北大荒：催人奋进的中国精神符号

北大荒：催人奋进的中国精神符号

Beidahuang: A Name InspiringEvery Chinese

中国的东北地区，素以物产丰饶而闻名，广袤的黑土地蕴藏了千万年间自然的精华。玉米、小麦、大豆等农作物源源不断的从这里出产，这里是中国最为重要的粮仓之一。然而就在东北之北，曾存在着大片荒芜地带，那里一度被形象的称为“北大荒”。70年间，经过几代人的辛勤开垦，昔日的不毛之地“北大荒”已变成了如今富饶的“北大仓”。

Northeast China is renowned for itsabundant resources. For thousands of years, the black earth in this areaabsorbed nature’s quintessence.Being China’s important breadbasket, thenortheastern region is a reliable source of corn, wheat, beans and otheragricultural produces in the country. In the north part of China’s northeast,however, there was once a chunk of barren land, which got its nickname ofBeidahuang, or the North Wasteland. Thanks to the tireless efforts of generationsof workers in the last seven decades, this previous wasteland has become thebreadbasket for China.

北大荒地区北抵小兴安岭，东西分别是三江平原和松嫩平原。兴凯湖依傍其旁，完达山横贯其中，黑龙江、松花江、乌苏里江在此相汇。区域总面积5．53万平方公里，平均海拔54米，万分之一的坡降构成罕见的平坦地势。

Beidahuang reaches the Xiao HingganMountains in the north, the Three River Plain in the east, and the SongnenPlain in the west. The Xingkai Lake lies at its periphery, and the WandaMountain stretches across it. Heilongjiang River, Songhuajiang River, andWusulijiang River meet here. Covering a total area of 55300 square kilometers,it has an average altitude of 54 meters above the sea. With a gradient of only0.0001, it is one of the flattest places on earth.

黑土富含有机质，肥力高、适合植物生长。北大荒地处世界三大黑土区之一的东北黑土区，黑土层厚达1米。人们常用“捏把黑土冒油花，插双筷子也发芽”来描述这里的富饶。

The black earth here is full oforganic matter and thus highly fertile. It is the most suitable place to growthe plants. Beidahuang locates in the black earth area of northeast China, oneof the three black earth areas in the world. The black earth here can be as thickas one meter. People often praise Beidahuang for its fertility, joking thateven a pair of chopsticks can sprout on the fertile black earth.

几万年前，华夏先民就已在此渔猎耕作。成书于战国时代的《山海经·大荒北经》就描述了包括北大荒在内的东北大片区域的地理特征。但在历史上，肥沃的土地并没有给北大荒带来繁荣和富庶。曾经的北大荒，荆棘丛生、沼泽遍布、毒虫结阵、野兽成群。这里每年有三分之二的时间处在冰霜期，冬天寒冷而漫长，年均气温4.6℃，极端低温可达零下40℃。

As early as tens of thousands ofyears ago, Chinese ancestors have been fishing, hunting, and planting intoday’s Beidahuang area. The Chapter of North Wilderness in the Classic ofMountains and Rivers, written during the Warring State Era, depicts the geographicalfeatures of the vast land of China’s northeast where Beidahuang locates. Thefertile land of Beidahuang, however, did not generate wealth and prosperity inhistory. On the contrary, it was once rife with rampant weeds, swamps,poisonous insects, and dangerous beasts. The winter season at Beidahuang isfreezing and long. The temperature here is below the freezing point fortwo-thirds of a year. Its average annual temperature is 4.6℃.Temperature can drop to as low as 40℃ below zero in thewinter season.

开垦北大荒的历史，是一部“筚路蓝缕”的创业史。上世纪50年代，数万名解放军复员官兵、知识青年和革命干部，响应国家号召，怀着保卫边疆、建设边疆的豪情壮志来到“北大荒”。几代垦荒人脚踏荒原，爬冰卧雪，排干沼泽，战胜重重困难，在茫茫沼泽荒原上建起了一大批机械化国营农场群。把过去人迹罕至的“北大荒”，建设成为了美丽富饶的“北大仓”。

The development history ofBeidahuang is full of painstaking efforts and sacrifice. In the 1950s, tens ofthousands of PLA veterans, educated youth, and CPC cadres, responding to thecall of the state, came to Beidahuang and dedicated themselves to defending anddeveloping the border area. They and their offspring braved the barren land, weatheredthe ice and snow, drained out the swamps and endured immeasurable hardship.Thanks to their sacrifice, many state-owned modern farms emerged on this formerwasteland. Beidahuang, once a place people rarely set feet on, is now thebeautiful and bountiful breadbasket of China.

目前，北大荒耕地面积4300多万亩，粮食综合生产能力稳定在400亿斤以上，商品粮调出量约占中国各省粮食调出总和的四分之一。开垦初期，这里耕地靠人拉肩扛，喷洒农药是小药壶，收割则是小镰刀。如今北大荒早已实现农业机械化、信息化，成为我国农业现代化程度最高的地区之一。

Today, Beidahuang has more than 43million mus of agricultural land, which produces over 20 billion kilograms ofgrains each year. It contributes one-quarter of the total cereal the countrypurchases each year. In the early days, people toiled the field manually. Theyused small pots to contain the pesticides and wielded the sickles to reap theircrops. Now, Beidahuang has realized the mechanization andinformationalizationof agriculture. It is one of the places in China that enjoythe highest level of agricultural modernization.

改造自然,求取生存发展，是人类文明进程中的永恒主题，勇敢的拓荒者的故事从古至今被所有的文明所传唱。开垦北大荒历史就是一部动人的创业史，几十年间形成的“艰苦奋斗，勇于开拓，顾全大局，无私奉献”的北大荒精神，成为激励几代中国人成长奋进的重要精神力量。“北大荒”也成为当代中国文化中一个独特的符号。

Making use of nature for survivaland development purposes is the eternal theme in human civilization. Thecourage and stories of trailblazers have long been extolled by people of allcultures, both in the past and today. The development history of Beidahuang isfull of touching stories. The whole country is amazed by the hard work,pioneering spirit, serving-the-country mentality and the sacrifice of the localpeople. Generations of Chinese got inspired by Beidahuang, which has become aspecial symbol in contemporary Chinese culture.

来源：中国网