Worship the Great Wall and inherit the spirit of the Great Wall
Text/Chunxiao
Flowers for heroic martyrs, magnificent mountains and rivers. September 30, 2023 is the tenth National Martyrs' Memorial Day, and a grand commemoration of the people's heroes is held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square; In our second hometown of Huailai, our family worshiped the Great Wall to commemorate the heroes and inherit the spirit of the Great Wall.
After breakfast, our family drove to the town border city and the Great Wall of Shuitou, because the merits of history cannot be forgotten, the lessons of history need to be reflected, the great deeds should be inherited, and the responsibility calls for responsibility.
The Great Wall of Zhenbian is one of the great buildings of ancient China. Located in the western part of the town, this ancient and spectacular building stretches over the route of the Great Wall, with a total length of about 800 kilometers, and was built between 1436 and 1449 by Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty. It is a veritable stone city, the walls are made of stone, the houses are made of stone, the streets are paved with stone, and the stone has become the main component of the life elements of this ancient city.
I heard from insiders that in the past, there were as many as 13 ancient temples in the ancient city, namely Laoye Temple, Shouxing Temple, Anmiao, City God Temple, Mountain God Temple, Niangniang Temple, Big Buddha Temple, Dragon King Temple, Zhenwang Temple, Fire God Temple, Kuixing Temple, etc., and one or two temples I really can't remember.
Zhenbian City is located in the inner side of the Great Wall, belonging to Ruiyunguan Township, Huailai County, located at the junction of Huailai and Beijing Changping Mentougou, together with Changyu City and Baiyanggou, known as Beijing Border Pass Three Cities. The border city is divided into three streets, six lanes and seventy-two hutongs, with streets in the north and south, and lanes in the east and west. The house turned out to be basically a courtyard, most of it is made of stone, I walked in from the gate generously, drilled the door hole, touched the old bricks, went up to the city tower, climbed the city wall, saw the city of Wengcheng, entered the alley, the courtyard is completely preserved, most of the monuments are only ruins. Every detail is full of vicissitudes and stories; In every section of the earthen wall, there are weeds and helplessness.
The "L" shaped half of the Great Wall of the border city of the town, less than 200 meters away, is full of more than 600 years of history. This section of the Great Wall is made of stone, brick, earth and wood, and is covered with nearly a thousand patches, large and small. The whole town border city is composed of more than 30 stone intersections, more than 20 stone cities and 4 wooden cities, with large and small obstacles, and nearly 100 pavilion-style towers, which is the most complete ancient city wall in China, which can effectively resist the attacks of foreign invaders.
Its construction is made of high walls made of stone, most of which are built to form effective protection, some with rows of battlement-shaped walls, among which there are also battlements that can protect arrows from throwing torches and other means. The castle is equipped with carpet stone roads, flanged stone paths, wooden roads, and various structures with military functions such as brick piers and brick stoves. Marvel at the mastery of ancient engineering techniques, praise the skills of ancient skilled craftsmen, and be amazed if the entire 800 kilometers can be preserved.
The Great Wall of Zhenbian is notable for its use as a military defensive line in feudal China, and later as a place of exchange for all ethnic groups in China. Known for its vast terrain, complex terrain and unique climate, it has been known as a place of scenic beauty and history.
For hundreds of years, the Great Wall of the Zhenbian City has gone through vicissitudes and reflected deep cultural connotations in many ancient Chinese buildings. It is an important cultural heritage of the world, and was listed as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2008, and is known as the "First Great Wall in the East".
As an important part of Chinese culture, the Great Wall of Zhenbian City has far-reaching historical significance. The spirit it inherits not only reflects the firm belief of ancient Chinese greats and heroes, but also has far-reaching practical significance and has important reference significance for China's modern development.
Out of the border of the town, we came to a place where the Great Wall of Shuitou was located. This section of the Great Wall was built in the Ming Dynasty and has a history of more than 500 years. Due to the dangerous location of the mountain high road, the wall is basically well preserved, and the direction of the Great Wall is clear.
Next to the Shuitou Great Wall is Shuitou Village, surrounded by lofty mountains, and I saw the Great Wall winding and flying on the top of the mountains, majestic. The Great Wall of Shuitou has two very rare circular enemy towers and water gates. This is not only an ancient battlefield, but also the defense line of the Nationalist army against the Japanese invading army in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, and there are still remnants visible.
