The background of the era when Zhan Tianyou built the Zhangjiakou Railway!
It was Yuan Shikai’s decision to build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. The appointment of Zhan Tianyou is not unrelated to the success of the Xiling Railway.
Zhangjiakou is the gateway from Beijing to Inner Mongolia, and the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway has obvious military, economic and political value. When news of the road construction came out, Britain, which had the most power in China, was determined to win. Tsarist Russia, which regarded the north of the Great Wall as its sphere of influence, would not give in. The two sides argued and finally reached an agreement: If the Qing government did not borrow foreign debts and did not use foreign craftsmen, it would be entirely done by The Chinese built it independently, but neither side extended a hand. From the perspective of Britain and Russia, backward China is completely incapable of this, and they are waiting for the Chinese to come to them for help when they reach a deadlock.
On May 3, 1906, Zhan Tianyou wrote to his "parent" Mrs. Northob when he was studying in the United States: Dear Madam:
I am so happy to receive you in March. The letter of the 22nd was really unexpected. I read it carefully and over and over again, as if I was listening to your conversation in the old days. What joy we had in the past with you! ah! How eager I am to visit the United States again and meet my old friends again, especially you, the teacher in charge of our early education. How excited it will be!
Yes! I am now the father of seven children - three girls and four boys! I am currently the "Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway Committee Office and Chief Engineer". This railway is about 125 miles long and will have three tunnels, the longest of which is three-quarters of a mile. This road is the first railway to be built entirely by Chinese engineers. I hope we can complete it smoothly!
Luo Guorui lives in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. He is the chief engineer of the new railway there. How terrible the San Francisco earthquake was! Do you know if Ouyang is safe? Greetings to you, Sophie and Willy. Your loyal Zhan Tianyou
Zhan Tianyou surveyed three routes. The second detour is too far and is not advisable. The third line is today's Fengsha Line. It was built from the south to the west of Beijing and passed through a large number of cemeteries, which created too many obstacles. Due to limited funding from the Qing government and tight time, Zhan Tianyou decided to take the first route, which was from Xizhimen via Shahe, via Nankou, Juyongguan, Badaling, Huailai, Jimingyi, Xuanhua to Zhangjiakou, with a total length of 360 miles. This line has many peaks and cliffs. The engineering difficulty was unprecedented in the country and rare in the world at that time. The slope is extremely steep, and the height difference between the south entrance and Badaling is nearly 60 meters.
On October 24, 1906, Zhan Tianyou said in the letter: Dear Mrs. Northop:
The letters of June 3 and September 9 have been received. That’s right! The letter with the two-cent stamp also arrived safely. I have been busy with my work recently and have forgotten my old friend. Please forgive me!
Admittedly, I am very lucky to be appointed to my current job. China has gradually awakened and is in urgent need of railways. Now all over the country, Chinese engineers are being recruited. China must use its own funds to build its own railways. It seems that I have become the best engineer in China, so all Chinese and foreigners are watching my work closely. If I fail, it will not only be my personal misfortune, but also the misfortune of all Chinese engineers and all Chinese people, because Chinese engineers will no longer be trusted by people in the future!
Before I was assigned this job, and even after I took office, many foreigners publicly claimed that Chinese engineers would never be able to take on such an arduous task, because they would have to cut mountains and stones and build extremely long tunnels!
But I tried my best and have already completed one stage of practice. I am attaching a newspaper clipping to let you know that a Chinese child who was under your care has now completed and will continue to complete the tasks in the future. His early education was entirely indebted to you! Your most loyal Zhan Tianyou
On September 30, 1906, the first section of the project was opened to traffic, and the second section of the project started at the same time. This section must first open up four tunnels: Juyongguan, Wuguitou, Shifosi, and Badaling. The longest Badaling tunnel is 1,092 meters. This requires not only precise calculations and correct command, but also new types of mountain excavation machines, ventilators and water pumps. The former was no problem for Zhan Tianyou, but the latter was not available in China at the time and could only rely on the hands of workers.
On December 11, 1906, during the most intense days of the project, Zhan Tianyou wrote in a letter to Nosoub’s son and his boyhood friend Willie: “Currently, China is in a period of In an extremely unstable situation, she is conducting costly experiments and striving for innovation. But no one can predict what will happen in the future. "My current railway requires me to only use Chinese people to build it." Quan, I would be happy to introduce you to a job. Unfortunately, I am now ordered not to hire foreign workers Zhan Tianyou
Zhan Tianyou, courtesy name Juancheng, was born in Wuyuan, Jiangxi in 1861 (the eleventh year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty). An ordinary tea merchant. As a child, Zhan Tianyou was very interested in machines. He often made various machine models out of clay with the neighborhood children. Sometimes, he would secretly take apart the chime clock at home and play with it to figure out what was inside. In 1872, Zhan Tianyou, who was only twelve years old, went to Hong Kong to apply for the "Preparatory Course for Young Children Going Abroad" organized by the Qing government. After passing the exam, his father wrote on a piece of paper "What if." "Sickness, life and death, everyone takes care of their destiny" was stamped on the certificate for going abroad. From then on, he bid farewell to his parents and came to the United States to study with the ideal of learning Western "skills".
