Fading Changsha Scenery

Author: Yang Liang / Peng Guoliang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Changsha, as a historic and cultural city, originally had numerous ancient towns. However, during the Chinese War, more than half of them were destroyed. What remains today is already extremely precious. In that war, Changsha suffered even more devastation than other cities. The near-total destruction of the city's architecture was caused by a famous military force, after conquering Wuhan, launching a massive advance into northern Hunan. At that time, the highest authorities of China decided to implement a "scorched-earth resistance." When Japanese forces were still 200 miles away from Changsha City at the Xinqiang River, they set the entire city of Changsha ablaze. The fire burned for three days and nights. Among the original 1,100 streets and alleys in Changsha City, 690 were completely destroyed, leaving not a single tile remaining, while another 330 had only three or five buildings left standing. Together, these accounted for 90% of all streets and alleys. At that time, the total number of buildings in the city was approximately 38,610. After the fire, only 2,538 remained, making up 7% of the total. Famous cultural landmarks such as Tianxin Pavilion, Tianfei Temple, Jia Yi's Former Residence, Confucius Temple, Huoguan Temple, Lushan Temple, Yunlu Palace, and Zeng Guofan's Ancestral Hall were all reduced to ashes. Some of these landmarks left no photographs or other records behind. Today, their existence can only be known through the written accounts of previous generations and the stories of elderly residents who are now in their twilight years. The photographs in this book were obtained through extensive searches across various channels. Faced with these vanished landscapes, we cannot help but feel deep resentment toward the invaders who destroyed our beautiful homeland.