Finally met Tiananmen
• Cheng Baolin
In the blink of an eye, the first Sunday after the training team arrived, it was also The International Women's Day of the year.
"I have already asked Captain Zhang Zhengguo for leave to take you two to Rendinghu Park." After breakfast, You Shufang's squad leader said to me and my comrade-in-arms Zhang Yuwen. Rending Lake Park is a leisure park built by the Beijing Municipal Government in 1958, separated from our camp by a wall. We've come in for two morning exercise runs, but haven't taken a serious stroll yet. But after the squad leader took us from the west gate into the park, he took us directly out of the south gate of the park.
You Shufang
Captain Yuban said to both of us, "When I said that bringing you here was an excuse, I actually wanted to fulfill my promise to Pauling and take you two to see Tiananmen Square." "After listening to the words of the squad leader, I felt that the squad leader was particularly righteous, and when he said what he said, my heart was full of gratitude to him. Then we got on a bus with "two braids" on the top of the car, remembering that the ticket was bought by the squad leader for money, a dime, a thin narrow paper ticket. The female conductor holds a splint as large as a book with pink, yellow, green and white tickets sandwiched between it. Depending on the destination and different prices, tickets of different colors are sold to passengers.
Sitting on the bus, I was as excited as if I were going to meet a relative who had been separated for a long time, and I only felt that the car was running slowly. Since we were all dressed in military uniforms, we stood all the way, even if we had empty seats and didn't have any thoughts of sitting.
North Sea White Tower
About an hour later, I heard the conductor shouting: "The next stop is Beihai Park Station, please get your ticket ready!" "As the bus passed over a stone bridge, I saw through the left window a towering white tower in the distance and a red wall of green trees under the white tower, and then i saw a huge lake with a thin layer of ice, and the surface of the lake reflected in the sunlight. The scenery in front of me suddenly reminded me of a movie I had seen in elementary school, "Flowers of the Motherland", in which several Young Pioneers wearing red scarves rowed boats and sang songs, "Let's swing our oars, the boat pushes away the waves, the sea reflects the beautiful white tower, surrounded by green trees and red walls..." Their smiles are so bright, and the songs they sing are so beautiful. I remember watching this movie, I sighed from the bottom of my heart: "The Young Pioneers in Beijing are too happy, I am too 'eye play' (the old language means envy) them!" ”
The car passed another stop. I looked out the window of the car to the left and saw a hill covered in pines, and at the top of the hill there was a pavilion with red columns and yellow tiles, towering and majestic. From this pavilion slopes to both sides, each with two identical pavilions, but smaller than the one at the highest point.
Blue sky, white clouds, yellow roof, red pillars, green trees, in my eyes is simply Yaotai Qionglou, beautiful, I can't help but shout: "So beautiful, it is a fairyland!" As soon as I said this, I knew that my voice was too loud, and I suddenly lowered my head and became embarrassed. At this moment, the conductor's voice sounded again: "Dear passengers, Jingshan Station has arrived..." About two-thirds of the people in the entire carriage disembarked here.
Jingshan Pavilion
"Why don't you take you to Jingshan Park first?" Climb to the top of the mountain and see the whole of Beijing," the squad leader said to both of us after getting off the bus. "When I was in high school, the history teacher said that 'the Chongzhen Emperor hanged coal mountain', was it in Jingshan Park?" I asked the squad leader. "Yes, yes, this is it!" The squad leader replied. "Let's go inside!" Yuwen and I are almost in agreement. I bought 3 tickets for 6 cents. After entering the door, we crossed a stone bridge first, and then we went straight to the "coal mountain". Since we were in a hurry, the squad leader took us on a path closer to the trail. After all, we were young and strong, and in a few moments we were halfway up the mountain.
"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, can you borrow your pen to use it?" Suddenly, a man of about twenty-six or seven years of age flashed out from under a large pine tree. "Okay, no problem!" As I answered, I pulled out the pen in my coat pocket and handed it to him, while my eyes were still admiring the surrounding scenery. That is, two minutes of time, only to hear the man next to him say: "Carved well, 6 cents!" Instantly, I was stunned, "What 6 cents?" I asked. I carved 'Jingshan Park Souvenir' on your pen 6 words, one word 1 cent, the small words of the money will not want your money." I took a look at the pen, and there were two lines of characters engraved vertically on the pen "pen pants", in addition to the 6 slightly larger words of "Jingshan Park Souvenir", another line of small characters was "March 8, 1981", and it was also painted with red pink. I wanted to say, "How did you write on my pen without my consent?" "Thinking about it again, we are wearing this military uniform, the quarrel is not good, and it is not good to say that I am coming for the first time, and it is good to leave a commemorative word on the pen." Eat a dumb loss, eat a dumb loss, just learn Lei Feng today to help others! I took 6 cents out of my pocket and gave it to him (unfortunately the pen was lost a few years later).
