A tragic massacre occurred in Li County that shocked both China and the world. More than 7,000 people were killed. Because Li County was called Lancang in ancient times, this incident was also called the "Lancang Massacre."
At the turn of the spring and summer of 1930, it was the time when Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan were fighting in the Central Plains. In Gansu, Feng and Yan's coalition forces were behind. In order to weaken the power of Feng and Yan, Chiang Kai-shek spent a lot of money to bribe the brothers Ma Tingxiang and Ma Tingxian who were entrenched in Linxia, ??and appointed Ma Tingxian as the "Commander-in-Chief of the Fifteenth Route of the Rebellion Army," ordering them to disrupt the rear of the Northwest Army. Therefore, Ma Tingxian took the opportunity to expand his power and seize territory. He successively captured Wuwei, Yongchang, Minqin, Zhuoni and other places. In May 1930, he captured Tianshui. After Tianshui was occupied, thirteen counties in Longnan surrendered without a fight. Ma Shaotang, the county magistrate of Li County, was appointed as the commander of the second brigade. Soon, Ma Tingxian informed Ma Shao to take up a post in Qin'an. Ma Shaotang was full of doubts and thought it was "moving the tiger away from the mountain", so he raised food, expanded the militia, renovated the city defense, prepared to resist with force, and asked for help from everywhere. After making preparations, Ma Shaotang imprisoned the newly appointed county magistrate An Lan. Ma Tingxian was furious after hearing the news, and sent Han Jinlu and Wang Zhanlin with six thousand troops to go straight to Li County. The siege of the city began on the 17th day of the sixth lunar month and the city gates were stormed on all sides. Ma Shaotang defended the city and the two sides faced off for more than 20 days. Ma Shaotang ran out of food and ammunition and had no hope of foreign aid, so he sent people to negotiate. Han Jinlu and Wang Zhanlin negotiated while hiring coal mine mechanics to prepare to bomb the city. On leap June 10th, Ma Tingxian's army dug a tunnel under the northeastern city wall, then used explosives to blow down the city wall, and people and horses swarmed in. Governor Ma Shaotang fought to the death and was ultimately unable to defeat the enemy, so he scattered and fled. The Han and Wang armies were like wolves and tigers, killing everyone they met regardless of age. The massacre lasted for a whole day and night. More than 8,000 people were in the city, and more than 7,200 died. Dead bodies were everywhere, and blood flowed into rivers. Ma Shaotang was captured and escorted to Tianshui before being killed.
The massacre in Li County shocked the whole country. Under the pressure of national public opinion, Chiang Kai-shek sent Yan Erai to Tianshui in January 1931 to investigate. After Yan Erai accepted a huge bribe from Ma Tingxian in Tianshui, he reported to Chiang Kai-shek regardless of the truth: "Ma Tingxian has strict military discipline and will never commit massacres or illegal activities." Instead, Ma Tingxian was appointed by the Nanjing government as the "Longnan Appeasement Commander." After the news was published, The response from all walks of life was very strong. People living in Lanzhou in Longnan gathered in their clan offices to express their opposition and demanded that the culprit be punished. The Supervisory Yuan also announced that it would impeach Yan Erai. Under the pressure of strong public opinion, Chiang Kai-shek had to deal with the massacre incident again. In September of this year, while he sent the Sichuan Army Division Commander Huang Yin to lead his troops into Ma Tingxian, he secretly instructed Ma Tingxian to avoid the limelight. Ma Tingxian secretly fled to Nanjing with gold, silver and jewelry to live in seclusion. So far, a brutal massacre has ended.
In February 1933, Liu Jixian, chairman of the Li County Relief Branch, collected and buried the remains of the victims, which received widespread response. *** Bai Yang raised 1,400 yuan to dig a deep pit in the foothills north of the city and collect the remains. The remains were reburied. A 17-level brick tower is built on it, which is called the "bone tower". The tower is 3 feet 6 feet and 7 feet 8 feet in circumference. It is decorated with couplets and embedded with inscriptions. It is agreed that the tenth day of June every year will be the day of mourning. The tower was later demolished during the "Cultural Revolution".