At the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains, a flowing "Tianhe" lies on the mountainside. This is the Hongqi Canal known as the "Miracle of the World".
Standing on the ridge of the canal, there is a steep cliff standing thousands of feet up, and a canyon up to a hundred meters deep down.
The canal water hangs in the air, flowing quietly.
In the 1960s, in order to end the ten-year history of nine droughts in Linxian County, Henan Province, 100,000 heroes and children built a 1,500-km-long "artificial Tianhe"-Hongqi Canal on the Taihang Mountain, which stands on ten thousand walls with thousands of peaks. The spirit of Hongqi Canal.
During the Fourth Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress, Xi Jinping pointed out when participating in the Henan delegation’s deliberations: “The spirit of the Red Flag Canal is a concentrated expression of the nature and purpose of our party. It will last forever and will never be outdated.”
"The channel nets the hilltops, and the clear water flows everywhere; the tap water to eat, the fish swim in the middle of the reservoir; the apples are everywhere, and the forest covers the ditch..." This is the yearning of the people of Linxian County, Henan Province for a better life in 1958.
Affected by climate, topography and geological conditions, Linxian County has thin soil and thick rocks and scarce water sources. In history, there are "nine droughts in ten years".
According to the 1995 edition of "Hongqi Canal History", before the construction of the Hongqi Canal, 307 of the 550 administrative villages in Lin County had difficulty drinking water for people and animals, and more than 100 villages had to run more than 5 kilometers to get water for food.
In order to realize the dream of "clear water flowing everywhere" and "life is better every day", in February 1960, more than 37,000 cadres and the masses rushed to the canal construction site, chopping hills, filling valleys, and digging canals.
△The youth commando team under the construction of Hongqi Canal
At that time, it was a difficult period of three years for the country. In the face of the “three no and one less” situation of no technology, no experience, no materials, and lack of materials, the Hongqi Canal Construction Site Party Committee proposed the policy of diligence and thrift to build canals and work hard to start a business: " Self-reliance is a magic weapon. Everyone gathers firewood and the flames are high. The construction of the canal cannot rely on the country, but rely on both hands to create it."
During the construction of the Hongqi Canal, the people of Lin County did not rely on the state, did not stretch their hands upwards, did not wait or depend on them-they had no tools to make themselves, no limes to burn themselves, no baskets to make themselves, no explosives to make them, and food was not enough to pick wild vegetables. , Xia Zhang River to fish for water and grass to satisfy hunger....
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Not afraid of hardships and perseverance, the people of Linxian chanted the heroic slogan: "Since the Foolish Man can move the mountain, how difficult is it for us to build the canal? Set up the Foolish Man to move the mountain and resolve to split the Taihang Mountain."
The construction site is the front battlefield, and the institutions, factories, mines, and rural areas are the rear positions. The front is open mountains and ridges, and the rear provides full support.
After 10 years, the 100,000 canal repair army carried forward the spirit of self-reliance, hard work, and unremitting struggle. It flattened 1,250 mountain tops, erected 151 aqueducts, and dug 211 tunnels, digging a winding "Canal of Hope" on the Taihang Mountain. .
△ Female stonemason on the construction site of Hongqi Canal
In July 1969, the Hongqi Canal project with a total length of more than 1,500 kilometers was completed.
In the ridges of the Taihang Mountains, there has been an "artificial Tianhe" that demonstrates the spirit of the Chinese nation since then, and it has been running to this day.
What goes by is time, what remains unchanged is spirit.
That year, Zhang Maijiang's father died while building the Hongqi Canal, and his mother sent the 13-year-old him to the canal construction site.
Zhang Maijiang is one of the smallest builders on the construction site and the youngest model worker in Hongqiqu.
After that, Zhang Maijiang devoted himself to the most difficult education undertaking in Linxian County at that time.
At that time, there was no decent school in the county.
He rushed around to appeal, mobilized the well-developed engineering team to donate funds to build schools, went to the northeast to "seeking help" for paper, and then back to Shanxi to "seeking" for printing textbooks.
The school is built, the children have books to study, and his hair is all white.
"As long as I am still alive, I will continue to talk about it." After retiring, Zhang Maijiang still maintained the true qualities of a model worker in Hongqi Canal. He traveled to most of China to tell the story of Hongqi Canal and moved countless people.
△Many tourists come to Hongqi Canal to visit and play
To his gratification, his son Zhang Xueyi took over his class and still guarded the red flag canal built by the blood and sweat of his ancestors.
"My father has been asking me to fix the canal. I must look after the canal well, protect the canal well, manage the canal well, use the water well, and do practical things for the people." Zhang Xueyi's simple words reveal a firm and persistent faith, and he is endless. The spirit of Hongqiqu has been passed down from generation to generation.
On September 25, 2019, the "Most Beautiful Struggler" commendation meeting was held in Beijing. 22 collectives including the Hongqi Canal builders were awarded the "Most Beautiful Struggler".
Nowadays, inspired by the spirit of the Red Flag Canal, Linzhou (the county was removed from the county after 1994 to set up Linzhou City) has "improved mountains and mountains, improved waters and rivers, and helped the poor to become rich." Taihang, Meitaihang" four steps, and was selected as one of the top 100 counties (cities) in the country's economic competitiveness.
△The main canal of Hongqi Canal bypasses a village
The time-honored spirit of the Hongqi Canal is engraved on every piece of Taihang Mountain stone and blended into every drop of the Hongqi Canal water.
This spiritual banner gathers strong positive energy and inspires the Chinese people to march forward courageously on the road to pursue their dreams.
Producer丨Wang Shanshan Zhang Ou
Producer丨Xing Lai Wu Xuan
Editor-in-chief丨Ning Lili
Editor Luan Xiyan
Vision丨Jiang Yuhang
Proofreading丨Yang Caiyun