The Monument to Martyrs in the Movement to Protect Railway Projects in the Autumn of 1911 stands in the northwest corner of the People's Park inChengdu City,SichuanProvince.
In May 1911 (during the reign of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911), the Qing government, having declared the Railway State-owed Policy, sold the construction rights of the Guangdong-Han and Sichuan-Han railways which promised to allot private ownership to imperialist financial groups in Britain, France, Germany and America. In a vigorous act of rebellion, the people ofHunan,Guangdong,HubeiandSichuanProvinceorganized the Protecting Railway Comrade League to initiate the Movement to Protect Railway Projects, conduct strikes and resist handing over grain and paying taxes. The Movement to Protect Railway Projects inSichuan, where participants totaled several hundred thousand, was the largest. On September 7 that year, theSichuangovernor-general arrested leaders of the Protecting the Railway Comrade League and killed hundreds of petitioners, which produced the Chengdu Murder Case and aggravated even more people. In response, the Chinese Revolutionary League organized the Protecting Railway Comrade Army and initiated an armed uprising all overSichuanProvince, which sparked the Revolution of 1911.
The Monument to Martyrs in the Movement to Protect Railway Projects in the Autumn of 1911 was erected in 1913, facing south. The monument comprises a base, stand, tablet and top shaped like a square cone. The brick and stone structure is 31.85 meters high and has a cylindrical base. The square stand is divided into four layers with relief sculptures representing locomotives, tracks, etc. The tablet is also shaped like a square cone and is inlaid with a long fray stone engraved with four calligraphy styles that read: The Monument to Martyrs in the Movement to Protect Railway Projects in the Autumn of 1911. Each word is about one square meter and was written by calligraphers Zhao Xi, Yan Kai, Wu Baijie and Zhan Kuijie during the transitional phase between the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the formation of the Republic of China (1912-1949).
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