From October 30 to December 21, the exhibition "Jiangshan: Searching for the Last Former Migrant Workers" will be exhibited in the Annihilation War Martyrs Cemetery in the Chenguanzhuang area of the Battle of Huaihai in Yongcheng, Henan Province.
The exhibition will display the portraits of 100 former migrant workers who participated in the Battle of Huaihai that photographer Wang Yong and his team have visited, 100 carts collected, and 100 episodes of micro-videos of former migrant workers' stories produced by photographer Wang Yong and his team, forming "three hundred" to present the centennial birthday of the Communist Party of China.
The 100 trolleys collected by Wang Yong photographed
In the Huaihai Campaign, a total of 5.43 million ex-migrant workers were mobilized, and they used 880,000 carts, 760,000 livestock, more than 200,000 pairs of stretchers, more than 300,000 pairs of flat loads and other primitive tools to transport 215 million kilograms of grain, 7.3 million kilograms of ammunition and various military materials to the front line; at the same time, they transported nearly 100,000 wounded people from the front line of the battlefield back to the rear.
Someone once made such a statistic: on average, behind each soldier, there are 9 former migrant workers standing. It was precisely with such a strong rear support that the 600,000 People's Liberation Army defeated the well-equipped Kuomintang army of 800,000 and won the final victory in the Huaihai Campaign.
Thirteen years ago, Wang Yong and his team began to photograph the former migrant workers of the Huaihai Campaign, telling touching stories one after another, hoping to leave the last heroic group portraits for the 5.43 million zhiqian army that year.
Photo by Tang Jixiang and Wang Yong
Tang Jixiang, a native of Tangliangzhuang, Yanji Town, Yongcheng City, Henan Province, signed up with several young men of about the same age in the village to support the front line on the 5th day after his marriage. When the newlywed wife heard this news, her eyes turned red, and she took Tang Jixiang's hand and said, "Just be positive!" Just married, can't stay at home for two more days? Tang Jixiang said to his wife: "The People's Liberation Army has worked hard to fight the Kuomintang reactionaries and landlords and bullies for our people, and even lost their lives. When the whole country is liberated, I will accompany you every day. In this way, for 47 consecutive days, Tang Jixiang left the "honeymoon" on the war-torn road...
Photo by Cheng Xiangqing Wang Yong
He was 89 years old when he visited the Xiangqing project of the former people's project of Cheng Songyuanzi Village, Baishan Town, Suixi County, Anhui Province. Speaking of that period of history, the usually confused old man seemed to suddenly become clear-tongued. He clearly remembered that the winter of that year was particularly cold, and soon after he led the donkey out of the old county town of Suixi, it began to snow heavily in the sky. The mother had just made a new pair of shoes that he was reluctant to wear in his arms, so he walked barefoot on a pair of grass shoes that leaked everywhere on the snow. When you are tired, you will rest in the sweet potato field on the side of the road; when you are hungry, you will eat the sweet potatoes you have brought with you; when you are thirsty, you will drink the snow water in the field... In this way, he walked more than 50 kilometers in the snow before he arrived at the double pile battlefield. Now, Cheng Xiangqing's feet ached every cloudy day, which was the root of the disease that fell when he was supported. He said: "At that time, I had an idea in my heart that only by running away from the reactionaries could we live a good life, and now it is nothing to be bitter and tired!"
Photo by Yan Xiying and Wang Yong
The elderly Yan Xiying of Dingji Dingdong Village in Yongcheng City is 90 years old this year, and she was a 17-year-old girl at the time of the Huaihai Campaign. Recalling the situation at that time, the old man said that no matter what the people had in their homes, as long as the troops needed it, they would send it to the front line without saying a word. At that time, her family had run out of food, but she had two goats, and her family asked her to give the only two sheep to the People's Liberation Army. Afraid that the target of the white goat would be discovered by the enemy, she and her family took off the old black cotton jacket on their bodies and draped it on the sheep's body, while she wore thin clothes and braved the enemy's shells to travel tens of kilometers to the battlefield. The story of "sheep in cotton jackets" spread more and more widely, inspiring the soldiers on the front line to kill the enemy bravely, and truly reflecting the deep affection between the military and the people whose blood is thicker than water...
There are many more stories like this, and almost every visit has made Wang Yong burst into tears and upset.
In 2020, Wang Yong (first from left) and his team visited the trolleys of former migrant workers in Shandong
Portraits in some of the exhibitions
Photo by Fu Zhengcheng and Wang Yong
Photo by Hu Yue'e and Wang Yong
Photo by Ji Meirong and Wang Yong
Photo by Li Zilan and Wang Yong
Photo by Qiao Zhongling and Wang Yong
The exhibition is hosted by the Management Office of the Annihilation Martyrs Cemetery in the Chenguanzhuang Area of the Battle of Huaihai, organized by the Yongcheng Photographers Association of Henan Province and Zhongyue Culture Media, and provided academic support from Popular Photography Magazine and the China Photography Literature Research Institute. (Luo Shuai)