I traveled to Luding County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan on the evening of June 28, 2022, and the next day visited the long-awaited scenic spot Luding Bridge. As we all know, Luding Bridge is famous at home and abroad because the Red Army flew to capture Luding Bridge and successfully crossed the Dadu River on May 29, 1935. Mao Zedong's "Qi Lu·Long March" only has eight lines of poetry to review the great Long March. There is also a couplet "The golden sands and water are warm on the clouds and cliffs, and the iron cables across the Dadu Bridge are cold." This shows the importance of Luding's "Iron Cable Bridge" in the Red Army's Long March.
Although I grew up on the banks of the Minjiang River in Wenchuan, I often passed by the Banqiao Cable Bridge in my youth. After all, I am getting older now, and the 103-meter-long Luding Cable Bridge across the river is "banging" due to the large number of people. , halfway through, he was exhausted and dizzy from the rough waves. Fortunately, he was helped to the bridge head by volunteers on the bridge and out of danger. It is conceivable that the Red Army was very heroic when they flew to seize the Luding Bridge, which had its deck removed and started to burn, under a hail of bullets.
Although I am not as comfortable crossing the bridge as others, I pay special attention to the historical role and achievements of Luding Bridge, perhaps better than many tourists in this regard. Near the bridgehead square on the east bank of Luding Bridge is an imperial stone tablet (nearly 6 meters tall and 4 meters wide) made by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. It is antique and is obviously an important cultural relic. The local government attaches great importance to it. It is fenced with iron sills, making it difficult for tourists to enter. Approaching, the inscription is in traditional Chinese characters in small regular script, which has been weathered for a long time and is difficult to read.
Fortunately, photography is now more convenient. My husband used a high-resolution mobile phone to reach into the iron sill as much as possible to take pictures. After returning home, I read carefully and learned about the details of the construction of the Luding Bridge (at the beginning of the 18th century). Luding Bridge is directly related to Yue Shenglong, the 20th grandson of Yue Fei (the 19th grandson of Yue Lin), but it was mostly unknown before. I asked several descendants of the Yue family, but they all said they had no details. Mr. Zhou Yuanlian, a senior expert on Qing history, especially the famous general Yue Zhongqi (Sheng Longzi) of the third generation of Qing Dynasty, passed away in recent years. I am unable to share and ask for advice, which is a pity. I searched on the Internet and found a lot of introductions about Luding Bridge, but the content of the Kangxi imperial inscription was not directly presented, that is, there were quotations, incomplete text, or errors. I am not afraid of the tedious work now, so I have punctuated the contents of Kangxi's "Imperial Documents" one by one based on the photos, and briefly explained them at the end of the article. This is for the pleasure of history buffs, especially the few newcomers from Bashu who are descendants of King Yue and who I have always been close to. They uphold the principle of "serving the country with all their loyalty", and as proven by this ancient text, they should feel that their family is "honored and proud"——
The Inscription of the Imperial Luding Bridge
Due to the weathering of the stele, individual words have been completely blurred and invisible, and cannot be identified from photos alone. This article was written with reference to Xia Yun's "The Inscription of the Imperial Luding Bridge" >Supplementary Analysis" ("Cultural Relics Appraisal and Appreciation, Issue 16, 2018"), but there are still some doubts about some words and there are obvious clerical errors, so I have corrected them here. I originally wanted to translate the ancient text into vernacular, but after breaking up the content of the inscription, I felt that the meaning was clear and clear, which seemed unnecessary. Readers can review it themselves based on the photos of the inscription. As far as the basic content is concerned, it is already clear at a glance. My transcription may not be complete and is for reference only. Kangxi not only made inscriptions on the imperial inscriptions, but was not afraid of trivial matters, and his heart for fighting was beyond words. He also inscribed "Luding Bridge" and "Guanyin Pavilion" (formerly known as Gada Temple) on the west of the bridge. They are still hanging on display and are important nationally protected cultural relics. This also shows how much the Qing Dynasty, especially the third generation of the Qing Dynasty, attached great importance to the reunification of the border and the people.