Panoramic view of the Forbidden City
Finally climbed to the pavilion at the top. Standing here and looking around, although the sky is slightly gray, the whole city of Beijing is still in full view, especially Beihai Park. In an instant, there is a feeling of "will be the top of the mountain, overlooking the mountains" and "the heart is relaxed".
"That's the Forbidden City, where the emperor used to live, and the 'Golden Ruan Hall' is inside; from the Forbidden City, we will go to Tiananmen," the squad leader said as he guided us to the south. Suddenly I was stunned, wasn't that the scene of the Heavenly Palace in the animated movie "The Haunting of the Heavenly Palace"? But see the palace walls are majestic, the corner towers are majestic, the palaces are heavy, the terraces are neat, and the orange-yellow glazed tiles are brilliant under the sunlight, the weather is varied, and the majesty is magnificent. At that time, I felt as if I was already in the Heavenly Palace, and I was very happy. "Squad leader, let's see where the emperor hanged himself and go to the Forbidden City!" At this moment, my heart has flown to the Forbidden City and to Tiananmen. The squad leader led us down the east side of the hill, and after a while we saw a black-lettered explanatory board on a white background that read, "The Chongzhen Emperor Hanged Himself." "Well, didn't you say that Chongzhen was hanged from a crooked neck tree, why is there no tree?" When I saw that there were only a few small trees here, I had doubts. At this time, an old man passed by, and when he asked, he learned that the tree had been cut down during that special period in the sixties, and two ancient stone tablets had been torn down. Looking at the layers of stones here, the so-called "True Dragon Heavenly Son" hundreds of years ago was forced to hang, and suddenly felt that it was dark and desolate.
Leaving Jingshan Park, we quickly entered the Forbidden City opposite after buying tickets, and first entered a small garden, only to see that the mountains and stones were built here, the ancient trees were pale, and the small and quiet. The squad leader told us that this was the "Royal Garden". Since we had to rush back before four o'clock in the afternoon, and the focus of the trip was to see Tiananmen Square, we could only "hurry up and step up." In the "Kunning Palace", "Qianqing Palace", "Zhonghe Hall" and other places, we are basically "walking horses and watching flowers". The main goal of our "search" in the Forbidden City is the "Golden Ruan Hall". When I arrived here, I realized that the "Taihe Hall" was the "Golden Ruan Hall".
Taihe Hall
Entering the Taihe Hall (at that time, tourists were allowed to enter the hall), there were 6 huge pillars with a diameter of 1 meter attached to the golden cloud dragon pattern, facing a high platform with 7 steps, a golden yellow throne in the middle of the high platform, behind the throne was a large brass-colored screen, and on the top of the hall behind the screen hung a large plaque, engraved with four traditional characters "Jianji Suiyou" (at that time, I did not understand what it meant, and later checked the information to learn that its meaning was: the double sacred mission of the Son of Heaven to the Emperor and the emperor to the common people, That is, to establish the law from heaven, and to bless the people and conform to the avenue; two golden dragons are carved in the center of the top of the hall, and a golden ball is hung under it. Looking around the entire hall, the golden splendor, beautiful, majestic, magnificent aura, and soul-snatching. The narrator learned that this was the place where the emperor held major ceremonies and did not usually work here.
In front of the main hall is a large square with no trees and no flowers in full view. There was a bow-shaped artificial channel in front of the noon gate in the square, and there were five parallel stone bridges across the river, and I thought that the bridge in the middle must have been walked by the emperor in the past, so I walked over from above with my head held high. Walking out of the noon gate is to walk out of the Forbidden City. The first visit to the Forbidden City, to be precise, should be to see tiananmen square and cross the Forbidden City. Although the footsteps are hurried, the eyes are hurried, and the thinking is hurried, it is in this hurry that I witnessed and felt the dazzling, astonishing, magnificent and magnificent momentum of the Forbidden City. In this hurry, I did not feel that the emperor lao'er had any extraordinary and great, but from the whole building carved and painted, axe and chisel, knife and stroke, ridge and fang, one step and one column, one brick and one tile, one river and one bridge, I felt the courage and wisdom, temperament and talent of our nation.
