Pingxingguan battle site

Pingxingguan battle site

Pingxingguan battle site is located in caijiayu, Xiaozhai and Guangou, Xinjie and paochi areas of baiyatai Township, southwest of Lingqiu County, Southeast of Datong City, Shanxi Province. It is composed of Pingxingguan battle site, memorial hall, Monument and general square. It is about 5 kilometers away from Pingxingguan, the ancient changchengguan pass. The site is located in a natural gully with steep cliffs on both sides, tens of meters high and dangerous terrain. The road winds around it.

The battle of Pingxingguan took place in the middle of September 1937. It was a battle in the battle of Taiyuan. The commanders of this campaign were Yan Xishan and Lin Biao, the commanders of the second world war area of the national government, and the participants were Japan and China. This was a campaign in which the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated, resisted foreign enemies together, and cooperated with each other quite tacitly.

In 1961, Pingxingguan battle site was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council; in 2005, it was named "national patriotic education demonstration base" by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee. In 2014, it was listed in the first batch of national anti Japanese War Memorial facilities and sites by the State Council.

Historical evolution

Pingxingguan is located in baiyatai Township, Lingqiu County, Datong City, Shanxi Province. It is on pingxingling, the boundary between Lingqiu and Fanzhi. It is a pass of the inner Great Wall. In 1511, when the inner Great Wall was built, it passed through pingxingling and built guanlou on Guanling. Pingxingguan city is located at the south foot of pingxingling mountain (now Pingxingguan village, Hengjian Township, Fanshi county). It is square in shape and more than 900 feet in circumference. There is a gate in the north, South and East, with three characters "pingxingling" engraved on the forehead. Pingxingguan is located in the east of Yanmen pass. It was called pingxingzhai in ancient times and got its name from the surrounding terrain. In the Jin Dynasty, it was a bottle shaped Town, which was called Pingxing Lingguan in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was a garrison in history. Ming Dynasty is an important pass of the inner Great Wall. In the sixth year of Zhengde in Ming Dynasty (1511), when the inner Great Wall was built, it passed through pingxingling, on which Guancheng was built, named Pingxingguan. As an important pass on the inner Great Wall defense line in Ming Dynasty, Pingxing pass was connected with Zijingguan in the East and Yanmen pass in the west, which became one of the important barriers to defend Mongolian cavalry.

Site features

The Pingxingguan battle site is connected with Hengshan Mountain in the north and Wutai Mountain in the south, with undulating peaks, crisscross gullies, deep valleys and protruding dangerous rocks. A gorge mountain road, seven kilometers long, connects Hebei Province in the East and Yanmen in the West. The terrain is dangerous. Guancheng is located on the mountain, square, with a circumference of more than 3000 meters. Tower towering, about eight meters high, North and south each set a door. In the past, there were all urn cities, but now there is only North urn city. In the middle of the city, there is a cross street building. In the old days, there was a prominent anti military yamen, but now it has been converted into civilian houses. 2.5km to the east of the city is the gate. There is a large stone tablet inside the gate, engraved with three big characters of "Pingxingguan", and the font is vigorous and steep. In the south of the city, there is a beacon tower in the East and West, which can be seen from afar. In the north of the city, there is the Dalang city site, which is said to be the residence of Yang yanzhao, a song general.

Pingxingguan city is located at the mouth of pingxingling. The perimeter of the city is more than 1km, and the residual height is 6m. The gate faces east in the West. The gate opening is built by the method of alternating the gate with the gate. It is 4 meters high, 2.7 meters wide and 2.7 meters thick. Today, the gate building has been destroyed. The inscription "pingxingling" is written on the plaque in the city, and the Ming Great Wall remains on both sides of the ridge. In the north of Pingxingguan, Mount Hengshan stands like a screen, while in the south, Mount Wutai stands towering, with an altitude of more than 1500 meters. There is not a wide graben type lowland between the two mountains. The Pingxing ridge where Pingxingguan is located is a part of the uplift in this belt type lowland, so the situation is very dangerous. Because Hengshan and Wutai are both fault block mountains, which are very steep and become a huge traffic barrier in northern Shanxi, this strip lowland has become the most convenient channel connecting northern Hebei plain and Shanxi. An ancient east-west road passes through the pingguan City, connecting the Zijingguan pass in the west of Beijing in the East and Yanmen pass in the west, forming a solid defense line. It is an important vassal screen in the west of Beijing. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the capital was peaceful.

Main buildings

overview

The battle site of Pingxingguan includes the monument to the great victory of Pingxingguan, the command post of the 115th division, the pass of Pingxingguan, the Battle Memorial Hall, the main battlefield Qiaogou, Laoye temple, Dengfeng temple, the general square, the yimaling battle site, etc.

Pingxingguan great victory monument

The monument to the great victory of Pingxingguan is located on the lime ridge, 1km to the east of the memorial hall. It was built on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the great victory of Pingxingguan in 1997. There are eight characters of "Pingxingguan great victory monument" inscribed by Yang Chengwu's Veteran General on the yang side of the tablet, and the inscription on the Yin side of the tablet describes the fighting process and great significance of Pingxingguan great victory. The base height of the monument is 1.15 meters, which means the 115th division of the Eighth Route Army. The height of the base and the body of the monument are 1.37 meters and 9.25 meters respectively, indicating that the great victory of Pingxingguan took place on September 25, 1937.

