to the "Datian County Chronicle", from 1942 to 1992, the county included a total of 142 martyrs, including several martyrs who were not native citizens.
In September 1950, Liu Yuansong, deputy company commander of the Datian Garrison Company of the Yong'an Military Subdivision of Fujian Province, participated in the battle against bandits in Houde Village, Wuci Township, Zhangping City, and unfortunately was shot and died at the age of 33. Before his death, martyr Liu Yuansong said that he had participated in the Huaihai Campaign, the Battle of Crossing the River and the Soviet-Chinese Seven Battles and Seven Victories, but he did not expect to die at the hands of bandits, and hoped that his comrades could avenge his shame. Lin Shoushui introduced that his father Lin Daodao was the connector of the underground party in Datian County, and later became a comrade-in-arms of the martyr Liu Yuansong, and told the story of Liu Yuansong to his children many times.
Arrested for participating in underground party work, Lin Tongdao was tortured, but he always kept the party's secrets. Later, he suffered a serious eye disease in prison, which left him blind, and was released by the Kuomintang authorities. In 1953, at the age of 51, Lin Daodao died of illness.
"In the battle against bandits, 12 people died in the People's Liberation Army, and after the victory of the battle, the soldiers who died were all buried. Lin Shoushui introduced that because Liu Yuansong was a foreigner, his comrades-in-arms thought that there was no way to let the hero's soul return to his hometown for the time being, and finally buried him in Baishu Village, Wuling Township, Datian County, adjacent to Houde Village.
Lin Daodao told Lin Shoushui the heroic story of Liu Yuansong countless times, but he knew very little about the martyrs.
"My father said that Liu Yuansong is a native of Wujin, Changzhou, Jiangsu, and I don't know if he has any family. Lin Shoushui said that before his father passed away, he instructed him to guard the tomb of the martyr Liu Yuansong and find his descendants.
In 1985, Lin Shoushui was honored to join the party and strengthened his faith. In September 2004, Lin Shoushui and Liu Yuansong's former comrades-in-arms Yu Zhinan, Lin Yingcai, Qiu Qinghe, Tian Shizhong, Lin Zishou and others funded the rebuilding of the martyrs' tombs, erected tombstones, and held memorial ceremonies. During the Qingming and winter solstice seasons every year, everyone sweeps the tombs of the martyrs according to local customs and comforts the souls of the heroes.
Find relatives for martyrs
With the passage of time, the comrades-in-arms of the martyr Liu Yuansong passed away one after another. Lin Shoushui's age is over the ages, and his and his family's deeds of guarding the tombs of martyrs and searching for relatives have touched many caring people, and provincial and municipal media have published and broadcast many news for the martyrs to find their relatives.
On April 8, 2021, the "Voice of China" column of China Central Radio and Television broadcast the news that Lin Shoushui was looking for relatives for the martyrs, which caused repercussions in the martyrs' hometowns. Xu Kunping, Secretariat of the Party History Working Committee of the Changzhou Municipal Party Committee of Jiangsu Province, Changzhou TV reporters, local caring people and volunteers, joined the family search team. The volunteers found the name of martyr Liu Yuansong in the list of martyrs in the Changzhou Martyrs Cemetery, and TV reporters Qiu Songqiang and Yuan also found a book "Wujin People" that included local martyrs, which recorded Liu Yuansong's list and his revolutionary experience in Fujian...... With the help of Zhang Shangjin, the honorary president of the Wujin Local Literature Research Association, it was learned that Liu Yuansong was born in 1917 in Xiaoliujia Village, Dahe, Xiaodu, Wujin County.
The original filial piety of Wujin County has been revoked, and now Wujin District has 11 towns and 5 streets. A reporter from Changzhou TV visited Xiaodu Village, Weicun Street, Xinbei District, and found that the original Dahe Xiaoliujia Village belonged to Lingqiao Village. "More than 10 years ago, they were demolished one after another, and now no one in the village knows about the martyr Liu Yuansong. ”
Just as the search was about to reach a dead end, a volunteer mentioned that more than 10 years ago, Xiaodu Village had established health records for the elderly in the village, and these original information were kept in the Xiaodu Village Clinic, which may be useful.
Dr. Huang Jianlei of the Xiaodu Village Clinic found the name of "Liu Yuanxi" from dozens of yellowed pamphlets, who was born in 1943. The old man Liu Yuanxi told the Changzhou TV reporter that Liu Yuansong was his cousin, and his father gave birth to a boy and two girls, and enjoyed the treatment of the martyrs' families before his death.
Liu Yuansong's father later re-established a family, and since he had no son after his death, several nephews helped take care of the funeral. Liu Yuanxi said that Liu Yuansong's two sisters have passed away, and everyone only knows that Liu Yuansong went out to do revolution in his early years, and the specific situation is not very clear.
Picking up the martyrs "home"
When Liu Yuanxi learned that four generations of Lin Shoushui's family guarded the tomb of martyr Liu Yuansong and waited for the martyr's relatives for 71 years, he was very moved. Liu Yuanxi said, "I hope to get the help and support of relevant departments to move the grave of martyr Liu Yuansong back, so that the soul of the martyr can return to his homeland and return to his roots." ”
Is the desire to bring the souls of martyrs back to their homeland feasible?
Wang Xinran, from the Shuangyong Work Office of the Changzhou Veterans Affairs Bureau, introduced that the cemetery of revolutionary martyrs belongs to the martyrs' memorial facilities, which is an important and valuable red resource in the local area, and cannot be relocated at will.
"From the perspective of protecting red cultural sites, it is recommended that there is no need to move the graves back to their hometowns, but with the permission of national policies and in accordance with the wishes of relatives, we will do our best to help the martyrs' loyal bones return to their hometowns smoothly. Lin Keyuan, then deputy director of the Datian County Civil Affairs Bureau, said.
In November 2018, the Datian County Veterans Affairs Bureau was established.
"In 2023, in order to allow the martyrs to have a better resting environment and allow the martyrs to accept the common memory of the whole society, we will actively implement more than 40 yuan of funds to build a new centralized burial site for martyrs in the county martyrs' cemetery, comprehensively improving the infrastructure of the cemetery. Zhou Li, director of the Datian County Veterans Affairs Bureau, introduced that the county Veterans Affairs Bureau will relocate and bury the scattered martyrs here for centralized management and protection in accordance with the principle of "relocation and centralized management".
Lin Shoushui's family had strong feelings for the martyr Liu Yuansong, and they were worried about the relocation of the martyr's tomb to the county martyr's cemetery for burial. The staff of the county veterans affairs bureau came to the door many times to preach the policy, broadcast the well-made propaganda video of the new look of the county martyrs' cemetery after the upgrading and transformation, and introduced the newly built burial site and professional centralized management, explaining the significance of the martyrs' tomb after the relocation can allow more people to remember and pay respect. On December 23 of that year, Lin Shoushui and his family guarded the heroic soul of martyr Liu Yuanchong and moved to the county martyr's cemetery to rest in peace. At 10 a.m. on December 27 of the same year, the Datian County Martyrs Cemetery held a public memorial ceremony for the scattered martyrs' tombs to be relocated to the park, with the participation of representatives of veterans, martyrs' families and people from all walks of life, and people welcomed the martyrs "home" with the highest standards and etiquette.
Authors: Lin Shengzhong, Ye Ziyan, Luo Zhenhua, Weng Huiqin