Squad leader You Shufang and his comrades-in-arms
After passing the noon gate, I saw a building as splendid as the Taihe Temple, except that there were five openings under him. We passed through the middle door and saw the towering Monument to the People's Heroes in the middle of the large square in the distance. Undoubtedly, I am already standing on the Jinshui Bridge in front of Tiananmen, in front of me is the world's largest Tiananmen Square, and behind me is the Tiananmen Square that I have been longing for day and night.
The Moat of the Forbidden City
Standing on the Jinshui Bridge, I didn't know how to turn back for a while, and I didn't know if this was a feeling of "more timidity in close proximity". Although I came here for the first time, I have seen the photos of Tiananmen Tower countless times, and Tiananmen has appeared in my dreams countless times, and in my memory, in my emotions, I am no stranger to her. I stood still for two or three minutes before I slowly turned my body to the city tower, and in an instant, I looked at Chairman Mao in the huge portrait, and my body suddenly had a feeling of tremor, and a huge wave of emotions was set off in my heart. In the past, from the photographs, from the relevant introductions, I knew that this portrait was very large, but I could never imagine that when I stood here so close and looked up at this portrait, I felt that this was a huge portrait hanging between heaven and earth. No matter which bridge I stood on the Jinshui River, or where I stood on the bridge, his old man's eyes were always looking at me kindly. "The East is red, the sun is rising, and China has a Mao Zedong... Since I was a child, I have known from my fathers and fellow villagers that Chairman Mao is the great savior of the Chinese people, and I cannot forget the scene after Chairman Mao's death, when many people in the whole village lost their voices and wept bitterly. Today I finally stood in front of his old man's home, who announced the founding of New China on this castle tower.
Jinshui Bridge
Tiananmen Tiananmen, you are united with the great leader with a majestic image, you are the symbol of victory, the symbol of the country. How many songs have sung you, how many psalms have praised you, and seeing you, how can it not make me feel excited and emotionally excited? I stood in the center of the Jinshui Bridge, solemnly saluted chairman Mao's portrait, and then almost stepped back through the Jinshui Bridge.
Tiananmen
When I came to the square, I was still in a bad mood, and I took out 3 yuan to let the photographer of the booth of the "New Great North Photo" take a group photo of the three of us against the background of the Tiananmen Tower, and then I took another photo alone.
Zhang Yuwen
I have been looking forward to this day for many years, and today I am finally looking forward to it, no matter how much money I want to take a photo with Tiananmen. Because this day was the most unforgettable, exciting, and happiest day of my life. I also want to wash a few more sheets and send them to my relatives in my hometown, so that they can share my happiness and feel my excitement... That night, I was so excited that I didn't sleep all night.
Tiananmen square
The next day after breakfast, the squad leader suddenly "woke up" over, "Bad dish, yesterday patronized blind excitement, this photo will be sent in a few days, if Captain Guo receives it first, then we secretly went to Tiananmen Square can be revealed..." We all have no idea, and we don't know what to do, we can only pray that the photos sent will not fall into Captain Guo's hands.
The author (middle in the back row) and his comrades-in-arms Li Yunping, Li Yunqiang, Li Xianghai, and Gao Qingmin
Seven days passed, fifteen days passed, and I never received a picture. There was a sense of foreboding in my heart, but I didn't dare to ask Captain Guo, and when I saw the captain, I was always very worried and didn't dare to face it.
Guo Zhifu
Three months ago, I was beaten by the squad leader for a few hours when I arrived at the recruit company, so would I be the first person to be beaten by the captain when I arrived at the training team this time?
Author (right) and comrade-in-arms Wang Zhifang
On the twentieth day of trepidation, Captain Guo called me to his office, looked at me and smiled, and then gave me an envelope, "The photo is good, but in the future, when you go out on leave, you should seek truth from facts, saying that you will go there when you go there, but don't say that you go to the east and go to the west, this is not OK." I have already criticized your squad leader, so I will not criticize you anymore. I touched my head in embarrassment, embarrassed but also excitedly laughed...
Cheng Baolin
【About the Author】Cheng Baolin, born in April 1964 in Handan City, Hebei Province, joined the army in October 1980 and successively served as the chief of the organization unit of the First Communications General Station of the Beijing Military Region, the secretary of the office of the headquarters of the Beijing Military Region, the director of the organization department of the work department directly under the Beijing Military Region, the secretary of the party committee of the North China Hotel, the deputy director of the direct work department, the deputy director of the work bureau directly under the Joint Staff Department of the Central Theater, and other positions, with the rank of colonel. He enjoys photography and journalism and literary writing, and many works have been published in national and military newspapers and periodicals. Rong li 1 second class merit, 4 third class merit.
Masthead calligraphy: Li Linqing
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Cheng Baolin, Zhang Tao