The museum is a cultural landmark of the city. Dongcheng District is the core bearing area of the national cultural center, and it is also a veritable "city of museums". In recent years, Dongcheng District has focused on the construction of a cultural development pattern of "one axis, two districts, five belts, and five cities", fully excavated the museum resources in the region, and is committed to transforming the advantages of cultural heritage resources, and constantly showing a richer, more diverse and wonderful urban cultural charm. Relying on the abundant cultural and museum resources in the area, "Dongcheng Financial Media" specially planned and launched the cultural and museum science popularization column "2024 Cultural and Museum Weekly Calendar - How to Talk About This "Thing"", which will take you to know a cultural relic every week.
Yan'an Xinhua Radio transmitter
News and public opinion work is an important part of the party's propaganda work. For quite a long time, the party's press and public opinion tools were mainly newspapers and news agencies. In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, due to the sabotage and interference of Japanese imperialism and the diehards of the Kuomintang, it was difficult for the party newspaper to be transmitted to the Kuomintang and the occupied areas. Xinhua News Agency's text broadcasts can only be read by receiving and translating telegrams. Xinhua Daily, which was publicly distributed in the Kuomintang region, was also difficult to publish many important commentaries and articles due to the Kuomintang's censorship and control. It has become an increasingly urgent task for the broader masses to hear the propositions and voices of the CPC Central Committee.
This week's recommendation for you is a Soviet-made transmitter in the collection of the National Museum of China and on display in the History Exhibition Hall of the Communist Party of China. The transmitter is 101.5 cm long, 55.6 cm wide and 161 cm high, the casing of the box has been deformed, the surface is rusty, there are many scratches, the paint is discolored and peeling, the instrument panel is cracked, broken, and the screws are missing, the switch is rusty, and the internal parts are missing. This rusty and badly damaged transmitter was the first transmitter used by Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station, and it witnessed the early years of the Communist Party of China's broadcasting business.
In August 1939, Zhou Enlai went to Moscow for treatment of an injury to his right arm. During their stay in Moscow, Zhou Enlai and Ren Bishi proposed the establishment of a radio station in Yan'an during their talks with Comintern leader Dimitrov, which was supported by Dimitrov. In March 1940, Zhou Enlai returned to China after recovering from his injuries and brought back a Soviet-made radio transmitter aided by the Comintern, which prepared the most critical equipment for the construction of Yan'an Radio Station. In order to facilitate transportation, the transmitter was disassembled and transported to Xinjiang by air, and then transported to Yan'an by car via Lanzhou, Xi'an and other places.
The CPC Central Committee decided to set up a broadcasting committee, with Zhou Enlai as its director, Wang Chen, director of the Third Bureau of the CPC Central Military Commission, and Xiang Zhonghua, director of the Xinhua News Agency, as members to lead the work of preparing for the establishment of a radio station. After Zhou En came to Chongqing, Zhu De presided over the preparatory work. After repeated inspections, the Third Bureau of the Central Military Commission selected Wangpiwan Village, 40 miles northwest of Yan'an, as the site of the broadcasting station.
The former site of Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station.
After more than half a year of hard work, on December 30, 1940, in a cave of more than ten square meters in Wangpiwan Village, Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station, the first radio station established by the Communist Party of China, issued its first call sign XNCR: "Bell...... Clang...... Clang...... The last ring just now was 19 o'clock in Shanghai time, Yan'an Xinhua Radio XNCR is now broadcasting, please remember that our frequency is a wavelength of 61 meters, a cycle rate of 4940 thousand ......" "X" is the English letter of the call sign of the Chinese radio station stipulated by the international regulations at that time, and "NCR" is the English abbreviation of "New China Broadcasting". This broadcast marked the birth of the people's broadcasting industry.
Professor Michael Lin, a British expert, worked with radio technicians to modify broadcast transmitters.
The establishment of Yan'an Xinhua Radio broke the news blockade of the Kuomintang and spread the voice of the Party Central Committee. Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station mainly broadcasts important documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, important articles and editorials of the Liberation Weekly and Liberation Daily, international and domestic current affairs news, revolutionary stories and anti-Japanese songs. The broadcast script was provided by the Xinhua News Agency, and the broadcasting section was specifically responsible for compiling the script, which was sent to the radio station by a correspondent's horseback every day.
In January 1941, the Kuomintang brazenly launched the Southern Anhui Incident. On the 18th, "Xinhua Daily" published Zhou Enlai's inscription: "Mourn for the victims of the country in Jiangnan," "Strange injustices through the ages, one leaf in Jiangnan; According to available materials, this was the first time that a party radio station broadcast Mao Zedong's writings. The Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station broke through the news blockade of the Kuomintang authorities from the air, exposed the truth of the incident in southern Anhui, disseminated the voice of the Party Central Committee, and displayed tremendous power in the struggle. On November 7, 1941, on the day of commemorating the 24th anniversary of the October Revolution, Mao Zedong delivered a radio speech, calling on the people of the whole country to strengthen unity and expel the Japanese bandits from China, and calling on the people of the whole world to unite and push the world anti-fascist struggle to a higher stage.
"Spokesperson of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission of the Communist Party of China Speaks to Xinhua News Agency Reporter for the Southern Anhui Incident"
This "meritorious class" transmitter, which has gone through hardships and dangers, also suffered ups and downs during the Liberation War. According to statistics, in the summer of 1946 alone, the Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station published 34 articles written by democrats living in the Kuomintang and abroad. Such a red voice also had a huge impact on the Kuomintang region, and it played a considerable role in connecting the people in the Kuomintang region and dismantling the Kuomintang army, and was called "a beacon in the vast darkness" by the majority of the audience. Of course, because it has always propagated progressive revolutionary ideas, Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station has become the target of the Kuomintang army's key attacks, especially the transmitter room and broadcasting studio, which have become one of the key bombing targets of the Kuomintang army. In order to ensure that the broadcast is not interrupted, in the past few years, Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station has changed places and names several times.
Schematic diagram of the transfer route of Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station.
It was not until April 1948 that the transmitter was transported back to Yan'an after the liberation of Yan'an. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, on September 9, 1959, the transmitter was transported to Beijing in preparation for the new Museum of the Chinese Revolution (one of the predecessors of the current National Museum of China). According to statistics, the transmitter has undergone three modifications, and before it arrived in Beijing, the staff restored it to its original appearance. At present, except for the iron plate of the shell, the other parts of the transmitter are basically kept in the original state.
The years have passed, and the times have changed. Over the past 80 years, People's Radio has recorded the hard work of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the rapid development of New China. The party's broadcasting and propaganda work has flourished vigorously and made immortal contributions to the people's liberation, national independence, and national prosperity. The transmitters in the exhibition hall have been mottled, but the determination of the Chinese Communists to overcome all difficulties, the awareness of modern science and technology and the spirit of innovation displayed by the Chinese Communists in the extremely difficult environment will encourage the Chinese Communists and the Chinese people in the new era to continue to create more magnificent miracles on earth.
Text: Lu Lu, Zhao Chunfeng, Zhang Bing, Zhang Ruxian