If the knife is not sharpened, it is not easy to chop wood, and children cannot become successful without education.

- Jingpo proverb

The Niu Yushan brothers and Althea finally waited for the weather in Lanzhou to clear up, and the road to Linxia was smooth. They said goodbye to Niu Li, whose face was gloomy all day, and hurriedly embarked on the journey.

As soon as she left the dreary and depressing mansion, Althea's mood was much better, and she began to chat with her husband and brother-in-law.

The car they were in left Lanzhou and headed for the mountains in the south. After entering the seven beams of the steep traffic chokepoint, the road coils between the valleys and the mountain beams, like a giant python hovering on the mountainside one after another. Here is cold and damp, the mountains are big and the ravines are deep, the terrain is dangerous, the mountains are steep and the walls are straight, and each has its own form.

The car finally climbed to the top of the towering Seven Beams.

Althea looked out of the car window, only to see the majestic mountains, verdant trees, and magnificent scenery, and she felt very bright, and the grievances in her heart disappeared.

The car crossed the turbulent Tao River, entered the territory of Dongxiang, where the loess mountain peaks are lined with peaks, and finally came to Suonanba Town.

Suonanba is perched high on the loess mountain beam, as if it is a noisy town in the sky. The locals follow the undulating trend of the hillside and build small courtyards that are scattered and elaborate. The tallest of these is a mosque with 4 slender minarets. On both sides of the alley, there are small stalls of goods laid on the floor. The stalls were filled with pots and spoons, children's clothes and spices. Two or three Gawa jostled through the alley. The dust floating behind them filled the alley like a cloud of yellow smoke, drawing angry shouts from the vendors.

The Niu Yushan brothers and Althea walked into a small restaurant and ordered 3 bowls of noodles.

Althea saw that the people here looked and dressed similarly to the Muslims elsewhere, except that they spoke in a language they didn't understand. She asked Niu Yushan curiously, "Who are they?" I didn't understand a word of what he said. ”

Niu Yushan replied: "They are Saltas, and they speak the local language of Sarta, of course you don't understand." We are also from Sarta people, and our hometown is in the sedan chair ditch in Dongxiang. ”

Althea asked, "What is the matter with the Sartas?" ”

Niu Yushan took a sip of thick tea and said slowly:

"In ancient times, the Great Mongol Kingdom occupied Central Asia. In order to rule and occupy for a long time, they forced many people of different faiths, nationalities, and tribes in Central Asia to migrate eastward to China, and then dispersed to various places, mixing them between the Mongols and the Han people in the Central Plains, reducing their hatred and confrontation against their own rule, and also taking advantage of the contradictions between the locals and outsiders to contend with each other, supervise and restrain each other.

Among them, the Sarta people are mainly concentrated on this loess slope with water on all sides and a high convex middle, and they cultivate and raise their own crops in peacetime, and become a reserve army that can be deployed at any time in wartime. These Sartars are as cohesive as garlic cloves, and have always believed in their religion, stuck to their traditions, and insisted on using their own language. Later, many Salta and religious propagators who were looking for relatives came to Dongxiang to settle down one after another, marrying relatives and starting families here, forming household registrations, and grazing and farming. ”

Althea said sympathetically: "Nothing is as good as your hometown." They also blame the poor one, and they are here for the rest of their lives? ”

Niu Yushan said with a smile: "Where is a lifetime?" It's been 2 or 30 lifetimes! By the way, we have a world friend surnamed Ma in Han Zeling Village. Legend has it that the ancestors of our Niu family came to China together with their ancestors. Now they have an old man at home. I'm going to hire a mule cart and we're going to visit the old man. ”

Althea asked, "How far is it to get to their house?" ”

Niu Yushan replied: "It's only 20 miles." ”

After eating the noodles, the Niu Yushan brothers and Althea got on the hired mule cart and walked on the path of the loess hillside.

Niu Yushan continued to tell Althea and Niu Tianshan about the situation of the Sartas:

"You see, the place names of Hanmin villages are either Wangjiazhuang or Lijia Village, and there is Zhangjiaji, but Dongxiang has many strange place names, which correspond to the place names and tribal names of the Soviet Union and Central Asia thousands of miles away. For example, Dongxiang has Gantuguang, Nalunguang, Sale, Kumaitu, Hulasong, Naiman, and Suohetu. The Soviet Union also had the cities of Gantu, Naryn, Saripple, Turkmenistan, Khorasan, Naiman, and Suheshui. This indicates that the Sartars migrated from the Soviet Union.

