The Zibo Revolutionary Martyrs Monument is located in the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery in Zibo City, Shandong Province. The predecessor of Zibo Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery was the Zhoucun Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery, which was founded in 1948. In 1999, with the approval of the Shandong Provincial Government, it was relocated to Dabu Mountain in the southeast of Zhoucun City. In March 2000, the Zhoucun Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery was renamed Zibo Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery, which is a national key martyr memorial building protection unit. The monument to the revolutionary martyrs of Zibo City stands on the top of Dabu Mountain where the cemetery is located, the monument is 19.99 meters high, meaning that it was built in 1999, and the monument body resembles three sharp swords, symbolizing the three periods of the War of Resistance against Japan, the War of Liberation and the construction of peace; Below are three tiers of pedestals of different sizes, symbolizing the three mountains that have been overthrown and pressed down on the heads of the people; Surrounded by three broken chains, symbolizing the chains that the Chinese people broke free from through their heroic struggle under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The marble on the front of the stele is engraved with eight gilded characters of "revolutionary martyrs are immortal", and the side is an inscription, the full text is as follows:
Zhoucun is famous at home and abroad as "the first village in the world", and is famous in ancient and modern times. A hundred years of wind and rain, deep disasters, people's livelihood withered, and the long night was difficult to see. In August 1945, it was liberated for the first time, and then went through three losses and three gains. On March 12, 1948, the Ninth Column of our Shandong Corps annihilated the defending enemy in one fell swoop, and Zhoucun was finally liberated. Until the period of peacebuilding, countless heroes did their best and died. In a prosperous era, the people live and work in peace and contentment; Drink water and think of the source, remember the great achievements of the martyrs. Erect this monument to encourage future generations.
Zhoucun District People's Government
It was established in January 2000
The inscription outlines the glorious course of the Zibo people who are not afraid of strong enemies and bravely struggle under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, remembers the revolutionary martyrs who died in the war, and praises the unswerving and sacrificial spirit of generations of revolutionary martyrs. Reading the inscription, inheriting the legacy of our ancestors, I deeply feel that my generation has a great responsibility.
"One Horse and Three Commanders". "One horse and three commanders, suffering from anti-Japanese disease, are bent on fighting devils and saving our people", this is a ballad that circulated in the land of Luzhong during the Anti-Japanese War. "One Horse and Three Commanders" refers to Ma Yaonan, commander of the Third Detachment of the Shandong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla of the Eighth Route Army, Ma Xiaoyun, deputy commander of the Sixth Army Subdivision of the Bohai Naval Region, and Ma Tianmin, commander of the First Detachment of the Fifth Army of the Shandong People's Anti-Japanese Salvation Army. In December 1937, the Japan invading army occupied Zibo and successively committed more than 10 tragic cases, including the Qianyixiang massacre, the Hedong massacre, the Tieshan massacre, and the Zhoucun Dashangzhuang massacre, committing heinous crimes. Ma Yaonan, the principal of Changshan Middle School, actively supported the anti-Japanese resistance and was highly valued by the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, and sent Yao Zhongming, Liao Rongbiao, Zhao Mingxin and other comrades to Changshan Middle School to prepare for the anti-Japanese armed uprising in central Lu. On December 26, 1937, more than 100 anti-Japanese soldiers held an anti-Japanese armed uprising in Heitieshan at Taipingzhuang at the foot of Heitie Mountain, and established the "Fifth Army of Shandong People's Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army", with Liao Rongbiao as commander, Yao Zhongming as political commissar, and Zhao Ming as the new director of the Political Department. A few days later, Ma Yaonan rushed to Heitieshan with the prepared food and ammunition to join the rebel forces and serve as the director of the Provisional Action Committee and chief of staff of the Fifth Army. The anti-Japanese armed uprising in Heitieshan opened the curtain of anti-Japanese salvation in central Lu, and was called the "Three Mountains Uprising" of Shandong against Japan together with the Tianfushan Uprising in Jiaodong and the Lailai Mountain Uprising in Tai'an.
