At the August 1st Gala in 1992, a beautiful and moving song made its debut in front of the national audience.
Who would have thought that the song "The Ballad of Ma Lan" sung by Mao Amin would uncover a state secret that had been sealed for many years?
With a melodious melody, a little-known place gradually comes into public view, a mysterious place that was once impossible to find on the map, and hides a great secret about the fate of the country.
This "Ballad of Ma Lan" unveils the mystery of "Ma Lan".
"Mushrooms" on the Gobi Desert
In the vast Gobi Desert in northwest China, there is a special "mushroom" that once bloomed here, it is not an ordinary edible mushroom, but a "mushroom cloud" that changed the fate of China.
The birth of this "mushroom" originated from a top-secret project codenamed "596", and the place where it grew was the place that could not even be found on the map - Malan Base.
"Small leather ball, kicking, Malan blossoms twenty-one", this seems to be an ordinary slip, but in fact there is a hidden mystery.
This place, known as Malan, is known as the cradle of China's nuclear tests, and initially, Soviet experts suggested that Dunhuang be chosen as a nuclear test base.
However, China's leaders are taking a longer-term view, considering that they need to develop not only an atomic bomb but also room for future hydrogen bomb tests, and Dunhuang's limited size and proximity to the Mogao Grottoes make it clearly not suitable for more powerful hydrogen bomb tests.
Eventually, a barren area at the western end of Lop Nur came into the sights of policymakers, with nearly 100,000 square kilometers of space sufficient for various nuclear tests.
When the first batch of scientific researchers and soldiers came to this desert, they found that there was a small flower named Ma Lan blooming everywhere, so this base, which was about to change the fate of China, was named after this "Ma Lanhua".
In the early days of the construction of the Malan base, the conditions were extremely difficult, with the vast Gobi, flying sand and rocks, and strong winds that could often overturn the tents that had just been erected.
However, it is precisely in such a harsh environment that countless scientific researchers, officers and soldiers have persevered and watered this barren land with their youth and blood, and finally made it the cradle of China's nuclear forces.
The Malan base was once one of China's highest-level state secrets, and it wasn't until 1992, when Mao Amin sang "The Ballad of Malan" at CCTV's "August 1st" party, that the mysterious place was first unveiled to the world.
Incognito "Malans"
In the long history of the Malan base, there is a special group of people, who are collectively known as the "Malan people".
These people come from all over the world, some are famous scientists, some are ordinary engineers and technicians, and some are unknown logistics support personnel.
They have one thing in common: they are willing to go incognito for the sake of the country's nuclear cause, giving up the glory and comfort that they might have had.
At the end of the 1950s, when the country decided to develop nuclear weapons, a special "recruitment" quietly unfolded, and scientists led by Qian Sanqiang began to search for talents across the country.
They travel all over the country, going deep into universities and research institutes, looking for outstanding talents who are willing to contribute to the country, and these selected people are often only told that they will participate in an important national defense project, and even they do not know what it is.
In this way, thousands of young people packed their bags, said goodbye to their relatives, and embarked on the train to the northwest, and since then, the trajectory of their lives has completely changed, and they have become glorious "Malan people".
They have used their own hands and wisdom to contribute to China's nuclear industry, some of whom have spent their entire lives in Malan, and some have even passed on this cause to the next generation.
Among this group of "Marans", there are some names that we must remember.
Deng Jiaxian, known as the "pioneer and founder of China's nuclear weapons industry", spent the last 20 years of his life in Malan, and even in the last moments of his life, he was still concerned about the country's nuclear industry.
Guo Yonghuai, who was killed in a plane crash on the way back to Beijing on a mission, still held the briefcase containing classified documents tightly at the last moment of his life, guarding state secrets with his life.
Lin Junde, an ordinary technologist who worked at a nuclear test site all his life, eventually developed cancer due to long-term exposure to radiation, and was still worried about the country's nuclear cause before his death.
The life of these "Malan people" is hard, they have to endure the scorching heat and cold, they have to be accompanied by wind and sand, and what is even more difficult is that for the sake of secrecy, they cannot even communicate with their families normally, and they cannot tell their relatives what they are doing.
Some scientists have not been able to go home once for more than ten years, missing the growth of their children and the death of their parents.
However, it is these obscure "Malan people" who, with their youth and sweat, have forged China's nuclear shield.
The historical mission of a song
On August 1, 1992, when Mao Amin's clear and melodious singing voice sounded, few people realized that this seemingly ordinary song was revealing a state secret that had been sealed for many years.
The lyrics of "The Ballad of Ma Lan" read: "Ma Lanhua blooms in the Gobi Desert, Ma Lanhua blooms in the green mountains, Ma Lanhua blooms, Ma Lanhua is fragrant, and Ma Lanhua blooms in the northern Xinjiang of the motherland." ”
These seemingly ordinary words and phrases actually contain profound meanings.
The process of creating the song itself is a legend, and when the lyricist Wang Xiaoling accepted the task, he only knew that he had to write a song that praised the builders of the frontier.
Wang Xiaoling went to Xinjiang many times to collect style, but he was never able to get in touch with the real Malan base, and finally, he created this lyric based on limited information and rich imagination.
The release of this song is not only the advent of a literary and artistic work, but also a well-planned diplomatic action.
In this soft way, China sends a message to the world that we have nuclear weapons, but our nuclear forces are there to maintain peace, not to threaten other countries.
The singing of "The Ballad of Malan" has also allowed the long-concealed "Malan people" to finally get due recognition, and the advent of this song has made their efforts finally known to the world and remembered by history.
However, the publication of "The Ballad of Maran" has also sparked some controversy, with some people questioning whether this means the leakage of state secrets.
In fact, the release of the song was well thought out, and the lyrics did not reveal any specific technical details or geographical location, but only depicted the spiritual outlook of the Malan base in poetic language.
This ingenious handling not only achieves the purpose of disclosure, but also does not reveal real secrets.
In the years since the publication of "The Ballad of Malan", China's nuclear forces have not stopped.
On the contrary, in the new historical period, more attention has been paid to the peaceful use of nuclear technology, from the construction of nuclear power plants to the development of nuclear medicine, and the "Malan spirit" continues to be carried forward in new fields.
The flower of the country that will never wither
This flower blooming on the Gobi Desert has witnessed the arduous course of China's nuclear industry and has also become a spiritual monument to inspire future generations.
The Malan spirit not only exists in the past, it still shines in the new era, and in the era of peace, the Malan spirit has been given a new connotation, which is not only reflected in the field of national defense science and technology, but also plays an important role in other fields of scientific and technological innovation.
From aerospace to deep-sea exploration, from high-speed rail technology to 5G communications, the Malan spirit has always inspired Chinese scientific and technological workers to scale new heights.
In terms of the peaceful use of nuclear technology, the Malan spirit is also continuing to be carried forward, and the shadow of the Malan spirit can be seen in China's nuclear power plant construction, nuclear medicine development, nuclear energy application and other fields.
Scientific and technological workers in these fields also uphold the spirit of selfless dedication, hard work, and innovation, and contribute to the peace and development of mankind.
In recent years, China has set up the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" Meritorious Service Medal and the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" Spirit Exhibition Hall, all of which are aimed at better inheriting and carrying forward the spirit of Ma Lan.