The spirit of Nanniwan farming for self-reliance

In the spring of 1941, a troop of the Eighth Route Army marched into Nanniwan in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia revolutionary area in northwest China. In the face of enemy blockade and extremely arduous living conditions, the reclamation troop opened up a large area of wasteland in the wild mountains and cultivated it to supply their own needs. The once barren Nanniwan in northern Shaanxi was transformed into a fertile place with thriving rice paddies more typical of south than north China.

Under the CPC leadership, the people's army fostered a powerful spirit of self-reliance in the face of difficulty and hardship. The image of the Nanniwan soldiers, with rifle in one hand and pickaxe in the other, is a lasting memory among the Chinese people.

南泥灣精神

1941年春,八路軍的一支部隊進駐了作為陜甘寧邊區南大門的南泥灣。面對敵人殘酷的掃蕩封鎖和艱苦的生存環境,戰士們一邊練兵備戰,一邊手握镢頭,在荒山野嶺中開辟出萬頃良田,使昔日的“爛泥灣”變成了稻田翻綠浪、窯洞滿山腰的“陜北好江南”。在開荒屯田、發展生產的過程中,八路軍培育和形成了以“艱苦奮斗、自力更生”為核心的南泥灣精神。南泥灣精神是中國共產黨領導人民軍隊在困境中奮起、在艱苦中發展的強大精神力量。“一手拿槍、一手拿鎬”的南泥灣精神是中國人民永遠的傳家寶。