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Marcopolo bridge5/27/2023 ![]() Eight hundred men led by Hsieh Chin-yuan were ordered to hold the Sihang warehouses at Xiabei to cover the retreat of the Chinese army. After the September 18 Incident (in Manchuria in 1931), and the January 28 Incident (near Shanghai) the following year, Japanese forces launched attacks around Shanghai, paving the way for an all-out battle for the city later on. The number of ordinary citizens killed in the war has been estimated at 4.4 million, with 4.7 million injured.įull-scale fighting began in East China earlier than in North China. On July 28, the Japanese launched a major attack, Chinese troops of the 29th Army resisted fiercely, and the war had begun in earnest.Īfter Shanghai fell, crowds of people boarded trains and fled to Nanjing. On July 7, Chiang Kai-shek spoke at the bridge, saying that China sought peace, but not surrender, and was prepared for war, but did not seek war. After the war, the Japanese government stamped "not permitted" on photos like this one in its possession, strictly forbidding outsiders to see them.Īfter the incident, the Chinese government, trying to prevent all-out war, called for negotiations and a mutual withdrawal of troops, but Japan refused. ![]() Whenever Japan occupied a city, it would round up so-called "suspicious citizens," imprison them, and then massacre them. The Japanese attacked and killed the bridge guards, sparking an eight-year war with China. In 1937, Japanese troops said to be "on maneuvers" were allegedly fired on-it has never been clear by whom-and one Japanese soldier went missing. In the 13th century, Marco Polo visited here, thus the Western name for this bridge. Next to it stands an inscription by the Qing dynasty's Qianlong emperor, and it was a renowned place much loved by cultivated people. The Marco Polo Bridge (Lugou Bridge) is a pretty structure. This is not for revenge, but to transcend animosity, so that no one will again see their loved ones turned into sacrifices to hate, cruelty, ignorance, and greed. Traffic: Bus No.s 303 or 309: get down at Diaosuyuan ( Sculpture Garden ) Bus No.History must be recorded and remembered, and we must be reminded of it. As the sun sets, the furnaces of nearby Shijingshna Steel Works cast a red glow across the sky, lighting up the bridge in fiery splendor.Īddress: On the Yongding River, Wanping, Fengtai District Įntry ticket: 10 yuan (adult), 5 yuan (student) But now all signs of the war have long since disappeared. On July 7, 1937, the first shot of the War of Resistance Against Japan rang out beside the Lugou Bridge. A pair of vividly carved reclining stone elephants and a number of other animal figures guards each end of the bridge. The people of Beijing have a saying to the effect that "the lions of the Lugou Bridge are too numerous to count," which is explained by the fact that the lions are carved in a great variety of aspects and distributed unequally among the 280 white marble posts. Lining the bridge are two rows of carved white marble balustrades topped by posts carved with figures of lions. At the extremes of the bridge there are two stone stelae, one recording the history of the renovation work carried out in the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), and the other bearing the inscription "The Moon over the Lugou Bridge at Dawn" in the handwriting of Emperor Qianlong. It has 11 arches and as many broad piers. The bridge is 235 meters long of white marble. Bridge construction was begun in 1189 and completed four years later. The Lugou Bridge is situated at a strategic point on the one overland route to the capital from the south. Owing, however, tot eh extraordinarily durable construction of the bridge's foundation the endless battering of the torrential current has left no mark on it. The Lugou River was also known as the Wuding (Lacking Stability) River, and despite the fact that Emperor Kangxi had the auspicious name Yongding (Eternal Stability) bestowed upon it, it was only after the founding of the People's Republic that eh river truly became "eternally stable." After seven centuries, however, the river water remains as swift as ever. Historical records also inform us that the Lugou River was "violent and flowed extraordinarily rapidly." With the post-1949 construction of the Guanting Reservoir upstream from the bridge, a multitude of trees were planted on the river banks and the formerly disposition was also tamed, no longer presenting he constant danger of floods. According to historical records, the "Lugou River is also called the Heishui (Black Water) River." In the local dialect in ancient times, lu (reed) meant black thus the Heishui River became known as the Lugou River, and the bridge was accordingly given the same name. Known also as the Guangli Bridge, it spans the banks of the Yongding River. The Marco Polo Bridge is located 15 kilometers southwest of Beijing proper. "Over this river there is a very fine stone bridge, so fine indeed, that it has very few equals in the world."
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