Sandbar dam, sandbar dam, no water to wash the handkerchief; three days without rain to fork, one day rain soil to move.
This is a nursery rhyme circulating in Shazhouba Town, Ruijin City, Jiangxi Province, which profoundly reflects that before the 1930s, it was not easy for Shazhouba people to drink a mouthful of clean water.
In April 1933, after the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic moved to Shazhouba, Chairman Mao Zedong immediately discovered this problem.
In the end, Chairman Mao took the lead in digging a "red well" with a diameter of 85 centimeters and a depth of about 5 meters. It's been 88 years, and the well is still in use. The first grade text of primary school, "Draught Don't Forget the Man Who Dug the Well", is about this.
So, how did Mao Zedong overcome the difficulties and lead the cadres and masses in the Soviet Union to dig out this well?
Sculpture of the primary school text "Draught Does Not Forget to Dig a Well"
In November 1931, at the Xie Family Ancestral Hall in Ruijin Yeping, 610 workers, peasants, and soldiers from all over the country gathered in this centuries-old house to hold the first national congress of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' and Soldiers' Soviets.
At this meeting, the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic was proclaimed, and Mao Zedong was elected Chairman of the Provisional Central Government. The Provisional Central Government set up "nine ministries and one bureau" and promulgated the Outline of the Constitution of the Chinese Soviet, the Land Law, the Labor Law, the Marriage Law, and other laws and regulations.
Yeping was also the first station of the Central Bureau of the CPC Soviet District and the Provisional Central Government organs in Ruijin, which was the first nationwide workers' and peasants' power in Chinese history and an important attempt by the Communist Party of China to govern in local areas.
5 kilometers northwest of Ruijin, there is also the shazhouba revolutionary site group. From April 1933 to July 1934, the central authorities were relocated from Yeping to Shazhouba, which became the heart of the central revolutionary base area.
However, the Gannan area is one of the main distribution areas of red land, which has long been plagued by poverty. Red earth itself is also a geographical concept, red soil that develops under high temperature and rainy conditions. It contains more iron and aluminum, less organic matter, strong acidity, is a typical low-yield soil, and the people in the old area are eagerly looking forward to living a good life.
In April 1933, Chairman Mao moved with the provisional central government office from Ruijin Yeping to Shazhouba.
One day, when Chairman Mao was out running errands, he saw a fellow villager carrying muddy water toward his home. Chairman Mao was very strange, because this water was particularly dirty, let alone drinking, even if it was used to wash vegetables and clothes.
So he asked his fellow, "What is this water for?" ”
The fellow replied, "This is the water to eat, and even the dirty water must be eaten." ”
After the introduction of the villagers, it was learned that the dirty water was drawn from a small pond in the east of the village. The pond is overgrown with weeds, mosquitoes, and a harsh environment, and the water used by the whole village is taken from here.
This situation made Chairman Mao make up his mind to solve the problem of draft water for the local people in Shazhouba.
Mao Zedong (second from right)
Although Chairman Mao was very busy, he never forgot this matter. As soon as he had time, he took the time to take the guards everywhere to conduct on-the-spot surveys. The effort paid off, and eventually found a clean water source from crow ridge at the foot of the mountain north of Shazhouba.
Although crow ridge has a clean water source, it is far from the sandbar dam. The reason why the villagers do not go to the crows to fetch water is because there is little water in the road. In addition, after the central authorities came to the shabar dam, there were thousands of more people in the village, and it was even more difficult to draft water.
Chairman Mao knew very well that the water source of Crow Ridge could only solve the urgent need. Still, he wanted to hear from the local villagers. In order to better solve the problem of drinking water for the villagers of Shazhouba, Chairman Mao summoned the chairman of the township Soviet government and several elderly people in the village.
He proposed that the water of Crow Ridge be introduced into the village first, temporarily solving the problem of drinking water for everyone, and then digging a well in the village, so that the problem of water shortage in the sandbar dam could be completely solved.
