Life and Death in Tibet: The Dream of Chenye Chen

Chapter 2 Chengdu to Chamuduo
The departure plan of our aid-Tibet troops has gone through a long period of preparation in many aspects. It can be said that it is very detailed and complete. The escape of the soldiers and horsemen recruited by the army was almost continuous along the way, which gave me a headache the most.All kinds of luggage and equipment have been lost repeatedly, and the number of servants helping with miscellaneous chores is also decreasing. Although we promised a lot of money to the residents of the villages passing by along the way, we still couldn’t hire the necessary personnel. Not only that, the troops The mountain people in the high mountains who passed by saw the large group of people approaching from a distance, and immediately fled away.One day, we arrived at a place called Sanyingdian. For some unknown reason, there were so many escapees from various teams that day. The soldiers around us were affected by this fleeing wind. All the soldiers found a place to rest, and couldn't help but think of the lines in the Tang poems they read before.The desolation and tragedy in it, without personal experience like I am now, I can't understand the poet's emotional poignancy and urgency of words at that time.

From Chengdu, we walked for four days to Yazhou (now Ya'an). The scenery along the way was similar to that in the wilderness in the interior.However, when Yazhou went out, the weather suddenly became ferocious, the mountains were steep and covered with layers of emerald green, and the troops took the trails on the cliffs on the mountainside that most people regarded as dangerous. .The people encountered by the troops along the way became more and more sparse.It was the scorching midsummer of July, and passers-by were sweating profusely even though they were only wearing single clothes; not to mention the ordinary soldiers in the ranks who carried their equipment on their backs and complained repeatedly on the rugged mountain road.I remember that when I passed through Yazhou, because of the high altitude, the climate was as cold as late autumn, and my officers and soldiers and myself were still wearing jackets and trousers.But the further the team went, and the farther west they went, they were all covered with a Tibetan-specific veil.After passing a place called Daxiang, and crossing the mountains there, there are many peaks and peaks all around, extremely high and steep.When a person reaches such a mountain path, he can look down at the white clouds at his feet from afar.The famous Daxiang Ridge crossed by the march was said to have been excavated by Zhuge Wuhou during the Three Kingdoms period, so it has this mountain name.There is a place called Hu'er Cliff, with steep cliffs and dangerous slopes, which is particularly frightening; looking down at the river below from the ridge there, it is like a flying and light Bai Lian, which is very clear and green.The road on the ridge is less than three feet wide, and the mountain walls on both sides are cut like knives, as if there are traces of the horror of Pangu when he split the sky and the earth.My horse at that time was a good horse I bought from Chengdu during the journey. When I arrived at Huer Cliff and crossed the ridge, I also clearly felt the fear and trembling coming from the horse’s body. It kept turning its head, Sweating, I was sweating all over my body when I reached the open space where the road was slightly flatter. No matter how hard I whipped me, I refused to take a step forward. It has also come to the end of the animal's natural courage it can bear.The troops bumped all the way and walked west for six days to Luding Bridge.This place is the only way for Sichuan to enter Tibet, and it is also the famous downstream of the Dadu River.I saw that the river was more than seventy feet wide, facing a torrent that has never changed through the ages, and the depth was hundreds of feet deep, surging and roaring, and the sound shook the valley.There are only six or seven hundred households in Jia'an.The bridge is erected with seven finger-thick iron chains suspended in the air. The iron chains are covered with thin wooden boards. People walking on them will suddenly feel dizzy and dizzy.From the underworld-like Luding Bridge, we walked for another two days and arrived at Dajianlu (now Kangding).

When our troops climbed Daxiangling, it was said that no matter how many climbers there were, they would not be able to whisper to each other.Otherwise, the mountain gods here would send hailstorms as punishment, so when they crossed the mountains, the whole army lined up in darkness, but it was surprisingly calm and silent. This scene is very funny.We did our best to get to the top of the mountain.On the top of the mountain, there is a poem inscribed on the cliff left by Prince Qingguo who led the troops across the mountain. The upper half of the poem stele has been covered by snow all year round.So I bent down, used the handle of my whip to push away the snow on the stele, and wrote:
"According to the order to comfort Xirong,

Deng Dengcheng Ridge in winter.