In the United States, preparatory classes for going abroad The students witnessed the great achievements of science and technology in North America and Western Europe, and marveled at the rapid development of machinery, trains, ships and telecommunications manufacturing. Some students became pessimistic about China's future, but Zhan Tianyou had firm faith. He said: “In the future, China will also have trains and ships. With the belief of studying hard for the prosperity of the motherland, he studied hard and graduated with honors from New Haven High School in 1867. In May of the same year, he was admitted to the Department of Civil Engineering of Yale University, specializing in railway engineering. During his four years at the university Zhan Tianyou studied hard and ranked first in the graduation examination with outstanding results. In 1881, among the 120 Chinese students who returned to China, only two received a degree, and Zhan Tianyou was one of them. p>
After returning to China, Zhan Tianyou enthusiastically prepared to contribute the skills he had learned to the railway industry of the motherland. However, the Westernization officials of the Qing government were superstitious about foreign countries and blindly relied on foreigners when building railways, regardless of Zhan Tianyou's professional expertise. , he was sent to the Fujian Naval Academy to learn how to sail a sea-going ship. In November 1882, he was sent to the flagship "Yangwu" as a pilot to command the drill. In 1883, the Sino-French war broke out. The following year, it had been planned for a long time. The French fleet entered the Minjiang River one after another, ready to make a move, but He Ruzhang, the capitulating shipping minister in charge of the Fujian Navy, turned a deaf ear and even ordered: "You are not allowed to fire first, and those who violate the rules will be killed even if they win!" "At this time, Zhan Tianyou privately said to Zhang Cheng, the commander (captain) of the "Yangwu": "There are many French warships coming, with ulterior motives. Although we received orders not to fire first, we must not fail to take precautions. "Due to Zhan Tianyou's warning, the "Yangwu" was very vigilant and prepared for battle. When the French fleet launched a surprise attack, Zhan Tianyou braved the fierce fire and commanded the "Yangwu" calmly and tactfully to move left and right. ; Avoided enemy artillery fire, seized the fighter plane and hit the French command ship "Volta" with its tail gun, causing the French naval expedition commander Guba to almost die. Regarding this naval battle, the "Zi Lin Xi Bao" founded by British businessmen in Shanghai. In the report, they had to marvel in surprise: "Westerners did not expect that the Chinese would fight so bravely. Among the five students on the "Yangwu" warship, Zhan Tianyou performed the most bravely. He faced a powerful enemy without fear, and at a critical moment of life and death, he could remain calm and muster up the courage to rescue many people in the water..."
From the war to 1888, Zhan Tianyou'er After many twists and turns, he was transferred to China Railway Company as an engineer. This was the beginning of his dedication to China's railway industry.
Not long after he took office, Zhan Tianyou encountered a test on the Tianjin-Yuzhou Railway from Tianjin to Shanhaiguan. When we reached the Luanhe River, we wanted to build a railway bridge across the Luanhe River. The Luanhe River bed was very sandy, and there were rapids in the water. The iron bridge was initially designed by British engineers who were known as the best in the world, but it failed; Asking Japanese engineers to contract the work did not work, so German engineers were finally asked to take action, but they were soon defeated.
Zhan Tianyou asked that the Chinese people do it themselves. When the British in charge of the project were desperate, they had to agree to Zhan Tianyou to give it a try.
Zhan Tianyou is a serious and down-to-earth person. After analyzing and summarizing the reasons for the failure of the three foreign engineers, he wore work clothes and conducted on-site investigations with the workers, (P116) close measurements. At night, with the help of a dim oil lamp, I carefully studied the geological structure of the Luanhe River bed, analyzed and compared repeatedly, and finally determined the location of the bridge piers, and boldly decided to use a new method - the "pressure caisson method" to construct the bridge piers. Zhan Tianyou really succeeded in building the Luanhe River Bridge. This incident shocked the world: a Chinese engineer actually solved a big problem that three foreign engineers could not solve.
