White swans do not grow in chicken coops, and large rays do not grow in ditches.

- Hezhe proverb

In Xunhua Salar Autonomous County in Qinghai Province, Han Jishou, a descendant of Hassan, a native of Salur, is also creating his own colorful life.

In 1987, Han Jishou returned to his hometown Xunhua County after graduating from Lanzhou University. He chose to work in the agricultural sector based on his major in biological sciences.

When Han Jishou went to the countryside to Qingshui Township to do an investigation, he found that Xunhua's specialty line pepper had incomparable advantages of similar products in other places. So, he asked a local farmer for a packet of chili peppers to bring back to the lab.

Xunhua line pepper is also called horn pepper, long-horned pepper, is the local people in the long-term cultivation and production process to cultivate the variety, the plant is fine and healthy, the leaves are narrow and the flowers are small, the fruit is long and curved, the end is pointed like a horn,

The meat is thick and fragrant, the color is red and gorgeous, containing capsaicin, capsaicin, etc., which can promote digestion and enhance appetite, internal use can repel insects, sweating, external application can treat chilblains, rheumatism, analgesia, and poisoning.

Through testing and analysis, Han Jishou found that the nutritional content of Xunhua line pepper is generally higher than that of pepper in other places, especially compared with the famous Shandong pepper, the protein content is 1.9 percentage points higher, the vitamin C content, β carotene content and capsanthin content per 100 grams are 20 mg, 60 mg and 3.3 mg higher respectively, the fat content is 2.4 percentage points higher, the total sugar content is 6 percentage points higher, and it is rich in trace elements required by the human body, magnesium per 100 grams, The potassium content was 138.65 mg and 880.46 mg, respectively. The average content of chili oil was 2.21 and 1.2 percentage points higher than that of chili peppers in Shaanxi and Xinjiang, respectively.

He not only immersed himself in studying and popularizing agricultural science and technology, but also consistently integrated the cultivation of agricultural products with poverty alleviation and extrication from difficulties.

Han Jishou immediately reported the results of this analysis to the secretary of the county party committee and the county magistrate, and suggested that the planting of chili peppers should be promoted in a large area throughout the county, and the sales channels should be broadened, so that the farmers could get rid of poverty and become rich as soon as possible.

The leaders of the county party committee were very appreciative of this young man who loved his work and cared about the peasants, and after investigation and study, they adopted Han Jishou's suggestion and mobilized the Salar, Hui, Han and Tibetan peasants in Qingshui Township, Daowei Township, Baizhuang Township, Jishi Township, Chahandusi Township, Jiezi Township, Gayu Township, Wendu Township and other places to plant line chili peppers, and promised that all of them would be purchased at market prices after autumn.

In the summer and autumn of that year, the farmers planted a large area of pepper harvest. In the fields, on all kinds of transportation machinery, in the large and small drying fields in the countryside, in the courtyards of peasant families, and on the roofs of farmers, there are red and bright peppers everywhere, and the whole Xunhua is dressed up as a beautiful Salar bride wearing a red hijab and a red dress.

The county party committee and the county government kept the promise made at the beginning of the year and organized relevant departments to come to the peasants' homes to carry out unified purchasing and sales, so that the peasants who planted the chili peppers obtained a good income.

The line pepper produced by Xunhua was first favored by consumers in Qinghai and Gansu, and also won the gold medal of the second China Agricultural Expo and the silver medal of the 1994 Zhengzhou National High-quality Agricultural Products Exhibition.

In order to make the chili pepper in his hometown go to the whole country and even the world, Han Jishou and food researchers developed a delicious chili sauce, and proposed to the county party committee to establish Happy Sala Chili Sauce Food Co., Ltd. to mass produce chili sauce with a long shelf life and can be supplied in all seasons.

A line chili pepper that seemed to be very common in the past has not only driven the Salar farmers to get rid of poverty and become rich, but also led to the rapid development of the Salar national food enterprises, and has inspired the Salar people to break the outdated, primitive and individual traditional farming model, and stride towards the broad road of agricultural modernization, intensification and scale.

