A few days ago, when I traveled with my family to Jiuzhaigou, I passed through the ancient city of Songpan. This is an important memorial site during the Long March of the Red Army, and due to the abundance of time, the tour guide has added a tour of Songpan Ancient City to us. Songpan Ancient City is located in the northeast of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, 335 kilometers away from Chengdu, with an altitude of 2849 meters, a cool and pleasant climate, and is a famous border town in history, known as the "Gateway to Western Sichuan". At present, it is also the hub connecting important scenic spots such as Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, Hongyuan-Ruoergai Grassland, known as the "Plateau Ancient City", and is a national cultural relics protection unit. The style of the county town can still be seen in the traces of the history of that year. The green city wall surrounds the ancient city, the ancient bridge, the small river that has flowed through the city for hundreds of years, the ancient bamboo buildings erected by people on the river along the river, and the Surrounding Cangshan Mountains, all give people a feeling of staggering time.
Songpan Ancient City Tang Dynasty Legacy
Songpan, the ancient name of Songzhou, after the Qin Dynasty destroyed Shu in 316 BC, established The County of Yaoji in the town of present-day Chuan, which was the beginning of the county-level establishment of the Songpan area. Tang Gaozu set up Songzhou in 618 AD, and the Ming Dynasty set up Songzhou and Panzhou Erwei, which were later merged into Songpanwei, and in the second year of the Republic of China (1913 AD), it was changed to Songpan County, and the name Songpan continues to this day.
Songpan Ancient City was founded in the Ming Dynasty, divided into two cities, internal and external, and slightly triangular according to the mountain trend. The ancient city has seven gates, majestic and magnificent. Among them, there are five inner cities and two outer cities, the door openings are fifteen meters thick, the construction is solid, and it has not eroded or deteriorated after hundreds of years of wind and rain. Climb the city walls for stunning views of the surroundings. The city gates are made of large parallel six-sided stone arches, the top is semi-circular, and the cornerstones are engraved with various unique reliefs, which are antique and retain the charm of ancient times. At that time, the green bricks used were 50 centimeters long and 12 centimeters thick, each brick weighed 30 kilograms, and the mortar used was made of glutinous rice, lime and tung oil, so the city wall was exceptionally strong. With a height of 10 meters, a width of 30 meters and a length of 6200 meters, the overall layout and terrain, mountains and water flow are skillfully integrated, which is the first ancient city wall site and a classic work of ancient Chinese ancient city architecture.
The ancient city of Songpan is magnificent in scale and extraordinary, and the walls of the city within a radius of ten miles are tall and ancient and well preserved. A rapid and clear river flows west from the eastern end of Songpan Ancient City through the ring road, and after cutting through the central street, it flows south, flowing out of Songpan from the left side of the South City Gate, making the whole ancient city lively and beautiful.
Due to the special geographical location of Songpan, the Tibetan, Qiang, Hui and Han ethnic groups have long lived in a mixed way, influencing each other, integrating with each other, and being eclectic, giving birth to a strong local customs and national culture. All the shops, inns, restaurants and service facilities in the ancient city are in antique style, with a great legacy of the Tang Dynasty. The staple food of the Songpan Tibetan people is barley, cheese, beef and mutton, vegetables, barley wine, corn wine, and the main beverages are milk tea, butter tea and yogurt. Tibetans mainly treat guests with hand-grabbed meat and blood sausages. Yak jerky is a local must-see specialty.
In the central square of the ancient city, there are statues of two people. The first was Li Deyu, who was the envoy of The Tang Dynasty's Jiannan Sichuan Daojiedushi, and the latter two were phases. He spent many years in Songzhou and other places to raise borders, draw up border defense maps of Jiannan Xishan, repair support facilities, build "Rouyuan City" to strangle The Tubo of Xishan, train soldiers and militiamen, set up thirty-six forts on the line from Songzhou to Xingzhou, and build side buildings on the cliffs of Songzhou Xishan, making every effort for the stability and prosperity of Songpan and being admired by future generations. The second is the Englishman Wilson, a famous British botanist and explorer in the nineteenth century, who went to China six times a hundred years ago to conduct plant expeditions, covering Aba, Wenzhou, Maoxian, Songpan and Xiaojin in Sichuan. He left a large number of precious photos of northwestern Sichuan, which is a rare historical material for understanding Chinese society in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. He visited Songpan three times, and he wrote in his travelogue: "If fate arranges for me to live in western China, I have nothing else to ask for, I only want to be able to live in Songpan..."
The small bridge in Songpan City flows with water and the landscape is unique. Tongyuan Bridge is a landmark building. This is an outstretched wooden covered bridge, strolling on the bridge, the water under the bridge is babbling, the mountain flowers at the head of the bridge are blooming, watching the water mill spinning, listening to the birds singing, a quiet and prosperous scene. People on both sides of the river, according to the bamboo buildings on the riverbank, enjoy the distant mountains and water, which is very pleasant.