After Zhan Tianyou won the first battle, he immediately encountered a more severe test. In 1905, the Qing government decided to build my country's first railway, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway (Beijing to Zhangjiakou). Britain and Russia both wanted to intervene, but due to the strong opposition of the Chinese people, their attempts failed. The British and Russian envoys said in a threatening tone: "If the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is built by Chinese engineers themselves, it will have nothing to do with Britain and Russia." They thought that this way, China would not be able to build this railway. At this critical moment, Zhan Tianyou took over this arduous task without hesitation and took full responsibility for the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. When the news came, some imperialists and British newspapers said sarcastically: "China's engineers who can build this railway are still unborn in their mothers' wombs! If the Chinese want to build their own railways without relying on foreigners, even if it is not a dream, it will take at least five years. Ten years." They even attacked Zhan Tianyou as "arrogant" and "overestimating his capabilities" as the general office and chief engineer. Zhan Tianyou resisted the pressure and insisted not to hire a foreign engineer, and said: "China has a vast land and rich resources, but we must rely on outsiders to work along the way. I feel ashamed!" "China has woken up. The Chinese people must use their own engineers and their own money to build the railway.”
In August 1905, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway officially started construction, and the intense exploration and line selection work began. Zhan Tianyou led the survey team, carrying instruments on his back, and ran around the rugged mountains day and night. One evening, a strong northwest wind roared with sand and rocks in the Badaling area, making people unable to open their eyes. The survey team was anxious to finish their work, fill in the measured numbers, and climb down from the rock wall. Zhan Tianyou took the book, looked through the numbers filled in, and asked doubtfully: "Are the data accurate?" "Absolutely", the survey team member replied. Zhan Tianyou said seriously: "The first requirement of technology is precision. It cannot be a little vague or rash. Terms like 'probably' and 'almost' should not come from the mouths of engineers." Then, he carried the instrument on his back, Braving the wind and sand, I arduously climbed up the rock wall again, carefully re-examined it, and corrected an error. When he came down, his lips were blue from the cold.
Soon, exploration and construction entered the most difficult stage. In the Badaling and Qinglongqiao area, there are overlapping mountains and steep cliffs. Four tunnels need to be opened, the longest of which is more than a thousand meters long. After precise measurements and calculations, Zhan Tianyou decided to adopt a segmented construction method: he dug from the north and south ends of the mountain at the same time, opened a large well in the middle of the mountain, and then dug in the well to the north and south ends. This not only ensures the quality of construction, but also speeds up the progress of the project. When digging a hole, a large amount of stones were dug manually with spades, and the spring water had to be picked out one by one. As the chief engineer, Zhan Tianyou had no pretensions. He dug stones and carried water together with the workers. Sludge's face was sweaty. He also encouraged everyone: "The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is the first railway we built with our own people and our own money. The eyes of the world are looking at us. We must succeed!" "Whether we succeed or fail, it is never ours." The success and failure are the success and failure of our country!”
In order to overcome the difficulty of driving on steep slopes and ensure that the train can safely climb Badaling, Zhan Tianyou was ingenious and creatively used the principle of “return lines” to A herringbone line was designed in the Qinglongqiao section of the mountainous area with steep slopes, thereby reducing the need for tunnel excavation and lowering the slope. When the train arrives here, it cooperates with two high-horsepower locomotives to pull and push to ensure that the train goes uphill safely.
Zhan Tianyou once put forward three requirements for the entire project: "low cost, good quality, and quick completion."
After several struggles by workers, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was finally opened to traffic in September 1909. It was originally planned to be completed in six years, but it was completed ahead of schedule in only four years. The project cost was only one-fifth of the foreign estimate. Some European and American engineers praised Zhan Tianyou after taking a bus tour and praised him for his greatness. But Zhan Tianyou said modestly: "This is the strength of the more than 10,000 employees of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. It is not my personal contribution. The glory should belong to everyone."
After the completion of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, Zhan Tianyou He also succeeded him as Supervisor and Chief Engineer of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway. At this time, the United States decided to award him a doctorate in engineering and asked him to go to the United States in person to attend the awarding ceremony. In order to fully participate in the construction of the motherland's railway, he gave up this honor.
After the Revolution of 1911, in order to revitalize the railway industry, Zhan Tianyou and his colleagues established the Chinese Engineering Society and was elected as the president. During this period, he devoted a lot of effort to the training of young engineering and technical personnel. In addition to setting an example with his own behavior, he also encouraged young people to "research academically and invent" and asked them "not to favor others and not to be famous." And fishing for reputation. Dealing with things with sincerity, without asking for personal gain, and setting oneself with treasures as an example."