In June 1938, the Fifth Army of the Shandong People's Anti-Japanese Salvation Army was reorganized into the Third Detachment of the Shandong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, with Ma Yaonan as the commander. On July 22, 1939, Ma Yaonan and Yang Guofu led their troops to move to Huantai Niuwangzhuang and were surrounded by the enemy. On October 14, when Ma Tianmin went to Daxinzhuang in Changshan County to collect guns, he was betrayed by traitors and martyred. His head was brutally cut off by the Japanese army and hung from the gate of Changshan County for several days. On August 10, 1944, Ma Xiaoyun died heroically in the battle of Wangjiazhuang in Qingcheng. In the spring of 1947, the tomb of the three martyrs was moved to Majiaqi in Beiwang Village, Zhoucun. In January 1961, the Jinan Military Region and the Shandong Provincial Department of Civil Affairs funded the relocation of the tombs of the three martyrs to the Zhoucun Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery.
Zhou Village was liberated three times. On August 28, 1945, the Eighth Route Army launched an attack on the Japanese puppet army occupying Zhoucun, and Zhoucun was liberated for the first time. In September, under the instigation of the Kuomintang Shandong Provincial Government, the Japanese troops stationed in Jinan and Qingdao attacked Zibo from the east and west sides along the Jiaoji Railway, and successively occupied Zhoucun, Zhangdian, Zichuan, Boshan and other places. On the night of June 7, 1946, the 9th Division of the Luzhong Military Region, with the cooperation of the 15th Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the Bohai Naval Region, launched an attack on the enemy stationed in Zhoucun. On the evening of the 8th, the 9th Division launched another attack on the enemy of Zhoucun, the troops entered the city, the defending enemy abandoned the city and fled, and Zhoucun was liberated for the second time. On 23 June, Wang Yaowu, commander of the second appeasement zone of the Kuomintang Xuzhou Pacification Office, commanded about 100,000 troops of five armies stationed in Jinan, Changwei, and Qingdao to attack the liberated areas along the Jiaoji Railway. On July 3, the Kuomintang army occupied Zhou Village again. From February 20 to 23, 1947, Chen Yi and Su Yu commanded the East China Field Army to completely annihilate the Li Xianzhou Army in the Laiwu area and won the victory of the Laiwu Campaign. Taking advantage of the victory, the East China Field Army marched north and successively recovered Boshan, Zichuan, Zhangdian, Zhoucun and other places, and Zhoucun was liberated for the third time. In July, the Kuomintang army concentrated its forces to attack the liberated area of Luzhong, and Zhoucun was once again occupied by the enemy.
The first battle to liberate Shandong was launched. On March 11, 1948, Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin led the seventh and ninth columns of the Shandong Corps of the East China People's Liberation Army to start the battle of the western section of the Jiaoji Railway. The seventh column took the lead in encircling Zhangdian, killing and wounding more than 500 enemies and capturing more than 2,500, and Zhangdian was liberated. In the early morning of the 12th, the Ninth Column launched an attack on the enemy in Zhoucun, annihilating more than 15,000 people from the Kuomintang reorganized 32nd Division, the 141st Brigade, and the new 36th Brigade, capturing 2 major general officers and 114 colonel-level officers, and Zhoucun was liberated. After the liberation of Zhangdian and Zhoucun, the enemy stationed in the western section of the Jiaoji Railway began to waver along the entire line. On March 22, the battle of the western section of the Jiaoji Railway ended successfully, recovering 11 important cities such as Zhangdian, Zhoucun, Zichuan, Boshan, Zouping, Zhangqiu, and Laiwu, and destroying more than 38,000 enemies. Xu Shiyou appraised this campaign as "the first battle in the operational plan for the liberation of Shandong" and made tremendous contributions to the liberation of Shandong and ultimately the liberation of the whole of China.