Firmament

The

babbling spring water is always clear.

- Hani proverb

In the summer of 1900, Niu Ersa, a descendant of the Jiaozigou Niu family, sorted out a vacant land next to the old house left by his ancestors and built a slightly wide Zhuang Yi (northwest dialect, family courtyard).

When he was on the beam, Niu Ersa's wife, Mai Liyan, had a conspicuous big belly. According to the custom of the Sartars, she wrapped two small gold and silver jewelry in a red cloth and walked over with a smile in her hands.

Niu Ersa suddenly remembered something, took out a pebble from the pocket of his trousers, and solemnly handed it into Mai Liyan's hand. This is the pebble that their ancestor Ali brought from his native Samarkand.

Mai Liyan carefully wrapped the pebbles into a red cloth, tied them tightly with a bundle of fine hemp rope, and then handed them to the master craftsman who was squatting on the earthen wall, and asked him to tie the cloth bag to the beams. It is the custom of the Sarta people to build new houses as a prayer for prosperity and good fortune in the future.

Zhuang Yi quickly repaired it.

Niu Ersa and Mai Liyan cleaned the house and decorated it carefully. After cleaning up, the husband and wife stood at the gate, happily looking at the new home.

The gate of the compound faces due south. As soon as you enter the gate, you are greeted by a small courtyard. Several houses are compactly arranged from left to right.

The 3 upper rooms sit north and face south. In the middle is the hall, flanked by the bedrooms. The upper room is the housing of grandparents, grandmothers, parents and other elders. The furnishings in the house are a bit better than in the other rooms. Entering the nave, the walls are hung with Arabic couplets. Underneath the couplet is a cabinet for table clocks and tea sets. Inside the board cabinet are stored items and clothes. On either side were a pair of shiny old chairs.

The two joyags (sarta, huts) on the east side are rooms for children. The furnishings are relatively simple.

Two joyers on the west side. One room was inhabited by Mr. and Mrs. Niuersa. The other room is used to store miscellaneous items.

The bed is made of adobe. The clay kang is a bit like a stove for heating, with a hollow middle. There is a hole in the wall outside the house. When it's cold, cow dung, sheep dung, donkey dung, sun-dried weeds, and corn stalks are sent into the holes and set on fire. People can enjoy the warmth in the house. Dongxiang is located in the highland and mountainous area, the climate is relatively cold, and most days of the year you need to light a fire to keep warm.

The kitchen is located in the corner of the upper room that connects it to the east side of the Joyegg, which is separate from the house. In addition to cooking, the kitchen also serves as a bathhouse for ghusl before prayer.

The toilet is behind the Joyer on the west side, and is surrounded by three low walls in an open earthen pit. It is convenient for people to cover it with white clay in the future to avoid unpleasant smells wafting around, and even the manure and soil can be used as fertilizer for crops.

Cattle pens and sheepfolds are covered at the corners of the doorways.

The Sarta people have the custom of moving to a new home, holding chanting and feasting guests. The construction of a new home was a great event that the family had been looking forward to for many years. He deliberately chose to hold a ceremony to celebrate the housewarming of Xingar (Salta, home) on the day of the main horse (Friday), and warmly invited the villagers to participate in the ceremony of moving to a new house and praying for peace, and invited everyone to eat a sumptuous feast.

In the early morning of the Lord's day, there was just a glimmer of light in the sky, and Niu Ersa and Mai Liyan immediately got up from the kang.

They boiled a large pot of hot water and prepared to wash Abdeis (Salta, bath). The Sartas have strict hygiene habits: wash abusio several times a day, keep the mouth, nostrils, ears, face, neck, hands and feet clean. Do ghusl once a week to keep your whole body clean.

In the arid and water-scarce mountainous area of Dongxiang, water is the most precious thing. Where there is water, there is life and hope. The Sarthas value water as much as their own lives. It is said that it is easy to borrow a bucket of clear oil from the Sartas, but it is very difficult to borrow a bowl of water. However, if a passer-by who does not know each other comes to the door to borrow water to wash the big and small, the owner cannot find any excuse to refuse. Because cleanliness is the noblest state of the Sarthas.

Niu Ersa poured the boiling hot water into a bucket hanging from a wooden beam, and then pulled the cork from the bottom of the bucket. Hot water poured out of the hole in the bottom of the bucket and poured over his head. He washes from top to bottom, right to left. After washing this three times in a row, he dried his body with a clothcloth.

After bathing, Niu Isa looked very refreshing and shrewd. He was about 20 years old, burly, with a red face, a white beanie on his head, a clean white cotton shirt with a black cotton shirt over it, blue cotton trousers on his legs, and a pair of black cotton shoes.

