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Kirgiz history
On June 23rd, after a whole day's trekking, we arrived in Akqi County, which belongs to Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, from Atushi, where Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture is located. We want to approach the life of Kirgiz people in this Kirgiz county next to Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is outside China and used to be the territory of China. The 3 million people in Kyrgyzstan are of the same origin as the10.4 million Kirgiz people in China, and they are a nation.

Kirgiz is a very ancient nation. As early as the 3rd century BC, they lived in the Yenisei River valley and belonged to the Huns. By the time of Cao Wei, it was said in history that they had become a powerful tribe with "30,000 victorious soldiers". & gt According to records, the Kirgiz people "won 300,000 soldiers" in the early Tang Dynasty. If three soldiers count as one soldier, there should be nearly one million at that time.

The Tang Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty were two prosperous and unified periods in the history of China, and also the two most prosperous periods in the history of Kirgiz. The territory of the central dynasty has extended to the whole Mobei grassland and South Siberia, and the upper reaches of the Yenisei River where Kirgiz people live together have also become the government and country of the central dynasty. The imperial court also sent a large number of troops and Han craftsmen to reclaim land here and set up a textile and military equipment manufacturing bureau, which promoted the great development of Kirgiz agriculture and handicrafts.

After the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, the influence of the Ming government failed to reach the Great Wall in the northwest, and the situation of the Kirgiz people began to deteriorate. They were forced to leave the Yenisei River valley where they lived and migrate to the deep mountains of Pamirs and Tianshan Mountains. In this way, although they maintained the independence and survival of the nation, their isolation from the outside world kept the economy and culture in a state of stagnation or even retrogression. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty, when the national strength declined, Russia took the opportunity to seize a large part of China's territory in Central Asia, and a complete Kirgiz nationality split from then on.

Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture is the only Kirgiz autonomous region in China. There are1.20,000 Kirgiz people living in this state, and the most densely populated counties are Aheqi, Akto, Wuqia and Wushi. Among the four counties, only the Kirgiz nationality in Aheqi still retains the most traditional nomadic lifestyle, and the other three counties have turned or are turning to farming.

Therefore, Aheqi is considered to be the most authentic place of Kirgiz culture in China, and it is called "the backyard of Kirgiz".

Second, the ants in Jusufma: Homer living today.

Thanks to the governor's arrangement, we were able to meet a world-class cultural celebrity in Archie County, one of the three heroic epics of China's ethnic minorities. Manas > & gt85-year-old Master Jusuf Mamayi, known as "Living Homer", has been handed down from generation to generation.

In the rich and colorful cultures of all nationalities in the world, epic is a unique folk literature form that records national history in poetic language, and it is the most essential part of national culture. Because epics are mostly circulated among the people in oral form, few can be circulated in the world. There are only three epics handed down from generation to generation by ethnic minorities in China, namely "Tibetan & gt Kirgiz & gt".

Among these three heroic epics,> is the most complete and systematic. It covers all aspects of ancient history and the life of Kirgiz people. During thousands of years of oral communication, the Kirgiz people have integrated their knowledge of the surrounding things, their understanding of social life and their spiritual and cultural heritage into this epic, making it an encyclopedia of politics, economy, history, culture, language, philosophy, religion, aesthetics, military affairs, medicine and customs of the Kirgiz people. This epic is huge in length and scale, and Jusufi alone sang more than 230,000 lines. 230,000 lines, equivalent to the ancient Greek epic & gt 14 times! China published *** 18 volumes of Kirgiz epic masterpieces << Manas >>, which were sorted out according to the content records sung by the old people in Jusuf.

& lt& lt Manas >> is a household name among Kirgiz people, and it is well known to all women and children. Where there are Kirgiz, there is << Manas >> spread. Kirgiz people were born in the Song Dynasty in < < Manas > >, but they were born in< and died of singing. & lt& lt Manas >> It is the soul of Kirgiz. In thousands of years of singing,> is very popular, but there is no second person in the world who can really sing like Master Jusufu!