Many of the Sarta families themselves have been told that their ancestors were from Arabia, Iran, and Central Asia. Ma, Mai, Ya, Ding, Hu, Ka, Tu, Bao, Huo, Dan, Po, Ba, Bai, Zhu, Cang, Long, Gu, Kang, Xiao, Wa, Eat, Se, etc., all of which sound very strange, all say that their ancestors were the Sarta people who migrated from the Western Regions. If you look closely, most of the people here look like they have big beards, high noses, blue or yellow eyes, and deep eye sockets, which are very different from the surrounding Hermes-Epitek, right?

The Wang family and the Zhang family in Suonanba, the Gao family in Wangji, the Huang family in Dashu, the Li family in Wujia, and the Sarta people in Tangwang Town, they all said that their ancestors were originally Han people, and because they were fleeing wars and disasters, they moved to the Sarta area of Dongxiang, and slowly integrated into the society of the Sarta people, and became the Sarta people.

The Sarta people in the Baihe area said that their ancestors were originally Tibetans, but they also became Sartars after migrating to Dongxiang. In addition, there are also Hui people and Salar people who have also blended in. ”

Althea interjected: "There is no need to subdivide the people of the Western Regions, Han people, Tibetans, Hui people, Sala, how many outsiders are mixed in a Salta society!" ”

Niu Tianshan said with a smile: "New sister (sister-in-law), you are also an outsider mixed in." ”

Niu Yushan continued:

"The words spoken by the Sartars are relatively close to those of the Mongols, the natives, and the guards, and they can understand each other's meaning with half understanding and half guessing. Many words in the Salta dialect are borrowed from Mongolian, Chinese, Turkic, Iranian, and Arabic dialects.

The Sarthas used to hold Natun every year to celebrate the harvest with singing and dancing. Natun is very similar to the Mongol Naadam Assembly. ”

When Althea heard this, she couldn't help but smile and said, "I see." No wonder people say you're Dongxiang Mongolia. ”

They walked in the loess ravine for about half a day, and finally came to Han Zeling Village.

Most of the houses in the village were built at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and they are all civil structure bungalows with the characteristics of the Dongxiang Salta ethnic group. The houses of the wealthier people are carved beams, painted buildings, and half-wood window cabinets, with unique styles and exquisite craftsmanship.

They found Mahaide's home in the village. Walking into the courtyard gate, I saw the wheat harvested in the yard drying, and there were several houses with wooden doors and windows, which looked antique.

Ma Haide heard the sound of the door calling and came out of the house. He looked to be in his mid-50s, dressed in a clean white gown, with a black testal on his head, a broad face, ruddy skin, and slender eyes.

Ma Dehai was very happy to see Niu Yushan with his daughter-in-law and brother making a special trip to visit him, and quickly let the guests into the main house, and then sat around the earthen kang, settled the family and poured hot tea, served golden oil cakes, and chatted with the guests cordially.

He picked up a piece of oil-flavored cake and handed it to Niu Yushan.

Niu Yushan broke the oil fragrant cake into 4 pieces, handed the largest of them to Ma Dehai with both hands, and kept the remaining 3 small pieces for himself, Axia, and Niu Tianshan.

Ma Dehai kindly asked, "We haven't seen each other for about 3 or 4 years, have we?" Have you been in Zhangye for so long? ”

Niu Yushan nodded, swallowed the oil cake in his mouth, and then began to tell about his experience in Zhangye in the past few years.

Ma Dehai listened with relish, sharing Niu Yushan's joys, sorrows and sorrows with satisfaction, nodded from time to time, and said in response: "Ouch, such a situation." ”

After listening to Niu Yushan's introduction, he concluded: "A manly man must go out to have a good time, otherwise he will not be able to start a family." However, there is an invisible thread in the wanderer's body that has always been connected to the hearts of his family. Wherever the wanderer goes, the hearts of his family will be concerned. Alas, my younger brother followed Ma Chengxiang's cavalry division to Xinjiang in 1946, and he has not been heard from for a long time. I've been talking about it all the time. ”

At this time, Ma Dehai's eldest son, Ma Yumin, came back from working in the field. He was in his early 20s, with bright eyes, pale yellow hair and beard, and white skin that was translucent red.

