Firmament

In the future, he will steal your yaks.

- Lhoba proverb

In the summer and autumn of 1933, Niu Ersa harvested the crops, carried them home and spread them out in the yard to dry, crushed and threshed them with stone wheels, dried them for a few more days, and finally cleaned them and put them in his pockets and stacked them in a small room where the grain was stored.

After doing all these things that he had to do every year, he planned to stay at home and rest for two days. He sat cross-legged on the kang, opened the wooden box placed on the kang, took out the account book that recorded the family's income and expenditure, and prepared to record this year's harvest.

Inadvertently, his gaze fell on the small wooden box containing the pebbles of Samarkand.

He put down the ledger in his hand, carefully took out the small wooden box, gently placed it on the kang table, carefully opened the lid of the small wooden box, lifted the red gold velvet cloth, picked up the ordinary pebble, held it between his hands and rubbed it slowly.

Mai Liyan sat by the kang and mended clothes. When she saw Niursa thoughtful, she asked, "What are you thinking about Amen?"

Ursa was so immersed in deep thought that he did not hear his wife's questioning.

A few days later, Niu Ersa and Mai Liyan took rock sugar, tea leaves, and fancy steamed buns made from new wheat to the village of Wuguchi in Han Mu Zeling, Dongxiang, to visit Ma Yisiha, a descendant of Abbas and Ayisha, the descendants of the Niu family.

They walked to Hezhou City and then took a hired mule cart to the village of Wuguchi.

Maisha is about the same age as Niu Ersa, and he is already in his 50s. He was surprised and glad to see that Niu Ersa and Mai Liyan, who had not moved around each other for several years, came to visit him, and warmly received the guests who had come from afar.

Ma Yisiha's wife's name is Ma Liyan, and she has the same name as Mai Liyan, but there are slight differences in accents from place to place. With her grandson Ma Yumin, who had just turned one year old, in her arms, she sat with Mai Liyan under a leeward and sunny roof, talking softly about the situation of her children and grandchildren.

Maisha's eldest son, Mahaid, was the same age as Ibrahim and lived in the old courtyard with his parents and his youngest brother, Sheib. Several other children who got married and started a family moved out to live their own lives.

Mai Liyan said enviously: "New sister, your sons and daughters are all by your side. What a happy thing it is. None of my Gava's are at home. My Kangzi (Hezhou dialect, chest) was empty all day long, and my heart, liver and lungs seemed to have been hollowed out by tigers. "

Ma Liyan smiled innocently and said, "Your Gava is all wandering outside, which shows that they have the ability and talent." My Gava are all dumbfounded, and they can't do anything except farming. If they go outside, they will starve to death in less than two days!"

Nursa and Maisha sat and chatted. They talked about the latest events in Longyuan, the political economy of Hezhou, and the religious problems.

Niu Ersa told Ma Yisiha in detail about the process of Commander Ga's siege of Hezhou City.

Mai Liyan interjected on the side and said: "My second son Zhan Chuan has followed him down the Tianshan Mountains, and there is no news of him until now! Alas, I am almost sad to death." "

Niu Elsa stopped her and said, "I have come all the way to visit the housekeepers, and I have to mention those unhappy things again." By the way, Brother Ishar, every time I come to you, I want to see with my own eyes the hand-copied scriptures handed down from ancient times, but I don't have a chance to see them. I wonder if there is such an eye blessing this time?".

Maisha replied, "The ruler of the scriptures is at home." Let's go, I'll show you now. "

Ma Liyan instructed them: "Look at it quickly. Come back early. Let's start cooking now. "

Ma Yisiha walked out of the courtyard gate with Niu Ersa, and came to Longjia Mountain along the crooked village road, and saw an antique courtyard standing on the mountain beam.

The house inside the compound is imposing. Green glazed tiles, golden spires, Chinese-style archway doors, and various brick carvings on the walls.

Ma Yisiha pointed to the courtyard and said, "This is our newly built Han Mu Zeling Gongbei (Salta language, burial site for the sages). "

"Oh," said Niursa, "at last. It took about 5 or 6 years, right?".

Ma Yisiha replied: "Where? For 10 years, the common people's income was very limited, so they had to save a little money to repair some of it." I practiced it on and off for 10 years. The imam of Musa, who now governs Gongbei, is a descendant of Hamudzebaba. "

Ma Yisiha and Niu Ersa chatted as they walked into the north gate of Gongbei.

They said "Seran" to Mamusa, the manager of Gongbei, who greeted him out of the room.

Ma Yisiha introduced to Mamusa: "Imam, this is our family's family friend, Brother Isa of Saigo Gayin. He came to take a look at the hand-copied scriptures in Gongbeili's collection today. "

Mamusa smiled and said, "This is our family heirloom." The ancestors stipulated that only those who have a firm faith and a pure heart can look up to the scriptures. Since 'Isa is a guest from afar, I will take it out and take the opportunity to remove the moisture from the book. "

Mamusa took a bunch of copper keys from the roof beams, blew off the dust from them with his mouth, then walked to the edge of the earthen kang, opened the lock on the wooden box, took out a package with both hands, and gently placed it on the small kang table.

Niu Ersa saw Mamusa's orderly movements, and the expression on his face suddenly became solemn. He held his breath and leaned forward with a holy heart.

Mamusa very carefully unraveled the layers of blue velvet cloth.

A scroll that exudes an ancient mystery is quietly presented on a blue velvet cloth. It is a large manuscript of scriptures. There is a little wear on the edges, indicating that it has gone through many years, many hands. The cowhide cover is printed with symmetrical embossed florals and circular motifs. The seven circular motifs in the middle are embellished with Arabic characters in the art style. The embossed pattern is typical of the Arabic style. The inside of the cover is a blue coarse cloth.

