Red soil joke

Juan Li is known through her essay "Pasture in Winter", which was included in the book "20 12 Most Beautiful Prose in China".

"Winter Ranch" begins by saying: On the morning of the first hike south, our camel team and cattle walked for a long time on the endless hills. Until noon, when we turned a highland, our vision suddenly became clear, and now there is a Ma Pingchuan. The earth is bright and endless. The sky is dark, as heavy, smooth and hard as metal. There is nothing between heaven and earth ... it's like a world opposite the world, a world on the curtain at the end of the world, an inaccessible world, but we still walked in in silence.

I only remember that I was deeply shocked by the author's plain words and her emptiness and silence at the moment. I have read that composition over and over again for countless times, and I can't put it down.

Later, when I was shopping online, I came across a book called Pasture in Winter, and my favorite essay was the article of the same name by the author Li Juan. What a surprise.

I remember that I was so hungry that I almost finished reading this book. I was filled with joy and emotion. After that, I bought almost all the books in Li Juan, which recorded the life of Kazakh herders in the remote northwest border of China. Their monotonous, lonely and hard life, their simple happiness, seemingly ordinary and small but great and magnificent life reality and environment can always make you feel an irresistible pity, emotion, admiration, envy and even yearning.

So, today, I want to choose some books to share with you.

As a Han nationality, Li Juan's family has been living in Altay mountain pastoral area for many years. My mother runs a semi-mobile grocery store and tailor shop, following the sheep of Kazakh herders from south to north. Later, although he settled down, he still lived in the winter residence of Kazakh herders, located in the Ulungu River area on the Gobi desert south of the Irtysh River.

The words "a corner of Altay" are the life scenes of Li Juan from 1998 to 2003. My Altay is the trivia of life from 1998 to 2009. Actually, I am the same age as Li Juan, and I was born in 1979. The story in the book describes the life she experienced when she was about twenty years old. However, it is so different from my life, or the life of most of our peers.

A person's life experience, step by step on the earth to find their own unique life path and trajectory, to achieve their own different life and life values.

Li Juan's writing and understanding of life have presented us with a beautiful new world.

The book "The Corner of Altay" is divided into five parts: in Kautu; In Baghlar; In Scheihenbrak; On the bridge; On the red land. Obviously, it is classified by place names, because the grocery stores and tailor shops in Li Juan follow the sheep from south to north, and these places are places where Kazakh herders go back and forth.

My Altay is divided into three series: the first series is in memory (2007-2009); The second series in the corner (2002-2006); The third in a series of nine articles on Snow (1998-200 1). Arranged in time flashback.

Li Juan presented us with an extraordinary world with his plain style. Although most of the books are scattered words describing or writing landscapes or expressing feelings, if we pay a little attention to them in the process of reading, the life turmoil of Li Juan's family in recent years still has a very clear context.

Li Juan's fine print is extraordinary. Their life is turbulent and hard, their mother's optimism and hard work, the simplicity and kindness of herders, and everyone's loneliness and persistence are all true and shining in her unpretentious pen. Even the chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, rabbits, etc. raised in the wild are full of individuality and unique.

These words seem to be broken and calm, but the inner loneliness and longing hidden behind them are so strong that we can't help but be moved. There are also words to observe, describe, imagine, think and marvel at endless natural things such as the earth, the sky and storm clouds. Let's broaden our narrow thinking to infinity while realizing our smallness, so as to yearn for the vast world in the northwest border.

The series "Sheep Road" was written by Li Juan in the following years after living with the mother family of Kazak herder Zakbai in 2007. It is divided into three volumes.

Different from the previous two books, the series Sheep Road focuses on Li Juan's description of the daily life of herders who live on weeds all the year round.

In Gilat, standing on the top of a high mountain and looking around, I can't see a tree or a person. The bare gravel slope is undulating, and the snow in the shadow is thick ... Gilat is indeed desolate, but as a pasture in spring, its warmth and openness deeply comfort the hearts and eyes of shepherds who trudge from the distant and cold southern wilderness.

From Gilat to the whole spring, as the weather gets warmer, the newly lush grassland is eaten and swept away by sheep day by day. The sheep gradually went north. Herdsmen are stationed at each station for about 10 or 20 days, no more than one month at most. Every family has its own fixed grassland, and the road to transition is also different. All this is to protect the grassland. Because the consequences of overgrazing will not only destroy ecology and nature greatly, but also be a disaster for herders and sheep.

