The Monument to the People’s Heroes
2 min readThe Monument to the People’s Heroes is a ten-storyobelisk that was erected as a national monument to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries.It is located at the southern edge of Tian’anmen Square in Beijing to the north of Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.The 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.
The construction lasted from August 1952 to May 1958.The architect of the monument was Liang Sicheng，with some elements designed by his wife Lin Huiyin.
Description
The monument has an estimated height of 37.94 metres and covers an area of 3，000 square metres.It contains about 17，000 pieces of marbles and granites from Qingdao，Shandong Province，and the nearby Fangshan District.
On the pedestal are huge bas-relieves 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 1911 Revolution
4.May 4th Movement（1919）
5.May 30th Movement（1925）6.Nanchang Uprising（1927）
7.War of Resistance Against Japan（1931-1945
8.Crossing the Yangtze River Campaign in the Chinese Civil War（1949）
On the front of the monument is an inscription by Mao Zedong which reads，“Eternal glory to the people’s heroes！”On the back of the monument is a text，drafted by Mao Zedong and written by Zhou Enlai：
“Eternal glory to the heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the people’s war of liberation and the people’s revolution in the past three years！
Eternal glory to the heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the people’s war of liberation and the people’s revolution in the past thirty years！
Eternal glory to the heroes of the people who from 1840 laid down their lives in many struggles against domestic and foreign enemies and for national independence and the freedom and well-being of the people！”
Commemoration
The conduct of commemoration activities at the Monument to the People’s Heroes is regulated by the Major Events AdministrationOffice of the Tian’anmen Area Administrative Committee.Strict rules are applied in the vicinity of the monument.In particular，climbing the monument beyond the protective barrier without prior approvalis prohibited.Those intending to lay wreaths at the monument must apply five days in advance.
Since 1980，it has been customary for foreign dignitaries to lay wreaths at the monument when Beijing.Certain domestic groups，such as police and military units，would also sometimes lay wreaths at the monument.
