Taiyuan, 3 Sep (Xinhua) -- Although he is 88 years old, Li Shidan, a villager in Lijiawan Village, Xing County, Luliang City, Shanxi Province, still remembers the training scene of the Eighth Route Army stationed in the village during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Pointing to a vegetable patch in front of the village, he recalled: "It was originally a rocky beach, and the soldiers cleared it out to use it as a playground. I often saw them playing basketball, martial arts, vaulting, and obstacle climbing there, and many people in the village played with them. ”
The northwestern Jin region where Xing County is located was one of the important bases established by the Eighth Route Army during the Anti-Japanese War, and Lijiawan Village was once the headquarters of the 120th Division. While carrying out the anti-Japanese struggle, the troops also actively carried out sports and held many large and small sports meetings.
From May 1 to 5, 1940, the first sports conference of Jinsui Border District was held in Lijiawan Village, with athletics, basketball, volleyball, tug-of-war and other events. As soon as the Games ended, the commanders and fighters of the troops carried weapons, backpacks and dry rations and set off to the front line.
Shen Shen, a member of the 120th Division Combat Drama Club, described the Games in her memoir "Unforgettable Yesterday": "After understanding the situation, the comrades who presided over the Games found that there were all kinds of games, even tennis, there were three or four people doing exhibition matches, but there was no women's event, so they thought of the Combat Drama Club. Mobilized by the youth committee, Shin Shin and several other female comrades participated in the race, "I was awarded a toothbrush for being on the list." The book reads.
The Games were a microcosm of the Communist Party's promotion of sports in the base areas during the Anti-Japanese War period. According to records, the Eighth Route Army often held various sports meetings in the border areas of Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia, Jin-Hebei-Luyu and other border areas, and the participants were not limited to officers and soldiers of the troops, but sometimes also included the militia and the masses. In order to better carry out sports activities, the headquarters of the 120th Division even set up a sports unit. In the view of the Eighth Route Army, "carrying out sports activities is also a major event that changes customs." In order to popularize and popularize various sports, the responsible comrades concerned have also compiled rules and training methods for a number of sports, such as military ball, athletics, and football rules, unarmed gymnastic movements, and sports competition regulations.
Volleyball match in the Anti-Japanese Base Area (profile photo)
Under the leadership of the Eighth Route Army, the enthusiasm of the people in the base areas for sports was unprecedentedly high. Li Shidan said: "In the past, wherever ordinary people could play basketball and skate, they all learned from the Eighth Route Army. Later, many projects sprang up in the village, and the villagers also organized basketball teams and martial arts teams, which continued in the village for decades. ”
Today, there are fewer and fewer old people who have experienced those years, but the story of the Eighth Route Army has been passed down by the locals for generations, and the genes of love for sports have long been integrated into the blood of the people. "I grew up listening to my grandfather's story about the Eighth Route Army playing basketball and playing sports games, when I was just a child, and I could only pick up balls and cheer on the sidelines." Li Junlei, a village cadre in Lijiawan Village, said, "This planted the seed of love for sports in my heart. ”
In 2019, Xingxian held the Workers' and Peasants' Games, and Li Junlei organized thirty or forty people from his village and neighboring villages out of his own pocket to participate in more than ten sports such as basketball, badminton, chess, and athletics, and "won back a dozen trophies alone." Speaking of the purpose of doing so, he said: "It is to continue decades of sports tradition. ”
Li Junlei and others won the trophy of the Xingxian 2019 Workers' and Peasants' Games
Today, the spiritual legacy left by Red Sports still nourishes this fertile land at the foot of Lüliang Mountain. "Over the years, the national fitness work in Lüliang City has made great progress, the per capita national fitness venue has reached 2.1 square meters, there are 185 national fitness organizations, and 9,841 social sports instructors, and the national fitness activities have flourished, initially forming the Lüliang national fitness brand characterized by the Yellow River and the red region." Li Shaoji, deputy director of the Luliang Sports Bureau, said, "Next, we will continue to vigorously promote the national fitness work and provide sports contributions to the construction of a happy Luliang." ”