Therefore, Manas academic circles call Jusuf a master and regard him as "Homer alive today".

Third,> a heroic story that will be sung forever.

Jusuf Mamayi's home is in an ordinary residential building behind the county government. Two granddaughters live with him and take care of his daily life. When we visited as promised, the old man had just returned from a walk outside. Snow-white beard, purple face, wide eyes, hale and hearty, you can't see that this is an 85-year-old man.

Sitting next to the old man on the carpet in the living room, drinking milk tea and chewing preserved fruit cakes, I feel like a Kirgiz Mongolian yurt in a summer pasture. It can be seen that the old man is very happy with our visit. He likes to talk about Kirgiz's past and his hero Manas. A thick stack of 18 books held by the old man from his granddaughter < < Manas > > I picked up a book and leafed through it, and my eyes showed great colors.

Under the translation of the old man's nephew and granddaughter, as well as Liang Lixin and Yasenjiang Yunus, two vice ministers of the propaganda department of the county party Committee, the old man's story brought us back to history.

At our invitation, Ju Sufu asked her little granddaughter Ahrai Muhashi, aged 16, to sing for us. Manas >> The opening paragraph of the first movie:

"This is the story left by our ancestors. What should I do if I don't finish it? ..... After many changes of the earth, the valley dried up and became a wasteland, and the wasteland became a lake, and the lake became a mulberry garden ... Everything is changing, but the story of the lion Manas has been passed down to this day ... "

The industrious and kind Kirgiz people in ancient times were enslaved by the Ka Lemak people and lived in dire straits. Before Manas was born, Lemak's diviners predicted that Kirgiz would have a hero to overthrow Lemak's rule. King Araukai of Lemak Khan ordered all Kirgiz pregnant women to be caesarean section in an attempt to kill the hero before he was born. Under the protection of Kirgiz wit, Manas escaped great difficulties, grew up and was finally crowned king of Khan. He formed a 14 tribal alliance with neighboring Kazakhs and Uzbeks, and with the help of his wife Kanikai, he finally overthrew the Ka Lemak dynasty. After Manas died, his descendants shouldered the heavy responsibility of leading the Kirgiz people to resist foreign aggression and defend their hometown. The whole poem is divided into eight parts, and eight generations of Manas family heroes are written in order.

How did such a magnificent heroic epic, which took several days and nights to sing, be arranged and handed down from generation to generation?

Right & gt This concern began in16th century. For more than 300 years, this epic handed down from generation to generation has been continuously collected, collated, translated and studied by scholars from all over the world. By the beginning of the 20th century, "Manas Studies" had become a specialized subject, and a large number of researchers from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and other countries formed a special research team.

China began to pay attention to> In recent 40 years, epics have been collected, collated, studied and translated on a large scale, and their achievements have attracted worldwide attention. The world & gt academic circle recognizes that China has collected the songs performed by Jusupe Mamayi < < Manas >>, which is the most complete songbook with the most complete structure, the most complete content and the richest language in the world.

Jusuf could sing when he was young & gt There are many people here, and his cousin Achard Baribayi is one of them. But in the end, only Jusuf can record it, because he can sing & gt Only he can read and record Kirgiz in Arabic-he worked as a handyman in a mosque since childhood, and Arabic was secretly learned by his imam. It is said that no more than 10 people in the county could write at that time. At the age of seven, he learned to sing from Barry Beye & gt During his singing career at 18, he recorded what he learned every day. A great national heroic epic was thus completely preserved by him.

Kirgiz is a nation that worships heroes, and they have always been proud that they are descendants of Manas. In fact, the story told in the epic does exist in history, but it has been beautified and deified in the process of singing for thousands of years. There are nearly 3 million Kirgiz people in Kyrgyzstan bordering Akqi, and their worship of Manas is far better than that of China compatriots. 1996, Jusuf was invited to visit Kyrgyzstan, received the courtesy of a head of state and was awarded the highest knighthood of the country. Master Jusuf was surprised to find that the whole book & gt he sang was translated and published by Kyrgyzstan, and the worship of Manas in the whole country reached a fanatical level.

