Picture丨Chairman Mao and the Founding Fathers on the Tiananmen Gate
Foreword
In the early morning of May 1, 1991, a new flag-raising and lowering ceremony was held grandly in Tiananmen Square. This was also the first public appearance of the national flag guard.
In the early morning of this day, before the sun had risen, Tiananmen Square was already crowded with people. Tens of thousands of people were waiting for a solemn moment. A new flag-raising ceremony was about to be held.
html At 05:14, the moment the upper edge of the sun met the horizon, the flag-raiser pressed the button exactly. 2 minutes and 7 seconds later, the flag was raised to the top of the flagpole.At this moment, Tiananmen Square was solemn and solemn. People gazed affectionately at the fluttering five-star red flag, and their hearts rose and fell with the "March of the Volunteers" played by the military band.
Chairman Mao raised the first five-star red flag
In the first half of 1949, with the victorious march of the People's Liberation Army, objectively speaking, the conditions for the establishment of a new China were mature.
html In June, the preparatory meeting for the New Political Consultative Conference was established in Peking to start various preparations for the establishment of New China. Among them, the working group responsible for formulating the national flag, national emblem, and national anthem decided to publicly solicit national flag patterns from the whole country after discussions.After hearing the news, the masses began to use their intelligence and wisdom to contribute to the establishment of New China. In just one month, the working group received 1,920 national flag manuscripts and 2,962 patterns from people at home and abroad. The national flag review team received an average of 100 flag patterns every day. The
working group carefully reviewed and repeatedly studied these manuscripts, and finally selected 38 patterns to be printed and distributed to the representatives attending the first plenary session of the CPPCC for discussion. Among these patterns, most of them are red flags and five-pointed stars, or sickles and axes. In the process of selecting the national flag, the opinions of the representatives were not consistent, and everyone had their own ideas.
Before Chairman Mao presided over the symposium to discuss the national flag, General Zhang Zhizhong came to Chairman Mao’s residence. He was the peace negotiator of the Kuomintang government. After the peace broke down, he stayed in Peiping with the encouragement of Chairman Mao and others. And should have attended one session of the CPPCC. While chatting with Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao asked him: "Now everyone is discussing the national flag plan, what is your opinion?"
Picture丨Chairman Mao
Chairman Mao first expressed his opinion: I I agree with the design of One Star, One Yellow River and . What do you think?
After hearing this, Zhang Zhizhong shook his head and said: "I don't agree with this pattern. The red ground national flag represents the country and the revolution. Doesn't the line in the middle become a splitting of the country and a splitting of the revolution?"
Chairman Mao listened to General Zhang Zhizhong's words. Finally, he nodded and said : "What you said is indeed a problem. Many comrades agree with this plan. I will ask you to study it again."
html On September 25, Zhang Zhizhong received the invitation from Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou to attend the Zhongnanhai A meeting to discuss the flag plan. At this meeting, Chairman Mao stated Zhang Zhizhong's suggestions and suggested that everyone study it carefully and choose a plan that everyone agreed with. After repeated discussions, we finally reached a consensus: five-star red flag as the national flag!At the closing ceremony, three male and female soldiers in military uniforms walked out from one side of the rostrum. They held up a special five-star red flag on the rostrum. This was the first time the five-star red flag appeared, and the audience burst into applause.
Picture丨The scene of the founding ceremony when the People's Republic of China was founded
On October 1, 1949, the founding ceremony was held. On this day, people from all walks of life in the capital held red flags and held high lanterns, pouring into the square from all directions, Tiananmen merged into a beautiful ocean.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the first meeting of the Central People's Government Committee was held in Zhongnanhai. Chairman Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Soong Ching Ling and other vice-chairmen and 56 members announced their inauguration. At 2:55, Chairman Mao and the founding fathers came through Xihua Gate. Tiananmen Gate, go up the ancient brick stairs on the west side of the tower, and appear on the solemn Tiananmen Gate Tower.
At 3 p.m., Lin Boqu, Secretary-General of the Central People's Government, announced the meeting. People's leader Chairman Mao walked into the microphone and solemnly announced: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China has been established today!"
Suddenly, the 300,000 soldiers and civilians in the square were excited, cheering loudly, and red flags, bouquets, and lanterns were rolled up. the turbulent waves. Chairman Mao's voice also spread across the country on the radio, and the Chinese people stood up.
Subsequently, the Secretary-General of the conference announced: "Chairman Mao, please raise the flag!"
Picture from left: Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Mao Zedong, Song Qingling, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan
Chairman Mao looked solemn. He pressed the button hard, and a brand-new five-star flag appeared. The red flag slowly raised under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of people.
At this moment, the live announcer of Xinhua News Agency Radio explained to the audience in her fresh and bright tone:
The national flag of the People's Republic of China is now being raised by Chairman Mao himself. The 300,000 people who attended the conference stood in order and watched the solemn and beautiful five-star red flag of the People's Motherland rising slowly.
