8 | Thursday, June 10, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PATH TO GLORY 69 years on, war hero still inspires tourists By HUANG ZHILING back the highland, the company in Chengdu had to get rid of them first. [email protected] The chief of staff dispatched three blasting groups in a row, Although Huang Jiguang, a sig- but all were killed. It was almost nalman with the Chinese People’s dawn, when the CPV was due to Volunteers troops, passed away charge. If the posts could not be 69 years ago, a lot of people still eliminated, the military opera- visit his memorial hall in his tion would be delayed. home county of Zhongjiang in Huang stepped forward and Sichuan province. asked for the task. The chief of Many visitors have known of staff approved his request, and Huang’s heroic deed since child- put him in charge of two other hood. He is known for blocking soldiers. the opening of an enemy block- After destroying several posts, house through which a machine one of the soldiers was killed and gun was being fired with his chest. the other seriously injured. Huang According to Tu Lin, curator of himself suffered many injuries. the Huang Jiguang Memorial US flares lit up the surround- Hall, 2 million people have visit- ings as if it were daytime. Strafing ed in the past three years. blocked Huang’s way forward. He The hall, built to mark the 10th took advantage of the smoke from anniversary of Huang’s death in the explosions and continued to the Korean War in 1952, is a patri- crawl toward the post despite his otic education base, said Tu, who injuries. As he approached the has worked there for 29 years. central US post, he threw his last On Oct 14, 1952, troops from grenade. the United States launched a It exploded, blowing up half of massive attack on Highland the post. The machine gun Visitors look at a JJ-5 training aircraft at the entrance of the Jianchuan Museum Cluster in Dayi county, Chengdu, Sichuan province. 597.9, kicking off the Shanggan- stopped firing, and Huang The plane was donated by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in 2011 and is the first military aircraft to be displayed at a private ling Campaign. Also known as the passed out as a result of the blast. museum. XU SHU / FOR CHINA DAILY Battle of Triangle Hill, Shanggan- Just as the CPV began to ling was one of the most protract- charge, the gun roared back into ed military campaigns during the action, blocking them again. War to Resist US Aggression and Huang came to but had run Aid Korea (1950-53). out of ammunition. In great pain, Triangle Hill was occupied by he crawled to the post and stood For museum owner, it’s all the CPV army, and over the to block the muzzle of the course of nearly a month, sub- machine gun with his chest. stantial US and Republic of “I was about 50 meters from Korea forces made repeated Huang Jiguang and saw him attempts to capture the hill. charge the placement the enemy about collecting memories Despite clear artillery and air- fire was coming from. He used craft superiority, escalating his body as a shield to take fire casualties resulted in the attack from the machine gun,” said Li Largest private foundation in China is also home to country’s most famous pig being halted after 42 days of Jide, a veteran of the CPV. fighting, with the CPV retaining Huang died, but he cleared the its original positions. way for the others. Inspired by By HUANG ZHILING in Chengdu ly moving, as are the letters, arti- The CPV dispatched 40,000 his heroic deed, the CPV rushed [email protected] facts and uniforms on display. soldiers and fired 400,000 from their positions and quickly Shaken, visitors exit through shells, while enemy forces dis- captured the highland. Fan Jianchuan lives a simple life. barred gates to find themselves patched 60,000 soldiers and When Huang’s comrades In summer, the 64-year-old dons walking beside a peaceful pond. fired 1.9 million shells and 5,000 reached zero position, they an inexpensive, dark green T-shirt On one wall is a plaque bearing aerial bombs. found his body still pressed and a pair of simple sandals and the smiling photo of a former The assault left no vegetation against the blockhouse embra- can often be found enjoying his prisoner of war, a reminder that alive and turned the mountain sure, his hands holding onto the favorite dish, noodles with bean war is about the sacrifice of indi- top into a pile of ash half a meter surrounding sacks, his chest sauce and green