Zhou Enlai’s hometown—Zhong Xiangyang’s travel notes series

Zhou Enlai's hometown

Huai'an, as a famous national historical and cultural city in my country, has a history of more than 2,200 years since Qin established the county. Because of its water transportation hub and salt transportation hub, it was once known as the "four major cities" along the canal along with Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou. , its rich history and prosperous economy have given rise to numerous talents. A number of celebrities were born here, such as the great military strategist Han Xin, Han Fu master Mei Cheng, the heroine Liang Hongyu, the author of "Journey to the West" Wu Cheng'en, the national hero Guan Tianpei, the author of "Lao Can's Travels" Liu E, etc. The most dazzling among them is ours. Dear Premier Zhou Enlai.

Before the Qingming Festival, it is the time when Chinese people pay homage to their ancestors by sweeping their tombs and remembering their ancestors. A group of seven of us first came to the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall. The Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall is located at No. 2 Taohuayin outside the north gate of Huai'an City. Entering from the south gate, you can see the rippling blue water of South Lake. You can go straight to the main hall along Huzhong Avenue. The bottom of the main hall is a square trapezoid. On the front of the hall are six golden "Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall" inscribed by Deng Xiaoping. The large characters, the body of the museum is an octagonal prism, and it is solemn and dynamic. According to the introduction of the tour guide, it means Premier Zhou's role in turning the tide of life and death for our party and army several times. Four huge granite pillars hold up the conical roof, which symbolizes It shows that the goal of building the four modernizations he proposed has become the four cornerstones of our country's socialist building. Climb the stairs and enter the main hall on the second floor. In the center is a white marble statue of Zhou Enlai. The statue is 3.2 meters high and the base is 1.5 meters high. It shows a moving image of our beloved Premier Zhou holding a long scroll in his hand and staring ahead with a smile.

The third floor is not yet open. Visitors will automatically go down to the first floor. The first-floor exhibition hall is divided into eight parts. Through rich and detailed historical documents and precious and diverse physical pictures, Zhou Enlai's glorious and great life is displayed. Closely connected to the main hall is the "human"-shaped annex hall, which symbolizes Premier Zhou's great and noble personality charm and implicitly expresses that Premier Zhou will always live in the hearts of the people.

Entering the annex, you are greeted by the heroic semicircular bronze statue of Premier Zhou. Premier Zhou is a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionist, statesman, militarist and diplomat. He is a member of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Mao Zedong as the core. An important member of the first generation leadership collective, one of the main leaders of the Communist Party of China, one of the main founders of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the founding father of the People's Republic of China.

Along the exquisitely arranged exhibition hall, we carefully looked at the photos and objects. Looking back on Premier Zhou's life, it can be said that he participated in the formulation and organization and implementation of almost all major decisions of the Party Central Committee in various historical periods, and contributed to the party's development. Every major victory is a result of hard work. His life course of more than half a century of struggle is a vivid epitome of the Chinese Communist Party’s history of never forgetting its original intention and keeping its mission in mind. It is also a vivid epitome of the Chinese people’s arduous exploration, continuous development, and triumphant progress on the path of revolution and construction chosen by themselves. Premier Zhou is a shining star of the Chinese nation in modern times, an immortal flag of the Chinese Communists, and a great man who has had a significant impact on the history of China and foreign countries in the twentieth century.

To the north of the annex is the Zhou Enlai Bronze Statue Square. The 7.8-meter-high bronze statue of Premier Zhou Enlai with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face implies the 78 spring and autumn years that Premier Zhou has walked through. The posture of the bronze statue is based on Premier Zhou's habitual movements when talking cordially with workers and farmers in the 1950s and 1960s, and its amiable and close feeling comes to the fore.

Begonia flowers are in full bloom on the west side of the Bronze Statue Square, and I can't help but picture the Prime Minister being sometimes cordial, sometimes serious, sometimes laughing, and sometimes frowning. I remember that Deng Yingchao wrote affectionately in his posthumous work "Memories of Begonia Flowers in the West Flower Hall": "You are no longer here, but every time the begonia flowers bloom, there are often flower lovers who come to see the flowers. In the flowers Before going down the tree, everyone admired the flowers while remembering you, as if you were still among us. You left this courtyard, left them, left us, and you will never come back. Where have you been..." The words are soaked in dialogue. Lots of love from the Prime Minister.

