History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
In April 1937, more than 800 people of the Western Route Army came to Qilian Mountain after a bloody battle, they were preparing to advance to the Xingxing Gorge at the junction of Gansu and Xinxin, in Anxi County, Gansu Province, the Red Army soldiers were already hungry and ran out of food, just in this most difficult period, a Dao commander lost his family to help the Red Army soldiers, so that they survived the most difficult days, this Dao commander was Guo Yuanheng.
Guo Yuanheng is a native of Gaotai, Gansu, born in 1896, from childhood to live a poor life, because of years of war, he did not want to join the army, and later in order to avoid the military service of the Kuomintang, he fled to Anxi County, worshiped the Yulin Cave Taoist Temple Ma Ronggui as a teacher, since then out of the family, after Ma Ronggui's death, Guo Yuanheng became the abbot of the Taoist Temple, because the Taoist temple incense is not flourishing, in the whole Taoist Temple, there are only Guo Yuanheng and his two apprentices.
In April 1937, Cheng Shicai led more than 800 people from the left detachment of the Western Route Army, passing through yulin grottoes, and visited Guo Yuanheng, who was very touched when he saw that although the Red Army team as a whole was relatively unclothed, they were very disciplined and did not look like bandits, so he said, "Your army is on an expedition here, through hardships and dangers, if necessary, please tell each other bluntly, the poor Road will certainly try to help" Cheng Shicai heard this, very moved, he took Guo Yuanheng's hand and said the difficulties of the Red Army team, and urgently needed grain and grass to rest.
Guo Yuanheng was very touched after hearing this, he said: "Your army has strict military discipline, treats people with courtesy, although it is extremely poor and trapped, but it does not deceive the gods and Buddhas, it is the heavenly rebel army, and helping the rebels is the unshirkable obligation of our Daomen, and I hope that the chief does not have to be polite" In this way, Guo Yuanheng searched the entire Taoist Temple, and put more than 1,000 kilograms of flour, more than 4,000 kilograms of wheat, more than 400 kilograms of yellow rice, more than 30 kilograms of flax oil, 4 pockets of salt salt, 30 sheep, and many other materials, all of which helped the Red Army free of charge, and General Cheng Shicai was deeply moved. He made a list of these things, signed them to himself, and then handed them to Guo Yuanheng, who said, "In the future, whether I am here or not, as long as I have this note, the revolutionary team will definitely return all the grain and livestock you have borrowed."
Guo Yuanheng did not want the strip, but could not withstand Cheng Shicai's repeated persuasion, in this way, he accepted the strip, and soon, Cheng Shicai led the troops to leave, Ma Jiajun followed, when he learned that Guo Yuanheng had helped the Red Army, he was very angry, he tortured Guo Yuanheng severely, and later under the careful care of his apprentices, his illness recovered.
After the founding of New China, Guo Yuanheng was warmly treated by the government, Cheng Shicai was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955, he wrote to Guo Yuanheng many times, thanking him for his help in that year, Guo Yuanheng in his later years lived a very happy life, the government gave him a lot of courtesies, but also let him enjoy the treatment of the main hall, and Guo Yuanheng was very emotional about it.
In Guo Yuanheng, there is another legendary story, he and Shi 4 generations once guarded a national treasure for a hundred years, this national treasure is the "ivory Buddha"
Ivory Buddha is the Tang Dynasty Xuanzang returned from India, the Indian king gave him a gift, and later Xuanzang put this object in the Guazhou Monastery, during the Qing Dynasty, Yulin Cave abbot Wu Gendong in the cleaning of sediment, found this object, will be enshrined, for a time, admired the people who came to visit endlessly.
Since then, the ivory Buddha has become a treasure passed down from generation to generation in Yulin Grottoes, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the world was in chaos, bandits came famously, forcing the abbot Yang Yuandao to hand over the ivory Buddha, but Yang Yuan refused to want to follow, and was brutally killed by the bandits, he was the first Daoist leader to dedicate himself to the ivory Buddha, after that, his disciple Yan Jiaorong succeeded him as the host, at that time, he learned that his brother Li Jiaokuan had already left with the ivory Buddha and settled in the Tayuan Temple in Jinta County.
In 1905, Yan Jiaorong invited the ivory Buddha back from the Tayuan Temple, he hid the ivory Buddha, but at that time, the soldiers were in chaos, there were bandits who came again to loot the property, for this reason, Yan Jiaorong was brutally killed by the bandits, Guo Yuanheng came, very diligent, so that the master Ma Ronggui was very appreciative, one day, Ma Ronggui called Guo Yuanheng and said this thing, it turned out that Yan Jiaorong told Ma Ronggui where he hid the ivory Buddha, Ma Ronggui now told him that he wanted to pass on this thing to him "not to the Taiping Prosperous World, It can't be born easily."
In 1930, bandits intercepted Ma Ronggui and asked him to hand over the ivory Buddha, but Ma Ronggui refused, and jumped off a cliff to commit suicide.
In 1950, after the founding of New China, Guo Yuanheng saw hope, and he took out the ivory Buddha and dedicated it to the Anxi County Government, which is now collected by the China History Museum and is an extremely important national treasure.
Guo Yuanheng Daochang lived happily in his old age, he died in 1976 at the age of 80, buried here, and now next to the Taoist Temple, there is now a Xilu Army Memorial Hall, which is quietly telling a historical legend!