After Chairman Mao personally raised the first five-star red flag of the People's Republic of China, the solemn military parade began. The commander-in-chief of the military parade, Mr. Zhu, walked down from the Tiananmen Gate Tower and boarded a black convertible car accompanied by the commander-in-chief of the military parade Nie Rongzhen. He reviewed the navy, army and air force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army as well as the workers, farmers and cadres.
It was evening when the military parade ended. The masses were still immersed in the joy of the founding of New China, and everyone participated in the celebrations one after another. Chairman Mao looked at the scene in front of him, and he was very happy in his heart. From 2:55 in the afternoon to 10:00 in the evening, Chairman Mao was always on the Tiananmen Gate. He always raised one hand, sometimes solemnly in the air, sometimes Waving vigorously, he kept walking on the tower and waving to the people in the square.
Picture丨The first national flag of the People's Republic of China raised by Mao Zedong during the founding ceremony
On October 2, 1949, at the first dawn after the founding ceremony, an old man named Cheng Hongnian from the Beijing Municipal Power Supply Bureau carried the five-star red flag. Passing through Zhengyangmen , we came to the Tiananmen Gate Tower and prepared to raise the national flag into the blue sky.
At that time, there was no such solemn and spectacular flag-raising ceremony as it is today. There were not many pedestrians in the square, let alone people watching the flag-raising. But the old man Cheng Hongnian still looked up to the east of the motherland very solemnly. When the sun just peeked out on the horizon, he slowly raised the five-star red flag in his hand...
Two years after the founding ceremony, Comrade Cheng Hongnian was Responsible for raising and lowering the national flag, this work was later taken over by Comrade Hu Qijun in 1951. Regarding this matter, Hu Qijun recalled in his later years:
There were no special requirements for raising the flag at that time, as long as the flag could be raised to the top of the pole smoothly. At that time, the national flag was not raised and lowered every day. It was only raised and lowered during the Spring Festival, New Year's Day, May Day, July Day, August 1 and other festivals. When the national flag was raised, no one was watching. Except for a few People's Liberation Army sentries in the square, there were not as many onlookers as there are now.
Picture | On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong pressed the button, and the first five-star red flag of New China rose slowly.
However, after 1976, the task of raising and lowering the flag in Tiananmen Square was handed over to the Beijing Garrison District of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. After receiving this mission, the People's Liberation Army changed the flag raising and lowering on major holidays to raising and lowering the national flag every day until it developed into the solemn and grand ceremony it is today.
After the National People's Congress representative went to the United States for an inspection, he made a suggestion to the Party Central Committee.
The flag-raising ceremony originally remained like this. However, in 1986, after Li Yukun, the National People's Congress representative, returned from a study tour in the United States, he made a suggestion to the Party Central Committee. Everything changed. .
Li Yukun was a representative of the Eighth National People's Congress. In June 1986, when he followed a delegation of provincial entrepreneurs to the United States for study and inspection, he discovered that the American flag was flying in many important places in the United States.In addition to flying the national flag on major festivals or celebrations, many public places in the United States display and display the Stars and Stripes all year round.
Li Yukun also learned that in the "University Park" Elementary School in Los Angeles, the national flag is hung in every classroom, and the school holds a flag-raising ceremony every day. When the flag was raised, the students put their hands on their chests and chanted: "I am loyal to the national flag and the United States of America."
These things made Li Yukun unable to calm down for a long time. He thought of a Chinese-American who returned to Rugao, , and bought three five-star red flags in a store, saying that he was going to return to the other side of the ocean to give to his three children, so that they would not forget their roots in China.
Picture丨Chairman Mao at the Founding Ceremony
After returning to China, Li Yukun did not see a five-star red flag on the streets of Rugao on the National Day that year. He deeply felt that the national flag awareness was too weak. These things made Li Yukun's thoughts rise and fall. His strong sense of patriotism and the sense of responsibility as a people's representative prompted him to write hard and put forward a suggestion to the Party Central Committee: strengthen patriotic education , awaken the people's national concept, and formulate specific details for flying the national flag as soon as possible. method!
Li Yukun called on the National People's Congress to strengthen patriotic education nationwide and resume the flag raising and lowering ceremony to arouse and enhance people's "national concept." Li Yukun wrote in his suggestion:
The cost of making a five-star red flag is limited, but the role it plays in people's hearts cannot be measured by money.
Li Yukun's suggestion was quickly included in the proposal of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and the relevant leaders attached great importance to it. The use and ceremony of the flag draw deeper attention.
On October 1, 1990, New China's first law on the national flag, the "National Flag Law ", was promulgated and implemented. This law provides detailed regulations on the use, raising, lowering, and protection of the national flag. At the same time, the State Education Commission also issued a special document calling for patriotic education in the military and primary and secondary schools to enhance national flag awareness.
Picture丨Chairman Mao on the Tiananmen Gate
The voices of the National People’s Congress representatives and the promulgation and implementation of the National Flag Law accelerated the pace of reforming the flag raising and lowering ceremony in Tiananmen.
