1949 shortly after the founding of new China, in memory of the revolutionary martyrs, according to the resolution of the first plenary session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference, it was decided to build a monument to the people's heroes in Tiananmen Square. Mao Zedong and all CPPCC members attended the groundbreaking ceremony on the evening of September 30th, 1949.

The construction of the Monument to the People's Heroes began at 1 August, 9521. The Central Committee organized a construction committee composed of China People's Political Consultative Conference, PLA General Political Department and Beijing Municipal People's Government, with Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen as the chairman and Zheng Zhenduo and Liang Sicheng as deputy directors. The Committee consists of engineering department, composed of outstanding architects and artists from all over the country, and divided into seven groups, including design, construction, quarrying and art work. In addition, a special committee was set up to study the historical materials needed for relief painting under the leadership of Fan Wenlan. Liu Kaiqu, vice mayor, vice president of East China Branch of Central Academy of Fine Arts and sculptor, is the head of the Art Troupe. Not only sculptors, but also many famous painters participated in the creative conception of the relief part of the monument. A temporary art studio covering an area of 850 square meters was built in the original site of Tiananmen Square ahead of schedule, and a large-scale and far-reaching sculpture project in the history of modern sculpture in China kicked off. Sculptors, Hua Tianyou, Wang Linyi, Xiao Weijiu, Zhang Songhe, Ceng Zhushao and Fu participated in the creation. It took them four years to create and complete the reliefs of Humen destroying opium, jintian uprising, Wuchang Uprising, May 4th Movement, May 30th Movement, Nanchang Uprising, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and Shengli Crossing the River.

1 958 may1day, the monument to the people's heroes was completed. The base of the monument is made of granite with a total height of 37.94 meters. Mao Zedong wrote the inscription "The people's heroes are immortal", and Zhou Enlai wrote the inscription. As the decoration of the building, the relief on the monument is not only integrated with the whole building, but also has independent appreciation value because its theme represents major events in modern history and works represent typical scenes and images in major historical events. The relief depiction is very fine, which gives full play to the special charm of the relief art and shows a three-dimensional sense of depth in the opposite plane. In terms of artistic form, it not only has a relatively unified style, but also exerts the strengths of sculptors, forming a harmonious overall style. The Art History of New China (1949-2000) states that the authors are mostly sculptors who came back from studying in Europe, so the overall style is mainly based on western carving art means, although some artists have made some national explorations, mainly with some national characteristics in the treatment of clothing patterns. The history of new China art pictures (1949- 1966) holds that the Monument to the People's Heroes is the opening work of sculpture in the history of new China art, a masterpiece of the times and a classic of the times. Among them, Humen wiped out opium, Wuchang Uprising, May 4th Movement, etc. were all stamped on the New China stamps, and some were repeatedly stamped. However, there is no sculptor's name in the People's Republic of China (PRC) Stamp Catalogue over the years.

Ceng Zhushao and the destruction of opium in Humen

Ceng Zhushao (1908- 1996) was born in Xiamen, Fujian. I lived in Myanmar as a child and returned to China on 1927. The following year, he was admitted to the Sculpture Department of Hangzhou West Lake Art College, and went to France to study at the end of the following year. Studied sculpture in Lyon National Academy of Fine Arts and Paris National Academy of Fine Arts successively, and taught himself music, which lasted 10 years. 1942 returned to China and taught sculpture and music in Chengdu Art Institute, Chongqing National Art Institute and Chongqing University Architecture Department. After 1949, he was hired as a professor of sculpture department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, participated in the preparation of the Museum of Chinese Revolution, and served as the deputy director of the National Urban Sculpture Art Committee and the deputy director and consultant of the Capital Urban Sculpture Art Committee.

During his early study abroad, Ceng Zhushao went to Egypt, Greece, Italy, Britain and Germany to inspect the sculpture art and made extensive and in-depth research on the western sculpture tradition. When he visited the China Ancient Sculpture Art Exhibition in London, England, he was amazed at the long and excellent artistic tradition of the motherland, and came up with the idea of studying China traditional sculpture art in China, and then returned to the motherland on the eve of World War II. In the early 1950s, he traveled all over the country to inspect the ancient sculpture art in China. While teaching, he devoted himself to the study of China ancient sculpture and Rodin sculpture, wrote The Evolution of China Ancient Sculpture Style and China Sculpture History, and published articles on the study of Rodin and Song Ling stone carvings. The portrait of Lao Bian, created at 1952, is a portrait of Lao Bian, a professional model of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. The form is clear and vivid, which shows the richness and subtle changes of character modeling. It was once used as a teaching aid to train students in sketch and sculpture. Later, he participated in the creation of the relief of the monument to the people's heroes, which was the beginning of his attempt to create sculptures with new themes by using traditional national techniques, and continued to explore new topics in the future. Li Siguang's portrait, He Shuheng's martyr's portrait, Pu Songling's bust, Cai Yuanpei's half-life portrait and Sun Yat-sen's full-length bronze statue were created in the 1980s. His portrait sculpture pays attention to personality and inner portrayal, with rigorous structure and pursuit of charm.

Ceng Zhushao's masterpiece "Destroying Opium in Humen" is the first of ten large-scale reliefs on the monument, which shows the historical event of 1839 when opium was destroyed in Humen, Guangdong. The original work is 200 cm× 492 cm, its design and modeling techniques are realistic, it absorbs and uses traditional Chinese carving techniques, and its expression style pays attention to national appreciation habits, with the characteristics of overall washing, delicate description, simplicity and freshness.