According to Xinhua News Agency, in front of the monument of the Lhasa Martyrs' Cemetery, visitors come to pay tribute every day. Here, the heroic sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives for the march into Tibet and the construction of Tibet are buried.
At the Lhasa Martyrs' Cemetery in Tibet, a white hada hangs on a martyr's tombstone (pictured on April 4). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jue Guo
With the passage of time, the "spirit of old Tibet" of "being particularly able to endure hardships, fighting, being particularly patient, being particularly able to unite, and being particularly able to dedicate" that these heroic sons and daughters and generations of later generations have collectively condensed has inspired cadres and masses of all nationalities to create a human miracle of "just a few decades and span thousands of years" and write a brand-new chapter in the snowy plateau in the new era.
Spirit, forged in the plateau
Lhasa Railway Station, a series of passenger trains frequently enter and exit, and the flow of passengers is continuous; Lhasa Gonggar Airport, a new terminal with advanced facilities welcomes passengers from the south of the sea.
Before the peaceful liberation, the vast Tibet did not have a single road, and it took half a year to travel from Xining in Qinghai or Ya'an in Sichuan to Lhasa once, which took half a year to a year.
The road into Tibet is difficult to shu dao. Li Junchen, a female soldier who entered Tibet that year, once recalled: "Everyone's burden is not less than 50 pounds. When crossing the snowy mountains, everyone's mouths were purple and pale, and they could only open their mouths and gasp for breath with difficulty, and the phlegm that many people spat out was pink..."
In the struggle and competition with the harsh nature, the spirit is forged.
The average altitude of Tibet is more than 4,000 meters, and the oxygen content in the air is only 60% of that of the plains. Strong altitude sickness often causes soldiers to have symptoms such as swollen faces, nosebleeds, and dizziness, and many soldiers sacrifice themselves on the way into Tibet.
Working on the plateau, the most scarce is oxygen, and the most precious is the spirit. For a long time, groups of Communist Party members have gone forward one after another, carried forward the "spirit of old Tibet," and are determined to struggle hard.
On June 25, 2021, the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway was opened for operation. After more than 6 years of construction, builders from all over the world braved difficulties and worked hard to overcome many problems of the plateau railway, and finally built the first electrified railway in Tibet, and the "roof of the world" entered the era of "rejuvenation".
The trial train Fuxing travels within Sangri County (photo taken on June 8). Photo by Pubu Tashi, Xinhua News Agency
Seeing the earth-shaking changes in Tibet on television and recalling the process of liberating Tibet in that year, Xue Jingjie, an 88-year-old veteran soldier of the Eighteenth Army who lives in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, is full of emotions.
At that time, xue Jingjie, as an ordinary soldier, embarked on a difficult journey to liberate Tibet peacefully. "When passing through Nagqu, the altitude was 4550 meters, the temperature outside was minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius, and the water was full of ice. Some fighters were unable to do so after arriving in Lhasa and operated on sawing off their legs. ”
"At that time, there was no road, lack of oxygen, and the food and clothing guarantee could not keep up, but the soldiers overcame the difficulties to advance into Lhasa and liberated Tibet." The spirit of old Tibet originated in the magnificent historical years of the peaceful liberation of Tibet more than 70 years ago. The old man said.
Professor Wang Chuan of Sichuan Normal University said that the "spirit of old Tibet" is inscribed in the genes of the cadres and masses who have built Tibet from generation to generation, and is a vivid witness to the magnificent history of Tibet in the past 70 years since its peaceful liberation.
Spirit, rooted in the plateau
"The boundless Gobi is a bush of green, and the vicissitudes of the bones are red; Only because of the roots born under the desert, dare to laugh at the cypress and green pine. "Open the thick "Diary of Kong Fansen", a poem written by Kong Fansen in June 1993, expresses the spirit of the Communists who are not afraid of hardship and are firmly optimistic in extreme circumstances.
Ali, Tibet, with an average altitude of more than 4500 meters, is known as the "roof of the roof of the world". More than 20 years ago, Kong Fansen, then 50 years old, died in the line of duty. Before his death, Kong Fansen assisted Tibet twice, and then stayed in Tibet to work.
