"The cultural relics of the Six Dynasties are even in the air, and the sky is light and cloudy, and the present and the ancient are the same." The culture of the Chinese nation for thousands of years has precipitated countless antiquities and buildings, and they carry the glorious and thick civilization history of the entire nation.
Since the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial city wall of Beijing has been conscientiously guarding the people of a city to live and work in peace and contentment, and finally it was demolished because it hindered urban planning, at this time the controversy was difficult to settle for decades, and Guo Moruo and Wu Han were also pushed to the forefront as the initiators. Who was responsible for the demolition of the imperial walls?
The old Imperial City Wall of Beijing
The imperial city wall of Beijing was originally 13 kilometers long, but it underwent a demolition work during the Republic of China, and after the founding of New China, only 3 kilometers were demolished.
In 1913, the second year of the founding of the Republic of China, the then Beiyang government decided to demolish a section of the imperial city wall, opening a gap and promoting the development of transportation inside and outside the city, but the demolition at the beginning was very restrained, trying not to destroy too many walls.
In 1921, because the sewage system in Beijing was too old, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the government at that time decided to demolish the imperial city wall and improve the sewage system in Beijing. In fact, most of the residents of Beijing at that time did not regard the Imperial City Wall as a historical relic, and generally believed that the Imperial City Wall hindered traffic and was too obstructive.
Between 1921 and 1927, more than a dozen kilometers of imperial walls were demolished, but residents asked whether it was necessary to improve the sewage system and use so much demolition.
As a result, many residents discovered one of the collusions between officials and businessmen, that is, after the demolition of the bricks of the imperial city wall at that time, they were sold at a high price, which is why they were demolished so quickly. Qi Yaoshan, then Minister of Internal Affairs, was the culprit.
In 1927, Zhang Zuolin began to investigate the case of the demolition and sale of the city wall in Beijing, and found that the number of people who bought the city bricks was too large, from government officials to private businessmen, and Zhang Zuolin, who originally wanted to rectify this incident, found that many of his own subordinates were also involved, and the matter was finally resolved.
Qi Yaoshan
In 1949, the People's Liberation Army surrounded the city of Beijing, in order to protect a large number of cultural relics in the city, the People's Liberation Army decided to adopt the method of peaceful liberation, and finally successfully won the Fu Zuoyi uprising, so that the city of Beijing was saved from the baptism of fire.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Beijing was designated as the capital of China, and the city was in a state of chaos and urgently needed to be replanned and rebuilt, and one issue was debated within the party, that is, whether the old imperial walls and arches of Beijing City needed to be demolished.
One faction, led by Liang Sicheng and His wife, advocated not demolishing the imperial city wall and protecting cultural relics as much as possible; the other faction advocated the demolition of the entire city and the re-planning of the city of Beijing. The two factions are constantly arguing, and it is difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat.
The imperial city wall of Beijing was first built in the Yuan Dynasty, ordered by the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di to build, its fundamental purpose is to resist foreign enemies, the construction of national defense lines, has a history of hundreds of years, once demolished, for the entire Chinese nation is a great loss.
Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin have always advocated leaving the imperial city wall. Everyone knows Liang Sicheng mostly because of his love story with Lin Huiyin, but in fact, Liang Sicheng is also a famous architect in China, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture. He received a good education since childhood, has a rich knowledge of architectural theory, and is the founder of the Department of Architecture of Tsinghua University.
After marrying Lin Huiyin, the husband and wife have been committed to the protection of ancient architectural relics in various provinces and cities in China, and the two have been traveling across the country since 1937, conducting investigation and research on ancient buildings, and writing a large number of articles to publish, so that the world academic community has recognized the history and culture of the Chinese nation.
Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin
Liang Sicheng was very famous abroad, and he successfully dissuaded the U.S. army from bombing Kyoto, Japan, during World War II, and was revered by the Japanese as the "Gudu Ben".
During the Liberation War, Liang Sicheng single-handedly drew up the "National Catalogue of Cultural Relics and Ancient Buildings", handed over to the People's Liberation Army, and also successfully saved many ancient buildings of people and nobles throughout the country from artillery fire, and Liang Sicheng made great contributions to the protection of cultural relics in China.
Therefore, in 1950, when the state was preparing to re-plan the city of Beijing, Liang Sicheng and his wife paid special attention to all kinds of ancient buildings in the city. After several days and nights, a new planning plan for Beijing City was written, so that the old buildings of Beijing City could develop well without being destroyed.
However, his planning plan was temporarily shelved, and the matter originated from one person- Liu Shaoqi. In 1949, Liu Shaoqi visited the Soviet Union and invited a group of Soviet experts to China to provide advice on municipal construction, and this group of Soviet experts was very large, with a total of 17 people, covering top talents in various professions.
At that time, after soviet experts came to Beijing, they unanimously advocated the demolition of the imperial city wall and various ancient buildings in Beijing, only in this way could the city of Beijing develop for a long time.
At this time, there were also many people in the party who advocated the demolition of the imperial city wall, mainly led by Guo Moruo, Wu Han and others.
