Visit Qingshui River City during the Republic of China

For many years, people have always thought that there is no city in The Clearwater River, and little is known about the walls of the Clearwater River City, and few people mention it. The author consulted the county chronicle and a large number of related historical materials, exchanged many exchanges with insiders in the county about the remains of the city wall, learned about the basic situation of Qingshui River City during the Republic of China period, and shared with readers.

Chengguan Town, Qingshuihe County (in the Qing Dynasty, qingshuihe County, the first district or the central district, the Japanese occupation of the ancient city of Po town) was the political, military and economic center of the Qingshuihe area during the Qing Dynasty and even the Republic of China, but there was no city in the Qing Dynasty. Although the tucheng city of Tokto exists, it is difficult to guarantee (1)", the outer three halls are the Qingshui River Hall, the Helinger Hall, and the Salaki Hall. Until the spring of the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), the Qingshuihe County Government of the Republic of China requisitioned migrant workers to build the earth and stone city wall, and the newly built county town had a circumference of about 5.46 miles, a height of 3 meters and 6 feet, with an east and west gate, and then a north city gate, which was demolished after liberation.

First, the city site planning

According to the analysis of the "Overview of Qingshuihe County" written by Qiao Jiyan, Qingshui River City is built according to the terrain in the north by the Silver Rolling Mountain, south by the Qingshui River, and is divided into earth walls and stone walls, and the northwest is based on the old wall of the Great Wall of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty, and the rammed earth wall is built, and the southeast two walls are built along the river, and the walls are built with stones along the riverbank. The earthen wall is 2 feet 5 feet (about 8.3 meters), the stone wall is 5 feet wide (about 1.6 meters), the height is 1 foot and 8 feet (about 5.7 meters), there is the east city wall, X hundred and 11 zhang (due to the loss of text, the author estimates about 500 to 600 meters), the bottom width is 1 foot (about 1.2 meters), the height is 1.5 meters (about 4.9 meters), there are east and west gates, the east gate is about near the present-day Dongmen Bridge (the name of the East Gate Bridge must be derived from this), standing at the East Gate can look up to see Leihupo Village, and the West Gate is about near the present-day No. 1 Middle School. There is 1 observation tower at the top of the gate, 4 forts around the city, and there is still a section of stone wall ruins in the Hongqi Market. The earthen wall is more than 350 zhang (about 1165 meters) long, the stone wall is more than 470 zhang (1565 meters), the total length is about 2730 meters, and then the north city gate is set up, and the north city gate is south of the current side wall trench (Ming Dabian Great Wall), but now these gates have long been lost.

When the predecessors built the Qingshui river city wall, they did not seek straight lines and right angles, but built the city according to the terrain and mountainous terrain, and chose the steep mountain in the northwest to build an earthen wall, which not only reduced the amount of rammed earth, but also increased the steepness of the city wall, and the entire city was built on a low and gentle hillside. The newly built Qingshui River City is centered on the county office formed on the basis of the garden of the four princesses of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty, built on the river beach north of the Qingshui River and the slope of the Silver Rolling Mountain, and incorporates Yong'an Street and the ancient city slope into the city, the small temple village in the south of the city, the Leihupo village in the east of the city is not among them, and the pingding mountain in Qingshuihe County can see the whole city.

Second, the background of the city

Qingshuihe County belongs to the hilly area of the Loess Plateau, with many mountain ranges, ravines and undulating mountains, mainly concentrated in the eastern, southern and western parts of the county. Present-day Chengguan Town is a river valley between two mountain ranges (North Silver Rolling Mountain, South Pingding Mountain), typical of two mountains sandwiched between a basin of terrain. During the years of the Republic of China, warlords were fighting, bandits were raging, and every time they wandered the county border, they first hid on the top of the mountain to control the high point, occupied the superior terrain, and were condescending, and the movements in the county town were clearly observed, and if they attacked the city fiercely, it was difficult to hold on, and the county magistrates and officials, officers and soldiers, merchants, and people had to abandon the city and leave. After several catastrophes, it brought serious harm to the local economy and social order, especially in October of the sixth year of the Republic of China, when the Lu Zhankui bandits harassed the county.

Since the four princesses operated for many years and to the end of the Qing Dynasty, agriculture, commerce has been well developed, at that time there were about sixty merchants in this street, mainly Shanxi people, plus at that time Qingxiang Shengping, no harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes of exploitation, paving the household, everywhere, the prosperity of commerce, can be described as the peak. However, in the sixth year of the Republic of China, Lu Zhankui bandits harassed the territory of the county, and the harm caused by it caused the decline of commerce in the county. The "Outline of Qingshuihe County" says: "Since the lu bandits scratched in the 60th month of the Jingmin, the county's commerce plummeted, and the city's benefits were sluggish. The apportionment is heavy, the business is depressed, the gainer is widowed, and the loser is huge, the vain consumption, sitting on the mountain and eating the sky, is the phase rate of suspension of business. The original solid shops have changed into small bases, and women and children are easy to get into, and it is not uncommon to see them. In the past, it was used as a laughing stock, and now it is regarded as a way to make a living, which can be seen here. ”

Since the crossing of the Lu bandits, there are only more than 20 businesses left in Qingshuihe County, five grocery stores, four noodle shops, three mountain goods stores, two medicine shops, three silver furnaces, one dyeing house, and several copper shops, each with a maximum capital of no more than 1,000 yuan.

Not only that, in addition to Lu Zhankui, there were also bandits such as Yang Monkey, who often raided the county town, and there was also the extortion and extortion of warlords. In March of the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928), He was appointed as the governor of Suiyuan. During the period when the Feng army was stationed in Sui, its officers and men were very arbitrary, extorting and extorting merchants and whipping the people at will in Tumut. Helinger County and Qingshuihe County were plundered by Wang Ying's troops of the Suixi Road Guard Of the Fengjun Army at that time, and the ten rooms and nine empty spaces were plundered.

