I bought a little donkey in the bazaar, my little donkey is the most beautiful, I think of my grandfather Uncle Kurban, riding a donkey to see Chairman Mao, his spirit everyone remembers, generations of our good example, my little donkey is the most beautiful, I want to ride it to Beijing, my grandfather told me, without the Communist Party, there would be no new China...
This song "Riding a Donkey heart to the party" is a well-known song in Xinjiang, and many people can hear the tone of the song and hum a few words.
In this song, there is a reference to Uncle Kurban who was going to ride a donkey from Xinjiang to Beijing to meet Chairman Mao.
Kurban's full name is Kurban Turum, and the reason why he is called Uncle is because the image of his uncle has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and he was born in 1883 in a peasant family in Togezhigazi Township, Yutian County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
We picked up the map to navigate and looked at the distance from Yutian County to Beijing, which is about 3800 kilometers, and if we take the highway by car, it will take more than 48 hours.
Even now, this distance is enough to make many people feel intimidated, at least I don't have the courage to drive alone.
In 1955, after the founding of New China, the road between Xinjiang and Beijing was far from smooth as it is now, but Kurban, who was 72 years old at the time, wanted to ride a donkey to Beijing to see the chairman, which in the eyes of many people was undoubtedly a fantasy.
However, the old farmer Kurban felt that as long as he persisted, he would definitely be able to go to Beijing and meet Chairman Mao, so he beat hundreds of pounds of bread and embarked on a journey to Beijing on a donkey.
So the question arises, why did Uncle Kurban think so much about going to Beijing, and why did he have to see Chairman Mao?
It's a long story, but we have to start with the life of Kurban.
01.
In 1883, the traditional chronology was the ninth year of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty.
This year gave birth to many well-known figures in history, such as Mussolini in Italy, Kenji Toihara in Japan, and Yan Xishan and Wang Jingwei in China...
Uncle Kurban was also born in this year, compared to those well-known figures, Kurban is just an ordinary old farmer, but to everyone's surprise, he later became a monument in Yutian County, Xinjiang.
At that time, the Xinjiang region was not very peaceful, although most of it had been recovered by Zuo Zongtang, but the Tsarist Russia still refused to give up, always thinking of taking this place for itself.
In order to enable long-term peace and stability in Xinjiang, at the suggestion of Zuo Zongtang, the Qing government issued an edict on the establishment of a province in Xinjiang, and in this regard, the Xinjiang region became an inseparable part of our country in name and in fact.
Young Kurban, though unaware of what this major change means, will enjoy the enormous benefits of it many years from now.
Kurban's family belonged to the poor peasants at that time, and when he was very young, he began to herd sheep for the landlords, but the landlords did not regard these poor peasants as people at all, oppressed and exploited them everywhere, and Kurban's childhood was almost without any happiness.
Later, under the oppression of the landlord, his relatives died one after another, and in order to survive, Kurban did a small long-term job, going to herd sheep during the day and sleeping in the cattle pen at night, under the fragile shoulders, carrying almost all the suffering from life.
Such a day passed for decades, and although Kurban became a family during this period, he did not feel happiness at all.
In October 1949, the founding of New China, the whole country celebrated, Xinjiang representative Saifuding Ai Zezi was also invited to climb the Tiananmen Tower, he stood behind Chairman Mao, witnessed the founding of the republic.
02.
After the founding of New China, Kurban was 66 years old at this time, and he became a tramp because he did not have a residence.
On the days of national celebration, Kurban's life still did not improve at all, until two months later, the People's Liberation Army entered Yutian County.
Platon soldiers found Kurban, who looked like a savage, in a forest and brought him back to the village, with the help of the PLA, Kurban shaved his hair, changed into clean clothes, arranged a place for him to live, and found a wife and daughter for him who had not been separated for more than a decade.
Lulban wept with joy, and what he did not expect was that after this, he was also given a house, land and a donkey, and planted his own field, which was a luxury that Kurban never dared to think of, and now it has come true.
Kurban stood for a long time in the direction of Beijing, knowing that all this had to be thanks to Chairman Mao, the party, and the country!
Kurban survived more than sixty spring and autumn seasons, which can be described as bitter and willing, and he secretly swore in his heart that he must listen to the party, listen to Chairman Mao's words, and work well.
The elderly Kurban, who did farm work, did not lose anything to young people, and even in the cold and windy weather, he would carry a bag and go out for dozens of miles to collect dung and go to the field.
