Taipei Travel

In 1949 the city of Taiyuan in the province Shanxi fell to the Chinese Communist Party forces after a protracted seige. The remaining 500 Nationalist defenders, mainly policemen and civil servants, perished. Their sacrifice was commemorated in a memorial service in 1951 on Yuanshan Mountain, led by President Chiang Kai-shek. Yuanshan Mountain which is said to have excellent fengshui. The cenotaph constructed to honor the 500 martyrs remains today, but has fallen into disrepair. The large stone altar on which President Chiang placed the memorial garland more than half a century ago is now used casually as a picnic table by families enjoying the outdoors in the nearby mountain trails, or as a counter for chessboards by elders living in the area. Either people have little recollection of the martyrs' heroic tale, or they no longer care much about it.

The tombs commemorating the Taiyuan 500 Martyrs is at the foot of the Yuanshan hill, in Taipei. The 500 Martyrs fell into the hands of the enemy when Taiyuan, (Shanxi) was taken in 1949. The tombs contain sacrificial offerings, memorial plaques, stele platforms and biographies of the Martyrs.

During the Boxer Rebellion, mainly in North China (1900) , hundreds of Christians, both natives believers and foreign missionaries (including their families) were slaughtered. Many were killed in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province. Some were killed by the Boxer rebels and some by government forces. Protestants and Catholics were brutally executed. The missionaries were seen as "foreign devils" who were polluting Chinese society. This tombs commemorate these Christian martyrs.

在台北圓山飯店入口牌樓前，不明顯容易忽略。「太原五百完人紀念堂」係於民國39年3月行政院依據立法院咨文，訓令財政部墊款，臺灣省政府撥地，並由內政部及臺灣省政府會同山西省政府臨時辦公處監督施工興建，於民國40年2月19日落成後交由地方政府負責管理，至民國77年臺北市改制後，由臺北市政府民政局管理迄今；另太原五百完人諸烈士，已於民國59年3月29日奉核定入祀國民革命忠烈祠。紀念碑、紀念堂及招魂塚以軸線依山勢而建，建物設計之水準頗高，包括牌坊、紀念碑、紀念堂、招魂塚、碑等，佈局中規中矩，另有孫立人題辭之招魂碑，入口由左進入，風水亦相當考究。