Shaoshan Travel Notes
Zhu Xidian
This year, the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival fall on the same day, and I fulfilled my wish to visit the holy land of Shaoshan. Our family drove from Xianning on the expressway, passed through Changsha, passed Xiangtan, and went straight to Shaoshan. When we arrived at the Shaoshan Visitor Center, the staff of the scenic area told us that we could only transfer to the scenic bus to enter the scenic area.
After arriving at the scenic spot, we first went to Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memorial Park. Enter through the south gate and exit through the east gate. The park uses reproduced objects and precious pictures to systematically introduce Chairman Mao's family history and the revolutionary process he has gone through, reproducing the revolutionary process and great achievements of the old man. I seemed to see the sparks of Jinggangshan. I seem to have seen the resolution of the Sanwan reorganization. I seem to have seen the light of the Gutian Conference and the Zunyi Conference. I was deeply moved by Chairman Mao’s great spirit and couldn’t help but bow three times in front of Chairman Mao’s statue.

Coming out of the Memorial Garden, walk down the street for about 300 meters, cross a small bridge, and walk south along the cement road on the mountainside for about 200 meters to reach the South Bank Private School.
Nan'an Private School is a building with blue bricks and blue tiles. It was the place where Chairman Mao studied when he was a child. As soon as I entered the private school, I saw a large painted portrait of Confucius hanging on the wall. On both sides there were wooden couplets with gold characters on a black background: "Learning without thinking will lead to indifference; thinking without learning will lead to peril." To the northeast of Confucius Tower is Mr. Wang's residence, which contains an old-fashioned carved bed, a master's chair, a desk and an ancient painting. The couplets on both sides read: "Excellence in work is due to diligence and waste in play; success is achieved in thinking and ruined in following."
Go out from Nan'an Private School, walk eastward for more than ten meters, go up a few steps, and you will arrive at the entrance of Chairman Mao's former residence. I saw people everywhere in the square, on the road, and under the woods. It was really a sea of ​​people. It was only about a hundred meters from the entrance to the former residence. We started queuing at 12:30 noon and didn't arrive at Chairman Mao's former residence until 3 p.m.

Chairman Mao's former residence is an ordinary farmhouse in the south of the Yangtze River. Sitting south and facing north, it is a "concave"-shaped building with a civil structure. The locals call it "a load of firewood". As I approached the former residence, I saw seven golden characters "Former Residence of Comrade Mao Zedong" shining brightly on the plaque on the door. Entering through the gate, you can see that there is a shrine on the south wall, which houses the ancestral tablets and Guanyin, the God of Wealth. Entering the kitchen again, you can see the earth stove and fire pit. From the kitchen to the east across the horizontal room, you can reach the bedroom of Chairman Mao's parents. There is a bed and a cabinet in the room, and the portraits of Chairman Mao's parents are hung on the east wall. Chairman Mao's bedroom is adjacent to his parents' bedroom. There is a bed with a tung oil lamp hanging beside the bed, and the furnishings are extremely simple. There is an opening on the top floor of Chairman Mao's bedroom, which can be climbed up by stairs. It is said that Chairman Mao held a secret meeting upstairs. From Chairman Mao's bedroom to the inside, there is a patio about 7 meters long. The southwest corner of the patio is the bedroom of Chairman Mao's younger brother Comrade Mao Zetan. His younger brother Comrade Mao Zemin's bedroom is at the end of the whole building. The green shade can be seen through the windows. Green mountains and forests.
According to the commentator: Chairman Mao’s former residence is located in Tuchong, Shaoshan Village, Shaoshan Township. The place name is Shangwuchang and there are 18 houses in total. The thirteen small blue-tiled houses on the east side belong to Chairman Mao's house, and the four thatched houses on the west side belong to his neighbor's house, which is shared by the two families in the middle hall. Chairman Mao was born here on December 26, 1893, and spent his childhood and youth here. In the autumn of 1910, Chairman Mao was 17 years old. With the ambition of saving the country and the people, he went out to study. Before leaving, he wrote the famous "Poetry for Father": "The child is determined to leave his hometown, and he will never return it until he succeeds in his studies. Why bury his bones in his hometown? There are green mountains everywhere in life!" and placed this poem with him. In the account book that my father must read every day to say goodbye.

