Xiong Jie, a researcher at the Hanyang District Archives (Historical Research Center), introduced at the scene that the red marble on the front of the Red Warrior Cemetery is the name of the cemetery inscribed by Peng Zhen in 1986. Photo by Wan Jianhui, reporter of the Yangtze River Daily
The Yangtze River Daily news climbed Hanyang Guishan Mountain, picked up the steps from the entrance of the Qintai side, and in a few minutes you could see the Xiang police martyrs' cemetery. Every year, tourists from all over the world come to the tomb of the martyrs to present flowers to commemorate the memorial.
Recently, a reporter from the Yangtze River Daily accompanied Xiong Jie, a researcher at the Hanyang District Archives (Historical Research Center), to the Xiang police martyrs' cemetery and the Red Warrior Cemetery next to the xiangyu martyrs' tomb.
Xiong Jie introduced: After the defeat of the Great Revolution, the bodies of Xiang Police, who were killed by the Kuomintang reactionaries, and hundreds of Communist Party members and revolutionary masses were all carried away by a Communist Party member named Chen Chunhe and other Communist Party members and revolutionary masses at the risk of their lives, carried away overnight from several execution sites in Hankou and Wuchang, transported to Hanyang in small boats, and buried in the southwestern foothills of Guishan Mountain.
Chen Chunhe was one of the leaders of the early workers' movement in the Hanyang area. In March 1929, he was also arrested and killed by the Kuomintang reactionaries for betrayal by traitors.
Took root in Hanyang to lead the workers' movement and insisted on doing party work
According to Xiong Jie's research, Chen Chunhe was born in Huangpi, Hubei Province in 1876, and when he was young, his family was poor, and he followed his father to Hanyang to make a living. Chen Chunhe entered the Hanyang Iron Works as a child laborer in his 10s, and later became a sailor at the factory, organizing activities against the oppression of the foremen at the factory many times. In the summer of 1922, Xu Baihao, a member of the Communist Party and vice chairman of the Hubei Federation of Trade Unions (later served as a member of the first Central Supervision Commission at the Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China), launched a workers' movement at the Hanyang Iron Works, and Chen Chunhe actively participated in the activities. In the strike struggle of the Hanyang Iron Works, which shook the whole country, Chen Chunhe performed prominently, and joined the Communist Party of China through the introduction of Xu Baihao, becoming one of the earliest workers' party members in the Wuhan area. After the victory of the strike, Chen Chunhe served as the leader of the leading group of the Hanyang Iron Works Regiment organization and became one of the leaders of the early workers' movement in the Hanyang area.
After the February 7 Massacre in 1923, the warlord Xiao Yaonan wanted to arrest trade union leaders in Wuhan, causing the Wuhan workers' movement to fall into a low ebb. Under the leadership of the party organization, Chen Chunhe braved hardships and dangers, secretly restored the Hanyang Iron Works Trade Union, and actively carried out activities, making the Hanyang Iron Works Trade Union the largest and most active secret trade union organization in Wuhan at that time.
In September 1926, during the Northern Expeditionary Army's attack on Wuhan, Chen Chunhe led thousands of Hanyang dock workers to brave the rain of bullets and bullets to demolish the pontoon bridge erected by Wu Peifu's troops on the Han River, and hide the ships to prevent the warlord troops in Hankou from reinforcing Hanyang, and leaving the defeated troops stationed in Hanyang with no way to escape. At that time, countless enemy troops drowned in the Han River. Chen Chunhe also arranged for workers to ambush outside the Hanyang Arsenal, use bian dan and others to chase down the fleeing military and police stationed at the factory, and joined forces with the Death Squad of the Northern Expeditionary Army to successfully seize the Hanyang Arsenal, so that the Flag of the Northern Expeditionary Army was raised at the top of Guishan Mountain.
After the Northern Expeditionary Army occupied Hanyang, Chen Chunhe quickly organized workers to repair the pontoon bridge, concentrate ships, and send the Northern Expeditionary Army into Hankou. After the Northern Expedition conquered Wuchang, Chen Chunhe was elected as a member of the Preparatory Committee of the Hubei Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, and trained and introduced many workers' activists to join the Communist Party of China in various trade unions in Hanyang.