The ancients were named Immortal,
Thousands of years so forever. "

At this time and this scene, because we admired our ancestors and felt that the sighs in the poem were very suitable for the mood of the people who traveled long distances at that time, several of us officers on the top of the mountain looked at each other and smiled knowingly, and recited the poem on the stele aloud. inscription.There were people around who chanted in unison, one recited ten, ten recited one hundred, all the officers and soldiers winding on the top of the mountain, all recited loudly, unexpectedly such a loud voice that suppressed the clouds made the legendary weather really change drastically, All of a sudden, cloudy clouds rose, and fist-thick hailstones fell from all directions, beating the troops into disarray and rushing down the mountain.After a while, the dense fog penetrated from an unknown distance.Covering the top of the mountain, the yin and cold condense, and the world is moved by it.Although this is a physical phenomenon that can be explained by nature, it is also the first miracle we have encountered since our mission to the Western Regions.

Dajianlu, a famous transportation hub on the Sichuan-Tibet line, is also the last large market town located in Sichuan at the junction of Sichuan and Tibet.According to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang led his troops to march south and sent his general Guo Da as an advance force to set up furnaces and make arrows here, hence the name of the place today.This place is surrounded by mountains on three sides, the weather is often overcast and foggy, and then the wind howls, which is extremely cold.Looking at the snow on the top of the mountains from afar, it doesn't melt all year round.Even in the hottest dog days of midsummer, people here have to wear cotton-padded clothes to prevent unexpected cold snaps.The troops stayed in Dajianlu and recuperated for a few days. The officers and soldiers looked very funny, all of them wore leather jackets inside and velvet coats outside.Everyone was still shivering from time to time from the cold.When I came across such a ghostly place, I could only smile wryly to myself. The cold in the inland winter is caused by the outdoor weather. Usually, if a person suffers from malaria, the cold and fever come from the inside.Only the cold outside the Great Wall is born from the skin regardless of the inside and outside. It is inexplicably cold and unbelievably cold.

As soon as you enter Dajianlu City, almost in the first second, you can see monks and lamas in strange costumes, filling the streets and alleys, all over the world.According to local people, there are now 12 lama temples in the city, and more than [-] lamas have become monks. The ethnicities of the residents are also very complex. People from Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Tujia, Hui, and British and French countries Many missionaries.The local natives are generally more superstitious about Lamaism. If there are three men in the family, two of them must be dedicated to the supreme Buddha and become lamas in the temple.There are also many families, and the whole family is a lama, so in Dajianlu City, the religious group composed of lamas has the greatest social power and can control everything.Once an ordinary person becomes a lama, his worth is a bit like the imperial examination in the mainland, where he is the number one scholar.Therefore, people here regard accumulating merits and cultivating to become a lama as the honor of a lifetime.

In the area of ​​Kham and Tibet, the climate is extremely cold, and the fields produce only a little barley. Therefore, the local monks and ordinary people usually eat a kind of food called tsampa, accompanied by the famous butter tea.Rich people sometimes eat meat ham.Few pasta are made from barley flour.The practice of making tsampa is very old.First, the highland barley is fried and ground into a fine powder, and blended with crisp tea.Then pinch it with your fingers and send it into your mouth.Crisp tea, boil black tea in a hot pot until it is very thick, pour it into a long bamboo tube, filter out the tea leaves, and then add ghee and a little salt, stir it up and down with a long stick with a round end to make the water and milk blend, and then put it into the delicate tea. Put the pot in a copper pot and put it on the fire to cook.When I eat tsampa, I use this special tea to moisten my throat, and I also use it as a daily drink.Generally, the local Tibetans are addicted to this.Every time I drink tea, I drink more than ten cups.When I first arrived there, I sat down to drink this kind of butter tea, and felt that the tea smell was pungent and very unpleasant.The young officer who happened to be going with me made a bet that each person had to drink one bowl, and if he couldn't finish one bowl, he would be fined as much.In front of everyone, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and forcefully took a small sip. Immediately, I felt chest tightness and breathlessness, and it was difficult to swallow. I had to admit defeat as a punishment, and dared not try again.

Tibetan men all have wide robes with big sleeves, ribbons around their waists, fedoras or fleece scarves on their heads, and long boots on their feet.Women wear long gowns, skirts, belts, eight pillars on their heads, and beads around their necks.

