The footsteps of the new journey never stop, and the revolutionary spirit will forever endure - Huji

Hujia Village is located in the starting area of the transformation of old and new kinetic energy in Jinan, on the east side of the Jile Expressway in the northeast corner of Taiping Street, adjacent to the Xingjiadu Yellow River Diversion Canal. According to villagers, the ancestors of Hujia Village migrated from Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, there were two surnames, Hu and Xu, who moved in. During the Republic of China period, there were also two surnames, Liu and Zhang, who settled in this area. Due to the fact that the majority of immigrants were surnamed Hu, it was named "Hujia Village". Nowadays, this ancient and revolutionary village is undergoing a complete transformation.

Ancient temple from the late Qing Dynasty, weather-beaten and time-worn

Nestled within the historic Hujia Village lies an ancient temple from the late Qing Dynasty. Located to the east of the village committee, it boasts a single-courtyard design, predominantly constructed from blue bricks with sections renovated in red bricks. Originally serving as an ancestral hall, this temple was repurposed into a primary school classroom during the Republic of China era. Hu Yuanhui, the village secretary of Hujia Village, recounted to us, "During that time, the school produced numerous exceptional students. However, as the student population dwindled, the school was converted back into a kindergarten. Later, due to the suboptimal structure of the building posing safety hazards, the kindergarten was also shut down.".

The ancient building in Hujia Village is a three-bay structure, utilizing the traditional method of "four beams and eight pillars with corner supports". There are two central beams, and together with the front and rear beams, there are a total of four beams. Each beam has a pillar at both ends to provide support. The "corner supports" are a ring of wood below, pressing on the eight pillars to distribute the weight of the roof evenly to the load-bearing pillars. The temple gate is approximately 2.8 meters wide and 3.2 meters high, while the main building is about 11.4 meters long, 7 meters wide, and 5.5 meters high. Originally, there were four ancient pines in the temple, but now only one Chinese scholar tree, about 100 years old, remains. It is about 9 meters tall, with a crown span of about 8 meters and a breast height diameter of 54 centimeters. Zhang Qixin, a villager from Hujia Village, told us: "According to the legends of the elderly, there were gods inside the temple, but in fact, they were clay statues. Later, they were all pushed into the river bay in the village." From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China and then to the reform and opening up, this old building was converted from a ancestral hall into a school, and then from a school into a kindergarten. Its walls and tiles have aged and deteriorated with the passage of time, and the kindergarten has been left unused. However, in the eyes of the villagers, this old building has witnessed the generations of changes in Hujia Village. No matter what mission it undertakes, it remains an eternal monument in the hearts of the villagers.

In addition to the old buildings, Hujiacun also boasts two brass bells, one large and one small, which are approximately 500 years old. It is said that the large bell is now buried about 10 meters underground to the southwest of the village committee, while the small bell remains in the village. Furthermore, in the farmland approximately 300 meters southwest of Hujiacun, there stands a genealogy monument erected in the 19th year of the Guangxu era, engraved with the Hu family genealogy. The monument is about 1.6 meters high and 0.5 meters wide, and it is relatively well-preserved, although the characters on the back are slightly blurred.

Revolutionary spirit, eternal

Hujiacun is a red village with a glorious revolutionary tradition. During the Anti-Japanese War, Hu Zhaohou and Hu Zhaonian, soldiers of the county brigade, sacrificed heroically in battle and were posthumously recognized as martyrs. Zhang Qixin, who is 75 years old this year, added relevant details to us: "They were just soldiers in the morning, and by the evening they had sacrificed. They were both very young lads." Zhang Qixin also told us the tragic story of Xu Suqing, a female hero from Hujiacun. Xu Suqing, originally named Zhang Cui, was born in Xuzhuang, Nanpi County, Hebei Province. She joined the revolution in 1940 and worked in the second district of Jiyang County in 1943, serving as the president of the Women's Rescue Association. During the Liberation War, Xu Suqing, a Communist Party member, was unfortunately arrested and subjected to severe torture by the Kuomintang army. "Those people pierced her collarbone with iron wire and finally pulled all her hair out." Faced with such torture, Xu Suqing never thought of surrendering. "In the end, she didn't reveal who was a Communist Party member. She just said, 'I am a Party member, if you have any problems, come to me. The others are just ordinary people.' This is how she protected other Communist Party members in our village." In 1946, Xu Suqing sacrificed heroically in Jiyang City, at the age of only 24.