When everyone went north step by step to Dongkul, they came to the Summer Ranch, Qian Shan Summer Ranch. And when everyone came to the mountains, to the isolated island near the sea, to Wusai, they were stationed in the summer pasture in the mountains. Zakbai's mother's mountain summer ranch is located at the top of the mountain in Altai.

On the way to the transition, on the green and wet land, there are many slender paths that are too thin to accommodate two horses walking side by side. They are next to each other, extending in parallel, rolling gracefully and symmetrically along the gentle trend of the hillside, and spreading all over the earth without disorder. This is the way the sheep come out. When the sheep seem to collide in the chaos, only the road they walked recorded the strong and calm order they followed.

And this change, even if it is difficult for herders, is still not just as simple as leaving and arriving. Since ancient times, the migration transition has placed too many heavy hopes on Kazakh herders. In spring, the snow gradually melts from south to north, and herders are chasing the melting process, chasing the traces of water, and rushing from the dry wasteland to the deep and humid mountains. In autumn, heavy snow spreads from north to south, and herders are chased by heavy snow all the way south, from thick snow to Gobi in the south and Bo Xue in the desert. There, sheep can dig snow with their hooves and eat dried roots buried in the ground.

Apart from constantly moving and changing places, is the life of herders comfortable? You can also say that, but at the same time it is lonely, monotonous, barren and hard.

There are only one or two herders in dozens of grasslands, hillsides, hills and deserts. In Qian Shan summer ranch, there are three or two neighbors, and everyone's life is very lively. At Qian Shan Summer Ranch, Zach worships his mother's family and has few neighbors. He has to walk more than ten miles with his work.

Summer is so long, men go to graze, and housewives arrange sheepfolds, embroider carpets and boil milk at home. Make dairy products and wool products. The children milked the cows, drove the cows, carried firewood and looked for the sheep that had been lost the day before. ...

However, even if the workload is heavy, it is almost enough to do it all morning. In the following time, Li Juan and others had to sleep, sleeping all day long. Then, go wandering and walk all over the mountain. Life is boring, but the world in front of us is endless and the scenery is amazing.

In the vast space and time, there is hardly anyone except myself. Facing nature alone, people's hearts become pure, kind and beautiful. The hearts of Kazakh herders are as pure and clear as the environment in which they live.

Li Juan said that it is really hard to live by weeds, but is there really happiness that can be easily obtained in this world? Is there really a better life in this world ... everything is fair. Only by living within the limits of tolerance, there is no life without tolerance. "Long Life" sounds a bit negative, but it is actually a brave act. No matter what kind of pain will be melted by the heart in front of the shepherd's insistence.

Li Juan said that at the beginning of writing these three books, there was praise for the herdsman's introverted lifestyle, but after writing, her attitude changed, and she gave up judging and controlling them, leaving only an honest description of this lifestyle.

Because of this, let us follow Li Juan's writing, and at the same time have our own different feelings and understandings about the life of Kazakh herders and their world. From this point of view, we thank Li Juan.

In the winter of 20 10, Li Juan once again followed a Kazakh herder Juma's family into the winter pasture and desert in southern Altay, and spent a hard and unique wilderness life.

Winter pasture can be different from other pastures. The vast desert is endless, barren, cold and desolate. There are only two herders in hundreds of miles in Fiona Fang, Fiona Fang, which is a veritable wilderness.

For a long time, the pasture last winter was used for grazing. Old people and children are not allowed to enter winter pastures, and they temporarily live in winter settlements along the Ulungu River.

Winter pasture is also called winter nest. The so-called "winter nest" does not refer to a specific place, but a winter grazing area owned by nomadic people. From the vast Gobi south of the Ulungu River to the edge of the desert north of the Tianshan Mountains, there are Dongwozi everywhere. Herdsmen who enter Dongwozi look for the most suitable depression in the leeward of the ups and downs of the earth, dig a pit one or two meters deep, put a few pieces of wood on the pit, cover it with hay bales, count it as a roof, build an inclined passage leading to the pit, and install simple wooden doors, and it becomes a winter house and a ground snap.

There is no doubt that life on the ranch in winter is the hardest. It goes without saying that herding sheep and working alone cannot guarantee the basic needs of life.

