The Ninth Gold Mine in Ruifang (the Ying-Guo Mine)

The Ninth Goldmine in Ruifang is also known as the Ying-Guo Mine in memory of the two persons who made the greatest contributions to mining at the time—Taiyang Mining Joint-stock Corporation Director Yan Guo-nian and Ruifang Mining Company President Weng Shan-ying. The mine was opened in 1933 as the Japanese government was issuing large subsidies to purchase mining equipment for gold production. Because of this, steel was used as supports throughout all of the 9th mine. In 1971, when gold mining in Ruifang ended, the 9th mine became a storage place for military munitions. In 2005, nearby residents were still expressing concern over the safety of the mine.
Second from the left in the picture is the manager of the Free China Magazine, Ma Zhisu. At the time he accepted an invitation from his friend Xu Ma-weng, who was formerly the director of the coalmining union and at the time was working at the Taiyang Mine, to tour the Ruifang Goldmine. The year was 1957. Mr. Xu was also the person who took this photograph. Unexpectedly, Ma Zhisu was involved in the Lei Chen Incident three years later.