Heritage Archives
In the Taihang Memorial Hall of the Eighth Route Army in Wuxiang County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, a wooden bucket made of 21 wooden hoops attracts the attention of passing tourists. There are three iron hoops on, middle and bottom of the barrel, and an iron ring is nailed on the handle, which was once used by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. In 2002, Liu Yuqin, an employee of the Taihang Memorial Hall of the Eighth Route Army, obtained the barrel from Li Maobao's home. In June of the same year, it was appraised by the Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee and rated as a national second-class cultural relic.
Brick Wall Village, is an ordinary small mountain village in Wuxiang County, Shanxi Province, facing cliffs on three sides, relying on the mountain on the other, no way to find a way without drilling a ditch, and it is difficult to enter the village without climbing a slope. It is precisely because of the geographical characteristics of the deep slope of the ditch that the General Headquarters of the Eighth Route Army once camped here. The descendants who lived here heard the most stories of the "Anti-Japanese Well".
It was 1939, and it was a summer day, and the sun was like fire. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De led the commanders and fighters of the headquarters to brave the scorching sun and heat to sprinkle fertilizer in the newly reclaimed wasteland along the Xiaosong Mountain area of Brick Wall Village.
Autumn vegetables such as buckwheat, radish and vines that are prepared for war should be sown, but due to long drought and no rain, they cannot be planted. At that time, the water stored in the cellar was almost exhausted, not to mention the watering place, and even the water that people drank was very scarce. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De saw that the villagers were sparing water like oil, and a basin of water was washed and washed, and then used and reused, so he called on the troops to save water and wash clothes in the river. The soldiers also consciously drove the military mules and horses to the liugou area at the bottom of the mountain to drink water. At this difficult juncture when the enemy is accompanied by natural disasters, grain shortages and water shortages, if the problem of water shortage is not solved, it will be even more difficult to deal with the frequent sweeping of the Japanese army.
At this time, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De found that many fellow villagers were carrying buckets of water and leading cattle and sheep to carry water and drink livestock outside the mountains, and could not help but be anxious about the lack of water and cooking for the common people. After a while, Li Hailin, a member of the Agricultural Rescue Committee, and three or four villagers came from the edge of the field, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De waved at them and shouted, "Fellow villagers, come and rest for a while!" After learning about the implementation of some policies from several fellow villagers, he invited them to sit on the hillside and smoke while pulling up the problem of water shortage in brick wall villages.
Commander-in-Chief Zhu De asked, "Have you always relied on the sky to draft water in this mountain village?" ”
Several fellow villagers replied in unison: "Yes, it will dry the pot when it doesn't rain!"
Commander-in-Chief Zhu De asked the eldest Li Hailin, "Have you been like this since you can remember?" ”
"Oh, it's sad to mention the water!" Li Hailin sighed and said, "In every drought year, people and livestock cause a great famine. The song handed down by the ancients said: 'Dry brick walls, dry brick walls, eat all the cellar water in the first month, and carry water for 30 miles in February.' If you want to find a living spring, stay up until the sun rises to the west'. ”
"There are also miles", a young man added with a bitter smile: "There are women who do not marry brick villages, lack of food and wear no spring wells, dry dead toads thirsty rats, wash pots and mothers-in-law to be angry." ”
Li Hailin continued the young man's words and said, "Yes, on this dry mountain beam, the slopes are thick and the soil is thin, and it will not rain for more than ten days, and if you step on it barefoot, it will be hot and hot, and you will not be able to catch Miao'er at all." Sometimes the grass field comes out of the soil, and it dies alive without rain. It's not easy to harvest a grain!"
Commander-in-Chief Zhu De asked with concern, "Can't you find spring water here?" The fellows all shook their heads.
"Can't you dig a living well from the foot of Matsuyama?" Commander-in-Chief Zhu De asked again.
When Uncle Li saw that Commander-in-Chief Zhu De was so concerned about the draft of the masses, he was moved to say, "How good it would be to be able to dig up a little spring water!"
That night, it was already late at night, but Commander-in-Chief Zhu De was not a little sleepy, still thinking about the problem of water: there was a small pine mountain in brick wall village, there were holes in the mountain, and there might be water if there were mountains and trees.
But where is the water hidden? We must rely on the masses to find water sources. Early the next morning, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De made an appointment with a few old farmers and climbed up the Small Pine Mountain to find water along the rugged sheep gut trail. Along the way, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and the old farmers talked and laughed, encouraging everyone to strengthen their confidence in finding water. Despite his fatigue, he inspected all the inscriptions in the temples, looking for them in a cave and a ditch.
Suddenly, in a mountain depression, I came across a small stream of drinking sheep. This unexpected discovery made the commander-in-chief very happy, and he and everyone crouched by the clear spring water and carefully observed. I saw a trickle squeezing out of the crevices of the stones, swirling on the sand, and quietly seeping into the ground. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De carefully analyzed these important clues: If there is a spring in the middle of the mountain, there may be water at the root of the mountain; there is no water under the Songshan Mountain, so why can water vapor be produced in this cave? So he drank some spring water with everyone, ate some dry food, and hurried down the mountain to investigate the location of the well.
Early in the morning of the third day, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De personally summoned the mass representatives and the responsible persons of various units of the headquarters to a meeting to study the digging of wells in Jinggou. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De said: "At present, the draft water issue for the compatriots is a top priority at the moment, and we in the Eighth Route Army are the people's disciples and soldiers, and we must show concern for the well-being of the masses everywhere and solve the difficulties for the compatriots." It is necessary to take active action and fight a war of annihilation in which wells are dug to fight drought. Everybody say okay?!"
