Remembering China’s martyrs of war by tackling a grave problem
Print Edition
PREPARING for China’s Tomb-Sweeping Day today, You Guoqing bought several bottles of liquor and bunches of flowers as offerings to lay at the graves of martyrs on a mountain in Jiangxi Province.
You, 63, of Longtan Township under Gao’an City, and his three brothers volunteer to look after the graves of soldiers who died fighting the Japanese in a battle in the area 73 years ago.
At this time of year, their work, and that of many others performing similar duties around China, becomes even more important than usual. The annual Tomb-Sweeping Day is an occasion for honoring the dead, with many memorial activities set to take place in graveyards reserved for casualties of war.
Volunteer grave keeper is a role typically passed down through generations and one that has to face hardship from a lack of funding.
Liu Jincheng, head of the Gao’an City museum, said more than 1,000 soldiers died in the local battle and they were buried around Tiger Mountain, where a cemetery was built in their memory.
You’s soldier father, You Hanqing, survived the battle. You Hanqing was born in Yunnan Province, but he settled down and got married in Longtan after the Anti-Japanese War. His house was just 500 meters from the cemetery. You Hanqing maintained the graves there until he died in 1999.
“Father often took me and my brothers to the cemetery to offer sacrifices and help remove wild grass from the tombs,” You Guoqing said.
On his deathbed, You Hanqing asked his sons to bury him in the cemetery and continue keeping a watch over the martyrs’ graves. The brothers have followed their father’s last wish. They often take their families to the cemetery to pay respects to the soldiers.
“We take our children and grandchildren to the graves, and they will carry on taking care of the graves after we die,” You Guoqing explained, “The cause should be passed down from generation to generation, and the soldiers’s sacrifices should never be forgotten.”
In Hebei Province, Wang Zhijie, 58, is a second-generation grave keeper for Anti-Japanese War martyrs in Jizhuang village under Fucheng County.
In 1942, 88 soldiers died during a battle in the village. Wang’s father, Wang Mengbei, who was the village head, witnessed the fighting. He led the villagers to bury the bodies of the dead soldiers and acted as a grave keeper until his death in 1993. Wang Zhijie followed in his father’s footsteps and has been watching over the graves for the past 20 years.
For villagers like You and Wang, although they are passionate about taking care of martyrs’ graves, they cannot prevent them from falling into disrepair for lack of funds.
The cemetery in Gao’an is dilapidated and some of its stone lions and tombstones are falling apart.
According to Liu Jincheng, the local government worked out a plan to repair the cemetery, but it was shelved when authorities failed to raise enough funds. He said more than 1.5 million yuan (US$241,350) is required.
It’s an oversight seen across China. According to an investigation by the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, some martyr graves in the city are also in bad shape as a result of urban construction.
Ma Mingde, a committee official, urged the government to take the protection of martyrs’ graves into consideration in urban planning.
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