From the Jieshou Ferry Crossing to Both Banks of the Xiang River, These Historic Sites Have Become "A Classroom That Never Closes Its Doors"
Every Household Lost a Door, the Red Army Gained a Road
■ Chen Qi'an, PLA Daily Reporter Li Zhibin
On Red Army Street in Jieshou Town, Xing'an County, Guangxi, several figurative sculptures freeze a single moment in time: ordinary people, carrying door planks on their shoulders and in their hands, ferrying them down to the riverbank. A guide told reporters that these sculptures depict the scene in which local residents removed the door planks from their own homes to help the Red Army cross the Xiang River in a desperate rush.
In early winter of 1934, to ensure the main Red Army force could cross the river, pontoon bridges had to be constructed at ferry crossings including Jieshou and Daping. Residents along the riverbank, seeing that the troops lacked timber, removed their door planks and floorboards without a second word. The river water was bitterly cold, yet they waded barefoot into the muddy shallows and worked alongside the Red Army soldiers to anchor the bridge footings and tighten the ropes.
After the main force had crossed, the rear-guard units fought through the night and, before departing, did everything they could to return the door planks to each household. But in the urgency of the moment, a small number of planks were fitted back into the wrong door frames. When daylight came, the villagers found that the Zhang family's door had been hung at the Li family's house, and some door pivots simply would not fit their hinges. Yet no one had the heart to go find the Red Army and ask for an exchange, so they made do with the mismatch, and things stayed that way for years.
On the wooden door planks of the old houses lining the street, many pivot holes no longer align with their original sockets, and the gaps between planks vary in width. These mismatched door planks have now become teaching materials for on-site instruction conducted by the Guilin Garrison. Garrison staff officer Yin Tiejun organizes newly appointed officers and newly enrolled militia members to visit the site every year. He says that every time he stands on that old street and looks at those old door planks, a question rises in his mind: what is it that carried this force through to where it stands today?
Party history experts and descendants of Red Army soldiers told those assembled: before the Red Army entered Jieshou, enemy forces had spread rumors far and wide that "the Red Army kills people and burns houses," and many residents had fled into the mountains. But after the advance units entered the town, they did not enter private homes, did not take so much as a needle or a thread, slept in the open on the streets, and swept the lanes and alleys clean. One soldier had borrowed a water bucket from a resident to fetch water; when he was done, he returned it immediately, and before leaving he filled the household's water vat to the brim. The residents who had been hiding in the mountains gradually returned home, found that not a single grain of rice was missing from their jars and not a single door plank had been touched, and the rumors collapsed on their own.
Sergeant Zhu Lingxiu wrote in a reflection piece after visiting the site: "Why were the people of that time willing to remove the door planks from their own homes? Because they had seen with their own eyes who this army fought for. Today, wearing this uniform, we too must follow in our forebears' footsteps and safeguard that trust."
This past summer, Guangxi was struck by sustained heavy rainfall; tributaries of the Xiang River surged, and multiple areas were cut off by floodwaters. The Guilin Garrison activated its emergency response, with officers, soldiers, and militia emergency detachments standing by in full kit, preparing through the night assault boats, life rings, sandbags, and other flood-control and rescue supplies. During the mobilization, militia emergency platoon leader Xie Zhaoli suddenly recalled those mismatched door planks, and said to his comrades: "Back then, the people used door planks to build a bridge and carry the Red Army across the river. Today, we will use assault boats to open a lifeline for our fellow villagers."
Reflecting on the multiple flood-relief and rescue missions he had taken part in, Xie Zhaoli said that whenever people trapped by floodwaters caught sight of camouflage uniforms, they would always wave and cheer. That sight struck him deeply: "The people's trust is the most solid pontoon bridge beneath our feet."
From the Jieshou ferry crossing to both banks of the Xiang River, these historic sites have become "a classroom that never closes its doors." Whenever new soldiers join the ranks, officers rotate into new posts, or militia units are reorganized, commanders bring their troops before the Red Army Hall and out onto the old street, letting officers and soldiers hear a lesson on the spot and walk a stretch of road — so they will never forget the people whose door planks once bore the footsteps of the people's soldiers.