"Good! Resolutely complete the task of digging wells!" Commander-in-Chief Zhu De's voice did not fall, and all the commanders and fighters at the venue responded in unison.
On the day of the start of construction, the East had just turned white, and Uncle Li took a few young men and carried tools to the well digging site. I saw that Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai, and Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo Quan were leading a group of Eighth Route Army fighters who were already working feverishly. Uncle Li said excitedly, "The Eighth Route Army is really a team that seeks the interests of our Zhuang households!"
Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, armed with a large pickaxe, worked while explaining to everyone how to build the well wall and prevent it from collapsing. Driven by him, the enthusiasm of the military and the people for labor has become even higher, digging more than 1 zhang deep every day, and digging a living well with a depth of 13 zhang in less than half a month.
The people of Brick Wall Village saw that the Eighth Route Army had dug the first well in this arid mountainous area, and everyone was elated, and men, women, and children rushed to taste this fresh and sweet well water. Ma Daniang, who was more than 80 years old, held up a piece of well water that cleared Lingling and said excitedly: "Water, water, for you, the people in the mountains have built the Dragon King Temple, built the Hall of All Saints, burned incense and prostrated their heads, and prayed to the gods, but none of the Hallowes showed spirits." The Eighth Route Army led by Our Elder Zhu is really more spiritual than all saints!" Uncle Zhang looked at the smiling faces reflected in the well water with his beard and said: "From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the people in the mountains died of sheep and cattle due to lack of water and thirst, and the rich lord's government did not care about the suffering of the mountain people at all. The contingent of Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu is really a great benefactor of our toiling masses!"
That morning, the military and the people held a celebration meeting for a thousand military and civilians next to the well, at which Commander-in-Chief Zhu De spoke, educating everyone with the example of digging a well, strengthening the unity of the army and the people, overcoming natural disasters and enemy disasters, and resolutely resisting the war to the end. A word, said everyone's heart warm. Li Dabo, who had fought over water and fought a lawsuit, was excitedly shedding tears, and took commander-in-chief Zhu De's hand and said: "I have lived on this mountain villa for more than 70 years, and today is the first time I have tasted this drill sand sweet water. ”
In order to make future generations never forget the kindness of the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army, the brick people gave this well a name: "Anti-Japanese Well".
In October 1939, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was moved to Wangjiayu Village, Wuxiang County, when there was only one well for the whole village to drink water, who used water with their own ropes and buckets to fight, very inconvenient, after the headquarters was stationed, it would be in the brick wall village used this water-carrying wooden barrel, for the whole village of Wangjiayu to share. According to the recollection of the old people in the village, at that time, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army saw that there were many elderly people with limited mobility in the village, so they took the initiative to carry water for them. Every morning, the scene of the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army carrying water became the best witness of the deep water conditions of the military and civilian fish.
In December 1940, after the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the Japanese army swept the village of Wangjiayu. In order to besiege the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese blew up the well, hoping to force the Eighth Route Army to leave the area by cutting off the water source. But how can the cruel enemy think that the broad masses of the people are the solid foundation for the Eighth Route Army to be stationed here for a long time. In order to thank the Eighth Route Army for its kindness, the villager Li Maozi collected the wooden bucket used to carry water in time and instructed his family to keep the wooden bucket. Nowadays, time has passed, and this wooden bucket has become a vivid historical material for the local party history study and education.
(Author Affilications:Organization Department of Changzhi Municipal Party Committee of Shanxi Province)
Firmly rooted in the people
The people are the heavens, and the people are the earth. This mottled wooden bucket bears witness to the water conditions of the military and the people, and also shows the inner deep logic of the victory of the Chinese revolution.
"Jiangshan is the people, and the people are Jiangshan," this is an important historical experience gained by the party's struggle over the past century. "Forgetting the people, separated from the people, we will become water without a source, a wood without a root, and we will achieve nothing." In the midst of the revolutionary flames, the people's army did not take a needle and a thread from the masses, and only then did the masses have the sincere voice of "fish cannot be separated from water, melons cannot be separated from seedlings, and revolutionary masses cannot be separated from the Communist Party."; in the battle against poverty, the vast number of poverty-relief cadres have sacrificed their small homes for everyone, and in the face of difficulties, they can stand up to it at the crucial time, walk through thousands of mountains and rivers, and walk into thousands of households, and only then can they have the miracle of achieving a comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty. The reason why our party has been able to withstand setbacks and harden into steel is that it has always taken root in the people, benefited the people, and always connected with the people's hearts, breathed together, and shared a common destiny.
Water can carry boats, but it can also cover boats. Our Party's greatest political advantage is its close ties with the masses, and the greatest danger after the Party comes to power is to detach itself from the masses. At present, the century-old changes have accelerated and evolved, and the external environment has become more complicated and severe, and party members and cadres should strengthen their sense of public servanthood, the spirit of taking responsibility, and their feelings for the people in relieving difficult problems for the people, regard the people's yearning for a better life as the goal of struggle, start with the most difficult groups, start from the most prominent problems, proceed from the most realistic interests, and make more practical tricks to benefit the people and facilitate the people, solve the problems of the people's anxieties, difficulties, and expectations, so that the masses can get more visible and tangible benefits.