On July 15, 1927, Wang Jingwei openly rebelled against the revolution in Wuhan, frantically arresting and slaughtering Communists and revolutionary masses. Under the white terror, Chen Chunhe lived in seclusion in the area of The Dragon Lantern Causeway in Hanyang, nicknamed "Chen Beard", and was covered by his wife and brother Wang Zhaigong to lead the underground party work in Hanyang. In mid-December of the same year, Chen Chunhe attended the enlarged meeting of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China in Hankou, was a member of the presidium of the congress, and was elected as a member and secretary of the Supervision Commission of the Provincial Party Committee.
In the spring of 1928, Chen Chunhe lost contact with the party organization, but he insisted on resuming the party's underground activities in The Hanyang district. In December of the same year, he resumed contact with the rebuilt Hubei Provincial Party Committee and formed the Hanyang County Party Committee, serving as the secretary of the Hanyang County Party Committee.
He ordered the remains of martyrs such as Xiang Jingyu to be buried near the Guishan Supplementary Pavilion
In the early morning of May 1, 1928, Xiang Washu was brutally killed by the Kuomintang reactionaries at the Yujili execution ground in Hankou.
When Chen Chunhe learned the news, he was filled with grief and indignation, rushed to the execution site in spite of the danger to his life, wrapped the body of the martyr Xiang Police with a white cloth, carried a small boat on his back, crossed the Han River, and buried it near the Qianting Pavilion at the foot of Guishan Mountain in Hanyang.
Before and after this, Chen Chunhe and some Communist Party members and revolutionary masses buried the remains of hundreds of martyrs near the Qianting Pavilion.
He Liping, Director of the Party History Research Office of the Wuhan Municipal CPC Committee, introduced that after the July 15 counter-revolutionary coup in 1927, the Kuomintang reactionaries successively promulgated a series of reactionary decrees and regulations, such as the "Martial Law Regulations" and the "Provisional Counter-Revolutionary Punishment Law." The Wuhan Garrison Command also extracted 16 articles from the reactionary decrees and regulations and promulgated them, and anyone who violated one of them was punished with capital punishment, thereby suppressing the Communists and the revolutionary masses. By the spring of 1929, thousands of Communists, revolutionary volunteers, and revolutionary masses had been massacred by the Kuomintang reactionaries.
Regardless of his personal safety on many occasions, Chen Chunhe led several revolutionary workers to row across the river, sneaked into the execution sites outside the Guangping, Yujili Empty Ping, Wuchang Wenchangmen and other places in Hankou Jishengshantang at night, collected the martyr's body, snatched it on his back, transported it to Hanyang in a small boat, and buried it in the mountain pass on the right side of the Qianting Pavilion in the southwest foothills of Guishan Mountain, and at the same time marked them with large stones to record the martyrs' names.
He was arrested at his home in Hanyang for betrayal by traitors, and later killed outside the Wenchang Gate of Wuchang
In February 1929, Chen Chunhe was arrested at his home in Hanyang for betrayal by traitors. On March 4 of the same year, he was killed by Kuomintang reactionaries outside the Wenchang Gate of Wuchang.
He Liping introduced that due to Chen Chunhe's sacrifice, the list of martyrs was lost, and at present, only Chen Chunhe and others have buried the remains of hundreds of martyrs, including Xiang Jingyu, near the Guishan Supplementary Dry Pavilion. Later generations remembered these martyrs and called them "Red Warriors". Their burial place, the mound in The Qianting Pavilion in the southwestern foothills of Hanyang Guishan Mountain, has long been known as the "Red Warrior Cemetery". In 1938, the staff of the Wuhan office of the Eighth Route Army came to the Red Soldier Cemetery to pay their respects and take a group photo in front of the tomb. From their group photo, you can see that there is a short fence in front of the tomb, which reads "Red Warrior Cemetery".
In 1938, the staff of the Wuhan Office of the Eighth Route Army came to the Red Soldier Cemetery to take a group photo in front of the tomb. Courtesy of Xiong Jie
He Liping introduced that after several turns, the Wuhan Municipal Government moved the Red Warrior Cemetery to the west of Guishan Mountain in Hanyang according to the suggestions of the municipal people's congress deputies, and the tomb and the stele were finally merged into one.