Cha Nengtai, a Manchu from Jilin, served as governor of Sichuan (1704-1709) for five years. Later, he was convicted of embezzlement (see "Manuscript of Qing History" for details: "The original governor Nengtai, as The governor is a member of the official and private faction, and he is not aware of the stolen money. He should be hanged and executed in the autumn. See "Sichuan Big Tiger Can Tai". The 20th grandson of Yue Fei, Yue Shenglong, had a good beginning and a good end, and made outstanding achievements in pacifying the southwest and northwest frontiers. In the 35th year of Kangxi's reign, he was promoted to the governor of Sichuan, and he managed Sichuan affairs together with Nengtai when he was the governor. Whether Nengtai has ever been to the remote Luding is a big question. Yue Shenglong was ordered to "dispatch divisions and brigades", and there is no doubt that Sichuan was familiar with geography when he led troops and governed the territory. Kangxi "I express my condolences", and the so-called "I would like to ask my minister (i.e. Admiral) Yue Shenglong to assess the situation", "assessing the situation" means to do on-the-spot investigation work, and 80% of it was done by Yue Shenglong himself in Sichuan. It's just that Nengtai is a governor and a Manchu, and his character is not good, so he takes the lead in the performance.
Regarding the naming of "Luding Bridge" instead of "Moding Bridge", there have always been two opinions in the academic circles. One is that Nengtai was "self-righteous" and the memorial regarded Mo Shui as Zhuge Liang's "Shi Shi Biao" The other is Lushui; the second theory is that the section above and below Luding of Dadu River (called Moshui in ancient times) is called Lushui (which is homophonic with the word "Lu" in Dajianlu). I prefer the second one, because along the Dadu River, there are historical sites and legends about Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms, and there are still tourist attractions about the Seven Captures of Menghuo. If we say that Neng Tai and his people are fatuous and do not check, Yue Shenglong led his army in the southwestern Sichuan frontier and experienced hundreds of battles, so there is no mistake. In ancient times, it would be a "crime of deceiving the emperor" to use place names indiscriminately. In fact, the Three Kingdoms in the history of the Han Dynasty are far away, and it is difficult to determine Zhuge Liang's whereabouts. I grew up under the city of Jiangwei, the ancient battlefield of the Three Kingdoms. There are also legends about the descendants of the Yue family in the ancient city of Weizhou, which will be discussed in another article.
The three generations of descendants of Yue Fei in the Qing Dynasty, Yue Zhenbang, Yue Shenglong, and Yue Zhongqi, were all brave and adept at fighting and had great achievements. Yue Zhongqi, in particular, experienced ups and downs and was a pillar of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties.
The inscription on Luding Bridge made by Emperor Kangxi has stood for three hundred years in the wind and rain, confirming the historical record of Yue Fei's descendants "serving the country with all their loyalty". On May 29, 1935, the First Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army captured Luding Bridge. They traveled 240 miles day and night from Ya'an Shimian Anshun Field to break through the enemy's blockades and bravely arrived. Guanyin Pavilion set up machine gun cover, and 24 Red Army warriors flew to capture it. Luding Bridge, the main force of the Red Army was able to pass smoothly, thus shattering Chiang Kai-shek's dream of annihilating the Red Army south of the Dadu River and creating a second Shidakai tragedy.
In other words, the Luding Bridge built under the supervision of Yue Shenglong, a descendant of Yue Fei in the 18th century, played a crucial role in the 25,000-mile Long March of the Red Army northward to resist Japan. Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and other great revolutionary leaders and generals as well as many heroic Red Army soldiers have passed through Luding Bridge and left their glorious footprints.
Luding Bridge - a bridge of national unity and stability, a bridge of successful revolution, and a bridge of tourist attractions.
Text/Zhang Fang at Taishou Zhai, South Gate, Sichuan University on July 2, 2022
Photography: Bingrui