This year, Kurban was happy to receive a bumper harvest, and what made him even happier was that the grain went into his family's granary, and at this time Kurban had the idea of going to Beijing to see Chairman Mao.
03.
The time turned to the autumn of 1955, another bumper harvest year, and the 72-year-old Kurban felt that he could not wait any longer, he must go to Beijing, he must meet the great leader Chairman Mao.
After several days of continuous day and night, Kurban made hundreds of pounds of bread, and then carefully selected some specialties grown on his own land and set off on a donkey.
Kurban planned to bypass most of the Tarim Basin and ride a donkey all the way east to Beijing.
Kurban's move quickly spread throughout Yutian County, and after the county cadres knew about it, they hurriedly caught up with Kurban and said to him:
Beijing is so far away that you can't ride a donkey.
The villagers also advised him not to go, after all, going from Xinjiang to Beijing is not as simple as visiting the door.
Under the repeated persuasion of the crowd, Kurban gave up the idea of riding a donkey to Beijing, but his desire to go to Beijing to meet Chairman Mao was even stronger.
Since he could not ride a donkey to Beijing, Kurban went to the surrounding roads with his bags to stop the car, and although the drivers who passed by were also touched by the spirit of Kurban, they politely refused because the road was too far away and Kurban himself was too old.
Kurban's wish to visit Chairman Mao in Beijing was also soaked up for a while, and Kurban was disappointed for a long time, and then he threw himself into labor.
Later, whenever he heard that someone had returned from Beijing, Kurban would immediately rush to the scene and inquire about Chairman Mao's situation.
04.
Kurban's desire to see Chairman Mao soon spread throughout the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and his spirit also inspired the Uyghur people to move closer to Chairman Mao, to the Party, and to the country.
Time flickered, and two years passed, and because of his active labor, he was rated as a model of county fertilizer and became a banner of Yutian County.
Later, when Wang Enmao, former secretary of the regional party committee, inspected the work in Yutian County, the county party committee told Secretary Wang about the deeds and wishes of the elderly Kurban.
After hearing this, Secretary Wang was greatly moved, and he personally went to Kurban's home, told him about Chairman Mao, and also highly praised his spirit of loving the party, loving national unity, and loving labor.
When he left Kurban's home, Secretary Wang also told him that when he had the opportunity in the future, he would definitely take him to Beijing to meet Chairman Mao.
With Secretary Wang's words, Kurban became more energetic in his labor, and his body was tough like a young man.
In 1958, Kurbon was again named a national model worker, and in June of that year, hotan special district organized outstanding agricultural community directors, technicians, and labor models to visit the agricultural tool exhibition in Beijing.
As a model worker, Kurban was naturally on the list of people who went to Beijing, and when the good news reached Kurban's home, the old man was so excited that his eyes were tearful.
05.
Before leaving, the old man of Kurban had insomnia many times, and the thought of going to Beijing and seeing Chairman Mao was as excited as a child who suddenly got a piece of candy.
On the day of departure, Kurban was the first to rush to the county seat, and after several days of long journeys, Kurban and his party arrived in Beijing.
On June 28, 1958, Uncle Kurban, who was already 75 years old, finally fulfilled his lifelong dream and was invited to Zhongnanhai to meet the great leader Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao had long heard about Kurban's deeds, and after seeing the old man, he cordially shook hands with him, and Kurban felt the warmth coming from Chairman Mao's palm and was unwilling to let go for a long time.
Chairman Mao amiably said to Kurban:
How good are the ethnic minority people in Xinjiang, so big and far away, they still ride donkeys to see me.
As soon as this remark came out, it not only brought the relationship between the two closer, but also brought Xinjiang and Beijing closer, and the photo of the two of them shaking hands was also taken, becoming a historical witness worth remembering.
Before Kurban returned to Xinjiang, Chairman Mao also sent someone to visit him, and gave him ten meters of flannel cloth and expressed cordial condolences to the ethnic minority brothers in Xinjiang.
Kurban returned to his hometown with these things and was warmly welcomed, and the whole of Yutian County was surrounded by the joy of happiness.
On May 26, 1975, the life of the elderly Kurban came to an end at the age of 92.
Although he left, his story became a local and even national legend.
In 1995, a huge statue of Chairman Mao shaking hands with Kurban Turum stood at the west entrance of Tian County, telling people the story of Kurban's plan to ride a donkey to Beijing, a story worth remembering forever.
References: "Uncle Kurban goes to Beijing" and so on.
(Figure net, invasion and deletion)