Long-term construction of Tibet, no shortage： the ＂old Xizang spirit＂ in the hearts of the first batch of veterans entering Tibet

Snow plateau can’t love

-The peaceful liberation and development of Xizang in the eyes of the first batch of veterans Yin Fatang and Li Guozhu.

■ Xu Huibo Zhang Cheng Liberation Army Daily reporter Tao Chunxiao

Yin Fatang and Li Guozhu took pictures at home. Xu huibo

[impression]

As usual, after breakfast, Yin Fatang, the old general, walked into the study with the help of the official monitor, sat at his desk and opened the subscribed Xizang Daily, and picked up a magnifying glass to look carefully.

In the corner of the desk, there is a set of series of books celebrating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Qamdo that Yin Fatang participated in the revision. The bookcase is full of books related to Tibetan history. Among them, the words "Written by Li Guozhu" are printed on the spine of three sets of books, such as Xizang Gyangze: Historical Memory of the 1904 Anti-British Struggle, Life of a Female Soldier in Xizang and My Unfamoured Xizang. In the glass cupboard, there are many handicrafts with Xizang flavor, such as masks and tricks, which seem to silently tell the origin of this family and Xizang.

This is a residence in a small gray building in Xicheng District, Beijing. Accompanied by the faint Tibetan incense that permeates the room, it is home to the "homesickness" that Yin Fatang and Li Guozhu are unable to give up on the snowy plateau after leaving Xizang for 30 or 40 years.

Seventy-one years ago, Yin Fatang, then deputy political commissar of the 52nd Division of the 18th Army of the Fifth Corps of the Second Field Army, and Li Guozhu, a member of the Kangzang Task Force of the Political Department of the 52nd Division, marched into Xizang with the troops in the first batch, and took root in the nearest place to the sun like Gesanghua. At this point, Xizang has become their second hometown and their spiritual home.

Beijing is more than 2,500 kilometers away from Lhasa, but Yin Fatang and Li Guozhu, the "old Xizang", are separated from the mountains and rivers on the roof of the world with endless thoughts and concerns.

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of Xizang’s peaceful liberation, 99-year-old Yin Fatang is busy writing a sequel to his memoirs, which often lasts all night. As you can imagine, this will be a very heavy memoir, because Yin Fatang’s revolutionary life, especially the "Xizang", is so colorful and rich-

In May 1938, Yin Fatang took part in the revolution in his hometown of Feicheng, Shandong Province, and successively participated in the battles of leaping into Dabie Mountain, Huaihai Campaign and liberating Southwest China. In 1950, he entered Tibet with the first batch of the 52nd Division of the 18th Army. After the peaceful liberation of Xizang, he served as the secretary of the working committee of the Jiangzi Sub-committee of the CPC Xizang, the political commissar of the Jiangzi Army Division of Xizang and the director of the political department of the Xizang Military Region. In 1980s, Yin Fatang, who went to Tibet for the second time, became the first secretary of CPC Xizang Autonomous Region Party Committee, the former deputy political commissar of Chengdu Military Region and the first political commissar of Xizang Military Region, and worked in Xizang for 27 years. Even after leaving Xizang, he has been busy with the construction and development of Xizang, calling for the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, promoting the smooth start of the Yangzhuoyong Lake Pumped Storage Power Station and establishing the "Yin Fatang Xizang Education Foundation".

However, after all, Yin Fatang’s hearing is limited in her old age, and she relies more on paper and pens to communicate with others. During the interview, he constantly replaced several pairs of reading glasses and magnifying glasses, trying to identify the problems we wrote on the paper.

His wife, 88-year-old Li Guozhu, warmly shook hands with us on crutches and sat down next to her husband. Li Guozhu is full of energy, her voice is loud and sweet, and she gives a hearty laugh from time to time during the chat. Compared with Yin Fatang’s colorful and well-known Tibetan past, the vivid story of Li Guozhu, an old Xizang female soldier, allows us to witness the glorious years of building Tibet and aiding Tibet from another angle.

Into Tibet

In May 1938, Yin Fatang participated in the anti-Japanese youth training class in Feicheng, Shandong Province, and carried out the "September 18th" anti-Japanese aggression propaganda. Xu Shuji, the consultant of the training class and the county party committee, felt that Yin Fatang was positive and wanted to introduce him to the Party.

Xu Shuji took Yin Fatang to a remote forest, where there were many graves with tombstones.