Several elderly people in the village did not object to the introduction of crow ridge water into the village, but they were strongly opposed to digging a well in the village.
Chairman Mao did not understand at that time that far water could not save the near thirst, as long as they could find a living water source in the village and successfully drill a well, they could supply water to the villagers of Shazhouba for a long time, but why would these old people oppose this proposal so much?
After repeated persuasion, the old people told the truth: "Shazhou Dam is a dry dragon, it can't hit the well, and if it hits the well, it will break our dragon vein, and the Dragon King will blame it." ”
It turned out that these old people still had the old idea of feudal superstition, preferring to eat dirty water rather than dig a well.
Chairman Mao smiled after listening to it, and he patiently persuaded the villagers to accept the idea of digging a well, and publicly stated: "If the Dragon Prince blames me, let him come to me Mao Zedong alone, and not concern the villagers of Shazhouba." ”
Early the next morning, Chairman Mao led the Cadres and soldiers of the Red Army to Crow Ridge first, brought clean spring water to the village, and caught it in a large bucket to temporarily solve the problem of draft water for the masses.
Soon, Chairman Mao found a water source by the pond at the east end of the village. After the water of Crow Ridge was successfully introduced to the village, Chairman Mao led several Red Army soldiers to start digging wells.
Many villagers have also abandoned old traditions and old ideas, and everyone has worked hard to dig out the water in less than a day. Looking at the gushing water, the whole village was very happy, and everyone rushed to fetch water.
But the source of the water is too close to the pond, and there is a cemetery nearby, and the well water has a dirty smell. Within a few days, the villagers were reluctant to drink the water from the well.
Chairman Mao led the masses to dig a well for sculpture
When Chairman Mao learned of the situation, he quickly found the cadres of the township Soviet government, re-positioned the other side of the pond, and asked the guards to prepare charcoal and gravel.
He personally went down to the bottom of the well, laid a layer of charcoal on the bottom floor, and laid a layer of sand and gravel on top of the charcoal, so that 3 layers were laid continuously. With the buffer filtration of charcoal and sand and gravel, the well water of this well is unusually sweet.
Since then, the villagers of Shazhouba have finally drunk clean and sweet well water.
"We should pay profound attention to the problems of the masses, from the problems of land labor to the problems of chai rice oil and salt. In short, all the problems of the masses' lives should be paid attention to, studied, and resolved. ”
This was part of the conclusions made by Chairman Mao at the Second National Congress of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers held in Ruijin, Jiangxi, in January 1934, and he also fulfilled his commitments with practical actions.
In October 1934, after the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the main force of the Central Red Army decided to start the Long March in order to get rid of the encirclement and blockade of the Kuomintang reactionaries.
After the Red Army left the Ruijin Soviet Area, the reactionaries repeatedly wanted to fill in this "red well", with the aim of severing the local villagers' feelings for the Red Army and even more to completely cut off the red spirit.
The masses of Shazhouba hated the Kuomintang reactionaries so much that the enemy filled the well during the day, and the villagers dug it up again at night. After many repetitions, the reactionaries finally stopped filling the well, and the masses finally won the victory of this struggle.
In October 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded, and the shazhouba masses officially named the well "Red Well". And a wooden plaque was erected on the edge of the well, which read: "Don't forget the people who dig the well when drafting water, and always miss Chairman Mao."
In March 1961, this "red well" was listed by the State Council as a "national key cultural relics protection unit", and the wooden plaque has long been changed to a stone monument, becoming "one of the key red education attractions in the country".
Ruijin Red Well
To this day, the well can still be used, nourishing generations of Shazhou dam people, reflecting the original intention of the Chinese Communist Party to always serve the people.
Thinking of the source of drinking water, not forgetting the people who dig wells when drinking water, and passing on the red spirit from generation to generation, we will let the revolutionary torch be passed on from generation to generation in the course of struggle, and Chairman Mao will always live in our hearts.