Today, the Red Warrior Cemetery, which stands on Turtle Hill, faces west, in the direction of Qintai Moon Lake. The upper part of the front is inlaid with cast bronze Chinese Communist Party emblems and garlands, and the middle is inlaid with white marble, on which are engraved the six characters of "Red Warrior Cemetery" inscribed by Peng Zhen in 1986. The back of the Red Warrior Cemetery faces the direction of the Yangtze River, and the central marble is engraved with an inscription, which records the heroic story of Chen Chunhe and others who risked death to bury the remains of martyrs. The stone plaque on the side is inscribed with the names of some of the party organization leaders who died in Wuhan during the agrarian revolutionary war, including Xiang Jingyu, Xia Minghan, Zhuo Kaize, Chen Chunhe, Ma Junsan and others.
The 76-year-old inquired about Chen Chunhe's widow
Unexpectedly learn more about the martyrs' deeds
In February this year, Peng Qiyu, a 76-year-old retired cadre, climbed Guishan Mountain to pay respects to the Police Martyrs Cemetery and the Red Warrior Cemetery, saw Chen Chunhe's touching story, and remembered that when she was a child, her grandfather had told her that there was a Wife Chen in Hanyang Parrot Island, who was the widow of a martyr. Peng Qiyu speculated: "Will this Wife Chen be Chen Chunhe's wife?" ”
Therefore, Peng Qiyu searched on the Internet and went to the Hubei Provincial Library and the Wuhan Municipal Library to inquire, and finally came to a conclusion that denied his own speculation. However, she was relieved that she accidentally saw the deeds of a revolutionary martyr who died in 1930, and also contacted the descendants of this revolutionary martyr.
A native of Hanyang, Peng Qiyu joined the Communist Party of China in 1966 and was a former deputy secretary of the party committee of the Wuhan Architectural Design Institute. She told the Yangtze River Daily reporter that at that time, her grandfather told her that Mrs. Chen's husband was the leader of the dock workers in Parrot Island during the Great Revolution, leading the workers to overthrow the warlords, oppose the great powers, and support the revolutionary government cooperated by the Northern Expeditionary Army and the Kuomintang. In 1927, the right wing of the Kuomintang rebelled against the revolution and massacred Communists. Later, Mrs. Chen's husband was also shot and killed by the Kuomintang reactionaries. Mrs. Chen's husband's experience is very similar to Chen Chunhe's experience.
Elder Peng Qiyu successively went to the Guishan Scenic Area, the Hanyang District Veterans Service Center, the Hanyang District Zhoutou Street Office, and the Wuhan Municipal Party History Research Office to understand the research situation, and finally ruled out the possibility that Mrs. Chen's husband was Chen Chunhe.
In order to record and rescue the history of the Hanyang Parrot Island area, Peng Qiyu and some retired old classmates set up a collection writing group of "Yerba Buena Parrot Island" to collect manuscripts from residents. At a symposium, Peng Qiyu mentioned Mrs. Chen's clues. Alumni Zuo Jiayan told her that "Mrs. Cheng" was his grandmother's sister. In The Wuhan dialect, "Cheng" is pronounced the same as "Chen", and she regards "Cheng Tai po" as "Chen Tai Po". Zuo Jiayan's mother's third uncle, Cheng Shangzhi, joined the Communist Party of China in 1926 and served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Department of the First District of Hanyang, and after the defeat of the Great Revolution, he opened a bamboo and wood society in the South Road of the Hankou Charity Association, using this as a cover to take charge of the revolutionary work in Qiaokou and the Heshan area of Hanyang, and was arrested for traitorous betrayal and was righteous at the Wuchang Horse Parade.
A stone stirred up thousands of waves, and more and more information about the martyr Cheng Shangzhi and his widow "Mrs. Cheng" was increasing. Not long ago, Zuo Jiayan told Peng Qiyu that his sister Zuo Xiurong's family had preserved the certificate of cheng Shangzhi's revolutionary martyrdom that his second uncle Cheng Zhenghe (who had died) had obtained.
Peng Qiyu told reporters that after many twists and turns, she has finally clarified the heroic deeds of martyr Cheng Shangzhi. In the process of exploring, she touched the beating pulse of the martyrs. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, through looking for the footprints of martyrs, she learned more deeply about the heroic songs composed by Xiao Chunu, Le Lie'an, Cheng Shangzhi, Ouyang Lishan and a large number of communist party members in the hot land of Hanyang.
(Yangtze River Daily reporter Wan Jianhui)
【Editor: He Equation】