The

536 pages of the Scriptures are copied entirely in the Arabic script of the Trinity (i.e., Sulus al-Muhamq). The handwriting is clear and the pen and ink are smooth. The book is tied with cotton thread from the right side, and the page number is not indicated. The last page is an Arabic inscription mixed with Iranian words. The name of the writer is Ottoman. The scriptures are written on Samarkand paper. The paint used for writing is black ink. The pigments for painting are mainly mineral pigments such as pure gold and lapis lazuli.

Stilling his excitement in his heartbeat, he carefully studied each character and pattern, reciting the words and sentences from time to time.

Mamusa explains: "This scripture was brought from the Western Regions by the sage Hamudzebaba. We speculate that it was probably copied by Ibn Baanwab. "

Nursa exclaimed, "If that's the case, this book is so precious. "

After listening to Mamusa's account of the history of the scriptures, Nursa and Maisha fell into a deep silence. They can't put into words the infinite emotion in their hearts at this moment.

After saying goodbye to Niusama, Issha and Mamusa, they walked out of Gongbei and chatted as they walked around. Walking on the narrow village road, Niu Ersa looked at the various courtyards and houses on both sides, and felt that the ravine hid a simple and simple village with cultural connotations.

The Sata people of Dongxiang have lived in remote mountainous areas for generations, and have developed a unique architectural style in the process of battling the harsh natural environment. Their buildings mainly include houses, worship temples and Gongbei.

The architectural style of the dwellings is simple, unpretentious, and practical. There are not many styles, mainly caves, bungalows, tile houses, earthen sheds, etc. Zhuang Yuan has a word courtyard, a triple courtyard, a quadrangle courtyard and a shop courtyard. In very poor places, people generally live in caves. There are two kinds of caves: horizontal cave type and upper kang type. The former is spacious and complex, with large holes set with small holes, and holes in holes. The latter only has doors, windows, ventilation holes and clay kang, or doors and windows are one, and the kang is on when you enter the door. The characteristics of the cave are that it saves materials and money, and is warm in winter and cool in summer.

Most of the houses in Fuguchi Village are one household and one courtyard, built on the mountain, which is both leeward and sunny. Most of the houses are north-to-south. The gate is on the east gate and the west gate, and the south gate is second, because the north is the same as the sound of failure, so it is taboo to build the north gate. The two sides of the gate are built with bricks, and the gatehouse is ridged, and the two corners are slightly warped, which is quite imposing. The main door is a wooden double leaf. Wealthy families inlaid metal ornaments such as copper rings, copper buckles, lion heads, and tiger heads on the doors.

The houses are mainly bungalows. Except for the doors, windows, beams and columns, all of which are made of wood. The roof is covered with a layer of white clay and the porcelain is crushed with stones. Wealthy families also put tiles on their roofs. The number of rooms in the house should be single and double, mostly 3 rooms, and there are also 5 rooms.

The east room and the west room are matched rooms, also called wing rooms. There are corner houses on both sides of the north house, and there are many kitchen stoves in the northeast corner, which are called nests.

The north room is called the upper room, and it is a place where families hold major events. The foundation of the north house is higher than the courtyard ground and other foundations, and is generally one or two steps. The roofs of the wealthy families were tiled and ridged, and the two ends were bricked. The middle of the ridge is built with liger-shaped bricks. The two ends of the ridge and the lower end of the brick flute are built with crested or chicken-headed bricks, and the beak is facing the sky. The façade of the house is made of brick and timber. The front porch in front of the door is relatively wide, so you can shelter from the wind and rain below. In front of the eaves, there are flying rafters and painting buildings. The door is located in the middle. Windows are located on either side of the door. Most of the halls have earthen kangs, which are covered with straw mats or wheat straw, and then covered with wool rolled out of coarse felt with moisture insulation and warmth.

Wealthy families mostly use wood carving and brick carving techniques. Wood carvings are mostly expressed in the insert beams, flying rafters, backing plates, beam rafters, mats, bucket arches, partition doors, pier heads, and the rhombic flowers, partition hearts, skirt boards, and tapering parts of doors and windows. The carvings are mostly abstract patterns, such as rotors, six sons, plum blossoms, and reels of grass. There are Yin carved lines on the wood carving technique, relief, carving, etc., which add a sense of art to the house. Brick carving is mostly used in various parts of the wall, because of the object to set the drawing, skillfully carved and carved, simple and thick.

A small flower pond is generally built in the middle of the yard to plant peonies, impatiens and other flowers and plants. Those who have abundant land have gardens in their yards, in which fruit trees and vegetables are grown.

Before

they knew it, Mayisha and Niusa had reached the entrance of the village.

"Abba (Salta, uncle), Seran, when did your old man come here?"

When Niu Isa heard this, he looked up and saw Maishha's eldest son, Mahaide, and his daughter-in-law walking towards them with a smile on their backs.

Niu Isa replied, "Seran." I've been here for almost two hours. I haven't seen her for a few years, and Gava has grown into a manly husband!".

Ma Haide asked again, "Is Brother Ibrahim here?"

Niu Ersa replied, "He is not in Gayin now. The whole family moved to Pingxi. "

Ma Haide said enviously: "Brother Ibrahim is really capable, he has lived in Pingxi City. "

Nursa smiled and nodded, not mentioning Ibrahim. He was worried that if he showed too much of the Niu family's advantages in front of Ma Yisha, it might make him feel uncomfortable and hurt the deep friendship that had been passed down from generation to generation between the two families.