Monument to the People's Heroes (Renmin Yingxiong Jinianbei)
The Monument to the People's Heroes is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is located in the southern part of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, in front of the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. The obelisk monument was built in accordance with a resolution of the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference adopted on November 30, 1949, with construction lasting from August 1952 to May 1958. The architect of the monument was Liang Sicheng, with some elements designed by his wife, Lin Huiyin. The civil engineer, Chen Zhide (陈志德) was also instrumental in realizing the final product.
The monument has also served as the center of large-scale mourning activities that later developed into protest and unrest, such as the deaths of Premier Zhou Enlai (which developed into the 1976 Tiananmen Incident) and Hu Yaobang (which later developed into the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, which was claimed as an anti-government movement by the Chinese Communist Party at that time).
The 37.94 m-tall monument covers an area of 3000 m2. It weighs over 10000 t and contains about 17,000 pieces of marble and granite from Qingdao, Shandong Province, as well as from the nearby Fangshan District.
On the pedestal of the tablet are huge bas-reliefs depicting eight major revolutionary episodes, which can be read in chronological order in a clockwise direction from the east:
* 1) Destruction of opium at Humen (1839), in the run-up to the First Opium War
* 2) Jintian Uprising, the catalyst for the Taiping Revolution (1851)
* 3) Wuchang Uprising, the catalyst for the Xinhai Revolution (1911)
* 4) May 4th Movement (1919)
* 5) May 30 Movement (1925)
* 6) Nanchang Uprising (1927)
The monument has also served as the center of large-scale mourning activities that later developed into protest and unrest, such as the deaths of Premier Zhou Enlai (which developed into the 1976 Tiananmen Incident) and Hu Yaobang (which later developed into the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, which was claimed as an anti-government movement by the Chinese Communist Party at that time).
The 37.94 m-tall monument covers an area of 3000 m2. It weighs over 10000 t and contains about 17,000 pieces of marble and granite from Qingdao, Shandong Province, as well as from the nearby Fangshan District.
On the pedestal of the tablet are huge bas-reliefs depicting eight major revolutionary episodes, which can be read in chronological order in a clockwise direction from the east:
* 1) Destruction of opium at Humen (1839), in the run-up to the First Opium War
* 2) Jintian Uprising, the catalyst for the Taiping Revolution (1851)
* 3) Wuchang Uprising, the catalyst for the Xinhai Revolution (1911)
* 4) May 4th Movement (1919)
* 5) May 30 Movement (1925)
* 6) Nanchang Uprising (1927)
Map - Monument to the People's Heroes (Renmin Yingxiong Jinianbei)
Map
Country - China
 |
 |
| Flag of China | |
Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dynasties. Chinese writing, Chinese classic literature, and the Hundred Schools of Thought emerged during this period and influenced China and its neighbors for centuries to come. In the third century BCE, Qin's wars of unification created the first Chinese empire, the short-lived Qin dynasty. The Qin was followed by the more stable Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), which established a model for nearly two millennia in which the Chinese empire was one of the world's foremost economic powers. The empire expanded, fractured, and reunified; was conquered and reestablished; absorbed foreign religions and ideas; and made world-leading scientific advances, such as the Four Great Inventions: gunpowder, paper, the compass, and printing. After centuries of disunity following the fall of the Han, the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties reunified the empire. The multi-ethnic Tang welcomed foreign trade and culture that came over the Silk Road and adapted Buddhism to Chinese needs. The early modern Song dynasty (960–1279) became increasingly urban and commercial. The civilian scholar-officials or literati used the examination system and the doctrines of Neo-Confucianism to replace the military aristocrats of earlier dynasties. The Mongol invasion established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, but the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) re-established Han Chinese control. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty nearly doubled the empire's territory and established a multi-ethnic state that was the basis of the modern Chinese nation, but suffered heavy losses to foreign imperialism in the 19th century.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNY | Renminbi | ¥ or 元 | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| ZH | Chinese language |
| UG | Uighur language |
| ZA | Zhuang language |