"Do you know who is the Communist party member here?"

Yin Fatang named several people.

"Do you also want to join communist party?"

"I want to join communist party, but I don’t know where communist party is?"

"Good, you join communist party now!"

At that time, the party organization was still underground. At the age of 16, Yin Fatang didn’t take an oath or hold a ceremony to join the Party. After taking part in the revolution for one month, he became a Communist party member, and started the journey of serving the Party and the people all his life.

After more than ten years of war and smoke, at the beginning of 1950, Yin Fatang, then deputy political commissar of the 52nd Division of the 18th Army, went to the south of Sichuan with the troops, ready to rest in the garrison. On the way, the troops received a "very important, very arduous and very glorious" mission to March into Xizang. After a swearing-in meeting that shouted "We are firm and tenacious, forge ahead courageously, overcome difficulties and ensure the completion of tasks", the 18th Army embarked on a long journey to Xizang. During this "Second Long March" of more than 2,400 kilometers, it passed more than a dozen snow-capped mountains with an altitude of 4,500 meters, crossed dozens of large and small glaciers, and crossed uninhabited virgin forests and swamps and grasslands with hidden dangers.

"I was under the age of 18. Although I didn’t join the party, I have been trying to keep up with party member." Li Guozhu added at a side. At that time, Li Guozhu was waiting for graduation assignment in the military and political university of the 12th Army, and the 18th Army sent people to the school to mobilize, telling everyone about the significance of liberating Xizang and describing the miserable life of people in Xizang being exploited and oppressed. Li Guozhu heard his blood boiling and tears streaming down his eyes in the audience, and immediately decided to sign up for Tibet without telling his family. "We are the youth of the motherland, so hard place, so arduous task, we don’t go to who? At the age of 18, it was the time to devote oneself to the motherland and serve the people! "

Li Guozhu became the first female soldier to enter Tibet. There were 30 female soldiers in the Kangzang Team of the 52nd Division where she worked. She was mainly responsible for transporting food and materials to the troops participating in the Battle of Qamdo with yaks. Although mentally prepared for the hardships along the way, when he really set foot on the road, Li Guozhu found that the road to Tibet was more bitter and difficult than expected. These 18-and 19-year-old female soldiers drive yaks every day, wade knee-deep glaciers, plow the snow at night and fall asleep on the hillside.

"Have you ever seen a dying man?" During the narration, Li Guozhu suddenly opened her eyes and asked us, and then she covered her chest and gasped, vividly imitating the altitude sickness she encountered at that time. Many female soldiers fainted and got up again, and the team stopped and went all the way. The instructor of the task force is an old party member. When he finds that some female soldiers are wavering and want to give up, he tells them the story of the Long March. Those heroic deeds of trudging through dangerous roads while fighting against the enemy can always rekindle the fighting spirit of female soldiers.

Release

After the victory of the Battle of Qamdo, on May 23, 1951, the Central People’s Government and the local government of Xizang signed the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Xizang, which finally realized the epoch-making peaceful liberation of Xizang. However, the mission shouldered by the troops entering Tibet is far from complete.

After wading through mountains and rivers, Li Guozhu followed the task force into Xizang, and the scene in front of her shocked her immensely. "The introduction made by the school when it mobilized to go to Tibet was still very abstract. What we saw with our own eyes was that Xizang serfs were naked, walking barefoot, and working hard every day without enough food." In sharp contrast, the nobles are dressed in colorful silks and satins, and their food and clothing are all foreign high-grade goods. At that time, Xizang still continued the dark, cruel and barbaric feudal serfdom, and millions of serfs had no personal rights and freedoms at all.

Because of the need of United front work, Li Guozhu often visited the lords with silk, tea and ghee to publicize the party’s principles and policies. In the Lord’s home, Li Guozhu can always see such a scene-the Lord motioned for a cup of tea, and the slave on the side bowed his head and bent down to bring the teacup to the Lord’s hand, even without the qualification of looking up at the owner. If you accidentally spill a little when serving tea, you will be punished immediately by slapping and so on. Speaking of this, Li Guozhu still can’t hide his anger. "At that time, I thought, I can’t let people in Xizang live like this again!"

