Family of revolutionary heroes honored in new genealogy

Liang Boqing removed a thick book from a box under a plaque hung high in an exhibition hall dedicated to the revolutionary history of the Communist Party of China. The hall had once been the ancestral temple of the Liang family and the former site of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Solemnly, he insisted on showing the newly compiled family genealogy, which means a lot to him.

The book contained the names of 361 martyrs from the Liang family who died during the war against the Kuomintang.

Liang pointed to one page and indicated the name of his great‑grandfather, who joined the army in 1931. In 1934, the man set off on the Long March with the main force and never returned.

Liang is currently Party secretary of Fenglong village in Yunshishan township of Ruijin, Jiangxi province.

Fenglong was the place where the march was planned.

In 1934, Fenglong had a population of around 500. Around 150 villagers joined the Long March, and the names of more than 80 of them were recorded. Others remain unknown to history.

Liang is the dominant surname found in villages across Yunshishan. Of a population of more than 2,000, more than 800 men set off for the Long March, 361 of whom are documented in official records.

Yet for a long time, their sacrifices existed only in the oral accounts of the elderly, and in sparse, yellowed archives. It was not until last year, when the Liang Clan Genealogy was revised and restored, that the clan made the decision to compile a separate volume dedicated to its own revolutionary heroes.

"There used to be no separate section for revolutionary heroes and martyrs," Liang told reporters. "When we revised the genealogy last year, we all agreed that we should honor revolutionary martyrs and pass on the red gene."

The 361 names were collected carefully from scattered memories and inscribed prominently in the genealogical record.

Liang Shishen, the great-grandfather, was born in 1899.

On Oct 10, 1934, he set out from Madaokou in Fenglong village, beginning the famed Long March.

"My great-grandfather had seven sons and one daughter. When he left on the Long March, my youngest granduncle was just over a year old. Originally, my great-grandfather and my eldest granduncle — who was 16 — planned to join together. But the youngest child was only a toddler, so they decided to leave the teenager at home to help my great-grandmother raise his younger brothers and sisters," Liang Boqing said.

He added that at that time the Kuomintang army was searching for and brutally killing CPC members and their families, and the extended family had to hide deep on the mountains and lived a difficult life.

Liang added the enemy soldiers shouted a cruel slogan: "Every stone shall feel the blade; every blade of grass shall burn in fire; every soul shall be replaced."

So it was not only those who joined the Long March who made great sacrifices.

"Leaving was for the revolution," he said. "But staying was also for the revolution."