China News Service, Xichang, April 4th Question: "Three Days of Fright" at the Museum under the Mountain Fire: FireWire approaching less than 100 meters to transfer precious cultural relics overnight
Author Wang Peng Chen Xuanbin Liu Zhongjun
The fire was finally extinguished, and Deng Haichun could sleep well. In the three days the wildfire spread, he slept for less than 10 hours. Over the past few days, the 48-year-old Yi man has always stood on the rooftop, looking at the fire and the wind direction, "like Zhuge Liang."
Deng Haichun looked at the transferred artifacts. Photo by Liu Zhongjun
Deng Haichun is the curator of the Liangshan Yi Nationality Slave Society Museum. This museum on the mountainside of Lushan is not only the first national museum in China, but the only special museum in the world that reflects the social form of slaves. In the words of Deng Haichun, "it is also the spiritual home of the Yi people."
On April 2, the forest fire in Jingjiu Township, Xichang, Sichuan was extinguished. As of 17:00 on April 3, the mountain fire had not rekindled. The reporter saw Deng Haichun in the museum on the afternoon of the 3rd. He climbed a wooden ladder with his hands and feet and pointed to the green bar wood outside the fence. "Fortunately, we cleaned the surrounding ground leaves in advance, otherwise the fire will definitely burn from the ground. "
Recalling the museum's "Three Days of Fright", Deng Haichun clearly remembered every time. On the evening of March 30th, the fire reached the forest on the north side of the museum, a little further away. After the emergency closure and evacuation of the crowd, he began to monitor the fire and observe the wind direction, and arranged to withdraw more than 1,000 cultural relics in the exhibition hall to the warehouse.
On the evening of March 31, the mountain fire approached the museum. Photo by Liu Zhongjun
"At the beginning, the southern winds were not a threat to us. At around 2 am on the 31st, the wind direction changed abruptly, and the northern winds began to blow." After the wind direction changed, Deng Haichun stayed up all night. Fortunately, the fire did not increase. After dawn, rescuers started sending out helicopters to put out the fire, and controlled the fire at about 11:00 on the 31st.
But under the influence of wind, the mountain fire quickly reignited. At around 20 o'clock on the 31st, the fire had spread to the back of the museum, and was only 80 meters away from the surrounding wall. Fire rescue personnel use the museum's reservoir and fire station to resist the fire by spraying water to cool down. Deng Haichun was so anxious that he hoped to transfer some precious cultural relics to the foot of the mountain first.
There are 90 Chinese national first-level cultural relics, 138 Chinese national second-level cultural relics, 8 Chinese national third-level cultural relics in the museum, and a total of 256 precious cultural relics. Deng Haichun said that these are the essence of Liangshan Yi people's cultural relics.
On April 2, overlooking the museum. Photo by Liu Zhongjun
"We only had half an hour. When we arrived at the pavilion area, we obviously felt a heat wave." Deng Haichun recalled that the museum had been packed due to the blackout in the evening, and the packaged cultural relics were quickly transported to the 5 pickup trucks of the rescue team, and then Transported to Qionghai Hotel under the mountain. That night, in the light of the fire, the museum staff and rescue team transferred more than 400 cultural relics.
In fact, because the museum is located on a mountain, forest fire prevention has always been a top priority. Deng Haichun said that he had experienced two fires in 2007 and 2014, but the severity of the fire was much higher than the previous two. "In fact, when the pavilion was first built in 1985, the mountains were bare, and the woods were only found after the closure of the mountain for forestry."
On the evening of March 31, fire and rescue personnel sprayed water in the museum to cool down. Photo by Liu Zhongjun
The reporter saw the cultural relics that had been urgently transferred in the Qionghai Hotel on the afternoon of the 3rd. They were placed in a cool underground warehouse by security codes. Security personnel were on duty 24 hours. Deng Haichun checked the seals and boxes from time to time. He said that the museum has transferred a total of 3064 cultural relics. "These cultural relics are the trust of the Yi people. I have received too many messages from the Yi people these days. They are all asking if the cultural relics are safe."
"I belong to the Yi nationality. These are the cultural relics of the Yi nationality. The ancestors stayed." In the underground warehouse, the 38-year-old security chief Luo Muyouxia has been on duty for two days. He talked about cultural relics with an introverted personality, and his emotions were suddenly agitated. "I regard these cultural relics as an ancestor. My ancestors want to protect it and have (for) ancestors' memories." (End)