climbed a winding path and walked slowly, and the surrounding mountains and forests remained a little rough. The old man who has been going up the mountain with a sickle for many years has neatly cut off the weeds, thorns and branches that pass by on both sides. The military green Liberation Shoes , who have been in the past, stepped on the soft land in the mountains, stepped on the rocks covered with moss, stepped on the flow of time when the frost comes, and also stepped on a 58-year-old road of perseverance.
The old man is named Zhang Aihua. From the age of peach and plum blossoms to the age of 80s, his original intention remains unchanged. In April 2022, at the age of 81, she stood on the awards stage of "Outstanding Henan People - 2021 Touching Central Plains Person of the Year", and many people were touched by her story.
Zhang Aihua and her husband Pan Guozhang were walking on the road up the mountain
The road she took was hailed by Mao Zedong as "a banner for persisting in the struggle of the Dabie Mountains" Liu Mingbang once fought with her comrades. In the spring of 1964, Liu Mingbang, who was then the leader of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, revisited the old place. When facing Zhang Aihua, the daughter of his old subordinate, he couldn't help but feel emotion and sincerely instructed: "The footprints of your father are here. It is a place for the martyrs to rest in peace and a witness of history. You must protect it."
Since then, hundreds of acres of mountains, rivers, trees, dozens of cave ruins, and several martyrs monuments have become Zhang Aihua's biggest concern. From 1964 to the present, spanning more than half a century, she has stood next to this "Red Army Cave" of Dabie Mountains that buried the remains of countless martyrs and carried the revolutionary spirit, and protected this hot land with her time and life.
was once thrown into the river and was rescued, sowing the seeds of gratitude
"Red Army Cave" The mountain springs pour down on the cliff. Even if the sun is bright in late October, the thin moss on the rocks will make pedestrians stagger. The closer to the red flag, the higher the mountain, the more dangerous the road is, the more difficult it is to move on. Zhang Aihua, who is over 80 years old, is like walking on the flat ground, allowing people to vaguely see her figure running on the mountain road when she was young, and the story of the Red Army that was singing endlessly on this red land.
"My father is called Lao Jiang. I was born in a revolutionary family. The blood of the Red Army flows in my body." Recalling the growth when I was young, Zhang Aihua's eyes were full of respect and attachment. "My father Zhang Xiansheng was a strong Red Army flag-fighting soldier, and his mother Huang Benying was a brave guerrilla soldier in combat." The special identity of her parents made her inseparable from the party. When she was young, she had a strong respect for the revolutionary martyrs.
1947, Zhang Aihua, who was six or seven years old, was caught by Kuomintang soldiers and cruelly threw her into the river. After being rescued, she had a high fever and did not subside until she fainted. When she woke up again, she was already lying on the bed of the Red Army Hospital. When she opened her eyes, she saw busy figures wearing "Red Star Hats". Since then, she has planted the seeds of gratitude.
After the founding of New China , Zhang Aihua's parents were seriously injured, lost their ability to work, and had difficulty in family life. The party organization sent her to school to study, responsible for her food, clothing, housing and transportation, and arranged for her to teach in a school. Zhang Aihua always remembered this kindness, "It was the party that gave me the second life."
1964, Zhang Aihua, who had just turned 23, served as a village cadre in Wandian Village, Guojiahe Township, Xin County. In the second year after marrying Pan Guozhang, who was also a village cadre, the old revolutionary Liu Mingbang, who was known as the iconic figure of the "red flag not falling" in the Dabie Mountains, returned to his hometown, and Zhang Aihua followed his mother to visit him.
On Jigongzhai Mountain, Liu Mingbang pointed to a revolutionary site such as the "Red Army Cave" and Yan Chunshan and jumping off the cliff, saying to the villagers: " Xinxian is the revolutionary old thorn (thorn, referring to the roots of plants). In the winter of 1933, Communist Party member Yan Chunshan was arrested and refused to surrender. He jumped from here."
During the Liberation War in 1946, the main force of the Central Plains troops successfully broke through, leaving behind Liu Mingbang, Xiao Xianfa thorn, Qiu Jinmin and others who insisted on the struggle to form the county party committee. In order to avoid the enemy, the county party committee was set up in a cave, which was later called the "Red Army Cave" by the people and was also the commemorative site of the Dabie Mountains Working Committee of the Communist Party of China.
