Life goes on in tribute to China鈥檚 martyrs鈥 sacrifices during war
Print Edition
Most mornings, Zhang Dingguo, 63, shadowboxes in a small square in the Martyrs Cemetery in Ya鈥檃n, a city in southwest China鈥檚 Sichuan Province.
Zhang, who鈥檚 retired, chooses that place because it is downtown and close to markets and the cultural center, which he often visits after his morning exercise.
The cemetery, one of 4,151 martyr memorials in China, is quiet and full of trees. It is the final resting place of 342 Chinese Red Army and People鈥檚 Liberation Army soldiers. Zhang says he regards them as silent friends, and sometimes sweeps fallen leaves and dirt from their graves. 鈥淢aybe the martyrs know I come here every day,鈥 he says.
Other retirees play Chinese chess in a pavilion or fish at a lotus pond in the cemetery, while their grandchildren play in the square. In the evening, fan dancers move to soft, slow music in the square. 鈥淲e try to dance without disturbing those buried here,鈥 says one.
In many Chinese cities, martyrs cemeteries incorporate squares, exhibition halls and trees. They are not just memorials for past heroes, but places for the living. Local people relax in them 鈥 quietly.
For decades, local governments asked public institutions and schools to organize traditional 鈥渢omb-sweeping鈥 ceremonies in martyrs cemeteries every year, mostly ahead of the Qingming Festival in spring or October鈥檚 National Day.
The event in Ya鈥檃n Martyrs Cemetery is much smaller than the grand ceremony at the Monument to the People鈥檚 Heroes in Beijing鈥檚 Tian鈥檃nmen Square, but it鈥檚 just as moving.
When Zhang鈥檚 32-year-old daughter Zhang Xiaojia was a primary school student she made paper flowers to wear for the ceremony.
At the ceremony, students would stand in line in front of the monument in the center of cemetery. A representative would deliver a speech to express their gratitude for the martyrs.
They would put white flowers on the graves or hang them on trees. In China, white is the dominant color in funerals or tomb-sweeping ceremonies.
After the ceremony came the 鈥渇ree activity,鈥 when the children would play in the cemetery for the rest of the day. Roller skating in the square, hide-and-seek ... all the fun of a holiday as long as they kept away from the tombs.
Snack vendors would gather at the cemetery gates, but most of the students would eat home-made treats at the lunchtime picnic.
Before the end of the day, they were expected to finish a composition on the theme of 鈥淎 day to be remembered鈥 or 鈥淩eflections on tomb-sweeping鈥.
Zhang Xiaojia recently began going to the cemetery again to bring her father an umbrella if the weather changed.
The local government has a website for virtual tributes.
However, old habits die hard, and local people still prefer to visit in person.
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