115 division command post

The command post of the 115th division is located on the top of the Qilian Mountain in the southeast of the Pingxingguan battle site. A white marble stele stands in the pine forest, on which is written: command post of the 115th division.

Pingxingguan pass

Pingxingguan is a pass of the inner Great Wall, which is located at the junction of Hebei and Shanxi provinces. It is named because it is shaped like a bottle. It was called pingxingsai in Song Dynasty, pingxingzhen in Jin Dynasty, pingxingzhai in Yuan Dynasty, pingxingling in Ming Dynasty and Pingxingguan in Qing Dynasty. To the west, through tuanchengkou and ruyuekou, it connects with Yanmen pass, Ningwu pass and Pianguan pass; to the East, niubangkou and langyakou are connected with daomaguan, Zijingguan and Juyong Pass.

Qiaogou

Qiaogou is the main battlefield of Pingxingguan great victory. It is located on a gentle slope on the east side of Pingxingguan highway of inner Great Wall. Beside the highway, there is a white marble stele, which reads: Qiaogou, the main battlefield of Pingxingguan great victory. Qiaogou is 4km long, northeast to southwest, with dangerous terrain and a depth of 10m to 100m. The ancient canyon road is only three or five meters wide and can only accommodate a single truck. On both sides of the ancient road are dangerous rock cliffs cut like knives, and on the top is a relatively gentle bank. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, it has been an important traffic route from Beijing to Hebei to Taiyuan.

Master Temple

The commanding point of Laoyemiao is located in the northwest of Qiaogou. The Laoyemiao is a small temple built by local people according to the mountain. It is low in the front and high in the back. It is the commanding point of the gully. A gentle slope in front of the temple extends to the southeast. Laoye temple was listed as the site of Pingxingguan battle by the State Council on March 4, 1961.

General square

Located in the center of the Pingxingguan battle site, the general square is connected with the main building of the memorial hall by 115 marble steps, which is intended to commemorate the 115th division of the main fighting force. On the front of the square are 10 bronze statues of Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Chen Guang, Xu Haidong, Xiao Hua, Yang Dezhi, Li Tianyou, Zhang Shaodong, Chen Jinxiu and Yang Chengwu. On both sides of the bronze statue stands 10 white jade cultural walls, engraved with inscriptions, poems and speeches of 18 leaders of the Central Military Commission and the Eighth Route Army, including Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Wang Jiaxiang, Peng Dehuai, Ren Bishi and Nie Rongzhen, as well as generals at all levels, on the great victory of Pingxingguan. Chairman Mao Zedong's inscription of "Celebrating the first victory of our army" is very eye-catching. In the north of the memorial hall and at the entrance of Qiaogou, the main battlefield of Pingxingguan great victory, there is a gate square.

Yimaling battle site

Yimaling battle site is located at the junction of dongyimaling, yaozhan village, luoshuihe Township, Lingqiu County and Laiyuan County, Hebei Province. It is an important pass, 30km away from Lingqiu County, 1384.9m above sea level. On September 25, 1937, Yang Chengwu's independent regiment of the 115th division successfully blocked the Japanese troops in Pingxingguan according to the unified deployment of the division headquarters. More than 400 people were annihilated and a large amount of military materials were seized, which ensured the victory of the division's main force in the ambush at Pingxingguan. It was an important part of the Pingxingguan campaign. At present, General Yang Chengwu's inscription "waist standing battle monument" stands 1 km south of the village. In 1995, the county Party committee and the county government raised funds to build a memorial Pavilion.

Major exhibitions

Pingxingguan grand victory memorial was built in 1969 with a building area of 825 square meters and an exhibition area of 163.2 square meters. It was renovated and expanded on a large scale in 2006. At present, the exhibition area is 2134 square meters, and the basic exhibition consists of a preface hall, a main exhibition hall with three independent units and a half view gallery. It is divided into four parts to introduce in detail the national crisis, the Eighth Route Army's Anti Japanese War, the great victory of Pingxingguan's first battle and its great significance and far-reaching influence, remembering the history and carrying forward the spirit of Pingxingguan. Among them, the first exhibition hall mainly introduces the historical background and pre war situation of Pingxingguan victory; the second exhibition hall mainly introduces the process of the first battle of Pingxingguan victory of the Eighth Route Army; the third exhibition hall mainly introduces the significance and influence of Pingxingguan victory and the general's evaluation of Pingxingguan victory.

Cultural relic value

On September 25, 1937, the main force of the 115th division of the Eighth Route Army ambushed the Japanese troops who invaded Taiyuan in Qiaogou line on the east side of Pingxingguan. After more than six hours of bloody battle, they annihilated more than 1000 enemy troops and seized a large number of military materials. This was the great victory of Pingxingguan that shocked China and foreign countries. The first victory of the Eighth Route Army in Pingxingguan broke the myth that "the Japanese army is invincible", greatly inspired the confidence of the whole nation in winning the war of resistance against Japan, improved the prestige of the Communist Party of China and the Eighth Route Army, wrote a glorious page in the history of China's war of resistance against Japan, and is a victory worthy of eternal memory of the Chinese nation.

protective measures

In 1961, the Pingxingguan battle site was designated as the first batch by the State Council

Chinese PinYin : Ping Xing Guan Zhan Yi Yi Zhi