When Ma Yumin saw Niu Yushan and Niu Tianshan, he walked over and said hello warmly, turned around and went to find a soup bottle to wash.

The Niu Yushan brothers and Althea stayed in Han Zeling Village for one night and listened to the history of the Sarta people told by Ma Haide in the middle of the night.

The next morning, they bid farewell to Ma Dehai and his family, intending to return to Suonanba, and from there to Linxia City, and then back to Gayin Dai in Jinggou.

When they were leaving, Ma Dehai and Eminem sent them outside the gate of the small courtyard and instructed: "My son Ma Yuliang is 18 years old this year and is studying in Linxia City. You give him a word on the way, let him eat more, study carefully, and don't burn his eyes. ”

Niu Yushan promised again and again: "Abba, don't worry, your old man." ”

Niu Yushan walked down the hillside, and still heard Ma Haide's voice: "Yushan, Tianshan, our two families must communicate diligently in the future, move around more, and don't break off the friendship that has been around for hundreds of years." ”

Niu Yushan raised his head and looked over, only to see Ma Haide and Eminem standing on the high slope of the landing of their courtyard, wiping their tears with a handkerchief, while gently waving their hands to them, as if it was a picture full of warmth.

Niu Yushan was so moved that he couldn't speak. He nodded vigorously, as a response to the old man.

Niu Yushan brothers and Althea came to Linxia City and found Ma Yuliang, who was studying in middle school.

Ma Yuliang looks almost exactly the same as his brother Ma Yumin, but he has added some bookishness to his brother than his brother.

Ma Yuliang told everyone that his academic performance was at the top of his class. He was particularly fond of painting and writing poetry, and one of his poems was published in the literary supplement of the "Linxia Daily". The classmates, especially the students in the city, were shocked by him. A native of the East who came from a poor ravine actually left behind the city people who were pampered and felt good about themselves!

Ma Yuliang seemed ambitious, and his words were full of passion. He told everyone unabashedly: "Brother, new sister, I plan to apply for Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou in the future, specializing in learning how to write poetry and how to write novels. I must become a famous writer in the future, and I must write a novel that praises the new society, which is called "Dream of Red Mansions in the New Era"! ”

Niu Yushan admired Ma Yuliang's courageous, idealistic and energetic energy, and happily encouraged him: "Young man Ga is really ambitious!" It's a lot of energy. For hundreds of years, we Sarthas have not produced a great literati. We are all looking forward to you from now on! ”

Ma Yuliang smiled and nodded.

Ma Yuliang happened to have no classes in the afternoon, so he asked the teacher for half a day off and volunteered to lead Niu Yushan and others to the East Mansion and Butterfly Building.

The East Mansion and Butterfly Tower are private residences funded by Ma Qing, deputy commander of the 40th Group Army of the National Army, built from 1938 to 1947, carefully designed and constructed by famous local craftsmen, and cost nearly one million silver dollars. The building area is 5,976 square meters.

The East Mansion is Ma Qing's Mansion Villa, which is called the East Mansion because it is located in the east of the city. The shape of the pavilion is peculiar, the eaves are warped, the carved beams are painted, the brick carving of the Hui people in Hezhou, the woodcarving of the Han people, and the color painting of the Tibetan people have reached a perfect artistic combination.

Ma Yuliang took Niu Yushan and others into the gate of the East Mansion, and saw that the flowers and trees in the courtyard were sparse, and they were purple and red. The lake is like a mirror, and the stream is trickling.

The East Mansion is a typical Chinese courtyard house layout. The pavilions and pavilions in the courtyard, the pavilions and courtyards are connected, the carved beams and painted buildings, magnificent. The main courtyard, commonly known as the Babel Tower, is framed by 28 Babel pillars. The main entrance is a brick archway gate in imitation of Western-style architectural style. The west and south courtyards are five-bay civil engineering structures on all sides. The patio is the center of the entire complex, with four doors leading to the four courtyards in the south, east, and northwest, and are laid out in a field-shaped shape.

The doors, windows, partitions, and handrails are all finely carved woodcuts, respectively carved with peonies, pomegranates and various flowers and plants, especially a pair of unicorns on the eaves of the courtyard. The magnificent classical building is decorated with delicate woodcut patterns, which makes the whole building appear more magnificent and splendid.

The brick pillars of the east, west and south halls are inlaid with copper peonies, which play the role of shock absorption and earthquake prevention.