Lamas' clothes and attire vary from class to class.All the high-class noblemen wear shirts inside, red and yellow serge sheets around the outside, peach-shaped hats, and red woolen boots. They hold Buddhist beads and chant Buddhist names all day long.The people below are all wearing coarse woolen sheets and binding their upper bodies.The houses where the Tibetans live are all several-storey buildings.People live in the upper and middle floors, and the bottom floor is often used to raise livestock. The roof is flat and sometimes covered with mud. The interior and walls are painted with ancient landscape figures.If the building is a lamasery, it will be more than a dozen stories high, and the exterior looks resplendent, magnificent and luxurious.

When our troops set off from Chengdu, Sichuan, it happened that the Dalai Lama was returning from Beijing to Tibet. On the way, he received a secret report from King Glenn of Tibet: "The British soldiers have retreated, and the Sichuan army is large. It may be disadvantageous. It should be stopped." The Dalai Lama was at that time. In this situation, it was really a dilemma, because he had already explicitly asked the Qing government for help, but it was inconvenient to repeat it, so he secretly ordered Glenn to immediately send tens of thousands of Tibetan soldiers to guard the important area of ​​the Sichuan-Tibet Road.Zhao Erfeng, the Chuanbian Minister at that time, had foreseen such a conspiracy and pretended not to know it. He just led his troops from the North Road to suppress the Dege rebels; Branch) followed up secretly from the north, and the whole army joined forces in Qamdo.

All the troops gathered at Dajian Furnace and rested for about a week before Commander Zhong Ying slowly caught up from behind.After another three days of preparation, we started to set off.From Dajianlu City, you will arrive at the most remote border of Sichuan Province. Since ancient times, the road to Tibet must pass through Batang, Litang (now Litang), Qamdo, Enda, and Shuobanduo. , Danda, Lali, Jiangda, and finally approaching Lhasa - such a route is the world-famous Sichuan-Tibet Highway. There are government personnel stationed at various stations along the way, and it is called Kangzang South Road Yichuan Avenue.The army I was in was ordered to leave the customs by the North Road, and marched for one day, heading north from Zheduotang, passing through Changchunba, Huoerzhang Valley, Ganzi, Zengke, Gangtuo, to Qamdo, or going around Gangtuo to Leiwuqi, The 39th family, and then to Larry, this marching route is the north road.The road is extremely deserted, and sometimes there is no one in the vast wilderness to pass through for a day or two.

I don't know if we are fully prepared. Marching in the Tibetan territory, carrying equipment is all life-threatening drudgery.Even if the whole army moves forward, it needs countless excellent horses and ox carts.In such a high and cold wilderness, rugged mountain roads, the horses carrying equipment need to be changed every two or three days, so without horses, it is impossible to move forward.At that time, horses were no longer called military horses, but "Ula".Adding up all the ammunition, grain, grass, luggage and horses, each unit below the battalion in the whole army needs more than [-] oxen and horses each, and the sources of these oxen and horses are all taken from the Tibetans along the way.God blessed us with sufficient cattle and horses for the first few days of our march.However, one of the ensuing contradictions is that such a long-distance march requires experience and strategies that are by no means capable of those husbands brought from the inland. Most of the servants have fled from the various armies.Moreover, once the horses from the inland areas enter Tibet, they also experience various discomforts and fears, and are almost always unusable.General Zhao Erfeng entered Tibet with the army for the first time, and he was not familiar with the situation. He was afraid that he would encounter an unexpected blockade. The number of Wula was not enough, which would seriously affect our army's march. Therefore, he was very careful when assessing the situation all day long; Two routes, sending my troops to take the north route is also entirely for safety reasons.

On the day when they set off from Dajianlubo camp, the troops suddenly encountered bad weather combined with rain and snow on the rugged mountain road, and the wind was biting.Although I have heard that there is a post station on this road, the road condition is very bad. Almost half of it is a winding mountain path, full of gravel, people and animals have nowhere to hide, and they are unstable. The rage, blowing and beating people's eyes can't be opened, let alone breathing.The mountain road on the wasteland is descending from time to time, and people have to deal with the danger of slipping and falling under their feet for a while, and panting for a while.There were no living villages to be seen along the way.Finally, everyone struggled for a day and camped at a place called Zheduotang. It was already seven o'clock in the evening.It was dark and the road was slippery, and the large snake-like troops were still squirming and coming scattered.The noise of soldiers and the neighing of cattle and horses, mixed with the roar of wind and snow, did not subside until midnight.The officers and soldiers all shrank their heads and necks, their faces were pale, and they lay down, still trembling, extremely miserable-I fell asleep after arriving at the camp.