"We have eaten grassroots and tree bark here. We sacrificed many comrades in order to recover this land. This place is the witness of the Dabie Mountain Revolutionary Land and a place where our comrades who died for the revolution rest in peace." The elderly Liu Mingbang looked at Zhang Aihua with a sharp look, "You are young, leave it to you. You are the descendant of the revolution. You must protect this place and not destroy it."
"At that time, I was young, and I was happy or miserable, I just wanted to do something meaningful, stay here and not let anyone destroy it." Recalling the scene when the old leader asked him, Zhang Aihua still couldn't hide his excitement after 58 years. At that time, she could not have imagined that this scene and this promise would have profoundly affected her life, making her hug her and the "Red Army Cave" tightly like pomegranate seeds, their hearts closer and their love deeper.
cut out a mountain road, "Blasting the mountain first to pass my pass"
Next to the "Lie Nu Rock" in the memorial site of the Martyrs of Yan Chunshan jumped off the cliff, a bright red flag fluttered in the wind. Zhengguan News reporters walked through this winding path "cut" by Zhang Aihua and his wife. A stone tablet engraved with the three big words "Red Army Cave" on the side of the mountain came into view, and the fiery red inlaid words soaked in a period of glorious years and the old man's heart.
Flag floating next to the Red Army Cave
From receiving the instructions from the old leader, Zhang Aihua and her husband embarked on a long road to protect the "Red Army Cave". The couple worked as village cadres and guarded the red land. "I don't rest when they are resting. In order to patrol the mountain, I can only lock the child at home." Zhang Aihua said, "I have walked countless times with the rugged and bumpy mountain roads. I have worn hundreds of pairs of shoes and dozens of sickles broken."
at the beginning had no roads - from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, the road was steep and the slopes were slippery, and the weeds were overgrown. She had to use her hands and feet to climb up. If she was not careful, she would fall down. Zhang Aihua could only take a sickle from home and walk up the mountain while cleaning up weeds and shrubs. Spring goes and autumn comes. Over time, she has opened a small path for the barren mountain.
Next to the flat and wide steps of the trail up the mountain, there are traces of the path that Zhang Aihua and her husband once "cut out", which are covered with gravel and overgrown weeds. Walking by the steep slope with a drop of one person, Zhang Aihua stopped, "When it rained here, there was deep water. When I was young, I accidentally slipped up the mountain and fell into a deep pool. Fortunately, I was rescued by the people passing by to chop wood."
There are 43 Red Army caves found by Zhang Aihua over the years, and she knows the structure and functions of each cave. The rocks in Jigong Mountain Village are steep and the caves are very hidden. Some of them have to pass through the large cave outside and enter the narrower small caves inside. Walking on the rugged path between the caves, you often step on the sloped stones and the other foot falls between gravel and soil. Beside the narrow mountain road are steep slopes and thorns.
Swallow Cave
Photos on the exterior wall of Aihua's home
Overcomes the difficulties of the natural environment, but artificial obstacles have become a bigger problem. In the mid-1990s, villagers who wanted to contract collective forests brought a contract. When they saw that the forest range contained the "Red Army Cave", Zhang Aihua refused to sign, and the contractor handed over the "benefit fee". She changed her face and told the other party the story of the land with righteousness.
The Dabie Mountains are rich in ore. Zhang Aihua and her husband Pan Guozhang rotate to the mountain every day to guard the "Red Army Cave". When they ran into someone who wanted to use explosives to open the mountain, she pounced on the stone where the explosives were placed, "If you want to explode the mountain, you will pass my level first." She used her life to protect revolutionary sites everywhere.
From the cold and the heat, the forests in the mountains have withered and green again, and Zhang Aihua has always remained unchanged. With the assistance of her lover Pan Guozhang, she patrols the mountains and builds roads, pays homage to heroes, and stops all kinds of acts of damaging the former site of revolutionary cultural relics more than 20 times. She travels back and forth about 50,000 miles on this rugged mountain road, which is equivalent to two thousand miles of Long March. She said, "I always remember what Chairman Mao said, 'It is not difficult to do good things by one person, what is difficult is to do good things for the rest of his life.'"