After visiting the former residence, go out from the east end, walk through a small pond, go up a slope, and come to Shaiguping, which is the place where Chairman Mao worked when he was a child.
Go downhill from Shaiguchang, pass through the fields, enter the fields eastward, and come to a hill. A tall and majestic stone archway stands at the foot of the mountain. We walked up the stone steps under the archway halfway up the mountain and arrived at the tomb of Chairman Mao's parents, covered by green pines. There is nothing special about the tomb and the surrounding graves. People laid flowers and bowed to the tombs of the Chairman's parents. Next to the tomb is engraved "Essay on Mother's Worship" written by Chairman Mao. After I read the memorial text, I couldn't help but think of Chairman Mao's couplet for my mother: "Sick and dying, I still care about my son infinitely, and all the regrets must be made up for. If I live a new life and learn Buddhism, I can't pass away. Where can I find a kind face?" One article and one couplet, between the lines. It expressed Chairman Mao's immense gratitude and infinite sorrow for his great mother.
After paying homage to the tombs of Chairman Mao's parents, follow the original path down the mountain, and then walk along the road opposite the door of Chairman Mao's former residence toward the entrance of the village. Along the way, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the village while walking. The small mountain village is surrounded by green mountains and dotted with farmhouses. The golden rice fields in the village keep nodding in the breeze, as if welcoming tourists like us from afar. As we approached the lotus pond in front of Shangwuchang, a gust of autumn wind blew, and the lotus leaves in the pond seemed to be waving to us. Looking from afar, Chairman Mao's former residence has green bamboos and pines behind the house, and the green lotus and golden rice in front of the house make the tiles look greener and the walls more yellow. What a picture of autumn colors in a mountain village!

Under the lotus pond is a larger pond. The pond water is crystal clear and sparkling. It borders the Nan'an Private School to the south and the village entrance road to the west. It is the place where Chairman Mao often swam when he was a boy.
Walk about 200 meters south along the village entrance road and you will arrive at Mao Zedong Square. There is a huge landscape stone at the entrance of the square. On the stone is written: "China has a Mao Zedong" in eight red characters, which is particularly eye-catching. Looking south, the bronze statue of Chairman Mao stands tall at the end of the square, as if it is higher than the green hills behind it. We walked slowly along the central axis of the square towards the bronze statue of Chairman Mao. There are six small landscape stones on both sides, each of which is engraved with a poem or lyric by Chairman Mao. Further outside, there are rows of flower beds on the left and right, planted with holly, camellia, rose... and other flowers and trees. The square is lined with pine and cypress trees.

As I walked, I thought: Without Chairman Mao, there would be no New China, and we would not have the happy life we ​​have today. It was Chairman Mao who led the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people to overcome numerous difficulties and dangers after many setbacks and failures, and finally achieved victory in the revolution and founded New China. Turn a dark old China into a bright new China; turn an old China that is divided and the people are in dire straits into a strong and unified new China where the people live and work in peace and contentment; turn a semi-feudal and semi-colonial old China into a people-led A new China that is the master of its own affairs. Chairman Mao's kindness is higher than mountains and longer than water.

After thinking about it, I followed the crowd to the viewing platform and came to the bronze statue of Chairman Mao. There were wreaths placed around the bronze statue, and the five big characters "Comrade Mao Zedong" on the red base shone with golden light. Looking up at the bronze statue of Chairman Mao: backed by green mountains and facing his former residence. He has a tall figure, a book in his hand, and is wearing a Chinese tunic suit. Look ahead and smile. We stood in front of the statue of Chairman Mao and bowed respectfully three times. Then we walked along the road east of the square to the Mao Clan Ancestral Hall. This is where Chairman Mao held a peasant night school and his wife, Comrade Yang Kaihui, gave lectures here.
It was almost dusk when we left Mao's Ancestral Hall and walked out of the square. We couldn't go to the Dishui Cave scenic spot, so we had to take a bus and reluctantly leave the Shaoshan Scenic Area.
The car drove like an arrow on the highway, racing with the high-speed train leaving Shaoshan. Along the way, I saw the rapid changes in the motherland, the increasingly prosperous country, and the increasingly prosperous Chinese people. I couldn't help but recite a poem:
Driving towards the great man’s hometown,
There are green bamboos hiding in several rooms of the farmhouse.
The lotus pond is full of water and has green leaves,
The valleys and fields are shining with golden light.
The fire is red and the family affection is thick,
The swarthy desk smells like textbooks.
For seventeen years, I have lived in a precious land.
The sun rises slowly in the east.

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