The next day, when the order sounded, the troops moved forward again.

From Zhedotang via Changchunba, Daowu, Huoerzhang Valley, and then to Ganzi area, there are gradually villages along the way.Residents generally range from tens to hundreds of households.There are also small villages and remote lamasery on the way.We have walked for more than 20 days on this journey. Maybe God opened his eyes. There are rare sunny days along the way. The roads are all along the hinterland of the mountain, or moving slowly along the valley, which seems to be relatively gentle.When I walk comfortably, I sometimes think of the bad weather on the first day when I just left Dajianlu City. The officers and soldiers really suffered from the wind and snow. , there must be a more difficult situation than this kind of place!Unexpectedly, the next morning, the weather cleared all the way, the wind was clear and the sun was warm, and the grass was so dense that the officers and soldiers accompanying the army couldn't believe their eyes!Where we walked, sometimes the high mountains on both sides stood up straight, and the snow on the top of the mountains was as horizontal as a horse, shining like silk.Sometimes white clouds come out of Xiuxiu, which are of the same color as the skyscrapers and snow.Everyone stared at the magnificent snow-capped mountain scenery, so excited that they almost forgot the pain of marching beyond the Great Wall.

I was the team supervisor at the time, and I got up the earliest every day. I had to complete the overall planning before dawn, lead or notify the Tibetan guides of the troops and the battalion supervisors of the battalions, and go first on horseback.One day, I remember that when I was about to reach Changchun Dam, my eyes suddenly brightened. I saw the sky ahead was blue, the wind was sunny, and in the distance, the plains and grasslands stretched as far as the eye could see. In the homeland where he lives, he spurs his horse and gallops like flying.My eyes are so beautiful and unusual, like a group of horses running in a fairyland.At that time, my equestrian skills were not yet perfect, but my blood boiled for a while, and I rode my horse to catch up. I didn't know that I was heavy in body and light in legs, and I bumped from side to side a few times, and almost fell to the ground.Reluctantly reining in his mount in the sunlight, he ran back to the camp at a slow pace, already sweating profusely, and his legs hurt so badly that he could no longer walk.

One day, when the troops arrived at Daowu, seeing that it was still early, they called another young officer and walked to the suburbs.There are more than a dozen houses of residents scattered in the dense woods in the distance.In the twilight, the surrounding grass is beautiful and fine, and the scenery is picturesque.Outside the woods, there was a long ditch, four or five feet wide, with a gurgling clear stream. There were many fish swimming in the water, some of them were fat, and they jumped around our feet.We couldn't resist the temptation of such wildness, and besides, we have been suffering from not being able to eat good and delicious dishes for the past few days, so the two of us jumped into the clear and cold river, caught those fat fish and brought them back to the camp , made a fish feast.Afterwards, I always felt a lot of doubts, because among the scattered families in the forest, I couldn’t see any fishnets and baskets in front of their houses. No wonder the fish in the river reproduced so densely.After much deliberation, I always felt that there should be a reason. I found a Tibetan general and asked, and I realized that after death, Tibetans do not use coffins, but only cover them with a thin layer of soil, and then invite local lamas to come. Chanting sutras for the dead.During this process, the corpses were cut up with knives and thrown to designated places in the wilderness to feed eagle birds.This form of burial is called sky burial.In addition, there is another kind, in which the body of the deceased is burned with fire, which is cremation.Generally, the lowly and poor dead are thrown into the river and let the fish eat them, which is called water burial.Therefore, in Tibet, it is almost impossible to see Tibetans eating fish.After I heard it, I realized that this was the case.