Water, in the spring pasture, Li Juan and Kathy (Zakebai's mother's daughter) cut off the thick ice layer in the shade of the mountain with axes every day, and then carry it home. After melting, it can be used in daily life. The ice sticks to the children's backs and keeps melting until they finally get home after a long walk, and the clothes on their backs are soaked.

In Dongwozi, water is still sourced locally. Li Juan, his sister-in-law and Gamma went outside to collect snow. When they came back, they turned it into daily water. However, sometimes it just doesn't snow. Sometimes there is only a thin layer of snow, and the recovered snow is mixed with gravel clods and even sheep manure. Even after precipitation, water is still turbid.

They use this water to make tea and cook, and the water for washing dishes is reserved for washing clothes. There are no special circumstances, such as going out in the winter nest and hardly washing your hair or taking a bath.

Food is also limited. Vegetables are only a few cabbages and potatoes. In the long winter, even this is a luxury in most cases. Meat is only enough for herders to eat a little a day, while housewives who stay in their burrows only eat one meal a day. In other spare time, she keeps drinking tea and soaking dried naan in it.

Cold, winter in Altay, the lowest temperature reaches MINUS 50 degrees. Herdsmen are herding sheep and searching under the desert and snow. And only when it is warm at noon will the sheep be driven out and put for a while. People can't stand cold weather, and neither can sheep.

So, how do herders spend those lonely times in the cold and long nights, in the daytime when they are not grazing, and in the snow and ice outside? Juma will tell jokes endlessly; Mend things at home; It is always helpful to help my sister-in-law twist the thread; Embroidered felt; Talking to kittens, talking to sheep ... His life is lonely, but optimistic and cheerful. When herding sheep, Juma has to put on new clothes even if there is only one person in the mountains and plains. Say it's for goats, for sheep!

Herdsmen are friendly, United and help each other. Because of the harsh environment in Dongwozi, Juma and her neighbors herded sheep together, which is to combine the two sheep into a group and lead them into the wilderness by one person. This will make one person less cold.

No matter which pasture you are in, when you know that herders will pass by nearby, yurts along the way will wait by the roadside early to provide yogurt for herders who are reluctant to drink at ordinary times to comfort their trek and fatigue. Even though we don't know each other, in their hearts, we feel the same as our families.

Whoever enters the yurt, no matter who he is, no matter who his master is, he is a guest when he enters the door, having tea and chatting, and will not leave when he comes. Even if all the words have been said, or have been silent, there is nothing to say at all, silent for a long time, fell asleep in the bed of the host's family. I don't know how long I slept, but I woke up, said hello to my master and rode away.

There are also scenes where they are not far away, visiting relatives, attending the wedding of neighbors (far away) and attending concerts. Can always make you and me feel infinite. In that vast land, scattered people, not to mention women and children, even the elderly and men will not let go once they have the opportunity to get together.

They put on the most gorgeous clothes, and the women washed their faces, put on makeup and put on jewelry, and got on the horse before dawn. At the wedding dance, young people have to dance all night. Mongolian yurts are stationed under the quiet and bright starry sky in the grassland. Everyone played the fiddle and the Erxian Qin, jumped on the dark horse, and kept laughing all night. At that moment, even if you are tired again, it is a kind of rest and relaxation, and it is also a good opportunity for young people to fall in love.

On the way to the transition, the herdsmen dressed up. Everyone dressed up beautifully, and the camel team decorated it carefully. Camels, horses and furniture on their backs are covered with floral carpets embroidered with exquisite patterns, and almost everything exposed has its own clothes, like elegant women. Everyone should also put the best things at home in the most conspicuous place of the camel team. When we set out, it was mighty and magnificent!

It often rains in the mountains in spring and summer. On the way to and from the transition, herders will not wear rain gear when they encounter heavy rain. Cold and wind and rain can't stop their "love of beauty". This grand trip means welcoming a new starting point in life. This ceremony is sacred and there is no need to hide it. Walk gracefully in the natural wind and rain and blend in.

I think this is where Li Juan praised the herdsmen! Bad living environment and ancient grazing life, everyone's life and death depend on this land. They have their own persistence and their own simplest happiness. Everyone who walks into the house and meets on the road is like a compatriot of the same strain, sharing the same fate with himself.