The Spirit of Martyrs
Day Twenty Eight
In 2011, I was determined to visit two places in China, viz., Wuhan in autumn to commemorate the centenary of the Xinhai Revolution of 10 October 1911, and also Guangzhou in spring to commemorate the failed Guangzhou Uprising of 29 March 1911. I did visit Wuhan in summer that year (not in October which would have been very crowded) and did see the Xinhai Revolution Museum. But in the spring of 2011, I visited Guangzhou for the first time on business, and after my meetings were completed, I made a beeline to the Tomb of the seventy-two martyrs in the Yellow Flower Mound (Huanghuagang).
This was another pilgrimage I had longed for since I first sat in the class of Dr Symond Kock’s Asian church history at Mount Sophia in Singapore in 1994. He had mentioned that many of these martyrs were young Chinese Christians, just like Dr Sun Yatsen, the brainchild of the Spring Uprising planned in late 1910. It was a study of faith in action, integrated with the social challenges and political contexts of the world we live in.
This Guangzhou Uprising of 1911 saw the attack on the residence of the Guangdong’s viceroy which looked likely to succeed until reinforcements arrived leading to a bloody end with 85 casualties. Seventy two bodies were recovered and identified and buried at Honghuagang, which was renamed Huanghuagang. The memorial park was constructed in 1921 (a hundred years ago now) and commemorated with yellow chrysanthemums ever since.
As I stood before the tomb, with four pillars surrounding a stele carved with the chinese words “Tomb of the Seventy Two Martyrs”, with their names engraved in stone, I was inspired by these young men. Young adults, filled with passion, fervour and ideals, who offered their lives in the cause of the political revolution spearheaded by Dr Sun. They signed up with the uprising to overthrow a corrupt and tyrannical Manchu government in an era of imperial decline. The letters they wrote on the eve of their campaign to either parents or wives spoke of their conviction and dauntless spirit to make their lives count. That is why they are being celebrated even till today.
The living sacrifice of these 72 martyrs for their country was said to be the prelude to the Wuchang Uprising in October later in the same year, which brought the imperial dynastic era of Chinese history to a close and gave birth to Republican China. In the gateway to the memorial park, a huge majestic arch which reminds one of the Arc de Triomphe of Paris has the four words “Haoqi Changhcun” carved on it. The Chinese calligraphy was hand written by Dr Sun himself, which means “The Spirit of Righteousness Lasts Forever” (translation mine) in praise of the lasting legacy of the revolutionary spirit of these 72 youths.
A statue of liberty stands on top of the gateway, modelled after the famed statue in France and of course of America. At some points along the course of 20th century history, the torch replaced by a rifle or the statue was replaced by a flaming torch or removed altogether. It was in recent years that a new statue was commissioned albeit sculpted with a lady’s with more Chinese characteristics.
As I reflect on these 72 martyrs, I think of my own young adulthood in the late 1980s, idealistic in university, and inspired in seminary, determined to seize the day and make the most of the opportunities which life offers to make our lives count. Many of my classmates joined the navy because we were building our navy then. Others went into engineering because that was the call of the nation. Some of us joined the church and served in missions, because that was how we felt led to express our life calling and vocationally, to embrace life with all its mystery and uncertainty, to have the courage to live, love and serve in pursuit of civilisational ideals.
My prayer and hope is that young adults today will not be distracted in the new era of high technology and digital revolution or or dismayed in the face of climate change, but continue to pursue their ideals and vision with conviction, and help write the annals of history which will improve life on earth and make us more human.
https://medium.com/@lawrence-ko/the-human-condition-95647999952d
See previous Day’s Reflection on The Human Condition