Huoerzhang Valley (now Luhuo County) has only a hundred or so residents, and has changed the original living customs of the aborigines and returned to a civilized society.The government has set up directors in this place all the year round, and the Han population is also quite large.After our troops left the customs, all they saw along the way were red faces.The Tibetans whose coats and jackets hang obliquely to the left, usually eat tsampa and ghee.When he opened his eyes, he saw that there were mostly barren mountains and mountains all around him, and he couldn't see any vegetables and fruits that he was used to eating in his hometown.I am tired from marching every day, and sometimes I can't even eat a decent meal.Starting from Dajianlu, it was originally planned to bring more food and rice. However, a very annoying manager in our army named Lin Xiumei tried his best to stop us and did not allow everyone to bring more food. There was a shortage of food, and people were unwilling to eat, so that they felt bitter.It wasn't until the troops entered the Huoerzhang Valley that everyone saw a goods market similar to that in the mainland. They were excited for a while, and immediately sent people to buy a fat pig, a few catties of squid, chopped them, and fried them with black bean sauce, except for the one that had a full meal that night For the rest, they were divided into two buckets and put on horseback to be taken away.The officer named Lin Xiumei saw it, but he was still chattering and complaining, and everyone simply ignored his complaints.Every day after dinner, everyone sat down and ate the pork portions, but Lin Xiumei seemed to work harder than anyone else and grabbed the most food. From this, I saw the despicable greed in his soul from his bones.

On the way, we often saw herds of cows and horses, leisurely and peaceful pasture scenes, but we didn't pay much attention to them.It took a whole day until the troops changed Ula in Holzhang Valley, but not all of them were changed.In the middle of the night, the officers and soldiers were soundly asleep, when they suddenly heard the noise of people and cattle and horses from all directions, they hurriedly got up to see, it turned out that the local Tibetans had brought Ula cattle and horses to the troops.Looking around, it looks like a large wriggling wilderness, all over the mountains and plains, the number of which is no less than a thousand.I can't help but sit there worrying, waiting until tomorrow morning to replace all these horses and oxen, and pack them with bundles, I don't know when it will be?When it dawned, all the Tibetans outside held a camel in their hands and put their luggage on their backs.Each camel weighs more than 2000 catties, and the Tibetans can lift it like light.By around one o'clock in the afternoon, more than [-] camels, food and ammunition had all been bundled, and his agility was impossible for the Han people.If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.I can't help feeling envious of the physiques of these Tibetans living in the plateau Jedi.It is no wonder that during the Tang Dynasty, northern China was frequently invaded. At that time, China had such prestigious generals as Guo Ziyi and Ma Lin. They did not dare to easily fight with the barbarians in the north. Those who could negotiate peace should sit down and negotiate peace.

When camping in the evening, the cows and horses always crowded into the middle of the lawn, and the accompanying Tibetans unloaded their equipment and moved even more swiftly.More than 2000 camels and cattle were unloaded in less than an hour.When the Tibetans yelled, the camels, cattle and horses immediately scattered, covering the mountains and valleys, and everywhere was green.When it was dark, it was still those Tibetans who stood in the wilderness and whistled, but when they saw the herds of cattle swarming on the hills, scrambling to be the first, they all automatically returned to the camping place, and there was no need for any troublesome dignitaries to drive them away!The Tibetans just drove a wooden stake on the spot.Using the customary long ropes, the cows and horses also arranged themselves into several rows.In the long rope, there are countless short ropes tied to the cow's hoof.The cattle lean on the rope, standing or lying down, in order.My deepest memory is one night, when I got up to pee in the middle of the night, I saw the wind and snow outside the tent.I was very surprised that I couldn't see the cow in the original position. I hurriedly asked the guard to inquire. After he pointed with his fingers, I realized that there were thousands of cows lying in the snow without incident. The heavy snow had covered the cow's body. No, looking closer, it looks like there are countless snowdrifts in the wilderness, faintly undulating. If there are not a few cows wriggling in the snowdrifts, I would never have thought that those are actually warm-blooded animals!

