Chapter 109 protection of cultural monuments

Sicheng stood at the door of his house, listening to the sound of guns and guns, and said to himself: "It's over now, it's all over!" He remembered what Mr. Zhu Qiqian, the founder of the Construction Society, said: Look, the palaces of all dynasties cannot escape the catastrophe of the 500-year cycle.The wooden structure of traditional buildings cannot withstand the artillery fire. The war was approaching, and he and Hui were worried because of those ancient buildings in Beijing. On December 19, the Kuomintang air force dispatched to bomb the artillery positions of the People's Liberation Army in the western suburbs of Beijing.Tsinghua Garden was shot in many places, and Yanda Weixiu Garden was also shot.The next day, schools were closed.A meeting of professors held in the Science Museum passed the protest against the bombing of the campus.

A notice from the Political Department of the Thirteenth Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was posted at the gate of the school, stating that the Chinese People's Liberation Army will protect people's lives and property from loss, and protect the cultural relics and historic sites of the school and temples from being destroyed. This morning, the maid Liu Ma returned to Liang's house from her own home. In the first two days, she went back to Chengfu Village in the outer suburbs because of something at home. As soon as she arrived at Liang's house, she talked about her encounter with the "Eighth Route Army" in the morning.

When Liu Ma opened the door in the morning, she saw teams in grass-green military uniforms everywhere in the village.According to neighbors, the team entered the village in the middle of the night.But so many people didn't even disturb a dog. Could it be that they are heavenly soldiers and generals? It was so cold that they couldn't even stretch out their hands when walking outside, but they slept half the night against the earthen wall of the alley.It seems that their men and horses are very thin.People in the village looked at Buluren and invited them in, but no one came in, and invited them to drink porridge, but no one drank.Even for drinking a bowl of boiled water, I had to thank and thank before accepting it.

Liu Ma excitedly said to Sicheng and Huiyin: "I have lived for more than 60 years, but I have never seen such a team. People say that the eight roads are good, but I usually don't believe it. Today I saw it with my own eyes. When I left the village, I saw some city people lining up and holding flags to welcome the team!" Huiyin and Sicheng listened excitedly to Liu Ma's story, and curiously asked her about various things about this army. It was a night that felt like something was going to happen, and there was tension and restlessness in the air.Zhang Xiruo led two soldiers in gray uniforms and leather hats to Liang's house.They performed standard military salutes to Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, and introduced themselves: "Professor Liang, we are entrusted by the siege troops of the People's Liberation Army to ask Mr. which cultural relics and buildings in the city need to be protected. Please mark them on this map." , so that our army's siege artillery fire can be avoided."

Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin were so excited, they didn't care to say anything more, and marked the important cultural relics and architectural complexes in Beijing one by one on the military map brought by the two soldiers, which was a culture they regarded as precious as life. remains.They cherish and are familiar with all of them, and almost without much thinking and looking up information, the locations of cultural relics and historic sites that need to be protected are accurately and detailedly marked. Before leaving, a soldier said to them: "Please rest assured, as long as we can protect cultural relics, we will not hesitate to shed blood and sacrifice!"

Seeing the hurried figures of the two uninvited guests disappear into the night, the chapters and sentences of "Mencius" that he had read in his childhood emerged in Sicheng's mind: "Eating pots of pulp to welcome Master Wang." He suddenly remembered that he forgot to ask person's name. It was late at night, and he and Huiyin couldn't fall asleep for a long time. The touch that the two soldiers brought to Sicheng and Huiyin remained in their hearts for a long time. "Such a political party, such an army, is trustworthy and worthy of support!" This is December 1948.This year, Liang Sicheng was 47 years old and Lin Huiyin was 44 years old.