"The 10-gram cotton ticket was the smallest cotton ticket in the country that year. This ticket came from the cotton area of the Eighth Division of the Eighth Division and the 150 regiment, which was rich in cotton, and the regiment field gave the state a large amount of high-quality cotton produced by itself, but the cotton tickets for self-use were pitifully small, reflecting the spirit of the corps people who loved the motherland and made selfless dedication. On April 18, in the Xinjiang Centennial Historical Materials Collection Museum on the outskirts of Wujiaqu City, director Ge Xinhong pointed to a slightly yellowed cotton ticket with a denomination of 10 grams and said with emotion, "It is the hard work of the older generation of soldiers that has given us a good life now!" ”
In 1978, the Eighth Division's 150-150 ball denomination was a 10-gram cotton ticket. Ge Xinhong provides
Secondary flower tickets, that is, poorer, lower-grade cotton tickets. Such cotton tickets are issued to workers for their own use, and most of the good cotton (that is, good flower tickets) are handed over to the state. Ge Xinhong provides
Ge Xinhong, 53 years old this year, is a member of the 143rd regiment of the Eighth Division and a "second generation of soldiers", who has been obsessed with ticket collection for more than 30 years. At first, I was very interested in seeing some of the old used corps tickets left by my father, so I began to collect all kinds of tickets. In the process of collection, I slowly found that behind each old object and old ticket, there was a story and witnessed a piece of history, which felt very meaningful. Ge Xinhong said.
There were more and more old objects and old tickets collected, and Ge Xinhong had the idea of building a collection. In June 2021, the Xinjiang Centennial Historical Materials Collection, covering an area of 1,500 square meters, opened to the public free of charge, exhibiting more than 70,000 old tickets and old objects. Up to now, the Xinjiang Centennial Historical Materials Collection Has received nearly 10,000 tourists.
Professor Wang Yiping of the History Department of Changji College made a special trip to lead the students to visit and study. "These collections tell the story of the changes in Xinjiang and the Corps, witness the glorious history of Xinjiang and the Corps, and are the most vivid and convincing textbooks." Wang Yiping said.
Ge Xinhong tells the story behind the ticket for tourists. Ge Xinhong provides
The bills posted on the "Xinjiang Corps Old Tickets" exhibition board are Ge Xinhong's proudest collection. In order to collect these tickets, he traveled to various prefectures, prefectures, counties (cities) and corps in Xinjiang. "The old ticket of the Corps mainly refers to the general term for all kinds of tickets, bills, tickets and certificates used by the staff and workers of the Corps in production and life after the establishment of the Corps in October 1954. For example, food stamps, oil tickets, meal tickets, cloth (cotton) tickets, accommodation tickets, invoices, sugar (tobacco, wine, meat, melon fruits, vegetables) tickets, soap tickets, invoices, car and ship tickets, etc. all belong to the old tickets of the Corps, and these tickets have witnessed the development and changes of the Corps. Ge Xinhong introduced.
"After the establishment of the Corps in 1954, the planned economy was implemented, and various tickets went to all fields of social life. At that time, the corps produced a large amount of grain every year and handed it over to the state, and the regimental field supplied rations to everyone according to the unified standards of the state. During the three years of difficulty, the corps supported a large amount of grain in the interior, the rations of staff and workers were reduced to 30 kilograms of raw grain per month, there were very few side foods such as meat, oil, and vegetables, and only 20 percent of the most arduous grains (wheat flour and rice) and 80 percent of coarse grains (corn flour) were 80 percent. Ge Xinhong said. The real ticket, coupled with Ge Xinhong's explanation, restores the history of the hard work of the corps and the reclamation of the border.
In 1964, the Corps Of Health's Pharmacy Administration Section Canteen Meal Ticket. Ge Xinhong provides
The Fifth Agricultural Division (now the Fifth Division) Red Star Coal Mine Agricultural Team "Melon Ticket". The "melon ticket" was produced in 1960 when the party committee of the Corps implemented the spirit of the central government's "low standards, melons for vegetables", reduced the rations of staff and workers, and replaced the grain with melon vegetables for the insufficient part, which is a witness to the difficult period. Ge Xinhong provides
The 63-year-old Huang Lina made a special trip to the Xinjiang Centennial Historical Materials Collection to find the memories of that year. "When I was 7 years old, I followed my parents from my hometown in Henan to support the frontier and came to live in the 8th Division, 133rd Regiment. I remember that near the New Year, every household braved the wind and snow, clutching the sugar tickets and meat tickets specially provided during the New Year, queuing up at the entrance of the supply store to buy New Year goods, and usually tightening their pants and belts to save up the tickets for the purchase of fine grains, just for the New Year to pack dumplings. Today's life is good, from the 'ticket to buy' to today's 'buy at will', I also learned to shop online, and I can buy at will without leaving home. Huang Lina said.
Cheng Huiguo, a retired veteran cadre from Anhui, was very excited after visiting: "Watching the exhibition of old tickets of the Xinjiang Corps suddenly brought me back to the 60s of the last century. At that time, I was working in the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Factory in Gansu Province, and there were workers in the factory who assisted in the construction of Jiuquan Steel. I was deeply impressed by the fact that the corps members were able to endure hardships, have motivation, and have methods. I came to Xinjiang for tourism, specially came here to see the exhibition, I miss the old friends of the Corps! ”
Many of the tickets on display in Ge Xinhong's collection have been out of print, and some people have offered to buy them at a high price, but Ge Xinhong has refused. "The ticket is the 'living fossil of historical life', and the old ticket of the collection corps is to collect the corps to reclaim the border and create a glorious history." The Xinjiang Centennial Historical Materials Collection will continue to be open for free, and I want to tell the story in the corps ticket to more people, hoping that everyone will not forget the efforts of their ancestors and cherish the good days now. Ge Xinhong said.
Source: Corps Network
Editor: Zhang Yufan
Editor-in-charge: Chu Jia Zhou Chen Lan