Zhan Tianyou has been engaged in the railway industry for more than 30 years, which is different from almost every railway in my country at that time. degree of relationship. In his later years, he became ill due to overwork and unfortunately died of illness in 1919. Comrade Zhou Enlai once spoke highly of Zhan Tianyou's achievements and said that he is "the glory of the Chinese people".
The flagship of the Fujian Navy "Yangwu"
In 1890, the Qing government built the Guanwai Railway (today's Beijing-Shenyang Railway), with Jinda as the chief engineer. In 1892, the project progressed to the Luanhe River Bridge. Many countries wanted to take over this business. Of course, Jinda put the British first, but the British Kakes failed because they could not build the bridge. Japanese and German contractors also suffered failures. As the delivery deadline was approaching, Jinda had to ask Zhan Tianyou for help. After Zhan Tianyou made a detailed analysis of the reasons for the failure of various countries and conducted careful measurement and research on the geological soil at the bottom of the Luanhe River, he decided to change the pile site and use traditional Chinese methods, using Chinese divers to dive into the bottom of the river and operate machines, and he succeeded. The piling task was completed and the Luanhe River Bridge was built. This victory has boosted the ambition of the Chinese people. In 1894, the British Engineering Research Society elected Zhan Tianyou as a member of the society.
After that, Zhan Tianyou led the construction of Beijing-Tianjin Road, Pingli Road (Pingxiang to Liling) and other railways.
In order to please the Nala family, Yuan Shikai petitioned in 1902 to build a Xinyi Railway (Gaobeidian to Yixian) exclusively for the royal family to worship their ancestors. Nara was naturally happy to take the train to worship his ancestors. In order not to miss the opportunity to worship ancestors in 1903, Yuan Shikai was ordered to complete the project within six months. Yuan Shikai appointed Zhan Tianyou as chief engineer. Although this road is of little value, it is the beginning of Chinese self-built railways, so Zhan Tianyou still attaches great importance to it. Zhan Tianyou completely abandoned the convention that foreigners had to dry the roadbed for a year before laying tracks, and built the Xinyi Railway in only four months at a very low cost. This greatly inspired the Chinese people's confidence in building their own railways and laid a good foundation for the subsequent construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.
Zhangjiakou is the gateway from Beijing to Inner Mongolia. The passage for traveling merchants from the north to the south has always been a must for military strategists. Therefore, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway has important economic and political value. When the news came out that the Qing government was going to build roads in Beijing, Britain, which had the most influence in China, was determined to win. Tsarist Russia, which regarded the area north of the Great Wall as its sphere of influence, vowed not to give in. The two sides argued and finally reached an agreement: if the Qing government did not borrow foreign debt, , no foreign craftsmen are needed, it is all done by the Chinese themselves, and neither side reaches out. In this way, the Qing government gave up the idea of seeking help from foreigners and focused on self-study.
Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway—China’s first self-built railway
This railway running through Guangou was originally named Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. Built in the late Qing Dynasty from 1905 to 1909, it was presided over by the patriotic engineer Zhan Tianyou. It was the first railway designed and built by my country itself. At that time, it was only from Fengtai, Beijing to Zhangjiakou, with a total length of 204 kilometers. Today, this railway has become a section of the Beijing-Baotou Line and is connected to the Second Line, and is therefore an international railway line to Europe.
The Guangou section of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway from the south entrance to Badaling is the key to the entire line project.
The terrain along the way is complex, with high mountains and steep slopes. The maximum slope limit is three thousandths. For every kilometer forward, the roadbed will rise by an average of three feet. Especially the area from Qinglong Bridge to Badaling is full of cliffs and deep ravines, making the project extremely difficult. At that time, it was a dark period when the imperialist powers wanted to control and carve up our country. The foreign invaders sarcastically said: "The engineers who will build the Guangou section of the railway in China have not been born yet." Hearing this fallacy, Zhan Tianyou was extremely angry. He was determined to win glory for the motherland and gain morale for the nation. Therefore, with an indomitable patriotic spirit, after repeated surveys, the most ideal route was finally designed. The tunnel part is more than 2,000 meters shorter than that designed by foreign railway experts. In particular, the two major tunnels, Badaling and Juyongguan, are more than 1,500 meters long, and the engineering is extremely difficult. But he drilled two shafts in Badaling, and with the excavation at both ends, he created six excavation surfaces, allowing the tunnel to be opened quickly. At the same time, he also designed a "herringbone"-shaped branch line near Qinglongqiao Station, so that the train can smoothly cross the Badaling Peak by turning around, thus solving the problem that the train cannot directly climb high slopes and make small turns. Due to the arduous struggle of Zhan Tianyou and our workers, this railway, which was originally planned by foreigners to take 7 years and cost 9 million taels of silver to build, was actually completed in only 4 years and cost 5.2 million taels of silver. , and saved 280,000 taels of silver. Thus creating a miracle in the history of railway construction, winning honor for the Chinese nation, and boosting the aspirations of the Chinese people.
