Yuhuatai Scenic Area is a Memorial Park in Nanjing for the martyrs during the New Democratic Revolution in. It locates near Zhonghua Gate in the Yuhuatai District, which covers the area of 153.7 hectares with a green coverage rate of 90%. Relying on natural mountains and forests, mainly focusing on revolutionary tourism, Yuhuatai Scenic Area is a unique scenic spot which merges natural scenery and human landscape together.
History and origin of Yuhuatai
The history of Yuhuatai can be dated back to more than 3,000 years ago, when a person named Taibo came to this place to teach the programs of agriculture in 1147 BC. Later, since 472 BC, when Gou Jian, the king of the State of Yue during Spring and Autumn Period, built the city capital here, Yuhuatai has become a great place to ascend in every dynasty. In the Three Kingdoms Period, people found that there were many colorful and beautiful stones here, so it got the name known as Shizigang and Manao Gang.
Yuhuatai consists of three hills, with a platform on each of the hilltops. During the period of Emperor LiangWu in the Southern Dynasty, a monk Master Yun Guang often set up altars on the top of the hills. There were always more than five hundred monks sitting down and learning Buddhism from Yun Guang. According to legend, the Buddha was so touched by this incident that the flowers fell like raining, turning into gorgeous stones everywhere by Buddha’s magic. In this way, Yuhuatai got its name.
Memorial of Yuhuatai
Yuhuatai Martyrs Memorial Park honors the revolutionary past of the area, which is the most famous site in Yuhuatau Scenic Park. This was the execution and burial site of communists and supporters of revolution during the Chiang Kai-shek dictatorship. During the Chiang Kai-shek dictatorship here they executed the opponents of the regime. According to the official data, at least 100,000 communists and supporters fighting for the New Democratic Revolution were executed and buried here. In 1950 after the found of the PRC, the hill and its surroundings were transformed into a memorial park.
On the highest hill of the park there is an obelisk with carved words of Mao Zedong about immortality of heroes of revolution. The monument in memory of the martyrs was carved by stone. Nine human figures depict politicians, workers, peasants and intelligentsia, pointing out that representatives of all social layers would fight and die for the revolution and decent life of all Chinese people.
There are loyalty pavilions, monuments, and sculptures of martyrs in the park. There are lanterns, which are continuously illuminated under the monument, to remind people that the death of the martyrs should never be forgotten. This park is surrounded by pine and cypress trees, and also covered with rolling lawns and flower beds.