Society

China highlights revolutionary spirit by mourning martyears

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-04 20:44

BEIJING - Chinese are pouring into cemeteries and memorial parks to mourn martyears who gave their lives to the country during the Qingming holidays, in a year China will mark the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

It is a tradition for Chinese to visit family graves during Qingming, or the Tomb Sweeping Day, which falls on Tuesday this year. In recent years, it has become a trend to commemorate national heroes and martyears on the occasion.

More than 1,800 people in the southern Foshan city, including government officials, soldiers and representatives from all walks of life, went to the local Tiejun Park on Sunday to commemorate Chen Tiejun, a CPC member who was killed in 1928 and regarded as one of the 100 people making outstanding contributions to the founding of New China.

"We shall carry forward the the ideals and spirits of martyears in the construction of a prosperous Foshan," said Chen Yunxian, chief of the CPC Foshan committee.

Liu Zhongyi, a veteran soldier who participated in the War of Liberation and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, said "we are the lucky ones to survive the wars, and the martyears should never be forgotten."

The Southwest Chongqing municipality has also launched a series of similar memorial ceremonies, aiming to enhance people's understanding of the country's hard-won achievements and the new historical mission.

Similar activities were reported, as usual, across the country.

In the eastern province of Anhui, young people expressed condolences via the Internet toward revolutionary martyears. They presented "flowers" and left messages of respect at memorial websites.

The CPC's Central Civilization Office launched a website in 2009 to encourage people to pay respects to fallen revolutionary heroes online. The website has attracted millions of visitors.

The CPC has a tradition of respecting martyears and valuing history. The country has more than 3,180 martyears memorial facilities under country-level protection and above.

Since the beginning of this year, major Chinese portal and news websites have run a special column on major events in the history of the CPC as part of its 90th anniversary celebrations.

Many sites related to the early history of the CPC have been developed into tourist attractions, and "red tourism" is popular in the country.

The CPC was founded in July 1921. A total of 12 delegates representing about 50 CPC members nationwide secretly convened at the first CPC national congress in late July in Shanghai. July 1 was later designated as anniversary of the founding of the CPC.

By the end of 2009, the number of CPC members had grown to nearly 78 million.

During a March visit to Shaoshan village in Hunan Province, or the birthplace of Chairman Mao Zedong (1893-1976), Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said that the revolutionary tradition of the older generation was a precious spiritual wealth for the CPC.

All CPC members and officials should learn the Party's history and understand the inevitability of the CPC's leadership that was chosen by history and the people, Xi said.