Mai Liyan wears a waist-length pink hijab on her head. The upper body wears a long pink embroidered tunic with a collar, placket and wide sleeves. The cuffs are trimmed with a lace of red and green intertwined. He wears turquoise blue trousers on his legs. The trouser leg is trimmed with two black edges embroidered with small flowers. There is a small cross at the back of the trouser leg, which is tied with a black streamer. He wears black heels with wooden soles about two inches high. The toe is embroidered with two bright red peony flowers.

Mai Liyan's belly was high and bulging, and she looked like she was about to give birth.

After a while, relatives and friends who came to help came one after another. Some people go to the kitchen to help wash and cook. Some people put furniture in the yard. Everyone was talking and laughing as they worked. Some people were humming mountain songs. The village is full of joy and pleasant atmosphere.

On the hillside opposite the house of Niu Erza there is a small chapel painted pale green.

At the entrance of the mosque stands a minaret that summons people to worship. The chapel is in the middle of the temple, and the foundation is relatively high, so you need to climb the stairs. In the center of the roof of the temple is a semicircular dome. In the middle of the dome rises a small spire with a crescent moon on it. On both sides of the chapel are water halls for washing and prayer halls for study.

On the Lord's Day, men come to the mosque to worship with a sense of devotion and sacredness. They wear a white or yellow Tessdal turban around their heads. He wears a low-necked folio made of black or gray cotton. He wears black and gray cotton socks and cloth shoes on his feet. Some elderly people who are particularly hygienic also wear a pair of galoshes over their cloth shoes, and only need to take off their galoshes when entering the mosque or home. The cloth shoes are spotless and brand new.

They knelt on the carpets donated by the villagers, facing the west where the holy city was located, and prayed and prayed reverently, doing what they considered to be the most sacred thing.

The sun rose in mid-air, and the imam came out of the mosque with a few small manlas (in Sarta language, students). They descended the rugged path into the ravine, and then followed the winding path up the hillside to the new home of Niu Ersa.

When

the men, women, and children who were sitting in the compound chatting saw Imam Tu coming in, they hurriedly stood up and greeted Imam Tu together, "Seran!"

Niu Ersa stepped forward with a smile on his face, and led the solemn-looking Imam and Xiao Manla to the round table in the middle of the courtyard.

The imam sat down with all his might, gently unwrapped his silk scarf, and took out a large scripture book. He looked solemnly at the people in the courtyard, spread out the scriptures in his hand, skillfully turned to the page he often read, cleared his throat vigorously, and began to recite the scriptures in a deep and melodious voice.

Little Manla followed the imam and chanted in a low voice. Imam was the lead singer of the choir. Xiao Manla seems to be a backing singer.

The imam's chanting ends. People's solemn expressions instantly came to life. Everyone began to talk about the children at home, the crops in the fields, and the cattle and sheep in the pen.

The guys neatly served a bowl of tea with rock sugar, longan, and red dates.

The villagers drank tea slowly and methodically, telling jokes and anecdotes in the Zhuangzi. Children chase and play behind adults, letting out strings of crisp and playful laughter.

After a while, the guys brought another large, round plate. Deep-fried pasta such as yellow oily aroma, crispy dumplings and steamed dumplings, as well as dried apricots, raisins, red dates, walnuts, dried fruits and nuts are displayed. Oily incense, crispy powder, and steamed dumplings are important feasts for the Salta, Huihui, and Salur peoples.

Oil fragrance is a kind of small round cake, two small slits are cut in the middle, and it is eaten after frying, with a fragrant fragrance and moderate softness and hardness. Crispy powder is a kind of cannabis flower fried by the Sarta people in clear oil, which is loose and refreshing, and has unique characteristics. Manzi is also a kind of fried pasta, the fermented noodles are mixed with supernatant oil and egg white, kneaded and pulled into noodles the thickness of chopsticks, and then coiled into layers of circles, cooked and fried in clear oil, which looks very exquisite.

After eating the fried pasta and dried fruits in the hot field, the hot and fragrant Dongxiang finger meat officially appeared on the round table. For a while, the courtyard was filled with the smell of fragrant mutton.

Dongxiang hand grasp meat is delicious and delicious, the color is fresh and the meat is tender, fat but not greasy, and it is extremely delicious. It is made in a unique way: the whole sheep is put into a pot and first burned over a high fire. Wait until the broth boils, use a colander to take out the foam mixed with blood impurities, and then sprinkle pepper, pepper, ginger, grass fruit, garlic sprouts, red pepper, green salt and other seasonings in the pot, and then simmer slowly over low heat.

The villagers drank and ate well, talked enough about housework, and it was already time for the afternoon worship. Imam Tu and Manla were the first to take their leave. The villagers also got up and said goodbye one after another.

Niu Ersa and Mai Liyan happily saw off the guests and cleaned up the pots and pans with the guys. In the end, Mai Liyan wrapped another cooked meat for each of the fellows, and sent them out of the gate with great gratitude.