The Historical Evolution of Bishagang Park

Feng Yuxiang allocated 200,000 yuan to commemorate the soldiers killed in the Second Army of the Northern Expedition National Revolutionary Army, and instructed the traffic commander Xu to build the North.

Cut down the graves of fallen soldiers. At that time, 4 kilometers west of Zhengzhou, there was a loess hill, which was the end of Meishan extending from southwest to northeast. Locals call it Baishagang. It is full of wind and sand all the year round, forming undulating sand dunes. Because crops could not be planted, nearby villagers planted trees on the post to prevent wind and fix sand. Building a cemetery here does not occupy the cultivated land of ordinary people, which is exactly what General Feng wants. So Xu Xiangyun bought 400 acres of land to build a cemetery at this time. The cemetery started in March of 1928 and was completed in August of that year. Feng Yuxiang took the meaning of "loyalty and blood full of yellow sand" and named the cemetery "Bishagang". Feng Yuxiang wrote the inscription "Bishagang", which was engraved on the stone and embedded in the north gate. There is also a memorial pavilion in the cemetery. There is a white marble stone tablet in the center of the pavilion, with four characters of "loyalty and righteousness" engraved on the front, which was personally inscribed by General Feng Yuxiang. On the back of the stone tablet is the inscription "Martyrs Monument" inscribed by General Feng Yuxiang. "Inscription on the Monument to the fallen soldiers": "It is a great shame for all China people not to be ashamed, and it is even more so when the spirit of the martyrs is uneasy ..." The inscription is plain and penetrating, and it is still hitting the floor today, making people excited.

There is an ancestral temple in the center of the cemetery, named "Zhao Zhong Temple". The temple is an ancient building, covering an area of about 4070 square meters. There are two halls in front, and there are two halls in front, which are places to put the spirit tablet, and there is a corridor on each side. The gate has been rebuilt, with an wing on the left and right, a pair of stone lions outside the gate, and a white marble monument in the middle of the front yard, just in the existing yard. The inner wall of the back hall is inlaid with nearly 100 inscriptions, which were written by Feng Yuxiang's generals at or above the division level for the fallen soldiers. There are five hexagonal pavilions in front of the ancestral hall.

When the cemetery was first built, there were three gates in the north, arranged in a row like a castle. The main entrance in the middle is magnificent, with the inscription "Bishagang" in front of it and the inscription "Commander-in-Chief Feng Yuxiang" in the lower left corner. The gate is adjacent to Zhengzhou-Luoda Road in the north, and there are three walls in the north. On the walls, slogans such as "land first, nation first" and "concentration of strength and will" are written. Later, these slogans changed with the change of political situation. During the "Cultural Revolution", Feng Yuxiang wrote Bishagang, which is an out-and-out "capitalism" and should be smashed. But because it is too high, it avoids bad luck.

Feng Yuxiang is a believer in the Three People's Principles. When he was in charge of Henan, he changed Miaoli Village to Zhongshan Village, Damengzhai Village to Sanmin Village and wulongkou Village to Wuquan Village. None of these names lasted long. But the name he gave to the cemetery, "Bishagang", remained for a long time.

When Bishagang Northern Expedition Memorial Cemetery was completed, it was composed of four parts. In the middle of the cemetery is the martyrs' shrine, which is divided into two halls, north and south, with red walls and green tiles, and the weather is solemn. There are various commemorative plaques hanging in the Martyrs' Temple, and bronze medals engraved with the names of martyrs, gold books and inscriptions recording the achievements of martyrs are stored. In front of the ancestral hall is Zhongshan Park, with three pavilions for nationalities, civil rights and people's livelihood, as well as a pool and a stone bridge. Behind the ancestral hall is an open cemetery for martyrs, with each tomb two meters apart. Southeast of the Martyrs Cemetery is the People's Livelihood Cemetery, where the families of officers and men are buried. There is a boundary pillar between the Martyrs Cemetery and the People's Livelihood Cemetery.

General Feng Yuxiang had planned to further expand Bishagang Park. In the article "In Memory of Bishagang", he revealed that he hoped to build a sanatorium for disabled soldiers on the left side of the Martyrs Temple, "as gorgeous and beautiful as all government ministries", and build a school for martyrs and orphans on the right side.