voluntarily guarding the mountain for 58 years is not enough, and a century-old plan is also set up. "The mountains and mountains are buried in loyal bones, and the ridges are all monuments." The land of heroes burns in the years of blood and fire. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xinxian County, with less than 100,000 people, gave birth to the lives of 55,000 children - this is the red stained with the blood of revolutionary ancestors. Zhang Aihua was born, grew up, and then protected this red. The blue stone tablet engraved with the "Red Army Cave" carries the glorious years and deep emotions of her life.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the economic conditions in rural areas were poor, and food and clothing were still a big problem. People often went up the mountain to bring the stones down and sold them for money and lay the foundation. "I don't let them take them. I told them that this was the place where the Red Army lived and was a cultural relics protection place, and they didn't believe it." Zhang Aihua said that before this monument was erected, he encountered great criticism in protecting the "Red Army Cave".
"No one can shake me." In order to "correct the name" of the revolutionary relics, Zhang Aihua often goes to the county cultural relics bureau and the township government. "I found the leader and said, "You must erect a monument here, and have a sign." For ten or twenty years, Zhang Aihua has been running around the road. She once wrote an article saying, "I cannot bring the deeds of the old revolutionary predecessors into my grave." After many twists and turns, the "Red Army Cave" was listed as a key cultural relics protection unit in Xinxian County in 1979. In 1981, the county cultural relics bureau issued her a "red book" - a voluntary cultural relics protection officer certificate.
In 2014, Zhang Aihua protected this place for the 50th year. This red land that embodies the mighty spirit of revolutionary heroes and shines with the light of revolutionary will was finally able to prove its story to the world. The moment the stone tablet was completed, Zhang Aihua stood beside the Red Army Cave and cried several times. In 2012, she was named "Outstanding Cultural Relics Protection Person" in Henan Province, in 2017, she was named "The Third Xinyang City Moral Model" and in 2018, she was named "Outstanding Communist Party Member" by the Xinyang Municipal Party Committee.
She wrote in her diary, "Green branches and green leaves are all over the mountains/numerous stone caves are inside/This is an important place for the revolution back then/Thousands of heroes have lived in person/The heads handed me over to my face to take care of/My black hair has left and white hair has added to me/I stick to the blood and sweat shed by the old predecessors here/This year for 50 years/Today's government erects the monument/Let the heroes pass on from generation to generation..."
poem written by Zhang Aihua when the monument was erected. Copy version
On September 16, 2019, Xi Jinping came to the Martyrs Cemetery and Revolutionary Museum of the Capital of Hubei, Henan and Anhui Soviet Area in Xinxian County to commemorate the revolutionary martyrs and comfort the revolutionary heroes. On this day, Zhang Aihua, a revolutionary descendant who guarded the "Red Army Cave", was also cordially received by General Secretary Xi Jinping. Zhang Aihua recalled that she was extremely excited to hold General Secretary Xi Jinping’s hand at that time.
In order to continue the story of "Red Army Cave", Zhang Aihua's home has become a special education base. On the exterior wall at the door is hung with the " Dabie Mountain Cadre College Teaching Point for Understanding the People's Contemporary People's Contemporary Teaching Point", and the old building next to it is the "New Era Civilization Practice Station". In 2021, Zhang Aihua's family won the honor of "The Most Beautiful Family in the Country".
Red gene education base next to Zhang Aihua's home
"I want to protect this place like a spring silkworm. The spring silkworms die and silk continue to die. There are still people who will follow me when I leave! General Secretary Xi Jinping talks about the spiritual genealogy and inheritance and promotion. I also want to pass on the protection and inheritance." The old man, who is over 80 years old, is in good spirits, "I have been voluntarily guarding the Red Army Cave for 58 years, and it will be handed over to future generations when I am 60 years old.I have four children who are willing to continue to protect the Red Army Cave and will be guarded for at least 100 years. This is my century-old plan to inherit the spirit of the Dabie Mountains. "
The sun shines on the towering Qingchuan of Dabie Mountains, birds flew past, and the "Red Army Caves" shone with revolutionary brilliance in the mountains. The old bodies under the bright national flag stand up high and the oath of protection in the revolutionary ruins every word is sonorous!
Zhengguan News Reporter Li Tao Shi Chuang Intern Reporter Song Yingyu Zhou Mengzhen
Editor: Liu Yao
Coordinator: Shi Chuang Li Jibo
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