Baocheng’s feelings in Lingguan Gorge at night

"There is a bird path in Taibai, Xidang, which can cross the top of Emei." In the writings of the "Poetry Immortal" Li Bai, the towering, beautiful and steep Qinling Mountains are endless, making the poet sigh that "the road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the sky." Such "sighs" lasted for thousands of years, until 1958, a "ladder to the sky" crossed the Wei River, passed through the Qinling Mountains, went down along the Jialing River, crossed the Bashan Mountain, and entered the Sichuan Basin. Since then, the Bashu Plank Road has opened up from a natural moat to a thoroughfare. the prologue. This "ladder to heaven" is China's first electrified railway - Baocheng Railway.

In the six years from the start of construction of the Baocheng Line in 1952 to its official operation in 1958, many literati, journalists and tourists came here to record the great changes in the Qin and Shu roads with their pens and cameras. It extols the bittersweet moments of building the Baocheng Railway, and the most familiar one is undoubtedly "Walking at Lingguan Gorge at Night". This article praising the builders of the Baocheng Railway was once included in junior high school Chinese textbooks and inspired the growth of several generations. Its author was Du Pengcheng, a writer who had an indissoluble bond with the Baocheng Railway.

Du Pengcheng (1921~1991), a native of Hancheng, Shaanxi, formerly known as Du Hongxi, is a modern writer. He is the author of the novel "Defending Yan'an", the novella "In Peaceful Days", and short stories such as "Young Friends" and "Selected Novels of Du Pengcheng". Most of Du Pengcheng's novels have major themes, focusing on describing the characters' spiritual outlook from severe struggles and tests.

The Baocheng Railway Literature Exhibition Room, located in the Qinling Station area, displays more than 50 volumes (pieces) of books, newspapers, picture albums, badges and other physical objects related to the Baocheng Railway. One set of "Collected Works of Du Pengcheng" (first edition) published by Shaanxi People's Publishing House in June 1993 is particularly eye-catching.

This anthology is a set of 4 volumes. In addition to the novel "Defending Yan'an" and the novella "In Peaceful Days", it also includes many works that record the author's experience during the construction of the Baocheng Railway. "Walking at Lingguan Gorge at Night" is included in the second volume of the anthology.

Opening the first volume of the anthology, the ten words "Baocheng Railway Man, Poetic to the World" jumped out on the page. This collection of essays was specially made to visit Du Pengcheng’s lover, Mr. Zhang Wenbin, when the Xi’an Communication Section established the Baocheng Railway Literature Exhibition Hall in early 2019. Mr. Zhang Wenbin signed and presented it personally.

According to teacher Zhang Wenbin’s recollection, Du Pengcheng had a very deep friendship with Baocheng Railway. At the beginning of the founding of New China, after completing the revision of his work "Defending Yan'an", he actively devoted himself to the construction of New China. He walked through many construction sites across the country such as the Yangtze River Bridge and the Yingxia-Xiamen Railway, and finally came to the Baocheng-Chengdu Railway.

After coming to Baocheng Railway, he regarded himself as a builder, eating, living and working with the workers, helping them write letters, teaching them how to read, and reading some classic articles to them. , over time, the workers fell in love with this simple writer and affectionately called him "Lao Du".

Among them, Du Pengcheng has a short story about "Old Du" that is still fresh in everyone's memory. In a construction tunnel in the Qinling Mountains of the Baocheng-Chengdu Railway, when Du Pengcheng shook hands with Guo Jinsheng, a road construction model, he found many small black spots on Guo Jinsheng's palms and fingers. After Du Pengcheng's questioning, he learned that when Guo Jinsheng was dismantling a time bomb on the Korean battlefield, he accidentally detonated the explosion in his hand. The iron filings flew into his flesh. Over time, small black spots formed on the surface of the skin of his hands. . Guo Jinsheng said: "When I hold the hammer, the iron filings prick my flesh. However, I am used to it. If I can endure it, I can build roads." After hearing this, Du Pengcheng's eyes flashed with tears, and he wrote this that night Sentence: "Friends who can write poetry, come and praise the hands of the working people. The entire history of our motherland is written on these many hands!"

What I saw during the construction of the Baocheng-Chengdu Railway What he felt gave Du Pengcheng a very rich creative source. He also recorded everything he saw with sincere emotions and wrote them into articles. The article "Walking at Lingguan Gorge at Night" was inspired by Du Pengcheng's real experience in Lingguan Gorge, Feng County, Baoji.

The article truly reproduces the hot scenes during the construction period of the Baocheng-Chengdu Railway, and eulogizes the railway people's confidence and determination to always listen to the Party's words, always follow the Party, and overcome many difficulties to open up the southwest major channel of the motherland. "Said in a childish tone: "No matter who you are, you must keep your position." In addition, Du Pengcheng also wrote "Night at the Construction Site", "An Ordinary Woman" and "The Career of a Hero." " and "At the Qinling Construction Site" and several other articles describing the construction of the Baocheng-Chengdu Railway.

"At the Qinling Construction Site" tells such a story. The floods of the Jialing River submerged the bridge leading to the other side of the river. Regardless of the safety of his life, a railway youth pulled up an iron rope and jumped into the rushing river. He swam to the other side and set up a conveyor belt to provide supplies to the workers in the construction ahead. In fact, this is just a microcosm of the countless builders of the Baocheng Railway described by Du Pengcheng. Although the conditions at the time were simple and the tasks were arduous, the builders of the Baocheng Railway still shouted "Work hard, start a business with arduous efforts, dedicate to Baocheng, and open it to traffic as soon as possible." slogan. From Guanyin Mountain to Qingshiya, climbing the Qinling Mountains and Yueba Mountain, the builders opened roads across the mountains and built bridges across the water. This group of respectable railway road builders used their youth, youth and even their lives to open up this road to Shu and established an immortal His achievements have left a lasting impression on the railway construction of New China.

Entering the new era, the Baocheng-Chengdu Railway is still the main channel connecting the southwest. From the public welfare "small slow train" to assisting poverty alleviation and rural revitalization to freight growth and winning the battle to defend the blue sky, this 668.198-kilometer-long electrified railway starts from Baoji, Shaanxi in the north and ends in Chengdu, Sichuan in the south. A stunningly beautiful piece of music was played.

Times change and times change. Generation after generation of railway people shoulder the historical mission of "powering the country with transportation and taking the lead in railways", inherit the red gene of "always listen to the Party and always follow the Party", continue to achieve the spirit of success, and always maintain an unswerving spirit and an indomitable spirit. With a striving attitude and down-to-earth, hard-working practical actions, we will continue to write new glories for promoting the high-quality development of China's railways.