Kong Fansen (right) visits the widowed elderly Yixi Dolma in Guoba Township, AliZhitu County, Tibet (file photo). Xinhua News Agency
"This requires overcoming great difficulties. At that time, his mother was very old, his wife was not in good health, and his three children were still young. Gao Shan, director of the Comrade Kong Fansen Memorial Hall, said, "What Kong Fansen and other cadres embody is the spiritual realm of selfless dedication of Chinese communists. ”
Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet, a number of cadres aiding Tibet have carried forward the "spirit of old Tibet," sacrificed their small families to take care of everyone, overcome unimaginable difficulties for ordinary people, endured hardships that ordinary people could not endure, and carried up the great banner of building Tibet and consolidating the frontier.
From 1951 to 1978, the central government dispatched more than 30,000 cadres from all over the country to work in Tibet. From 1994 to 2020, more than 9,000 outstanding cadres aided Tibet.
Shuanghu County, which is more than 5,000 meters above sea level, is the highest county in the country. Liang Nanyu, a cadre of PetroChina, is due for three years to aid Tibet here, although his blood pressure, blood lipids, and uric acid are high, but after thinking about it again, he still decided to stay and continue to aid Tibet.
Liang Nanyu said: "To study the 'spirit of old Tibet,' we must first stress politics, obey organizational arrangements, stress party spirit, stress the realm, and go where the party and the people need it. ”
Spirit, inherited in the plateau
Lack of oxygen is not lacking in spirit, hardship is not afraid of hardship, and the altitude is higher - from the founder of the "old Tibetan spirit" to the generations of practitioners and inheritors, the "old Tibetan spirit" radiates the power across time and space in the continuation.
"The air here has a low oxygen content, and when I first came, my brain was often wooden, and here, whether it is work or life, it is a test." He Jun, deputy procurator general of the Ali Branch of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Procuratorate, still remembers the scene when he first came to work at Ali from Xi'an in July 2019.
The Ali region is a vast area, and it is often hundreds of kilometers to drive hundreds of kilometers to the county and township research work. After entering Tibet for more than two years, He Jun's lips turned dark purple, and his already tanned face became "plateau red." Looking back on the work done since the aid to Tibet, he said: Although the work of aiding Tibet is arduous, it is the most glorious and regretless choice.
The harsh plateau environment is also a serious challenge to local cadres in Tibet.
Qiu Jia, director of the OFFICE of the CPPCC Committee of Amdo County, Nagqu City, is a native of Amdo, who has not left Amdo since graduating from university. Dark-skinned Qiu Jia walked with a limp. Due to severe gout, the feet had been deformed and had to wear shoes a few sizes larger.
"Although Amdo's conditions are poor, as cadres trained by the party and the state, only by serving the masses diligently and earnestly and in a down-to-earth manner can they live up to the expectations of the organization." Qiu Jia said.
Choga (center) and his child sorting out the medicine box (pictured on Jan. 14). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Rufeng
Ngawang Zhuoga, a former cadre of the Tibet Autonomous Region Audit Office, was stationed in the village in Zaxue Township and other places in Mozhugongka County, and was originally stationed in the village for a rotation every year, but she worked at the grassroots level for more than 4 years, and finally sacrificed herself in the front line of the village...
It is precisely because of selfless dedication and great sacrifice that there have been earth-shaking changes today.
The GDP of Tibet increased from 129 million yuan in 1951 to 190.274 billion yuan in 2020; In 2020, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 14,598 yuan, an increase of 12.7% over the previous year; The per capita disposable income of urban residents was 41,156 yuan, an increase of 10% over the previous year... Inspired by the "spirit of old Tibet," cadres and masses of all nationalities in Tibet have gathered an inexhaustible motive force for officials to start their own businesses.
The development of Tibet stands at a new historical starting point. Facing the future, the "spirit of old Tibet" will surely lead the sons and daughters of the plateau to build a socialist modern new Tibet that is united, rich, civilized, harmonious and beautiful.
Edited by Jiani Liu