Zhan Tianyou used both the north and south ends to dig into the middle point of the tunnel at the same time. But the tunnel is too long, and two vertical shafts are dug in the middle, which can be dug in opposite directions, so there are six working faces at the same time. He used the principle of "folding lines" to build a "zigzag" route to reduce the climbing gradient, and used pull carts at both ends to cross. At the beginning of the construction of the railway, there were car derailments. Zhan Tianyou thought of a way: add the automatic hook invented by American Jenny to each carriage to combine it into a solid whole to ensure safety when climbing hills.
On December 11, 1906, during the most stressful days of the project, Zhan Tianyou wrote in a letter to Nosoub’s son and his boyhood friend Willie:
Currently, China is in an extremely unstable situation. It is conducting very costly experiments and striving for innovation. But no one can predict what will happen in the future. My current railway requires me to only use Chinese people to build it. If I have the right. I would be happy to introduce you to a job. Unfortunately, I am now ordered not to hire foreign employees.
Building railways near the capital often requires unexpected "prices". The railway passes through the graveyard of a former Taoist priest. He is a relative of the royal family and has influence in both the government and the public. This person led the crowd to cause trouble, stopped the project, and privately offered heavy bribes to demand a diversion. However, the north, south, and west are all the cemeteries of the powerful. It would be a huge waste to change the routes. Zhan Tianyou endured the humiliation and spent a lot of time dealing with the powerful, and finally allowed the railway to pass outside the tomb wall. However, in order to maintain the "feng shui", they agreed to build another river and send officials to burn incense and offer sacrifices. After the road was completed, a monument would be erected to commemorate it. The engineering staff were indignant, but Zhan Tianyou said that as long as the railway could be repaired, other minor issues could be tolerated.
The difficulty of the third section of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is second only to Guangou. The first thing we encountered was the Huailai Bridge, which is the longest bridge on Beijing-Zhangjiakou Road. It is built with seven 30.48-meter-long steel beams. Thanks to Zhan Tianyou's correct command, the bridge was successfully completed.
The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was originally planned to be completed in six years. With the efforts of Zhan Tianyou, the entire line was opened to traffic on August 11, 1909, two years ahead of schedule.
Zhan Tianyou built the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. When excavating the Juyongguan and Badaling tunnels, he designed the steep terrain and steep slope of Badaling into a "human" route to make the train run smoothly. This move became the first railway It was a major innovation in construction, so during the renovation of the former residence, miniature "herringbone"-shaped Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway and Badaling Great Wall were built in the garden in front of the memorial hall.
Era: The bourgeois revolutionaries carried out revolutionary struggles, established the Tongmenghui, launched the Zhejiang and Anhui uprisings, etc.
The debate between the revolutionaries and the royalists
The "New Deal" of the Qing government and "Preparatory Constitution"
In the 14th year of Guangxu's reign, he served as an engineer of the China Railway Company and was elected as a member of the British Engineering Research Association. Since then, he has successively served as engineer of Jinyu, Jinzhou and Pingli Railway, chief engineer of Xinyi Railway, general office and chief engineer of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, and consulting chief engineer of Luotong Railway. In the first year of Xuantong, he was awarded a Jinshi in Engineering and served as examiner for overseas students, consultant of the Postal and Communications Department, and consultant of the academic department. He was also sent to Yichang as the chief engineer of the commercial Sichuan Railway. In the first year of the Republic of China, he served as the director of the Guangdong-Hankong Railway and was elected as the president of the "Chinese Society of Engineers". In the third year of the Republic of China, he served as the Supervisor of the Guangdong-Hanchuan Road. President Sun Yat-sen promoted him to the rank of Senior Doctor and Shaoqing, appointed him as the Director-General of the Ministry of Communications, and awarded him the second-class Baoguang Jiahe Medal. In the eighth year of the Republic of China, he was sent to Harbin by the Beiyang warlord government to serve as a representative of the Allied Powers Conference on Supervision of the Far Eastern Railway and the Chinese representative of the conference's technical department.
On April 15, the eighth year of the Republic of China, he took leave and returned to Wuhan due to illness. He died on the 24th at the age of fifty-nine. Zhan Tianyou made outstanding contributions to China's railway industry throughout his life.