In this agricultural revolution, Han Jishou, a young Salar man, made an indispensable contribution.

Han Jishou is thriving in his career, like a fish in water. However, he had unavoidable troubles and twists and turns in marriage and love.

When he was in college in Lanzhou, he fell in love with a female classmate of the Salar ethnic group. That female classmate is in Lanzhou, not only is her academic performance among the best, but she is also very smart, and her parents are both senior cadres in the province.

He considered that he was not only from other provinces, but also that his ancestors had been farmers in the countryside for generations, and compared with other girls, the door was not right, the household was wrong, it was nothing less than the gap between a toad and a little swan, and he couldn't help but have a deep inferiority complex in his heart, so he never dared to express his heart to the female classmate.

Soon after Han Jishou graduated from university and returned to Xunhua County, a Han girl in the unit made no secret of her love for him and boldly expressed her affection to him.

However, Han Jishou did not immediately respond to the girl.

He knew very well in his heart that he had heard his parents nagging his children since he was sensible and remembering, and that he must find a family with an object of the same nationality and the same belief in the future, and he must not let his relatives and villagers see our family's jokes on this matter. If you rashly raise it with your parents now, it will inevitably cause family conflicts and turmoil, and even a family war.

Han Jishou hesitated for nearly a year, and finally had no way to resist his love for that girl, so he mustered up the courage to return home and formally proposed to his parents that he wanted to fall in love with that Han girl.

As he expected, his father was so angry that he jumped like thunder, pointed his finger at Han Jishou's nose, and reprimanded him loudly: "You have only been studying for a few days, and you have begun to forget your books?" The teachings of your parents, the mouths of your relatives, the eyes of your neighbors, have you thrown them all into the Yellow River? ”

Han Jishou argued: "What does my pursuit of my own happiness have to do with my relatives and neighbors? ”

The father slapped the small kang table with his palm and said resolutely: "You are the first person in Naomun village to be admitted to university, and you are the face and pride of Naumun Salar people. Now your every move, everyone is staring at the cow's eyes. If you disobey Nau's mouth, Nau...... Nau will cut off the father-son relationship with you! ”

No matter how Han Jishou explained and reasoned, his father just insisted on disagreeing. Other relatives and relatives all supported the father's view. It left him exhausted and devastated.

Han Jishou returned to the county seat full of sorrow.

He also occasionally had the idea of fighting against traditional ideas in his heart, trying to clarify his love relationship with the Han girl. However, Han Jishou's family education and closed and conservative living environment since he was a child, as well as the ideological constraints formed over time and the supreme majesty of his father, coupled with the entanglements and weakness in his heart, caused him to have no courage to finally shake off the heavy burden on his body and boldly pursue his own happiness.

From then on, he refused the kindness of everyone who introduced him to him, and he would be more radiant than the love that any person of the opposite sex threw at him, and he stayed in the fields and laboratories every day, concentrating on dealing with vegetable seedlings and fruit trees, like a puritan with a pure heart and few desires.

Han Jishou was exposed to books on Turkic languages when he was in college, and remembers mentioning that there is a close connection between the Salar and Turkmen languages, and that the papers of some Soviet experts also mention the possibility that the Salar people in China and the Turkmen people in the Soviet Union are homologous. At the time, he didn't pay much attention to it.

Turkmenistan, which had recently gained independence from the Soviet Union, published a book entitled "Turkmens of the World". The book devotes a separate chapter to the Salar people in China, entitled "The Chinese Turkmen". This book has attracted wide attention from experts and scholars on ethnic issues in various countries, especially in China.

Turkmenistan has taken the initiative to start friendly exchanges with Xunhua Salar Autonomous County in Qinghai Province, China, through state channels.

Every year in Turkmenistan, the World Turkmen Humanities Association is held in the capital, Ashgabat. The president personally chairs the association. At each meeting, Salar people from China are invited to attend.