vegetables. viduals. deep. The ferocity of the battle set tightly blocking the muzzle. Fan is the owner and curator of Among the exhibits dealing with a record at the time for the largest His left leg had been broken, the Jianchuan Museum Cluster in the Wenchuan Earthquake, Strong number of bombs dropped. and he had seven serious inju- Anren town, Dayi county in South- Pig is one of the most impressive. According to Tu, the reason the ries to his body. A long blood west China’s Sichuan province, The strongest earthquake since CPV was able to beat back its stain trailed behind him. There and all his friends know that he has the founding of the People’s opponents was that it had many was no blood coming from his dedicated everything to his muse- Republic of China in 1949, the dis- heroes like Huang. wounds, nor was there any in ums. aster hit 10 provinces and left After a fierce four-day battle, front of the blockhouse. It was Despite this, he has signed an Wan Xingming and Liu Dahui, the original owners of Strong Pig, 69,226 dead and 17,923 missing. Huang’s battalion was ordered to as if he had shed all his blood agreement with the Chengdu city visit it at the Jianchuan Museum Cluster, Sichuan province, on As far removed from adorable take back Highland 597.9 on the before he reached his target. government to donate the cluster May 12, the 13th anniversary of the Wenchuan Earthquake. The cartoon characters like Peppa, Wil- western side of Shangganling on The perseverance with which of 32 museums to it. As Sichuan’s pig survived 36 days on little more than charcoal and rainwater in bur, Babe or Porky Pig as is possible, the night of Oct 19. Huang dragged his seriously provincial capital, Chengdu is the pigsty after the quake. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Zhu Jianqiang, or “Strong Pig”, is a Huang, then 21, arrived at the injured body to reach the enemy responsible for the administration legendary survivor of the quake, sixth company with the battalion position and block the embra- of Dayi. and even today, she strikes a chord chief of staff. After the company sure can only be imagined, Tu The cluster, which was set up by Aggression (1931-45), the “cultural in hundreds of millions of hearts. had occupied three positions, its said. the former soldier, real estate bil- revolution” (1966-76) and the She has been cared for at the advance was blocked in zero lionaire and former vice-mayor of Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008. cluster for the last 13 years, position, where there was a clus- Xiao Kaifeng and Shen Zaiwang Yibin city in Sichuan, first opened People The cluster is China’s largest pri- although now, at the ripe old age of ter of US firing posts. To take contributed to this story. to the public in 2005 and has need vate museum. It contains the 14 — almost 100 in human years — received more than 20 million visi- nation’s richest collection of mem- she needs help to stand up. tors since. someone orabilia, and receives the largest When she was dug out of the For years, it was Fan’s career and to sound the alarm, private investment. Its theme, “for rubble, Strong Pig immediately his life, so much so that he jokingly peace, collect war; for the future, became a national symbol of hope. calls himself a “slave” to his muse- and remind them of collect lessons; for peace, collect Incredibly, she had survived for ums. their history, and I’ve disaster; for inheritance, collect 36 days in the remains of the pigsty “People need someone to sound folk customs”, may be somewhat owned by Wan Xingming, a farmer the alarm, and remind them of always wanted to be unwieldy, but the message behind in Tuanshan village in the city of their history, and I’ve always want- that bell ringer.” it is clear: never forget. Pengzhou in Sichuan by living on ed to be that bell ringer,” he says. Some of the museums are visual little more than charcoal and rain- Fan spent 19 years building the Fan Jianchuan, founder of the statements in themselves. The water. cluster, which covers 33 hectares, Jianchuan Museum Cluster Prisoners of War Museum, for It was Fan who gave her the nick- and traveled all over the world col- example, is built to resemble a name Strong Pig, amazed that the lecting the exhibits. Some are as prison. A sliver of light streams in young animal had managed to sur- small as a bracelet or a seal, others objects, although less than 1 per- from a window set high in bleak, vive such a terrible ordeal.