Chapter 32 32. Living Buddha became a friend of atheists

After the cuckoo left, the willow tree was half empty; the willow tree was half empty, I was not worried, I was worried that the cuckoo left. ... After the Red Army left, half of the stockade was empty; half of the stockade was empty, I don't worry, I worry about the Red Army leaving. This emotional song sang the Tibetan people's nostalgia for the Red Army and the Tibetan people's feelings for the Red Army.More than half a century has passed, and now in Tibetan areas, some of the slogans left by the Red Army are still clearly visible, telling people the stories that once happened here.

After the meeting at Lianghekou, the troops of the First and Fourth Front Army of the Red Army moved out one after another, and marched northward in separate routes, entering Zhuokeji, Heishuiluhua, Maoergai, Aba and other places successively.The northwestern Sichuan and Xikang areas are inhabited by Tibetans, who account for about 60 to 70 percent of the total population.Improving ethnic relations with the Tibetan people became the primary issue for the Red Army to fight and survive in this area. Tibetans are distributed in my country's Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan and other places.There is a local saying: "Officials live in the people, the people live in slopes, and the man's family lives in the mountain nest." "Man's family", also known as "Fanmin", is a term inherited from history that discriminates against Tibetans.Most of them live scattered in mountainous areas, engaged in agricultural and animal husbandry production, self-sufficient, and have little contact with the outside world.Twenty or thirty households form a village, and the village is usually built on the top of a high mountain with few people.The folk houses are built of stones, and are generally layered. The upper layer is for Buddha and sun-drying grains, the middle layer is for living and cooking, and the bottom layer is for cattle, sheep, horses, etc.

The big chieftain of Aba is the supreme ruler of Tibetans in northwestern Sichuan. There are chieftains of different sizes in various places to exercise ruling power.The big chieftain has to pay tens of thousands of taels of silver to the Chengdu warlords every year.The common people need to pay tribute to the chieftains in money and goods every year, and undertake all kinds of labor, and live in extreme poverty.Slavery is prevalent in this area, and each chieftain's family has more than 10 "wazi" (slaves) for exploitation and service.Slaves have no personal freedom, and the slave masters are free to kill them.If the slave owner drew a circle, the slaves would not dare to go beyond the circle, which is really "drawing the ground as a prison".

Zhuo Keji's Tusi Palace: Zhuo Keji is one of the seven chieftain palaces in Xiaojinchuan built by Emperor Qianlong of the former Qing Dynasty.The Tusi Palace is built at the confluence point of the two rivers, facing the rapids in front and leaning against the steep mountains in the back. On a stone square platform 8 feet high and 10 feet wide, there are 4 tall buildings.The front building has 2 floors, and the left, right, and rear buildings are all 4 floors. Standing in the surrounding mountains, it has become a unique landscape painting in Lifan.The first and second floors of the palace are the chieftain's kitchen, storage room, and servant's bedroom.The third and fourth floors are very ornately decorated, with glass windows on all sides, and all the doors and wall panels are exquisitely carved.The right building has several rooms with the most exquisite furnishings. There are antique shelves along the walls, and inside the shelves are antiques made of magnetic copper and jade.The beds, desks, and benches in the room are all exquisite wooden furniture.This is probably the chieftain's bedroom.There are wooden kangs in the two rooms of the left building, and all the tables and stools are elegantly decorated. This is probably the bedroom of the chieftain's subordinates.On the back building is the Great Buddha Hall, which contains Buddha statues, Buddhist curtains, bronze drums and many Tibetan scriptures, all of which are placed on the scripture shelves in an orderly manner.The murals on the two walls have been blackened due to the age, and it is impossible to identify the ancient paintings of which dynasty.The left and right buildings each have a small Buddhist hall. On both sides of the hall, there are bright and beautiful murals. Although they were painted in modern times, the horses, elephants, lions, tigers, heroes and armor in the paintings all have vivid postures.It is really rare to have such a high level of art treasures in this area.The chieftain's reception room is inscribed with the words "Shu decoration building", and there is one and other Chinese books on his desk, which shows that he was influenced by Han culture.It is said that Suo Guanying, the chieftain, had studied at Chengdu University and had a deep friendship with Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui and others.

