Obsessed with red preaching for 12 years, the original heart wrote the legend of "immortality" - remembering the "hunan good people , the most beautiful revolutionary cultural relics protection inheritors" Xiang Xiantao

"The more precious thing is this, this is the hat emblem of the Red Army." On August 23, at the home of Xiang Xiantao, a septuagenarian in Yuanling County, he seemed a little excited about the treasured revolutionary cultural relics. Xiang Xiantao, who is obsessed with the protection of local party history, revolutionary cultural relics and red culture, is well-known in the local area. Recently, in the special list of "Hunan Good People , The Most Beautiful Revolutionary Cultural Relics Protection Inheritors" released by the Propaganda Department of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Civilization Office, Xiang Xiantao was listed on the list.

Passion: Twelve years of unremitting pursuit

Xiang Xiantao, 72, retired from the Yuanling County Audit Bureau in June 2009 and was hired by the County History Office to collect, collect, sort out and research local party history materials, thus embarking on the road of red pursuit for 12 years.

Plunging into the study of local party history, Xiang Xiantao discovered that the revolutionary history and cultural relics resources of Yuanling County were quite rich, especially in the process of collecting and sorting out, he found a lot of valuable materials, which made him feel promising. "It was around this time that I fell in love with this business." Xiang Xiantao said that by going through a large number of materials in the Yuanling County Archives, coupled with online search and purchase, years of work, he and his colleagues had almost found all the archives about the Activities of the Red Army in Yuanling County.

He searched for red footprints with his footsteps, recorded red history with a pen, and Xiang Xiantao also went deep into the old revolutionary areas and townships to investigate and study, and got a lot of first-hand information. It is often encountered that the subject of the interview has died, and some people feel that if he had come a few years earlier, it would have given Xiang Xiantao a sense of urgency, "If we don't hurry up and sort out these red stories and dig up these red resources now, then it will cause some irreparable losses." ”

Twelve years, from Huajia to Gu rare, in order not to miss any useful information, Xiang Xiantao went up the mountain and crossed the river, walked under the sweltering heat, and also rushed to the night of the stars, more than 200 villages in 21 townships, visited more than 1,000 village cadres, the elderly, and insiders, and he walked all over the yuanling county with a wide and mountainous area, where there are red stories, revolutionary relics, and where there are traces of him. In the process, he verified 145 old revolutionary sites and found more than 10 revolutionary cultural relics (pieces) such as Red Army slogans, Red Army hat emblems, and Soviet currency.

While constantly studying and sorting out materials, he also edited and edited a number of revolutionary historical materials, and his editor-in-chief's "Records of discipline inspection of Yuanling County of the Communist Party of China" was awarded the first prize for outstanding achievements in local history of Hunan Province; he actively wrote academic papers on party history, attended three national seminars on party history and military history, and his paper "The Historical Contribution of the Battle of Yuanling of the Red Second and Sixth Armies to respond to the "Passage to The Army" of the Central Red Army" filled the gap in Huaihua City's historical papers on the Long March of the Red Second and Sixth Armies; and vigorously publicized the red story of Yuanling. He has published hundreds of articles in several newspapers and websites.

Mission: The red heart will always stay in the original heart of the party

The reason why Xiang Xiantao embarked on the road of pursuing the red may have to be traced back earlier. "I have an uncle named Zhang Chuanxing, who went with He Longdang to the Red Army, and in December 1934, he was wounded and fell behind in Taoyuan County, unfortunately, and was captured and died heroically." Xiang Xiantao had heard his parents mention the story of his uncle in the Red Army since he was a child, and before his aunt died, he had also told him to find the grave where his uncle died. "I feel that I have a sense of responsibility and mission invisibly, and I want to further tap red resources." Xiang Xiantao said.

"As peers of the republic, our generation has the responsibility and obligation to tell the red story of the old revolutionary areas, to protect and pass on the protection of revolutionary cultural relics, and to pass on the revolutionary spirit." For many years, Xiang Xiantao has also been committed to spreading the story of red. In the Wang family compound of the Red Education Base, he told the story of the Red Second and Sixth Armies attacking Yuanling County with deep feeling; at the Xiangxi Bandit Martyrs Memorial Garden, he detailed the immortal deeds of the Forty-seventh Army in eradicating the century-old bandit plague in Western Hunan Province...

In Xiang Xiantao's preaching career, there were also "highlight" moments. In 2014, when preaching in the Wang Family Compound, in the face of a joke from the common people that "I hope to meet the descendants of Marshal He Long", Xiang Xiantao did not hesitate to respond to this request. In October 2016, xiang Xiantao had the honor of meeting General He Jiesheng, the daughter of Marshal He Long, in Beijing for writing the book "Red Yuanling", and issued a sincere invitation to her. In May 2017, General He Jiesheng came to Yuanling. "At that time, I didn't dare to think about it," Xiang Xiantao sighed, "I didn't expect that the promise of that year would be fulfilled so quickly."

In the past twelve years since his retirement, the red propaganda has been devoted to the party, and Xiang Xiantao has gone deep into organs, units, enterprises and schools to tell red stories, inherit red genes, and carry out more than 300 times of revolutionary cultural and traditional education regardless of his advanced age, tirelessly working hard, regardless of fame and fortune, regardless of remuneration, and he is known as "the most beautiful red story preacher".

Red is the most conspicuous background color for Xiang Xiantao, and "retirement does not fade, and the red heart always goes to the party" is the best annotation to Xiang Xiantao. "As long as I can sit and move, I can keep working." Xiang Xiantao said that as a 47-year-old party member, excavating red resources, protecting revolutionary cultural relics, and preaching red stories are not only his original intentions, but also a mission given to him by the party organization. (Reporter Supplement Xiumei)