Chapter 36 Mourning in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes

My company headquarters is the building closest to the Monument to the People's Heroes.I have been stationed next to the Monument to the People's Heroes for nearly 8 years, and I have a sense of reverence and nostalgia for the heroes of the people, especially those in the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation. The Monument to the People's Heroes, located in the center of Tiananmen Square, was completed in April 1958 and unveiled on May 1.The body of the stele is a huge stone with a length of 14.7 meters, a width of 2.9 meters, a thickness of 1 meter and a weight of more than 60 tons.The front (north side) of the stele is inlaid with eight gilt characters written by Chairman Mao Zedong, "The People's Heroes Are Immortal".On the back (south side) is an inscription drafted by Chairman Mao Zedong and inscribed by Premier Zhou Enlai: "In the past three years, the people's heroes who died in the People's War of Liberation and the People's Revolution will be immortal! This goes back to 1840 years, since then In order to fight against internal and external enemies for national independence and people's freedom and happiness, the people's heroes who sacrificed in previous struggles will be immortal!" The embossed garlands composed of five stars, pines, cypresses and flags on both sides of the stele symbolize the eternal revolutionary spirit of the people's heroes .The base of the monument is divided into two parts: pedestal and Xumizuo, with a construction area of ​​more than 3,000 square meters, a width of more than 50 meters from east to west, and a length of more than 60 meters from north to south.The base is more than 20 meters high, plus the body of the monument, the total height of the monument is 37.94 meters, and it is made of more than 17,000 pieces of granite and white marble.On the four sides of the girdle of the Xumizuo of the monument, there are 8 pieces of white marble with a height of 2 meters and a total length of more than 40 meters, including Humen’s destruction of cigarettes, Jintian Uprising, Wuchang Uprising, May 4th Movement, May 30th Movement, Nanchang Uprising, Anti-Japanese Guerrilla War and Battle of Crossing the River. There are about 170 figures in the large-scale relief, which profoundly express the historical facts of the Chinese revolution in the past century.

The pedestal of the monument is surrounded by white marble railings, and there are steps on all sides.At that time, visitors were allowed to climb up the steps, reach the pedestal, and admire the inscriptions and large reliefs from a close distance.Every day, tens of thousands of tourists from all over the country watch silently on the pedestal of the monument. No matter it is hot or cold, everyone is orderly. The expressions express condolences for the heroes and martyrs.On the premise of ensuring the safety of the monument, the sentinels of our battalion's monument guard squad, who are in charge of guarding tasks, try to create an atmosphere for tourists to express their mourning in silence.From winter to spring, the soldiers, in the cycle of the four seasons, braved the scorching heat and fought against the severe cold, silently guarding the Monument to the People's Heroes representing thousands of martyrs with great admiration for the martyrs.For more than ten years, not only the intactness of the monument has been guaranteed, but also the orderly visits of the people who pay their respects are guaranteed every day.

Whenever I have free time, I will go to the monument to look around, and I have different feelings every time.In countless viewings, I found that people, especially the elderly, stayed the longest in front of the relief of "Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Warfare", looked at it most carefully, and had the most serious expressions.Some had moist eye sockets, and some were talking to themselves, as if they were confiding in something.Most of the people who are touched by this are those who have personally experienced the cruel war, or those whose relatives were killed by little devils.Some of them were amazed by this vivid work showing the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians carrying out the anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare with broadswords, spears, rifles and grenades in the green gauze tent.I remember one day in 1973, Yang, a deputy head of our regiment, gave a revolutionary traditional education class to the cadres and soldiers of our battalion in the auditorium of the Ministry of Public Security. The story of the Japanese invaders.At that time, I was young and full of enthusiasm. After hearing the moving story of the leader of the regiment fighting devils in his hometown, I ran to the relief of "Anti-Japanese Guerrilla War" on the monument and stood there for a long time, determined to be a qualified revolutionary soldier.

Every Ching Ming Festival, many people spontaneously come to the monument and send the most holy flowers in their hearts to the reliefs, and the most flowers are placed in front of the two reliefs of "Anti-Japanese Guerrilla War" and "Crossing the River Battle".This is the infinite sorrow of the people for the countless heroes of the War of Resistance and the War of Liberation. On the Ching Ming Festival in 1976, the masses sent countless wreaths to the Monument to the People's Heroes with infinite sorrow for Premier Zhou, and layers of wreaths were stacked on the Xumizuo.This expresses people's infinite memory of Premier Zhou and their deep memory of the martyrs.

In the 1970s, many visiting foreign heads of state or government laid wreaths in front of the monument.Because I am a foreign dignitary, I have to send additional security personnel every time, and I have participated in these temporary missions many times.The foreign leaders who came to the north of the monument, with a solemn manner, smoothed the elegiac couplets on the wreaths that had already been placed, and bowed respectfully to the monument three times to express their resistance to foreign enemies and the establishment of a new China The high respect and deep condolences of the martyrs.Among the foreign friends who come to pay their respects to the monument, Japanese friends are the most.Subsequently, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, in order to guard against the revival of Japanese militarism, developed friendly exchanges with all walks of life in Japan under the premise of "never forgetting the past, and guide the future". In particular, they actively carried out non-governmental diplomacy with Japan.Therefore, a large number of middle- and upper-level friendly people in Japan who advocate taking history as a mirror to develop Sino-Japanese friendship led delegations to visit China, especially those student delegations, which numbered hundreds or even nearly a thousand.After they got off near the national flag in dozens of sedan cars, they happily took photos in front of Tiananmen Square, and then lined up to visit the monument.At that time, there was basically no tourism in our country, and I felt unfamiliar and curious about the groups of Japanese with small flags and tour guides holding small speakers and explaining in Japanese.In front of the relief of "Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Warfare", many Japanese students stayed here for a long time with serious expressions, and bowed deeply to the relief to express their repentance.