Tibetans believe in Lamaism and worship Living Buddhas and Lamas.There are Buddha statues in every house, and there are lama temples in every village. Lamas wearing red robes can be seen everywhere on the streets.There are iron lamas who maintain discipline in the lama temple. Those lamas who are wandering in the street will run away in fright when they hear the iron lama coming.Lama temples and Lama residential buildings are more exquisite.A lamasery is very much like a school, where lamas chant scriptures for years and months.Sometimes lamas are also like an organized army, most of them use weapons and often conduct organized military operations.Among the local residents, lamas are superior in terms of knowledge and ability. People have to rely on lamas for animal husbandry, construction, and medical treatment.Great lamas such as the living Buddha Hutuktu are the leaders of the unity of religious regimes.A living Buddha is a "living god".Tibetans usually don't kowtow when they see chieftains, they only need to take off their hats and look down, but they have to kneel and kowtow when they see living Buddhas.This shows the status and influence of Lamaism in Tibetan areas.

When entering Tibetan areas, the various units of the Red Army encountered for the first time local residents who were hostile to them.The Red Army ran into trouble in this area and suffered unexpected losses.The Red Army took the money, but couldn't buy food; they had guns in their hands, but the "enemy" couldn't see them.These Tibetans, because they did not understand the situation, retreated and hid in the mountains.They took away everything in the house, transported away everything that could be eaten, and drove cattle, chickens and other livestock and poultry into the mountains and forests, and almost evacuated the entire area.Without supplies, the Red Army ran out of salt, food and fodder panic ensued. Two meals a day of vegetables, buckwheat, and yams could not be guaranteed. Many troops often only ate one meal a day, and some troops ate half full each meal.We had no choice but to save, and divided the two days of food into three days to eat.

Half a mile away on both sides of the road is very unsafe.Many Red Army soldiers took the risk to let a sheep graze, and never came back.These mountain people lie in ambush in the deep mountains and dense forests, attacking the advancing "intruders".They climbed up the high mountain, and when the Red Army lined up to walk through the deep and narrow stone road—where sometimes only one or two people could walk side by side—the Tibetans came from the mountain. Roll down large boulders and attack Red Army soldiers and livestock.At night, these locals took advantage of their familiarity with the terrain to set fire to their houses and bludgeon their guns, disturbing the Red Army's restless night.

From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the rulers implemented a policy of discrimination against the Tibetans, which made the relationship between the Tibetan and Han ethnic groups very bad.At that time, Liu Wenhui, the warlord who ruled Xikang, cruelly plundered Tibetans and occupied gold mines and medicine mountains (the area produces famous medicines such as musk, Chinese caterpillar fungus, and rhubarb). This caused the Tibetans to feel extremely hostile towards the Han people.When the Red Army first arrived in the Tibetan area, there was no way to explain the Red Army's ethnic policy, so the above-mentioned things happened.

In order to understand the ideological work of the Tibetan compatriots and allow the Red Army to go northward, according to the instructions of the Party Central Committee and Mao Zedong, the Red First and Fourth Front Army strictly implemented the party's ethnic policy and posted notices to protect Tibetans.They do not occupy houses arbitrarily, and do not use Tibetan things at will. When there is a shortage of food, they would rather go to the mountains to pick wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger.When the highland barley in the field was ripe, the Red Army would not harvest it at will; Write down the amount of wheat harvested and the reason for harvesting the wheat. Tibetans can hold a wooden card to receive wheat money from the Red Army troops.When the Red Army ate the Tibetans’ food and used the Tibetans’ firewood, they would pay the full amount, or write an IOU, and leave it there.The Red Army also cleaned up the garrison, and some troops put up sheets and camped under the trees.

Regarding the harvesting of wheat in the local Tibetan fields, the General Political Department of the Red Army made the following regulations: (1) The troops are only allowed to send people to Fanren's fields to harvest ripe wheat when they cannot obtain food by other means. (2) When harvesting wheat, the chieftains were the first to harvest, and only when absolutely necessary, did they harvest the wheat of the Fans. (3) When harvesting wheat from ordinary Fan people, the amount harvested, the reason for harvesting wheat, etc. (according to the note issued by the General Administration Office) must be written on a wooden sign with ink and inserted in the field.When Fanren came back, he could take the wooden sign to get the food money back from the Red Army.