In Urumqi, Xinjiang, Niu Wanshan is a person who is extremely religious and devout. He believed in Islam all his life, and in his later years, he strictly regulated his words and deeds according to the requirements of religion, and prayed five times a day conscientiously and on time. He was enthusiastic about the cause of the collective, and was elected by the parishioners as the villager of the Hongshan Worship Temple to manage religious affairs.

In 1996, the energetic Niu Wanshan fell ill.

He often looked out the window and said, "Allah would do well to arrange for me to be impermanent in spring or autumn." In this case, when you send me, the weather is neither cold nor hot, and you will not be guilty. ”

In the autumn of the following year, Niu Wanshan, who was dying, pointed to a delicate small wooden box placed next to his pillow and motioned for Niu Mulin to open it.

Niu Mulin picked up the wooden box, opened it gently, and saw a small piece of red gold velvet inside, wrapped in something. He carefully untied the gold velvet.

Beneath the golden velvet reveals an ordinary pebble.

The pebble is about the size of an egg, smooth and shiny on the surface, and is engraved with three lines of Arabic letters.

Niu Mulin carefully read the words on the cobblestones. However, he didn't know a word. Because he had only studied Chinese and English, he did not know Arabic or Iranian at all.

Niu Wanshan said intermittently with a weakened breath: "This ...... It's our ancestors...... Stay...... down. You have to ...... well Save it and pass it on from generation to generation...... Go down ......"

In the early morning of October 20, Niu Wanshan passed away suddenly, heading to the quiet and serene world he prayed for day and night.

After bidding farewell to Niu Wanshan, Urumqi suddenly encountered a strong cold wave from Siberia, and the temperature dropped suddenly. In the blink of an eye, the city turned into a snowy field.

Niu Mulin looked at the vast white snow and recalled his father's words. He took the pebble to the Central Asian Institute of Social Research, found the famous researcher Du Xiangang, and asked him to see what was written on it.

The gray-haired Du Xiangang picked up a magnifying glass, looked at the words on the cobblestones for a while, and then said affirmatively: "This is the ancient Iranian script." It may be the name of 3 people. ”

Niu Mulin hurriedly asked, "Which three people's names are they?" ”

Du Xiangang replied: "Ali." Abbas. Badr. The first two are generally Muslim names. This name was used by Arabs and Iranians who believed in Islam in ancient times and by many Muslims in modern times. The latter badr should be a standard Mongol name. What the hell is going on? ”

Niu Mulin shook his head and replied blankly, "I don't know either." ”

On the way home, Niu Mulin suddenly thought that Ma Xiaoping had said that their ancestors seemed to be called Abbas and Auntie Sartha.

So, he hurried back to the office and immediately made a long-distance call to Ma Xiaoping, eagerly asking about his family history.

Ma Xiaoping said: "My father has a family tree there. I'll check it out tonight. ”

In the evening, Ma Xiaoping called and excitedly told Niu Mulin: "Niu Mulin, I have checked the family tree." Indeed, my ancestors migrated from Mare in Khorezm, Abbas and Auntie Sartha. They had known Ali since they were in Khorezm, and they had come to China together with the Mongol army. My father also said that I heard my grandfather Ma Haide say that Ibrahim, our good friend in Xixiang Jinggou Gayindai, is a descendant of Ali. ”

When Niu Mulin heard this, he trembled with excitement. He shouted into the microphone, "Ibrahim of Gayin is my grandfather!" ”

Ma Xiaoping also shouted in surprise on the other end of the phone: "What a coincidence? The two of us met every day in college, and we didn't know anything! ”

Niu Mulin's heart was surging for a while, and his excitement was indescribable.

