The Monument to the People’s Heroes was built to commemorate the people’s heroes who died in the people’s Liberation War and revolutionary struggles. It was the first monumental building in the Tian’anmen Square Complex to be sited on Beijing Central Axis, with its foundation laid in 1949 and construction completed from 1952 to 1958.

In the form of a traditional Chinese stele, the granite and white marble monument faces the Tian’anmen Gate in the north. The four sides of the lower sumeru pedestal are inlaid with eight large white-marble slates decorated with bass-reliefs featuring 172 exquisitely designed and portrayed revolutionary figures struggling against imperialist and dynastic repression from the Opium War to the Liberation War. The design of the patterns and the carving techniques represent the highest level of mid-20-century Chinese sculpture. The front of the tablet is inlaid with gigantic granite slates, with the inscription in Chairman Mao Zedong’s handwriting in gilded characters: “Eternal glory to the people’s heroes.” On the back of the monument is an epitaph of gilded characters composed by Chairman Mao Zedong and written by Premier Zhou Enlai. The monument’s top is capped with a traditional Chinese flat-top roof.