According to legend, on August 7, 1937, in the famous Battle of Nankou, the Nationalist army used flesh and blood along the Great Wall to block the invasion of the Japanese army, and later the Japanese army used the Shuitou Great Wall as a breakthrough point to attack Huailai County, so that the Nationalist troops stationed along the Great Wall such as Badaling suffered from the enemy and finally lost. Just as the short commentary of the weekly "Liberation" edited and published by our party said: The glorious war history of the "Nankou Campaign" will forever be the same as the Great Wall War and the two battles of Songhu, and will live in the hearts of every Chinese son and daughter for a long time. ”
According to historical records, the Shuitou Great Wall in Huailai, Hebei Province was the breakthrough point of the Japanese army in the Nankou Battle 76 years ago. The breakthrough time was about August 23, or 24, and after the Japanese army broke through this position, they copied the back road of the Nationalist army, which is now the area of East Garden, causing the Nationalist army to retreat at the South Entrance. In this battle, the Nationalist army held the Great Wall defense line and fought bloody battles for 18 days, at the cost of more than 16,000 casualties, the Japanese army paid more than 15,000 casualties, gave the arrogant Japanese invading army a head-on blow, and finally the Nationalist army withdrew from the battle in accordance with the military order. In the history of Japanese war, the "Battle of Nanguchi" is still known as the largest "mountain battle" in Asia. The war of resistance filled with gunfire made Shuitou Village, a remote mountain village, recorded in the annals of history.
On the way back, a section of the Great Wall connecting the two mountains was cut off, and Hengling City was sandwiched between the two Great Walls, which is the city within the city.
We walked into Hengling City, an abandoned ancient building with stones covered with moss and bundles of firewood on the remnants of the wall, an important Great Wall pass in the Ming Dynasty. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Ming Hongzhi (1505), in order to prevent the military invasion of the Tatars, Hengling Castle was established, with two gates in the north and south, two mountains in the east and west, and a balance of two mountains in the north and south, hence the name Hengling.
It is bounded by Huailai, Yanqing Basin and Guanting Reservoir to the north, and Changyucheng, Baiyangcheng, Nankoucheng and Juyongguancheng to the east. From Hengling to the south through the town border city, you can reach the village of Mentougou, and then to the south you can enter the capital by Lugou Bridge. If you go east from the Magao Spring in the south of Hengling, pass through Gaoyakou, Liucun Town and Yangfang Town, you can enter Changping and Haidian in Beijing.
In August of the 14th year of the Ming Dynasty (1449), the famous "Tumu Fort Change" took place. On the way to conquer Mongolia in the north, Yingzong was captured alive by the leader of Vara at Huailai Tumu Fort, west of Yanqing, and hundreds of thousands of troops were scattered and wounded. Subsequently, the Vara people attacked the city of Beijing in a big way. Without being breached at Juyong Pass, the Vara people made a detour southwest to attack from Bauhinia Pass, passing through Yi County, Laishui, and Liangxiang to directly attack Beijing. A small group of Rangers entered the hinterland from Baiyangkou and Henglingkou, west of Juyongguan, and attacked the city of Beijing. In order to prevent the military invasion of the Tatars, in the twenty-second year of Jiajing (1543), Hengling City was established, which belonged to Changzhen, and Yu Yongguan was ordered to exercise moderation.
In August of the 29th year of Ming Jiajing (1550), the famous "Gengjiao Change" took place. The leader of one of the Tatar branches, Yu Da, attacked from the Gubeikou of Miyun and once again attacked the city of Beijing. A small part of the cavalry was still attacked by Baiyangkou and Hengling. During the retreat, half of the cavalry returned from Zhenbian City and Hengling City, and severely damaged the pursuing Ming army, more than 1,000 Ming troops died, no one dared to pursue again, and the officers guarding Hengling were punished by the troops. In order to consolidate the defense of Hengling City, the military department raised its rank, and General Juyongguan came to garrison.
Things change stars, and white horses cross the gap. In August 1937, after the Japanese army occupied Pingjin, Tang Enbo organized the Battle of Nankou against the Japanese army. At that time, the three divisions of the 17th Army first deployed a defensive line along the Great Wall, and the specific directions were Deshengkou, Juyongguan, Nankou Town, Shixia, Changyu, Henglingcheng, and Zhenbiancheng. The first part of the 4th Division occupied Hengling City, in which a battalion of the 19th Regiment suffered casualties. The 10th Division of Wei Lihuang's 14th Army rushed to the border city of Zhenbian, and the 72nd Division defended Changyu City. After repeated struggles, fifteen days later, the Nationalist army was completely defeated along the Great Wall and retreated to the area of Huailai and Zhangjiakou. In this battle, the national army invested 60,000 people, and suffered nearly 30,000 casualties.
Hengling City condenses the history of hundreds of years of vicissitudes and also records the history of the War of Resistance.
The Great Wall remains, and the spirit lives on.