Since the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the flagpole in front of the Tiananmen Gate Tower has stood in the wind and rain for more than 40 years. This flagpole has completed its historical mission and it is time for it to take a good "rest".
On February 23, 1991, the construction of a new flag pole base project broke ground in Tiananmen Square. The reconstruction project was implemented by the Tiananmen Management Committee. All the soldiers of the national flag class held a farewell ceremony to the old flagpole. Soon after, the old flagpole that had stood in Tiananmen Square for more than 40 years was moved to the west gate of the Chinese Revolution Museum and protected as a cultural relic.
With the completion of the solemn, generous and well-equipped new flagpole, this has inspired the armed police soldiers responsible for raising the flag. They no longer have to climb over the railings of the flagpole base, but it also brings them Invisible pressure. In order to coordinate with the expanded flag base, they must design a more perfect and standardized flag raising and lowering ceremony.
Picture丨Tiananmen flag
The Tiananmen Guard Brigade revised its draft five times and conceived eight plans, and finally selected a queue of 12 people. Based on this, they filmed the team's march and flag raising and lowering actions into videos and submitted them to leaders in various fields for comments. Not long after, the relevant leading comrades quickly gave specific instructions:
First, the flag raising should be changed from unison to goose; second, there should be more flag guards; third, there should be more military band members.
Based on this opinion, the Tiananmen Guard Brigade decided to expand the flag-raising ceremony from 12 people to 36 people.
The new flag-raising and lowering ceremony is divided into two sets of plans: festivals and weekdays. When the flag is raised on weekdays, the recording of the national anthem is played simultaneously.On the first day of every month and New Year's Day, Spring Festival, International Labor Day, Party Day, Army Day, and National Day, when the flag is raised, 60 military band members will set off from the Tiananmen Gate Tower along with the national flag guard. When the flag guard marches forward, the military band marches and plays the music "Singing the Motherland", and when the flag is raised, the "March of the Volunteers" is played.
After this plan was submitted to Zhongnanhai, the Party Central Committee, after careful review, issued an instruction: Agree!
Picture丨A group photo of the first-generation Tiananmen flag squad soldiers
After the plan was approved, the relevant departments decided to launch a new flag-raising ceremony from May 1, 1991. Shortly after the opening of the new ceremony, the original Tiananmen "National Flag Class" was reorganized into the National Flag Guard of the Tiananmen Guard Detachment of the Armed Police.
People’s comments on the new flag raising and lowering ceremony
On April 19, 1991, the national flag class received a notice from its superiors: the size of 12 people was still too small and it needed to be expanded to 36 people.
After hearing this order, everyone in the national flag class was very anxious: "Where can we find so many people?"
At that time, there were only 11 days before the new ceremony was launched on May Day, so the members of the national flag guard team were nervously selected. The work begins. Finally, after many layers of selection, a qualified candidate was found, less than a week before the May Day International Labor Day.
Picture丨National flag guard training
The guard team has begun intensive training. The goal of the training is that the marching team should look horizontally in rows and vertically in columns, and their movements and appearance should be fully coordinated, with consistent arm width, consistent stride length, and consistent spacing. The 32 flag guards were also required to have the same gaze and make the same sound when they stand, turn, lower their guns, and hold their guns together on the south side of the flag base.
The training process was arduous and overloaded, but no one backed down. 24 hours a day, in addition to eating and sleeping, there is training. There are even "spins" on several occasions, so that during the training period, everyone can fall asleep in a few minutes while sitting in place to rest. It was after such arduous training that the soldiers met the almost demanding requirements and ushered in the grand ceremony for the first use of the new ceremony.
In the early morning of May 1, 1991, a new flag-raising and lowering ceremony was held grandly in Tiananmen Square. This was also the first public appearance of the national flag guard.
The new flag-raising ceremony also brought great pride to the people watching on the spot. Since the new flag-raising ceremony was implemented on May 1, 1991, tens of millions of people at home and abroad have been welcomed. The place under the flag pole in front of Tiananmen Square has become a place that every Chinese misses.
Picture丨People watching the flag-raising ceremony
According to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Tourism Department, going to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising and lowering has become an indispensable part of the travel schedule for many tour groups. Every year, about 3 million people at home and abroad come to watch the raising and lowering ceremony of the five-star red flag.
Regarding the heated discussion caused by the raising and lowering ceremony of the five-star red flag in Tiananmen Square, some sociologists believe:
The "viewing effect" of the raising and lowering of the national flag in Tiananmen Square reflects the overall positive attitude of Chinese society, that is, confidence in the country's future. Despite its many shortcomings, people generally believe that life tomorrow will be better than life today, and society as a whole faces hope. From the tall and upward military posture of the national flag guard soldiers and the generous and decent ceremonial performances, the masses truly felt this hope.
After seeing the new flag raising and lowering ceremony, many people sighed with emotion: "The current ceremony is good, majestic and majestic, and matches the image of the great China!"
