A Journey to Gangbo Cave
Gangbo Cave is the place where Qin Guoqing, China's last bandit, hid and was killed. It is located within Kuzhuhe Village, Lifuta Township, Sangzhi County. In late December 2006, when the crew of Hunan Political and Legal Channel's "X-Files" was filming the feature documentary "The Demise of the Bandits of Xiangxi," I, as the historical consultant hired by the crew, made a special trip to Lifuta in Sangzhi to explore this cave. Setting out from Zhangjiajie City, driving along the road toward Wentang, after about two...
Gangbo Cave is the place where Qin Guoqing, China's last bandit, hid and was killed. It is located within Kuzhuhe Village, Lifuta Township, Sangzhi County. In late December 2006, when the crew of Hunan Political and Legal Channel's "X-Files" was filming the feature documentary "The Demise of the Bandits of Xiangxi," I, as the historical consultant hired by the crew, made a special trip to Lifuta in Sangzhi to explore this cave.
Setting out from Zhangjiajie City and driving along the road toward Wentang, after about two hours our group of four arrived beside the ancient town of Kuzhuhe. As arranged, Qin Ge, a retired old man who lives in Chixi, Sangzhi, had arrived early and was waiting there. As soon as we got out of the car, Old Qin came up to greet us: "Come with me, it's still a few li to Gangbo Cave!" So we followed him toward a hill. After walking about two li, Old Qin suddenly stopped and said, "There are several hills here. I haven't been here for many years, so I don't know which hill it is." Just as we were puzzled and unable to tell, two peasant women carrying empty back-baskets came over. Old Qin quickly asked, "Sisters, do you know where Gangbo Cave is?"
"Gangbo Cave is still ahead, it's not here," one woman replied.
"Are you sure?" Old Qin asked again.
"No mistake. We gather firewood in this area every day, how could we not be clear about it? Come with us!"
We then followed the two peasant women onward.
After about another half li, one peasant woman pointed to a hill in front and said, "Look, the place in the middle of this hill with green vines and thorns is Gangbo Cave."
"Oh, we still have to climb such a high mountain. I can't climb anymore!" Huang Sheng, who was carrying the camera, was already drenched in sweat and really did not want to climb up.
"Hang in there a bit. When you go back this time you'll have a summary to write, after suffering so much!" Liao Jian, the young editor, encouraged him.
"There's no path up there, how do we walk?" Huang Sheng said again.
"No path is easy to deal with. You two sisters help cut a path, and I'll cut too. I brought a machete!" Old Qin said again.
"For 20 yuan we'll help cut, are you willing?" one peasant woman said again.
"Fine, 20 yuan it is, it's settled. Hurry and cut!" I agreed.
The two peasant women then took machetes out of their back-baskets and began cutting. Old Qin joined in as well. After cutting for about twenty minutes, they finally cut out a path. We climbed up along the path for more than a hundred meters and finally reached the front of Gangbo Cave. The cave entrance was overgrown with thorns. The two peasant women swung their machetes for quite a while and only then cut the thorns away, and Gangbo Cave then revealed its true appearance. The cave opened in a semicircular shape, sloping downward as one entered. Inside it was more than a zhang deep and seven or eight meters wide, shaped very much like a water vat, which is probably why the locals called it Gangbo Cave. Old Qin then introduced to the crew the experiences he had personally heard about back then, and I also recounted the historical materials I knew about the campaign to encircle and suppress Qin Guoqing.
On March 24, 1965, the famous bandits Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian, who had hidden in Sangzhi and other places for 16 years, were wiped out by the mountain-searching troops while hiding in this cave. Qin Guoqing was a native of Qing'anping in Dayong. One year, when Qin Guoqing went to the Shanghexi area of Sangzhi, he happened to see a girl of sixteen or seventeen, as beautiful as a flower, with two long braids hanging down to her buttocks and swinging attractively. Qin Guoqing then sent his men to seize her and make her his bandit-chief's wife. This woman was Tian Yulian. Once in the tiger's den, Tian Yulian gradually became wholeheartedly committed and turned into a hardened bandit. Both husband and wife used double pistols, and their marksmanship was so good they could shoot the eyes of a flying bird. As liberation approached, Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian fled east and west, evading many pursuits by the People's Liberation Army and hiding in the mountains for 16 years. The last time, Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian were discovered by commune members Yu Mingliu, Yu Shide, Yu Gouliang and others while they were cutting firewood at Dayukuai in Mianhua'ao Village, Lifuta Township. Qin Guoqing shot and killed Yu Gouliang, and this exposed their target. The local commune members quickly reported the case to the People's Liberation Army. At that time the bandit-suppression command post located in Qing'anping received the report and immediately deployed blocking and suppression. That night it ordered troops and militia from the three counties of Dayong, Yongshun, and Sangzhi to carry out a large encirclement. More than 7,000 people surrounded the large and small hilltops in the Dayuwan area overnight. Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian took advantage of the darkness to break out three times, but each time were beaten back by the guard posts and militia. At dawn, Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian came to Gangbo Cave behind Kuzhuhe and were discovered by the People's Liberation Army and militia searching the mountain. The two sides immediately engaged in fierce fighting. During the charge, PLA deputy political instructor Xiang Nanshu was hit and sacrificed, and another militia platoon leader, Tian Qiyou, was seriously wounded. At this moment, PLA second lieutenant Xie Maoshuang threw a grenade in from a rock crevice. Qin Guoqing grabbed the smoking grenade and tried to throw it out, but just as he caught it, the grenade exploded. Xie Maoshuang threw in another grenade. Tian Yulian caught it with her right hand, and that smoking grenade exploded too. As a result, Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian were both killed on the spot. The copper washbasin they used daily was blown full of holes like a sieve.
Because Qin Guoqing and Tian Yulian had hidden for as long as 16 years after liberation, the two became the last bandit gang eliminated in mainland China. For a time the media reported it one after another. The bandit-suppression battle at Gangbo Cave thus became major news and was celebrated throughout the world.
The crew recorded our account on video, and then we walked down the mountain again. At the foot of the mountain, the westward-slanting sun was about to set. Looking at the big red sun in the distance, Huang Sheng said excitedly, "The sun shining on the bandit cave has such an artistic mood. Wait a moment, I'll film this sunset." So saying, he set up the tripod and aimed the camera at the sun.
So everyone waited another 20 minutes. While waiting, we chatted again. I told everyone a joke: "I have a literary friend in Beijing. Once he was boasting to someone: 'Foreigners call Saddam a hero, but actually he's nothing. More than a year after the United States entered Iraq, they dragged him out of a hole. The People's Liberation Army is really formidable. In my Xiangxi there was a man of my surname, Qin Guoqing. He hid as a bandit for 16 years before being shot dead by the PLA. A president and a bandit, which do you think is more formidable?'"
Everyone laughed heartily at this. Then someone joked again: "If Qin Guoqing could have hidden until now, maybe he could even have become a CPPCC member."
I said, "That probably wouldn't be possible. He had blood debts and killed PLA soldiers. Even if he had endured until the 1980s and surrendered, he'd be lucky just to keep his life."
We joked and chatted like this until the sun set and it was almost dark. Only then did our group slowly walk back to the road at the foot of the mountain, and then hurried by car toward Sangzhi County town.