Fan Zhuxian: The Iron General is Responsible for Defending the Land

In the Fan Zhuxian Memorial Hall in Guantao County, Hebei Province, two rows of red characters "Kill the enemy and stand up and die, and the body will be buried for a thousand years" came into view. A plaster statue of Fan Zhuxian stands tall. In the memorial hall of more than 500 square meters, images, pictures and words tell the glorious life of Fan Zhuxian.

Fan Zhuxian, born in 1882, Shandong Guantao (now Hebei Province). Served as artillery battalion commander, supplementary regiment commander, 8th brigade commander and other positions. He returned to Shandong in 1931 and served successively as the 3rd Road Army, Yishui County Chief and Linyi County Chief. In 1936, he served as Commissioner and Security Commander of the 6th District Administrative Office of Shandong Province.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Fan Zhuxian supported the Chinese Communist Party's anti-Japanese propositions, stayed in northwestern Shandong to organize the masses to fight against Japan, and successively organized the establishment of anti-Japanese regimes and anti-Japanese armed forces in many counties. In 1938, in response to the Battle of Wuhan, troops were organized twice to attack the Japanese troops stationed in Jinan.

In early November 1938, Mao Zedong sent someone to bring him a personal letter to express his condolences and encouragement. On November 14, the Japanese army attacked Liaocheng. Fan Zhuxian led his troops to fight against it. Most of the more than 700 soldiers were killed. The next day, Liaocheng was occupied by the Japanese army. Fan Zhuxian would rather die than be a prisoner. He shot himself.

After Fan Zhuxian's sacrifice, the National Government issued a special order to praise and pursue Jin Fan Zhuxian as Lieutenant General of the Army. The Chongqing "Xinhua Daily" of the Communist Party of China published a commentary on mourning the anti-Japanese hero Fan Zhuxian, and the Yan'an Central Committee "Liberation" Weekly published a commemorative article "Mourning the National Old Hero Fan Zhuxian".

Liu Qingyue, former director of the Cultural and Historical Office of the CPPCC in Guantao County, has been engaged in the study of Fan Zhuxian for more than 30 years. According to him, at that time, the main force of the Japanese army set foot on the land of Qilu, and the Kuomintang troops withdrew southward, but Fan Zhuxian, who was nearly 60 years old, did not retreat. Fan Zhuxian once said that the great enemy was in the present, we had the duty to defend the land, and if we did not resist, we would withdraw. How could we do that to the elders of the whole country? Fan Zhuxian fought the enemy courageously in the battle, suffered serious injuries, and finally died a heroic death.

In 1988, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Fan Zhuxian's martyrdom, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province built a Fan Zhuxian Memorial Hall in the place where Fan Zhuxian died. In 2009, Fan Zhuxian Memorial Hall in Guantao County, Hebei Province, Fan Zhuxian's hometown, was completed, and a newly built street in the county was named Zhuxian Road. Every year, Ching Ming Festival and other festivals, the county organizes primary and secondary school students and staff of government organs and units to carry out commemorative activities, with 20000 tourists per year.

Fan Xiaoyun, a posterity of Fan Zhuxian, said that his grandfather sacrificed his life in order to guard a territory. He would always follow his grandfather as an example, work harder at work, and use his actions to make life better for the people around him.

Guantao County is the hometown of Chinese grain painting and the hometown of Chinese cucumbers. Fan Zhuxian's fighting spirit back then is still being continuously learned and inherited by the Guantao cadres and groups. Today's Guantao is developing rapidly with a new look.

Source: Xinhua News Agency