(4) Only harvest ripe wheat and other grains, and it is strictly forbidden to harvest immature wheat and yams. (5) When harvesting wheat, it should be uprooted or cut with a sickle. The whole wheat field should be harvested cleanly. ... Occasionally, some Tibetans came back and were deeply moved after learning about the specific situation.So they told each other, and the fear gradually disappeared, and some Tibetans who had been hiding out came back one after another.Later, they came to condolences to the Red Army in groups with tsampa in their hands, and also mended the soldiers' shoes.The good influence of the party and the Red Army among the masses expanded rapidly.At this time, the Red Army helped the masses harvest the mature barley, and at the same time called on the Tibetans to unite against the oppression and exploitation of the Kuomintang warlords and corrupt officials. The Red Army also helped them organize the Tibetan Revolutionary Government. The Tibetan people have seen with their own eyes that the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army are truly seeking liberation for the working people, and they gradually support the Party and the Red Army from the bottom of their hearts. In mid-to-late August, the Red First and Fourth Fronts were divided into two groups, left and right, and began to enter the grassland, advancing northward.Before entering the grassland, it is necessary to raise food and prepare for the grassland.As a result, the Tibetans voluntarily assisted the Red Army in food collection and transportation. When the Red Army finished its task of raising food and left Zhuokeji, Maoergai and other places, the Tibetan people reluctantly came to see them off.They said: "You are so kind, why did you leave? You left, we don't know what will happen in the future." The party and the Red Army left a deep impression on the Tibetans and sowed the fire of revolution. The Red Army has strict military discipline and does not show favoritism.In the face of the iron discipline of the Red Army, the prince broke the law and should be guilty of the same crime as the common people.Having said that, it is necessary to mention an incident when passing through Tibetan areas. He Zizhen's younger brother, He Minren, followed his sister to participate in the revolution, and served as a soldier in the guerrilla led by Huang Gonglue. When the "red expansion" was "expanded", it was changed to the Sixth Red Army, and he served as a small bugleman in the Red Army.Like his elder sister He Zizhen, he is very beautiful. People jokingly call his name "Minren" a "beauty" and jokingly call him "the brother-in-law of the Red Army".The young man is bright and bright, but a little free-spirited, a little arrogant, and maybe a little bit superior because of his sister's status, so he doesn't get along very well with the people around him. During the Long March, he served as a bugleman in a regiment.He was young and had low political consciousness. He couldn't bear the hardships of the Long March, and he liked to complain when he was hungry.After the Red Army arrived at Maoergai, the area where Tibetans lived, they repeatedly ordered them to abide by the "Three Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" and strictly abide by the ethnic policy.When passing a Lama Temple, the Red Army soldiers found that the Tibetans left some silver coins and copper plates when they fled. The soldiers saw that no one dared to move, but He Minren ignored these, picked up some silver coins and copper plates and ran out. You can use it to buy some food.But this matter was soon reported to the regiment headquarters, and the charge was that he broke into the temple and robbed the people's money without authorization, and someone reported that he had stolen more than 1,000 yuan.So the division headquarters tied him up and wanted to shoot him.He Minren said it was unfair, and he only took a hundred and ten copper coins instead of more than 1,000.Some people say that taking 100 yuan is as bad as taking 1,000 yuan, and iron discipline must be enforced. No matter who it is, it should be severely punished.He begged a Yongxin fellow who joined the army with him to write a letter to his sister He Zizhen to report the situation and save his life.But the letter has not had time to write.At that time, the head and political commissar of the regiment that He Minren was in advocated sending a telegram to Mao Zedong to report the incident.At that time, it was very troublesome to send a telegram. The battery had to be charged before the telegram could be sent. Sometimes the battery was not fully charged and the telegram could not be sent. In short, sending this telegram was delayed for some time.The political commissar of the division believes that the discipline of the Red Army should be maintained, and it must be implemented immediately.As a result, when the telegram from the Military Commission came back, indicating that the execution should be postponed, he had already been shot. This shows the iron-like discipline of the Red Army.But after investigating the incident, it was found that although He Minren's mistake was serious, he did not take that much money, and it was impossible to take that much money.Even the strongest porter can only pick seven or eight hundred silver dollars, and he can't take more than 1,000 silver dollars.Besides, he only carried a small backpack and a small army blanket with him, and there was really nowhere to put so many silver coins.The fighters with him reported that he took one or two yuan.Because what I took was copper plates, one hundred copper plates was worth one yuan. The Red Army won the trust of the Tibetan people by virtue of being selfless and strict in military discipline. Finally, it won the understanding and support of the Tibetan people and passed through the Tibetan area smoothly.