Feng Yuxiang's wish finally failed to come true, which should be related to the current situation. At the end of 1928, the contradiction between Feng and Chiang Kai-shek intensified, and the war between Jiang, Feng and Yan began to brew. With the sudden change of the wind and cloud, the reconstruction project of Bishagang naturally goes unnoticed.

After the completion of Bishagang Cemetery, during his stay in Zheng, Feng Yuxiang went to the Martyrs' Temple every Sunday to "pay homage to the cemetery and add graves". In his speeches and lectures, General Feng often praised the dedication of the soldiers killed in the Northern Expedition with Wen Tianxiang's famous phrase "Who has never died since ancient times?". He said: "Although this generation of heroic athletes are temporarily buried in the yellow sand and green grass, they will be famous in Wan Li in the future and will be remembered for thousands of years." Feng Yuxiang also asked his troops to go to Bishagang to pay homage to the martyrs as long as they were in Zhengzhou, so as to "invigorate the revolutionary mood".

Feng Yuxiang loves planting trees all his life and has the reputation of "general tree planting". Feng Yuxiang asked the managers of Bishagang to plant more persimmon, plum and peach trees in the gap, less cypress and willow trees, and plant grain and radish among trees. Many times, he said emotionally: "After retirement, I will study, write and sweep the grave here, and I will be buried here after my death to get along with my good brothers day and night."

Now the locust tree in front of Xiyuan Hotel on the west side of Bishagang Park was planted by General Feng himself. It is also the earliest tree in Bishagang Park. But this tree no longer belongs to Bishagang.

After the completion of the cemetery, Feng Yuxiang sent a confidant to take care of it all the year round. The grave keeper named Ge Xintian used to be a soldier in the same class as Feng. Because Ge is a few years old, Feng Yuxiang is often called "the boss". Before 1949, the Ge family lived in Bishagang cemetery. Ge Jia built more than 10 rooms in the southwest corner of the cemetery, built a small courtyard, reclaimed wasteland, planted some food and vegetables, and became self-sufficient. 1956, that is, the year when Bishagang was turned into a park, the old man Ge Xintian passed away.

After the end of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the 1940s, Feng Yuxiang's old general Liu Ruming was appointed as the deputy director of Zhengzhou appeasement office by Nanjing government, leading his department in Kaifeng area. In memory of 29 army's senior generals, Tong Lingge, Zhao and Zhang Zizhong, who died in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and Song, the former commander of 29 army, who died of overwork, Liu Ruming built two museums next to the original three museums of nationalities, civil rights and people's livelihood. Another memorial tower was built in front of the five pavilions, and the words "Anti-Japanese martyrs are immortal" were engraved on the front. But the pavilion in the east was destroyed by war soon after it was built. The Monument to the Anti-Japanese Martyrs was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, leaving only a tower-shaped pedestal. 1994, the Northern Expedition War Monument was built on the original site of the Anti-Japanese Martyrs Monument. This monument is nearly 18 meters high, and the front of it is written by Marshal Nie Rongzhen with the words 10, "The soldiers killed in the Northern Expedition are immortal". The relief of the stele consists of portraits of soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army. Today, I entered Bishagang Park from the north gate. This monument is the most striking building. The north gate of Bishagang Park that we saw today was rebuilt by 1979.

1956, Zhengzhou Municipal People's Government converted the cemetery into Bishagang Park, and in May 1957, Bishagang Park was officially opened to tourists.

During the Cultural Revolution, according to the requirements of relevant departments, Jinshui District, Erqi District and Zhongyuan District of Zhengzhou City should each have a park. At that time, there was no park in the Central Plains west of songshan road, so Pishagang was crossed and renamed as "Labor Park" (196610-198011). It is worth mentioning that the word "labor park" was written by Mr. Guo Moruo himself. After the Cultural Revolution, Bishagang Park rebuilt its gate and restored its original name. It is said that the "Labor Park" inscribed by Guo Moruo is still in Zhengzhou today, and it was collected by a person who "got the moon first". From 65438 to 0986, Bishagang Cemetery was designated as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit by Henan Province, because it is the largest and well-preserved cemetery for soldiers killed in the Northern Expedition in China.