Beijing is the capital of China, the political, economic, scientific and technological center, and a world-renowned historical city. But there is a place that makes people surprise: it is the ancient capital of the Five Dynasties with a history of more than 3,000 years, the capital of China's last feudal dynasty, and it is not as good as Xi'an, Kaifeng and Pingyao in terms of cultural relics protection, especially on the ancient city wall.
How much is hidden in this? What is the relationship between the City Wall of Beijing and Guo Moruo and Liang Sicheng? Only by unveiling the historical veil of 70 years ago and exploring the truth of this little-known fact.
The history of the City Wall of Beijing
From the Yuan Ding capital of Beijing, the construction of the city wall began. After the "Battle of Jingnan", Zhu Di, the ancestor of Ming Cheng, changed Peiping to Beijing and prepared to move the capital. Subsequently, the edict was given to build a palace and build a city wall. The rebuilt city of Beijing was divided into Miyagi Castle, Imperial City, Inner City and Outer City. Miyagi is today's Forbidden City, also known as the Forbidden City.
In 1644, the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty moved the capital from Shengjing (present-day Shenyang) to Beijing, which lasted for 268 years. Until the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the feudal monarchy that lasted for more than 2,000 years came to an end.
In the early years of the Republic of China, the whole country launched a vigorous "city wall demolition plan", from Guangzhou to Hangzhou, from Shanghai to Beijing. A large number of ancient city walls were demolished as a symbol of the feudal dynasty, and many precious ancient city bricks were also lost to the people.
At the end of November 1948, the Battle of Pingjin began. The Absolute Superiority of the Northeast Field Army and the North China Field Army totaled 1 million troops to encircle the remnants of fu Zuoyi's more than 500,000 troops.
Once the charge trumpet blows, the historical and cultural city of Beijing is likely to be destroyed. Adhering to the great national righteousness, Fu Zuoyi finally chose to surrender and Liberate Peiping peacefully.
There is a small episode: on the eve of the Battle of Pingjin, the famous architect Liang Sicheng has personally drawn the "National Catalogue of Cultural Relics and Ancient Buildings" to the People's Liberation Army, and he has repeatedly emphasized that Beijing is the most complete and greatest medieval city in the world, which must be properly protected, and also marked the location of important ancient city walls and ancient buildings in Beijing.
When Chairman Mao learned of this, he specifically asked the siege troops to pay attention to the protection of the monuments.
The city of Beijing has experienced vicissitudes over the centuries, from war to peace, from construction to destruction, with broken bricks and tiles and potholes. It was once demolished as a feudal relic and protected as a product of civilization. If the city of Beijing is a person, or he has already looked down on it, laughing at the wind and clouds.
The fierce controversy between Liang Sicheng and Guo Moruo
On October 1, 1949, the founding ceremony was solemnly held in Tiananmen Square, announcing the official founding of the People's Republic of China. As the capital of new China, Beijing's urban construction was quickly put on the agenda.
At the beginning of the founding of the country, there were two voices: First, the city wall, as an important part of the urban defense of ancient society, has lost its role. The presence of a large number of ancient city walls is bound to affect the development of new urban planning and transportation.
The second is the voice of experts represented by architects Liang Sicheng and Chen Zhanxiang. The Old Town was preserved intact to form an urban museum. A new city was built in the west of Beijing, with the center west of the Temple of the Moon, the Tomb of the Princess, and the area of Wukesong.
Liang Sicheng's father was Liang Sicheng, who studied architects at Harvard University and enjoyed a high reputation in architecture. He was once known by the Japanese as the "Gudu Ben" because he successfully prevented the U.S. bombing of Kyoto and Nara In Japan in the late second period of World War II.
This time for the protection of the national capital, he was even more vigorously appealing and running to tell him.
Ke Liang's proposal was fiercely opposed by the "demolition" faction led by Guo Moruo. There are two main reasons for this: First, the ancient city wall is the remnant and remnant of feudal society, and now the new Chinese people are in charge and need to tear down the "wall" in their hearts.
The second is to re-establish the new urban area to work hard for the people and lose money. In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was a waste to be rebuilt, and maintaining the old city wall not only required high costs, but also affected the construction of the urban transportation network. If you add another article, there may also be Guo Moruo's consideration of his personal political future.
In the end, the "demolition" faction defeated the "relocation" faction. From 1952 onwards, the outer city walls of Beijing began to be officially demolished. Liang Sicheng was heartbroken, and his wife Lin Hui fainted at home crying after learning the news.
Looking at it today, Guo Moruo's views are not all wrong, especially the second article is more in line with the national conditions at that time. Of course, Liang Sicheng's suggestion is also more valuable, the transformation of the old city also requires a lot of financial resources, why not relocate the new city, both re-planning and protection of cultural relics?
What are the remaining ancient walls of Beijing today?
At that time, the way to dismantle the city wall was to organize the voluntary labor of the citizens. By 1964, both the outer and inner walls had been demolished. With the rupture of Sino-Soviet relations that year, many of the demolished city wall bricks were used to build subways and "dig deep holes and accumulate grain" air defense projects.
I don't know how sad and sad Liang Sicheng and his wife are when they look at the ancient city wall, urn city, arrow tower, and Jiaolou, which have a century-old history of cultural relics, and destroy them. He likened the demolition of the city walls to the demolition of his own flesh and skin,
"In 50 years, history will prove you wrong, I am right"
So what else is in Beijing's ancient city wall today?
The first is the remains of the city wall of the capital city of the Jin Dynasty left in the Guang'anmen area of the West City, and the second is the completed "Yuan Dadu City Wall Ruins Park", which has become a key cultural relics protection unit in Beijing.
Contemporary Beijing has long been aware of the importance of cultural relics protection. Zhengyang Gate, Arrow Tower, Desheng Gate and Southeast Corner Tower have begun to take shape after revision, and other local architectural remains are also being restored.
Beijing, which has experienced many vicissitudes, has built a national metropolis, and the Chinese, which was poor and white, has also awakened. When the Chinese people realize that there are many more important things in the world than filling their stomachs, the nation progresses.
epilogue
There are no assumptions in the story, and there are no assumptions in history.
The occurrence of historical time must have specific historical conditions. We can't get a deep sense of what people thought 70 years ago, just as we probably wouldn't have bought a lot of houses even with money 20 years ago. Therefore, there is not much point in judging the past, standing in the present and doing a good job in today is the most important.
Today's China has deeply realized the importance of cultural relics, so let's do our best to use all scientific and technological means to restore and protect ancient buildings. In the future, let our children and grandchildren touch the temperature of history as much as possible.