He said with infinite emotion: "In the past, the social environment was very bad, and my parents were worried about political and ethnic issues, and they never dared to tell us the real historical situation. Later, I heard that my grandmother was a Salar from Xunhua County, surnamed Han. Back then, when I was in school, I used to ask Han Jishou. He said that the surname Han is the first surname of the Salar people, and 80% of the Salar people in Xunhua County have the surname Han, so they don't care very much. Now, I really hope he can help me check it out, I don't know if there will be anything earth-shattering. ”

Ma Xiaoping said: "There is no problem. Recently, I will go to Xunhua and Hualong to collect folk songs. When I see him, I'll help you with this. ”

About a month later, Ma Xiaoping called Niu Mulin. He said: "Niu Mulin, I'm in the Salar family restaurant in Xunhua County. Han Jishou is also there. You two are going to make a noise for a while. ”

Han Jishou said on the phone: "Mu Lin, I went back to my hometown to ask my parents and the elders of the previous generation. They say that our ancestor Hassan first lived in what is now Turkmenistan. He followed the brothers Galemang and Ahmang to China via Samarkand. The surname Han was given by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty later. My grandfather's sister, who is also my aunt, is called Han Sophie, and she is married to your Dongxiang Niu from Xixiang, Hezhou. The name of the Ox is Ibraham. My aunt and grandmother never came back after they got married. So everyone doesn't know what happened to her later. Mulin, are you listening to me? Hey, hey, Mulin, why don't you speak? ”

In Urumqi, on the other end of the phone, Niu Mulin was already in tears, choked up and couldn't say a word......

Han Jishou is like a fish in water in Xunhua County and shows his skills. In 2000, he was invited to visit Turkmenistan as a young talent of the Salar ethnic group and an agricultural scientist with outstanding contributions.

As soon as he stepped on the land where his ancestors had lived, the blood in his whole body suddenly warmed up, and his heart was like a boiling volcano.

The quiet villages in the oases, the tall poplar trees on both sides of the road, the plates of delicious food, the kind and smiling faces, and the language that can communicate smoothly without translators all make Han Jishou feel so cordial and natural, almost exactly the same as his beautiful hometown Xunhua.

From the nearby West Asia of Turkmenistan to the distant China Xunhua, the distance is at least more than 4,000 kilometers, during which there are mountains, deserts, wastelands, rivers, there are also herds of wild animals and beasts, and there are countless unimaginable difficulties and obstacles, but why did the ancestors leave their homeland where they have lived for generations, and rely on riding mules and horses and walking with both feet, overcoming many difficulties to come to Xunhua in the East?

Although Han Jishou has listened to the elders tell the history of the Salar people countless times, when he was in Turkmenistan, while admiring the perseverance and perseverance of his ancestors, he always had this deep doubt in his heart.

In August 2002, when the peppers of Xunhua's specialty line were red and ripe, Han Jishou suddenly fell ill, and he couldn't afford to be sick.

In the days of recuperation at home, Han Jishou, who was weak, let his family support him and came to the field with a large patch of chili peppers.

He looked out at the beautiful fields of crimson peppers and emerald green leaves, gasped, and said intermittently, "You...... Look, the line pepper field doesn't look like ...... A huge picture...... Draw? Wait until I ...... Impermanence, you ...... Just bury me in ...... Line pepper on the ground. If...... You've missed me, so come here...... Glance. I...... Waiting for you in the field......"

Seeing that his beloved son was about to die soon, Han Jishou's father regretted his words and deeds for interfering in his son's marriage.

He burst into tears and wept silently and said, "O Huda (Allah), what has Nau done?" A lively and dry (lean) Gawa is just thin into a handful of bones! ”

When Xunhua County's line pepper without long legs strode towards the country and the world, Han Jishou, who had feet, stopped moving forward forever. He died of terminal lung cancer at the age of 36. This talented Salar man was never married and left no heirs.

Han Jishou is buried in Xunhua, the red land he loves.

The roaring Yellow River became gentler as it flowed through here, as if it was worried about waking Han Jishou from his sleep. The solemn Tanguti Mountain stands here silently, looking down affectionately at the red chili pepper fields in the distance, waiting for the spring of life of the Salar people, the White Camel Spring, and accompanying the persistent and kind son of the Salar - Han Jishou.