In addition, the regimental members of the county's defense regiment did not have strict training on weekdays, let alone experience in suppressing bandits and fighting. As a result, on March 19, 1931, the 20th year of the Republic of China ( 1931 ) , the army collapsed and fell , and the mutiny on the same day of the same month in the 21st year (1932 ) led to the loss of the county town, the guns were robbed, and the county magistrate was kidnapped, and the security in the county was chaotic, and the only way to defend itself was to build the city wall.

Third, the construction of the city passes

At that time, the gentry and people in the county felt that the construction of the county town was very important, and through the initiative of the local gentry of various legal groups, they decided to build the city walls to prevent banditry. Therefore, the Urban Work Committee was set up, and the general affairs, engineering, public affairs, and fundraising units were set up to handle the construction of the city, and then made a detailed plan and submitted a request to the Construction Department of the Suiyuan Provincial Government for funding. Citing the shortage of treasury funds, the provincial government left the local governments to try to raise funds for construction on their own. However, Due to the long-term plague of banditry and drought, Qingshuihe County was extremely difficult, and it was difficult to raise such a huge amount of money and could not be built. Later, after the local meeting was discussed, it was decided to return the 20%swath of tobacco mu in the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931) and the fine of 6,000 yuan (12,000 yuan of banknotes) as a city construction cost, and if the income could not be made, it would launch a private fundraising. At this point, the funds have been settled, and the project began on April 17, 2020, which lasted more than a year and cost more than 10,000 yuan to finally be completed.

Fourth, the past in the city

Qingshuihe City was built in 1931, and then demolished in 1949 Chinese the People's Liberation Army entered Qingshuihe County for the eighth time to liberate the whole county (to prevent the return of the Kuomintang reactionary forces that were wandering in Suiyuan and occupy the county seat to persecute the people of Qingshuihe County) existed on the land of Qingshuihe for 18 years, and in these 18 years, the city has witnessed the historical past of Qingshuihe County from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation.

Qingshuihe County, a small county on the Loess Plateau, is located on the outer flank of the northwest base area of Jin and is also the southern gate of Suiyuan, and its strategic location is very important. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, the struggle between the enemy and us was fierce. I have not personally experienced the revolutionary feats of that year, but through the literary and historical materials and the oral accounts of veterans, we can know that during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, on the main road connecting the northwest of Jinxi and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in the Daqingshan Anti-Japanese Base Area, the history that once took place in this thick land, there were singable heroes and indomitable revolutionary struggles.

In the period of the War of Liberation, the Kuomintang and the Communists fought fiercely on many occasions, and in a small county town, the history of the war of "eight in and seven out" and the battle scene of "changing three countries in one day and two nights" were staged. It can be reflected that after the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression at that time, the strategic position of the Qingshui River in the entire Shanxi and Suiyuan regions was indeed a fierce competition for every inch of land, and it was a struggle between swords and soldiers.

It is hard for the hurried travelers who have arrived here today to imagine that the guns and bullets on the city wall were raining down, and perhaps on the ruins of the existing broken city wall, there was still the blood of the warriors in the cracks below, who defended the land with their own blood.

"The martyrs should look back and smile and comfort", with the continuous improvement of the living standards of the people of Qingshuihe, the infrastructure and living conditions have been greatly improved. These ancestors who embarked on the revolutionary road in those years will certainly show a happy smile when they see the new appearance of their hometown...

5. Conclusion

The ruins of Qingshui River City can only be found in Hongqi and the ancient city of Po Village. In the existing literary and historical materials, there is very little mention of Qingshui River City. Only the "Chronicle of Qingshuihe County" and the "Outline of Qingshuihe County" have records that in the history of the revolutionary struggle in Qingshuihe County, it can be found that it is mentioned in the battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the struggle for the county seat. In the exhibition hall of the party branch of the old Niupo, the history of the eight-in-seven-out battle that took place in the struggle for the county seat in that year was restored. Although the battle of "eight in and seven out" is still a sign of obsolescence, its battle is still fierce, but this scene is full of warning and arousing the will of the people, and its meaning is profound.

Of course, there are no strong walls and thick gates in the current Qingshuihe County, and there is no concept of the region outside the city. Stories about the city are covered in today's bustling market, and the history of the city is like a beach where the river flows, leaving no trace. Even so, it is still a strong part of the history and culture of Qingshuihe.

concentrate:

(1) (Qing) Zhong Xiu, Zhang Zeng: Gu Feng ZhiLuo, vol. XI, Chengguo. Zhong Xiu, Zi Shi Fan, Manchurian Zheng Hongqi people. From August of the 5th year of Xianfeng to March of the 6th year of Xianfeng and from September of the 6th year of Xianfeng to March of the 9th year of Xianfeng, he served twice as the Guisui Daotai. During the Xianfeng period of Zhang Zeng , a native of Chengxian County , Shanxi ( present-day Yuanping , Shanxi ) , Zhong Xiu hired Zhang Zeng to Naturalization City with a high salary to write the Gufeng Zhiluo ( Gufeng Zhiluo )

(2) Qiao Jiyan wrote "Outline of Qingshuihe County" Qiao Jiyan Yongxin, a native of Qingshuihe County. Graduated from Suiyuan Provincial First Normal School. He once served as the secretary of the Jining County Government, the chief of the first section of the Qingshuihe County Government, and the member of the Kuomintang Qingshuihe County Party Affairs Steering Committee.

Author: Bai Wenyu