The outer courtyard of the East Mansion has the Flower Tower, the Carriage and Horse Courtyard, and the Guard Courtyard. The passages in the precincts are lined with evergreen pines and cypresses. The woodcarved dragons and phoenixes on the flower viewing tower danced with different expressions.

The main artistic value of the East Mansion is the brick carving. The 189 large and small brick carving patterns have their own characteristics and can be called a must.

Ma Yuliang introduced to everyone: "The brick carving works of the East Mansion are carved by Cheng Yuan and his apprentices. He is a Muslim folk brick carving artist in Qijiazhuang, learned painting at the age of 15, and was accepted as an apprentice by the famous brick carver Ma Yinusi at the age of 19, and soon became famous. In the 30s, he was invited to make brick carvings for Ma Qing's East Mansion. The brick carving of Blooming Yuan is good at flowers, plants, landscapes, insects and birds, etc., the carving is delicate and colorful, and it is good at grasping the moments of life, and winning with vivid and changeable forms. He has his own unique knife technique, a brick carving is often composed of 3 or 4 layers of patterns, overlapping, echoing inside and outside, as if carved with a knife. ”

The brick carving work "Rivers and Mountains" shows the majestic beauty of the magnificent mountains and rivers, the red sun shines high, the mountains are magnificent and the blue sky floats with white clouds, the sparkling river water surrounds the island, the pine and cypress are all over the earth, the mountains are stacked, the white sails on the river are dotted, the pavilions and pavilions in the pine forest are erected, and the rivers and mountains converge in one map, and the bottom of the eye is in full view. Classical motifs are carved around.

On both sides is the beautiful handwriting of the official couplet: "Graceful and graceful, open the industry, Hongji, majestic hairpin, the door, the section of the Kun Yao, the preparation of the strict Xinjiang, the heavy sending of the Yun Lei and the heroic." ”

Engraved underneath are banana fans, gourds, blue picking, and flutes, alluding to Ma Qing's experience of being excluded from officialdom through the Eight Immortals.

The east and west two doors are symmetrical with peony vase, imitating cloisonné characteristics, using the technique of combining carving and hollowing, finely carved, very realistic, known as the double peony door, alluding to Ma Qing's official status at that time was a second-grade official.

Althea asked, "Why can't you see the characters on the brick carvings?" ”

Ma Yuliang said: "This is an important feature of Linxia Hui brick carving. The Muslims do not worship any idols, so they do not hang any pictures of human figures, and all decorations are made of flowers and patterns. ”

The Butterfly Building is located in the south pass of Linxia, and it is the house built by Ma Qing for the fourth aunt. The whole building lasted 5 years and was completed in 1943, and there is still a butterfly building main courtyard. When it was first built, it was named Yongyuan, and later renamed Qin'an Building, with a width of 56 meters from east to west, a length of 74 meters from north to south, covering an area of 500 acres, and a two-story brick and wood structure. The north is in the middle of the main building, facing 7 rooms, resting on the top of the hill to overhang the eaves. The left and right corridors are connected to rectangular 6-corner pavilion-style pavilions, which are shaped like the two wings of a butterfly. From a distance, it looks like a butterfly spreading its wings, so it is named Butterfly Tower.

The upper and lower sides of the Butterfly Building are surrounded by cloisters, and the east, west and south corridors enclose the main building to form a square compound. A cross-shaped path paved with bricks divides the yard into four flower beds. The orchid cypress in front of the building is verdant, the flowers and trees are mixed, and the strangers are connected.

The whole architectural style of the butterfly building is unique, with carved beams and painted buildings, which is the culmination of traditional wooden buildings and the essence of garden technology. There is no iron nail used in the building structure, the design is novel, the craftsmanship is exquisite, it is well preserved, it is rich in national characteristics and unique, it is a fine product of architectural art.

Listening to Ma Yuliang's detailed introduction, Niu Yushan couldn't help but admire: "Look, what readers know is a lot." We have all become blind men before you. ”

Niu Tianshan also said with a smile: "Xiucai doesn't go out, he knows the world's affairs." ”

Ma Yuliang was praised by everyone and felt particularly excited. He smiled and beckoned everyone, "Let's go around quickly." If it's early, I'll take you to the Muslims' eight squares to have a look. ”

Niu Yushan agreed: "Yes." Be sure to go to Bafang to take a look around, buy some gifts for the old and young in the family, and don't go home empty-handed. ”

Niu Tianshan and Althea replied: "Yes." ”