Guo Moruo is very familiar to everyone, and Wu Han was the vice mayor of Beijing at that time, a famous historian and social activist in China, who became a disciple of Hu Shi in his early years, and Hu Shi attached great importance to him. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wu Han actively participated in the patriotic movement and criticized the inaction of the Nationalist government at that time.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was not only the vice mayor of Beijing, but also a professor at many universities, and he was knowledgeable.
Wu Han and Guo Moruo were brothers in the same disciple, and the two had many arguments with Liang Sicheng Lin Huiyin and his wife.
Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo believes that the purpose of the construction of the imperial city wall is to resist foreign enemies, but these imperial city walls cannot resist aircraft cannons at all, and there is no practicality;
Secondly, as the capital of a country, Beijing's future development must be very modern, and many ancient buildings will definitely affect the development of urban transportation in the future and limit the further expansion of the city;
Finally, Guo Moruo believed that the imperial city wall was a symbol of feudal remnants and must be demolished.
At that time, the party also held many meetings to discuss this issue, and everyone had their own opinions and disputes. And Liang Sicheng has had many head-on clashes with Guo Moruo, and Lin Huiyin also clashed head-on with Wu Han at a meeting, accusing Wu Han in person: "You really demolished the antiques, and you will regret it in the future!" Even if it were to be restored, it would be a fake antique at best. After saying that, he left the scene angrily.
Wu Han
However, Liang Sicheng And His wife's efforts were futile, and finally issued a document and decided to demolish the imperial walls and cultural relics of Beijing.
According to Kong Qingpu, who was then in the Beijing Construction Bureau, it was a sudden order to demolish the imperial city wall, and the person who issued the order was Liu Shaoqi, who invited Soviet experts to Beijing.
Liu Shaoqi is also the development of Beijing City in the long run, and the future Beijing City must be a new type of city, these ancient buildings are obstacles, all need to be demolished.
As soon as the news of the demolition came out, the residents of Beijing were in an uproar, and many residents wrote letters to newspapers and the Beijing Construction Bureau to oppose the demolition of ancient buildings, but they were all sunken in the sea.
Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin were even more distressed, and after the central government made a decision, they also actively discussed the importance of Beijing's ancient architecture with leaders many times, with little success. Liang Sicheng was even more embarrassed by Wu Han's loss of voice in this positive argument.
After that, Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin knew that the overall situation had been decided, so they stopped arguing and could only allow the imperial city wall to be demolished.
Ruins of the Imperial City Walls
Because Guo Moruo and Wu Han spoke out most frequently in the demolition of the imperial city wall, the two were also naturally regarded as the masterminds of the demolition of the imperial city wall. As everyone knows, Guo Moruo and Wu Han are just the ones who carry the pot. So, who masterminded the demolition of the imperial city wall?
In fact, the two are just literati, and no amount of speech can sway the leader's thinking, so the two should not be regarded as the masterminds of this incident. There are too many people involved in the demolition of the imperial city wall, and if you really want to find out the mastermind of the demolition of the imperial city wall, it should be Qi Yaoshan during the Republic of China period and Liu Shaoqi after the founding of the country.
Qi Yaoshan sold bricks for wealth and filled his own pockets. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Shaoqi invited Soviet experts to Beijing, and the Soviet expert group has always suggested the demolition of the imperial city wall. According to Kong Qingpu, the person who directly issued the order was also Liu Shaoqi.
Regarding the demolition of the imperial city wall, the author has the following views:
First, Guo Moruo's reasons for advocating the demolition of the imperial city wall are correct in the first few statements, but the imperial city wall is by no means a symbol of feudal remnants, which is nonsense.
Second, the imperial city wall was demolished in desperation, because it was a serious obstacle to the development of Beijing. Liang Sicheng's architectural plan was later confirmed to have certain limitations. Just imagine, if the imperial city wall can be preserved to this day, the simplicity and thickness of the imperial city wall will eventually appear incompatible with modern high-rise buildings, and it is a wise choice to choose to demolish at the beginning of the construction of Beijing City.
Third, although Liang Sicheng and his wife, Guo Moruo, Wu Han and others in the incident had their own opinions, they were all for the better development of Beijing City without exception, and they all knew how important Beijing City was to China. No one is right or wrong, they are all patriots who are concerned about the development of the country.
Part of the city wall today
Historical relics will not be thin under the erosion of time, on the contrary, they will be more thick and simple, and each cultural relic is our reliance on exploring a period of history and is a priceless treasure of the Chinese nation.
During the war, countless cultural relics were lost abroad and displayed in museums in other countries, which is a humiliation for our Chinese nation. This humiliation also always warns us to cherish existing cultural relics and consciously protect cultural relics.
The cultural relics that are now available are just the tip of the iceberg of the Chinese nation's thousands of years of historical precipitation, and there are countless pieces of history buried deep in the ground waiting to be excavated, when we discover cultural relics, do not look for channels to sell because of their own selfish interests, but should consciously hand over to the state and hand them over to professional protection, so that the cultural relics can bloom with due brilliance, so that the history that belongs to it is no longer dusted.