It was the People’s Liberation Army that made these Tibetans, who had never been regarded as "people", feel the love for the first time. They got to know communist party from knowing the People’s Liberation Army. The 18th Army vigorously carried out the order of "marching into Xizang and not eating anywhere" issued by the Central Committee. Yin Fatang led the troops to pick up shovels for land reclamation and self-reliance. At the same time, he helped Tibetans to repair bridges and roads, sweep the floor behind their backs, treat diseases for them free of charge, eliminate ethnic barriers and strengthen national unity. After a period of time, the names of "Bodhisattva Soldier" and "Imakiayahito" spread among Tibetans.

In 1961, the central government put down the rebellion in Xizang and millions of serfs were emancipated. Li Guozhu, who participated in the land reform, spent a month in the countryside, handing over the first land certificate of the emancipated serfs and bringing them cattle, sheep and other livestock. "Those turned serfs happily patted the cows, led them into the allocated houses to live together, and even slept on the allocated land at night, cherishing these hard-won wealth." Li Guozhu also served as a political teacher, giving lessons for emancipated serfs. She taught herself Tibetan. In addition to completing the required Tibetan courses, she took a notebook when eating and walking. When she saw the Tibetan people, she chased after learning. "If you can speak Tibetan, the Tibetan people can treat you as a relative and tell you the truth." Li Guozhu told the emancipated serfs that all people in the world are equal, and there is no distinction between high and low, so they should emancipate their minds step by step.

Close love

"At the beginning of entering Tibet, I said that I rotated every three years, but I went to Gyangze where I worked for three years. How can I go back without serving Tibetans, carrying out land reform and turning serfs over? We take the initiative to build Tibet for a long time, take the frontier as our home, and build Xizang like our hometown. " Li Guozhu and Yin Fatang stayed in Xizang for more than 20 years. Hospitals, posts and telecommunications offices, weather stations, banks, highways, airports, power stations … quite a number of "firsts" in Xizang were born with the PLA’s March into Xizang and the liberation of Xizang. Yin Fatang and his wife witnessed the seeds of a new Xizang, a new society and a new civilization, which were sown little by little in this magnificent but closed and backward land.

When Yin Fatang went to Tibet for the second time in 1980, Li Guozhu could not go with her because of the liver disease caused by altitude hypoxia, but she was always concerned about the construction and development of Xizang. After retiring in Yin Fatang, she accompanied her husband several times to inspect the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and went back to Xizang to investigate the economic and social development. In 1998, according to the advice of his family, Yin Fatang set up an education foundation with 160,000 yuan saved by three generations, which was officially renamed as "Yin Fatang Xizang Education Foundation". Later, due to their physical condition, they did not want to go back to Xizang, so they used their own way to promote Tibetan history and Xizang culture. Yin Fatang participated in compiling and examining many works on Xizang’s party history and military history, such as Military History of the 18th Army of the People’s Liberation Army of China and the Xizang Military Region, Fifty Years’ Work in Xizang, the Communist Party of China (CPC), and History of the Liberation of Xizang, and published Collected Works on Tibet Work in Yin Fatang. Li Guozhu also kept on writing, writing works such as Gyangze, Xizang: Historical Memories of the 1904 Anti-British Struggle, Xizang Life of a Female Soldier, My Unfettered Xizang, etc. He also mobilized the first batch of living female soldiers to share memories with several old comrades, and with the assistance of the Party History Research Office of Xizang Autonomous Region Party Committee, it took five years to write The First Batch of Female Soldiers Entering Xizang.

"Southwest corner barrier border, standing on the plateau north. God’s heart is close, and a brother will always be like this. " There is a banner calligraphy work hanging in Yin Fatang’s study, which shows the deep attachment of two "old Xizang". Next to it is a vertical calligraphy work, on which word for word is written the "Old Xizang Spirit" compiled by Yin Fatang with several drafts for more than 20 years.

We asked Yin Fatang about the origin of "Old Xizang Spirit". After he heard the question clearly, his spirit cheered up and motioned for us to help him to a place closer to the banner, and read out the "old Xizang spirit" word by word: "Build Tibet for a long time, and the frontier is home; One is not afraid of suffering, and the other is not afraid of death; Consciously abide by the law; Self-reliance and hard work; Especially hard-working, especially fighting, especially patient, especially United, and especially dedicated. " He spoke very slowly, and Li Guozhu listened patiently and nodded with a smile.

Yes, these two old people who have devoted themselves to Xizang are still sticking to the "old Xizang spirit"-

Long-term construction of Tibet, no shortage.

?