4. Manaski, singing with Kumz & gt

Kirgiz people specialize in singing & gt As a professional folk artist, he is honored as "Manasseh", who is the inheritor, creator and disseminator of> epic and enjoys high prestige among Kirgiz people.

& lt Manas >> In oral communication, "Manaski" will add some improvisations, thus forming many variations, and the tunes, styles and even contents of singing are quite different. According to the individual's ability and level, people divide "Manasseh" into three grades: Qiong Manasseh (big Manasseh), Kochik Manasseh (little Manasseh) and Wulanqi Manasseh (apprentice Manasseh). At present, no one can sing a whole epic like Ju Sufei, but there are many people who can sing 1000 lines or even two or three epics. They sing for the public anytime and anywhere, and they are the most extensive disseminators of epics. They play an important role in the inheritance, preservation and popularization of epics. There are 37 members in Ju Sufu's family, the third generation 13. Most of them can sing hundreds or even tens of thousands of lines << Manas >>, and some of them have reached the level of "Cozikema". & lt& lt Manas >> Every development link is inseparable from the processing, polishing and improvisation of Manaski. It is precisely because of the continuous creation, processing and dissemination of many talented "Manaski" that this epic has grown from small to large, from simple to complex, from shallow to deep, and finally became such a magnificent scale and reached such an artistic height.

In Aheqi County, there is a township named "Hometown of China Folk Culture and Art" by the Ministry of Culture (only five townships in Xinjiang have won this honor), and the capital to win this honor is "Kumz" playing and singing. Ku Mu Zi is a unique three-string plucked instrument of Kirgiz nationality. Kirgiz people like to improvise and express their feelings by playing Ku Mu Zi. These people are called "Akon" and "Manaski" often sings while playing epic poems. Among the population of 3 100 in Sepabayi township, there are nearly 100 people who can play Kumuzi "Aken". We went to the villages and towns for an interview without an appointment, and the head of the township, Tourtaud Heti, temporarily arrested government officials to give us a performance. Everyone can play a few songs, and one of the village chiefs has not stopped singing < < Manas > >. Although we can't understand a word, we can imagine from the infatuated expression of onlookers that hundreds of Aken sing together at the Aken Playing and Singing Festival in this village on the ninth day of the seventh lunar month. What a spectacular scene!

Falcon, a heroic symbol that is getting harder and harder to find.

Nomads have many similarities. As we mentioned in the last issue, Tajikistan is a nation that worships eagles, and it is known as "Pamirs Eagle", and the Kirgiz people's worship and love for eagles is no less than Tajikistan's. In Aheqi County, there is a town called Sumutash, which is called "the hometown of world eagle hunting" by the world eagle hunting experts. I read in a book that Andrew, a British falconer, described Sumtash township like this: "There are more than 400 herders in this township, and all the domestic eagles have been trained in hunting, so it is a veritable hometown of eagle hunting. Every winter, hundreds of falcons gather in the township to hold falcon hunting competitions for several days. Interesting and thrilling scenes are more exciting than going to Spain to watch bullfighting. "

However, we didn't have a chance to see the spectacular sight of hundreds of eagles gathering. Because falconry and falconry are now under more and more strict control-falcons are no less threatening to wild rare animals than shotguns. When Yasenjiang, deputy director of the propaganda department of Aheqi County Committee, took us to the hometown of falcons, he got the news that there were only three herders with falcon licenses and falcons in the township. The township head personally accompanied us to find one of them and asked him to show us how to train eagles. When we marvel at the heroic posture of herders riding eagles, we are also confused about the imminent demise of the Kirgiz heroic symbol.

Sixth grade from the same school. Let me help. Don't forget 6(4). I will graduate soon.