A good story through the ages, Han-Tibetan and pro
In the square outside the east gate of Songpan Ancient City, stands a sculpture of Princess Wencheng and Songzan Gampo and marriage, showing visitors a beautiful story of a Han-Tibetan family.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty was rich and strong, and Tubo Songzan Gampo realized that it would be harmful to the Tang Dynasty and there was no benefit, so he bowed down to his subjects and asked for peace. In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, Tubo Zangpu Songzan Gampo sent envoys to Tang to propose marriage, the emissary passed by Songpan and was detained by the state official, Songzan Gampo was furious, personally led a large army of 200,000 to invade, Tang Governor Han Xian was defeated, Tang Taizong ordered the official Shangshu to unify the army to arrive in Songzhou, through the Battle of Chuanju Temple, the Tang army won a great victory. After Songtsen Gampo returned to Tibet, he sent envoys to send gold to propose intermarriage. Tang Taizong Li Shimin also knew that Tubo was an important force in the southwest frontier, he advocated the foreign policy of "one marriage is equivalent to 100,000 male soldiers", only by strengthening the envelopment of Tubo can we ensure the stability of the southwest frontier of the Tang Dynasty, so in the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, he betrothed Princess Wencheng to him.
In 641, Emperor Taizong ordered Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, to escort Princess Wencheng into The Imperial Household. Passing through the main temple of Songpanchuan, Princess Wencheng gazed at the battlefield of the past, sighed with emotion, and said: "Xingshi cannibalism is also committed, and Yu will be harmonious with Tang Fan." Princess Wencheng entered Tibet and brought Buddhism and various advanced science and technology and culture from the mainland to the plateau.
Princess Wencheng lived in Tubo for forty years. She introduced Han textiles, architecture, papermaking, winemaking, pottery, metallurgy, agricultural tool manufacturing, calendars, medicine, etc. into Tibetan areas, promoting the economic and cultural development of Tibet. In addition, she and Songtsen Gampo worked hard to carry out reforms, so that Tibet achieved rapid development in military, political, economic, cultural and other aspects. Therefore, it can dominate the western region and become a powerful barrier in the southwest of Datang. The relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo has reached the peak of the fusion of water and milk.
Although Princess Wencheng and Songzan Gampo do not speak the language and have different living habits, Songzan Gampo has great respect for Princess Wencheng and is grateful for the great changes brought to Tubo by her peace and relatives. In the Potala Palace and jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, there are still statues of Tubo Zampu Songtsen Gampo and Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng. For 1300 years, many legends about Princess Wencheng have been widely circulated in Tibet and have become a good story throughout the ages.
Monument to the Long March of the Red Army
During the Long March of the Red Army that year, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held five important meetings, two of which were held in Songpan, namely the Shawo Conference and the Maoergai Conference. This is also the starting point of the Red Army crossing the meadow.
In order to commemorate the great feats of the Red Army's Long March and carry forward the spirit of the Long March, the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission decided to build the Red Army Long March Monument Park on Yuanbao Mountain outside Songpan City. The foundation stone of the monument garden was laid in June 1988 and completed in August 1990, and the name of the monument garden was inscribed by Deng Xiaoping. The monument garden is high on the top of Yuanbao Mountain, backed by snowy mountains and forests, facing the meadow, the main monument is 41.3 meters high, and the bronze statue of the Red Army soldier at the top is 14.8 meters, the bronze statue holds flowers in one hand, a gun in the other, and the arms are held high into a "V" shape, symbolizing the great victory of the Long March. The stele is covered with 450 pieces of copper alloy, which is triangular in shape, symbolizing the three main forces of the First, Second and Fourth Fronts of the Red Army going north to resist Japan, close unity and indestructible. The green lawn around the stele means "Monument to the Trees of the Snowy Mountain Meadow".
There is the largest group sculpture of modern art in China in the park, which depicts the theme of the Red Army soldiers on the Long March Road, heroically moving forward, going through hardships, shedding blood and sacrifice, and paying a great price. The group of sculptures is 72 meters long, 8 meters wide, and the highest point is 12. 5 meters, with 1160 cubic meters, 1440 pieces of red granite carved and exquisitely carved combination, depicting a total of nine groups of characters, namely pioneers, brave forward, unity to the north, mountain rest, deep grassland, journey funeral, forward and back, retrospective thinking, heroic gathering, art reproduced the red army's long march combat history, magnificent momentum, shocking.
Today, the Red Army Long March Monument Park has become a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. Here people remember the martyrs, look back on history, and learn the spirit of the Long March. It is worth mentioning that this red education base also has its unique landscape, one is the golden monument sunset: every year around midsummer, at dusk, the sunset shines, and the stele is bright as forged gold, refracting the golden light. The second is the waterfall rain flooding gold: in summer, if the thunder and lightning are combined, the heavy rain pours down, and the main monument glows with golden light in the darkness, such as the spark of the stars, which is called the waterfall rain flooding gold. The third is the double rainbow hanging color: every time after the rain, the rainbow suddenly appears, just hanging above the main monument, like a bridge, supporting the colored avenue, through the happiness of tomorrow; and like the heroic martyrs of the Red Army, its spectacular scenery is awe-inspiring.
Although there is no waterfall blue lake here, the pines and cypresses are full of mountains, the mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist, and the cows and horses at the foot of the mountains are flocked, and the scenery is wonderful. Strolling through the Red Army Long March Monument Park, when the Red Army left here, the scene of the local residents clinging to each other seems to have reappeared, and the song of "Ten Gifts to the Red Army" is still leisurely in the ears.
(Special Textu Guo Yunmin)