The Green Tile Building

　　“?]翕”, anyone who has been to the West Gate will surely remember this building — it is what the people of Zhaoqing call the “Green Tile Pit” (because the roof is covered with green tiles. And in Zhaoqing, the roof is called a “tile pit,” hence the name.). It was once the villa of General Yu Hanmou, a first-class army general. Inside, there is a secret room that connects to the back garden. Behind the garden is a pond, and this secret passage was said to be for facilitating escape. After the liberation, the mansion was taken over by the state.

　　During the Cultural Revolution, incited by the slogan “verbal attacks backed by armed struggle,” violent clashes escalated across the country, involving larger groups and greater intensity. Both major factions armed themselves with guns, and Zhaoqing was no exception. Following two large-scale armed confrontations on June 25 and August 17, both factions, now armed with weapons, began seizing strategic strongholds to control the urban area. The majestic and relatively easily defensible Green Tile Building quickly became the headquarters of one faction. On the evening of September 2, key leaders of the faction gathered at the Green Tile Building to plan their combat deployment. The information leaked, and another faction hastily formed an assassination squad intent on achieving a decisive victory. They arrived in a convoy of heavily armed vehicles. Had they succeeded, an even more bloody, brutal, and large-scale armed clash would have erupted in Zhaoqing. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Zhaoqing Military Sub-district immediately deployed a platoon of soldiers to form several human barricades on the slope of the West Gate to block the vehicles and prevent the situation from escalating. The soldiers were unarmed, only waving red copies of Chairman Mao’s quotations and shouting heartfelt appeals for using verbal rather than physical struggle. The human flesh barricade stood firm against the enraged vehicles as the cars roared, wheezed, retreated, advanced, then retreated again, locked in a stalemate with the human wall. But factional fanaticism eventually broke through the dam of reason, and the lead vehicle suddenly accelerated and plowed through the barricade. Sparked by the Green Tile Building, the shocking “September 2nd Incident,” which sent shockwaves across southern China, erupted. Two PLA soldiers were killed and three injured, their blood staining the West Gate slope. This incident appears to be the first recorded case of the PLA being openly attacked and suffering casualties during the Cultural Revolution nationwide. If a history of Zhaoqing’s Cultural Revolution is ever written, the Green Tile Building will certainly go down in history alongside the September 2nd Incident.

　　After the liberation, the mansion was taken over by the state. A decade ago, this place was still part of Gaoyao — before Gaoyao became a city and relocated to the southern bank. Later, the property was bought back by the descendants of the general. ?]翕 has never suffered any major damage and remains well preserved to this day. It is now being prepared as the site for the Zhaoqing City Library.