In the areas of Ganzi, Zengke, Maisu, and Gangtuo, the terrain begins to become steep, with mountains and mountains all over the world, filled with ice and snow.Every time the troops passed by the belly of the mountain, the mountains and rivers poured ice, and there was a frozen ten-thousand-zhang waterfall falling straight down from the sky, with a width of more than ten feet.Before people and horses pass through, people must first send people to dig the ground with iron picks to cover the soil, so that they can barely maintain their balance.At the bottom of the valley, looking from a distance, the streams that were rushing endlessly in summer had all condensed into ice.The army has a thousand people, thousands of cattle and horses, and they walk across the ice with heavy loads. The crackling of the ice surface, creaking, can be heard even tens of kilometers away.At this time, it was almost late autumn, and the weather was getting colder and colder every day. On the way of marching every day, there would be heavy snow and the howling wind.The people, horses and livestock on the way every day are all as bright as silver clothes.Sitting on the horseback, I couldn't help blurting out a line of poetry:
"Ice knocking horseshoe bells are soft,

The snow presses down on the gun head and the sword qi is cold. "

Such sentences are all realistic, and they also record the hardships and shocking experiences on the way from another aspect.

From Maisu to the west (Yalong River), the river is deep and the water is fast, and the snow is vast, and there is no shadow of any ferry boats at all. There are no people and no bridges.Soldiers with such a large force crossed the river, so they had to paddle with improvised kayaks.The boat uses wild vines found in the mountains and valleys as the hull, and cowhide as the hull, making an oval shape in the shape of half a melon, and it is as light as a flying swallow when placed in the water.Those groups of unkempt soldiers turning around on the waves seemed real and unreal for a while, turning back into fairy Lingbo.When the waves rise up, they seem to be climbing a mountain, and when they fall, they seem to be falling into a deep valley. Just like this, in such a cold and uninhabited place, thousands of troops have moved over this place bit by bit. Peerless rapids.I stood on the beach across the river bank and watched, and I couldn't help breaking out in cold sweats!Fortunately, the surface of this river is not too wide, and the waves are small. The larger kayak can carry 200 catties, and the smaller kayak can carry more than [-] catties.All small boats are tied with one piece of cowhide, and two more are used for large boats.The seams should be coated with ghee from time to time by passengers on board to prevent leakage.The entire team is used for transition. One column first crosses the luggage, and then returns to carry the officers and soldiers.There are many people on the small boat, and it takes several days to cross the river every time!In this way, my battalion survived for three full days.There are many rivers along the way, and the number of days spent crossing the river is unbelievable!But cattle and horses in Tibet can swim.Every time you want to cross the river, you first put an ox into the water and tie it to the opposite bank, and then let the other ox and horse enter the water. There is no need to yell to drive them away.

When I was crossing the Gangtuo River (Jinsha River), I stayed on the bank of the river for several days and saw dozens of pheasants flocking deep in the mountains, flying to the ground.As soon as I was free, I asked my companions to bring a gun into the mountains, and I could shoot down a few heads every day. I went to the river to wash them, cut the chicken into small pieces, and stir-fried them with bean paste. The taste of poultry meat is as good as it can be.

In fact, the hardest thing about marching in the plateau and open land like Tibet is not necessarily the difficulty of walking. In my opinion, the most painful thing is getting up too early in the morning.After the troops arrived in Ganzi, they saw fewer and fewer residents along the way.The distance set by General Zhao Erfeng is at least 120 li.It cannot be reached in a day or two.Moreover, the place is remote and remote, and there is no shadow of any post station at all.Without a post station, it means that it is impossible to have rested officers and soldiers to help you prepare fuel and food.Everything has to be done by yourself in the wild mountains and mountains.If you do it yourself, you must get up early every day. Besides, everyone marches with their own tents, sets them up everywhere, and dismantles them when they leave.After the troops arrived in Tibet, there was hardly a day without wind and snow.Once in the middle of the night, the snow covered the roof of the tent.When I got up the next morning, the first thing I did was to remove the tent to go to the snow.Light a fire to dry the wet tarpaulins, which otherwise would be too heavy to be carried.The most bitter thing is when the tent is unloaded and the snow wind cuts the face before dawn.In an instant, people were submerged in the vast cold current.If you stand in the wilderness, for nothing else, just wait patiently for the tent to dry and dehumidify, and then put it on the back of the camel and ox. It will take about an hour and a half.During this time, everyone's hands and feet were frozen, trembling and moaning, and there was nothing to warm you up—even a tiny bit of warmth... Such unbearable pain was beyond words for ordinary people.In this way, we walked on the road for more than 50 days, and finally arrived at one of the planned destinations - Qamdo.

(End of this chapter)