In addition to the heroic and fearless female martyr Xu Suqing, Hujiacun also boasts a female model worker, Wang Xiuying. Wang Xiuying joined the Communist Party of China in 1943. During the Anti-Japanese War, she actively organized women to make military shoes to support the frontline, carrying loads weighing over a hundred jin (a traditional Chinese unit of weight, approximately 50 kilograms) for tens of miles. She was repeatedly selected as a model worker for supporting the front. During the Liberation War, Wang Xiuying risked her life several times to shield the underground workers of the Party and evaded enemy pursuit. When a military family member in the village passed away, with their only son fighting on the frontline and no one around to attend the funeral, she stepped forward and dressed in mourning clothes for the deceased soldier, seeing him off. In February 1951, Wang Xiuying, who was then the director of the Women's Rescue Association in Hujiacun, was selected as a model worker in Shandong Province. In 1983, Wang Xiuying was honored as the March 8th Red Flag Bearer of Shandong Province by the Provincial Women's Federation.

A single spark can start a prairie fire. As a village with a revolutionary tradition, the red gene flows in the blood of every villager in Hujiacun, and the glorious deeds of the revolutionary forebears have been passed down from generation to generation. Zhang Qixin is particularly familiar with this history. "There is now a martyrs' cemetery where the archives and photos of Hu Zhaohou and Hu Zhaonian are displayed, but the photos are all painted. I have written the village history before, and many stories were personally seen and copied by me at the martyrs' cemetery.".

New era life, thriving

Zhang Qixin, a villager, was born in 1947 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1971. According to Zhang Qixin's recollection, "When I was the brigade leader, the population of Hujiacun was around 1,300. At that time, the village had over 3,000 mu of land. Later, due to the construction of underground ditches, over 500 mu was reduced, leaving only more than 2,400 mu of land." Hu Yulun, a native of Hujiacun, was born in 1952. After graduating from junior high school, Hu Yulun enlisted in the army and became a soldier. He said, "At that time, we responded to Chairman Mao's call to 'not be old-fashioned soldiers and forge iron feet.' Every winter, we would undergo a two-month-long camping training, starting from the beginning of winter and ending in spring when we returned to the camp. It was like a real war exercise." Hu Yulun still remembers that at that time, the monthly allowance was 6 yuan and the daily living expenses were 45 cents. "Anyway, being a soldier didn't feel bitter or tired. We requisitioned land from the beach to grow rice, which helped to sustain the troops' food and also supplied a portion to the country.".

Hujiacun is a traditional agricultural village, mainly engaged in planting wheat and corn. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the village fully leveraged its advantage of having many skilled craftsmen and vigorously developed side businesses. Currently, there are more than ten individual businesses in the village engaged in industries such as automobile transportation, automobile beauty, wood processing, and cement prefabrication. More than a hundred people work and do business outside the village all year round, among which the automobile repair and beauty industry has entered big cities such as Beijing and Tianjin, driving the economic development of the whole village.

In Zhang Qixin's memory, the flooding of the Yellow River has always been a lingering shadow over everyone's minds. "In the past, it flooded every year. There was a place on the Yellow River embankment that we called 'tofu nest' because it was so soft that it often cracked. There are two villages north of Hujia Village, called 'Laokaihe' and 'Xiaokaihe,' which were also named because the Yellow River often burst its banks." After the founding of New China, Chairman Mao called for "we must handle the affairs of the Yellow River well," and the Yellow River management project kicked off. Zhang Qixin remembers, "At that time, the workers who went to manage the Yellow River were endless, with red flags planted on the embankment. Everyone worked hard with their bare hands, using carts to push and shoulders to lift." With the unremitting efforts of countless people, the Yellow River finally regained its gentle nature as a "mother river." Zhang Qixin told us that now the tap water in Hujia Village is all taken from the Yellow River, and many cultivated lands are also irrigated by the Yellow River water. "Now the Yellow River is a 'beneficial river,' not a 'harmful river'.".

"It rains heavily outside, and lightly inside; if it doesn't rain outside, it drips inside," Hu Yulun described the living conditions in the past. To prevent water accumulation in the house, villagers had to use pots to catch the leaking rainwater. "I don't know how many pots we had to use in one house. Now we all live in tiled houses and buildings," Hu Yulun said with emotion. "The life we lived during the natural disasters three years ago is simply incomparable to now. I was only 11 or 12 years old at that time, and I was hungry all day long. I ate wild vegetables and tree bark, and I enjoyed it. I never thought that these few years could develop so well." In addition, the road conditions on the streets have also improved greatly. "In previous years, whenever it rained, cars couldn't enter. Now the hardened roads have been paved all the way to the doorsteps of each household," Hu Yulun said happily.

The happy life that Hujiacun now enjoys was earned by the revolutionary forefathers with their blood and lives. The peace of our times is hard-won, and the older generation in Hujiacun feels this even more deeply than the younger generation. Hu Yulun and Hu Yuanhui urge the young people of the village, "You must never behave recklessly when you're away. Follow the right path. Work hard to create better living conditions for your families and make your lives thrive." Today, Hujiacun, which has been tempered by the test of time, is shedding its poor and backward image and is marching with a positive and vigorous attitude on the new era path towards a happy tomorrow.