On the north side of the Bronze Statue Square is the imitation Zhongnanhai Xihua Hall. The West Flower Hall in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, is a typical building from the late Qing Dynasty. It is located in the northwest corner of Zhongnanhai. It was originally the West Garden of the Regent's Palace built by the last emperor Puyi for his father, the Regent Zaifeng, after he ascended the throne in 1908. It later served as the State Council of the Beiyang Government. During the Kuomintang period It is the municipal government of Peking Special City. Shortly after the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China entered Peiping in 1949, Premier Zhou Enlai and his wife moved into the Xihua Hall and used it as their office and living place. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Zhou Enlai's birth, with the approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a one-to-one replica of the hall was built in Huai'an, Zhou Enlai's hometown. It restored part of the West Flower Hall and displayed it according to the original scenes of the work and life of Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao during their lifetimes. It was officially opened to the public on March 5, 1998.

No. 7, Prince Consort Lane, less than two kilometers away from the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall on Haitang Road and Yinghua Road, is the former residence of Zhou Enlai. Above the street-facing bungalow with gray bricks and gray tiles are seven red letters "Former Residence of Comrade Zhou Enlai" inscribed by Deng Xiaoping. Entering this courtyard house, which has the typical residential architectural style of northern Jiangsu towns during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, I suddenly thought of my childhood home. Although it was not a courtyard house, the bungalow I lived in was basically similar. On the right is Zhou Enlai's childhood study room. Zhou Enlai entered a private school when he was five years old. He studied hard and diligently, and achieved outstanding results in word recognition, recitation, calligraphy and silent chanting, which initially revealed his intelligence.

The main hall is where Zhou Enlai's great-grandfather Zhou Guangxun and grandfather Zhou Panlong lived. Zhou Guangxun moved from Shaoxing, Zhejiang to Shanyang County, Huai'an (today's Huai'an District) in 1839, the 19th year of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty. His grandfather Zhou Panlong once served as the master of Huai'an Prefecture and the magistrate of Funing and Lianshui counties. The adjacent bungalow next to the main hall is the birthplace of Zhou Enlai.

There is a century-old elm tree in the courtyard in front of the main hall. Next to the tree is a well. Opposite is the house of Zhou Enlai's parents. At that time, Zhou Enlai's uncle Zhou Yigan was critically ill. In order to bring good luck and eliminate disaster, Enlai, who was less than one year old, was adopted by Yigan and Chen. . After his uncle died of illness, the young Zhou Enlai was raised by his aunt Chen. Chen was well-educated and good at poetry, calligraphy and painting, and gave Zhou Enlai a better ideological and cultural enlightenment education. This is why Zhou Enlai claimed to have "two mothers".

In the courtyard bungalows are the "Photo Exhibition of Zhou Enlai's Family Style" and the "Photo Exhibition of Zhou Enlai and His Hometown". In the southernmost courtyard is a century-old Guanyin Willow, which faces the eighth aunt's house. The eighth aunt Yang was the wife of Zhou Enlai's eighth uncle Zhou Yikui. Yang believed in Buddhism throughout her life and pursued "doing good deeds and accumulating virtue." She was Zhou Enlai's actual caregiver and guardian from 1908 to 1910. In 1950 and 1953, he was taken to live in Xihua Hall, Zhongnanhai, Beijing, twice by Zhou Enlai. Yang's living expenses and medical expenses in his hometown in his later years were all borne by Zhou Enlai.

From the eighth aunt's house, you pass through the back garden and the gallery of Zhou Enlai's calligraphy monuments to the exhibition room of Deng Yingchao's life and deeds in the north. After exiting, you return to Prince Consort Lane. Beside the lane is a "Wen Canal" with stone banks and particularly clear water. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Prime Minister once said: "A lot of my knowledge is gained from reading folk literature." I think Wenqu should be one of his first channels to the folk literature.