Zhang Fang: The inscription of Emperor Kangxi in Qing Dynasty proves that the construction of Luding Bridge was completed by the descendants of Yue Fei.

On the evening of June 28th, 2022, I arrived in Luding County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and visited the long-awaited scenic spot Luding Bridge the next day. As we all know, Luding Bridge is famous at home and abroad because the Red Army flew over Luding Bridge and crossed the Dadu River on May 29th 1935. Mao Zedong's "Seven Laws and Long March" only has eight lines to review the great Long March, and there is also a link of "Yunya Jinsha Shui Bo is warm, and the iron cable crossing the bridge is cold", which shows the importance of Luding "iron cable bridge" to the Red Army's Long March.

Although I grew up on the banks of the Minjiang River in Wenchuan, I also walked across the Banqiao Cable Bridge when I was a teenager. After all, I am old now. On the 103-meter-long Luding cable bridge, I was exhausted and stunned by the stormy waves in front of me. Fortunately, I was helped to the bridge by the volunteers on the bridge before I got out of danger. As you can imagine, the Red Army flew away from the Luding Bridge, which had already started to burn, in the rain of bullets.

Although I am not as comfortable as others, I pay special attention to the historical role and achievements of Luding Bridge, which may be better than many tourists. Near the Qiaotou Square on the east bank of Luding Bridge, there is a stone tablet (about 6 meters high and 4 meters wide) made by Emperor Kangxi in Qing Dynasty. It is an antique and obviously an important cultural relic. The place attaches great importance to it, and it is difficult for tourists to get close with iron bars. But the inscription is small print and traditional Chinese characters, which have long been weathered and difficult to identify.

Fortunately, photography is convenient now. My wife tried her best to reach into the iron sill with a high-pixel mobile phone. After coming back, I read it carefully and learned that the Luding Bridge was built in detail in that year (A.D.1early 8th century), and it has a direct relationship with Yue Shenglong, the 20th grandson of Yue Fei (the 19th grandson of Lin Yue), which was unknown before. I asked several descendants of the Yue family, but I didn't know. However, Mr. Zhou Yuanlian, a senior expert in the study of Qing history, especially Mr. Yue Zhongqi, a famous figure of three generations in Qing Dynasty, died in recent years, so I can't share and consult him. What a pity. I searched on the Internet, and there are many introductions about Luding Bridge, but the contents of Kangxi's inscription are not directly presented, that is, there are quotations, or the full text is incomplete, or there are errors. Today, I am not afraid of burdensome. According to the photos, I will punctuate the contents of Kangxi's "imperial edict" and make a brief explanation at the end of the article. For history lovers, especially a few Bashu rookies, descendants of Betty Wong, who are always close to me and uphold the principle of "serving the country wholeheartedly", this ancient prose proves that they should feel that the family is "glorious and dignified"-

Royal Luding Bridge Inscription

Due to the weathering of stone tablets, individual characters have been completely blurred and invisible, and they can't be recognized only from photos. This article is written with reference to Xia Yun's Imperial Luding Bridge Monument: Supplementary Analysis (Identification and Appreciation of Cultural Relics,No. 16, No.20 18), but some words are still in doubt and there are obvious clerical errors, which are corrected here. Originally, I wanted to translate the ancient Chinese vernacular, but after the inscription was broken, I felt that the meaning was very clear and fluent, which seemed unnecessary. Readers can check by themselves according to the photos of the inscription. As far as the basic content is concerned, it is clear at a glance. The broken sentences I copied may be incomplete, for reference only. Kangxi not only ruled the inscription, but also was not afraid of trouble. His love for boxing is beyond words. He also wrote "Luding Bridge" and "Guanyin Pavilion" in the west of Qiaoxi (formerly known as Gada Temple), which are important national protected cultural relics. This shows that the Qing dynasty, especially the three generations of the Qing dynasty, attached great importance to the national unity of Anbian and Anmin.

Cha Nengtai, a Manchu native of Jilin Province, served as the governor of Sichuan (1704-1709) for five years, and was later offended by accepting bribes (for details, see the Draft of Qing History: "The former governor Nengtai, as a governor, was privately sent by officials and businessmen, but he was unaware of it and suffered all the money. Should be detained according to law. Autumn execution. From it. " See the online article "Sichuan Big Tiger Can Thai" in Kangbian, Sichuan). Sun Yue, the 20th generation of Yue Fei, rose to the top of the dragon clan and made outstanding achievements in pacifying the southwest and northwest frontier. In the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi, he was promoted to be the magistrate of Sichuan, that is, he co-managed Sichuan affairs with Nengtai as the governor. Whether Nengtai has been to the remote Luding is a big problem. Yue Shenglong was ordered to "send divisions and brigades". Undoubtedly, Kawabe led the troops to govern Xinjiang and was familiar with geography. Kangxi's "I really appreciate his intentions", the so-called "I hereby mention Yue Shenglong as the magistrate", and "feeling for each other" means doing on-the-spot investigation. Eighty percent means that Yue Shenglong personally did it in Sichuan, but he is both a governor and a Manchu, so he took the lead in fighting.

There have been two opinions in academic circles about whether to name it "Luding Bridge" or "Mo Ding Bridge". One is that Nengtai is "self-righteous", and in Zhuge Liang's "Teacher's Watch", he regards desert water as Lushui. They think that the upper and lower section of the Dadu River in Luding (called Moshui in ancient times) is called Lushui (homophonic with the "furnace" of archery furnace). I prefer the second one, because along the Dadu River, there are legends of Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms and seven tourist attractions to capture Meng Huo. If you can say that you are too ignorant to check, Yue Shenglong led an army in the southwest border of Sichuan and fought many wars. You can't make mistakes. If you mistyped a place name in ancient times, it would be "the crime of deceiving the monarch." In fact, the three kingdoms of Han and history are far away, and it is difficult for Zhuge Liang to act arbitrarily. I grew up under Jiang Weicheng, the ancient battlefield of the Three Kingdoms. There is also a legend of Yue descendants in the ancient city of Weizhou, which is mentioned in another article.

Yue Zhenbang, Yue Shenglong and Yue Zhongqi, descendants of Yue Fei in Qing Dynasty, were brave and good at fighting, and made great contributions to the world, especially Yue Zhongqi, who experienced ups and downs and was worthy of being the pillar of Kang Yong for three generations.

The inscription on Luding Bridge written by Emperor Kangxi has stood for 300 years after wind and rain, which confirms the historical record of Yue Fei's descendants' "loyalty to the country". On May 29th, 1935, the First Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army captured Luding Bridge and arrived heroically from 240 Li Road, Shimian Anshun Field, Ya 'an, breaking through the enemy's blockade. Under the cover of machine guns erected by Guanyin Pavilion, 24 Red Army soldiers flew to capture Luding Bridge, and the main force of the Red Army passed smoothly, which shattered Chiang Kai-shek's dream of destroying the Red Army south of Dadu River and created the second Shi Dakai Massacre.

In other words, the Luding Bridge supervised by Yue Shenglong, a descendant of Yue Fei in the18th century, played a vital role in the Red Army's 25,000-mile long March northward against Japan. Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and other great revolutionary leaders and generals, as well as many brave Red Army soldiers, have crossed the Luding Bridge and left glorious footprints.

Luding Bridge-the bridge of national unity and stability, the bridge of revolution success and the bridge of tourist attractions.

Text/Zhang Fang on July 2, 2022 in the south gate of Sichuan University Taishouzhai.

Photography: Bing Rui