High platform time

Kashgar is a city rich in history and culture.

Today, at the northeast end of the old city of Kashgar, on the banks of the Tuman River, there is an ancient residential civil structure building complex. It is said that this huge residential complex was built on a loess cliff with a height of more than 40 meters and a length of more than 800 meters, so it is called "Gaotai Folk House" and has a history of more than 600 years. It is a typical Uygur residential building, built by the water, concentrated and contiguous, and is the most powerful witness to the multiplication of the Uygur people on the banks of the Tuman River in the past.

At this moment, the afterglow of the setting sun gently sprinkles on the Gaotai residential complex, giving it a layer of mystery. At the entrance of the dwelling, rows of flaming red lanterns hang on the earthen wall, adding a bit of festive festivity, and the tall attic rises up the stairs to climb to the top and overlook.

Today, walking into the Gaotai residential building complex, it is like being in an ancient castle, with ordinary alleys and alleys, like alleys, crisscrossing and connecting hundreds of residents. What is presented to the world here is a typical Uygur residential style building, with blue-patterned poplar doors and windows, and walls tamped with yellow mud and log materials, which look simple, vicissitudes and heavy.

There are "immersive small theaters" that allow visitors to experience the cultural life of the Uyghur people on the spot, and there are also "terrace cafes" where visitors can enjoy unique Uyghur folk music and dance while sipping coffee, as well as unique "intangible cultural heritage workshops". In the "Clay Pottery World on the High Cliff" pavilion, visitors can experience the pottery making and firing process on the spot; in the "Poplar Wood Seal Carving Studio", there are Uyghur folk artists making poplar wooden utensils, wooden bowls and plates, which are antique; there are women weaving carpets on wooden looms, they are skilled in weaving all kinds of colorful cloth brocade, which is a pure manual technique; there are also gray-bearded Uyghur elders who are weaving handicrafts with wattle sticks, their fingers covered with calluses. The shelves of the shop are filled with woven products of various shapes, including baskets, dustpans, and rainproof hats, which are strong and durable, and are loved by everyone, and in the handicraft workshop, Uyghur folk craftsmen demonstrate the weaving and dyeing techniques of printed fabric, which attracts the admiration of tourists. Today, many handicraft techniques of Gaotai dwellings have long been listed as national intangible cultural heritage protection projects.

Gaotai dwellings, standing majestically on the banks of the Tuman River in Kashgar, southern Xinjiang, have gone through 600 years of wind and rain, and are still unmoving, which can be called a living history book. It is a true record of the daily life of the Uyghur people, as if it is silently telling the story of their grandparents who have lived here for generations. On the banks of the Tuman River, which flows day and night, the life of ordinary people in the ordinary alleys and the light and shadow years are recorded, they usher in the sunrise, send away the sunset, cultivate and weave, joy, anger and sorrow.

Today, many mortal anecdotes of Gaotai dwellings have long since disappeared, scattered in the dust and long river of time, leaving only groups of visitors to infinitely reverie.

Today, perhaps, the ancestors of the owners of these houses are long gone, but from the layout and interior decoration of these civil structures, we can vaguely feel the liveliness and laughter that used to be here, and the fireworks in the world.

Perhaps, that is just a microcosm of the daily life of thousands of ordinary families in this house: at night, in the lights, the family gathers around the burning stove of the bonfire, eats fragrant naan, drinks pomegranate wine, and the children are happy on their knees, and after hard work, they smile and laugh, and the family is happy.

At night, they dwelt here and enjoyed their families, and during the day they went to the vast, dry, barren fields, where they worked at sunrise, industriously cultivated their crops, bowed their heads to the crops, and survived as stubbornly as the poplars of the desert. They have never given up their yearning and pursuit of a better life, created a new life with their hard-working hands, and built this amazing residential project with the pursuit of beauty. In the course of more than 600 years of wind and rain, although it has experienced countless ruthless wind and sand invading, it is still "as safe as a mountain", so that countless visitors, geographical archaeologists have left an admiration in the hanging.

The Gaotai dwellings record the life and folk culture of the Uygur people on the banks of the ancient Tuman River, and have become a cultural landscape with historical and archaeological value in Kashgar today.

A gust of night wind blew, making "the wind that misses you blow to Kashgar", and also blowing to this "high platform" with a heavy historical texture on the bank of the ancient Tuman River, and of course, it also blew away my thoughts.

In the 5,000-year history of the Chinese nation, the fate of 56 ethnic groups is closely linked, and all ethnic groups of the Chinese nation are linked by blood, helping each other in times of crisis, and working together to pursue the emotion and national identity of progress.

Chinese culture has always been the emotional support, spiritual destination and spiritual home of all ethnic groups, and it is also the source of power for the development of their cultures. The cultures of all ethnic groups have always been rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese civilization and are an inseparable part of Chinese culture.

In recent years, the strong support and overall planning of various departments of the Kashgar government and the support and efforts of the people from all walks of life have made these former "cultural relics" "bright" and "fire" again, let them "speak", let the "time" of the past be reproduced, usher in today's "highlight", reproduce its historical value, and let people travel through time and space in the light and shadow of the years. The beautiful light show at night allows visitors to truly feel the deep integration of the rich historical texture of Kashgar and the modern civilization and fashion.

Today's Kashgar, while sticking to the position of traditional Chinese culture, insists on advancing with the times, keeping the right and innovating, and does not follow the old ways and complacency, it is precisely to open the mind, take the initiative, adapt to the times, bravely embrace changes, actively advocate modern civilized life, inherit and deeply excavate the connotation of excellent national culture, establish the city with literature, make the historical monuments "bright", constantly polish the brand of national traditional culture, and realize the innovative development and creative transformation of China's excellent traditional culture.

I often brush up on the Douyin platform that the head of the Kashgar cultural and tourism department promotes the Kashgar tourism brand to tourists inside and outside Xinjiang. They appear in various scenic spots, hoping that more tourists will enter Kashgar, understand Kashgar, and like Kashgar.

Today, how to tell the story of Xinjiang and the XPCC, and how to tell the story of the sons and daughters of all ethnic groups in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains uniting and forging ahead in the new era and jointly building a beautiful Xinjiang, I think this is the historical mission and work responsibility of Xinjiang's propaganda and cultural workers in the new era.

From this, I also think of the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on propaganda, ideological and cultural work. Yes, at the new historical starting point, we must strengthen cultural self-confidence, uphold openness and inclusiveness, adhere to integrity and innovation, and earnestly undertake the new cultural mission of promoting cultural prosperity, building a cultural power, and building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

At this moment, night fell, and the lanterns hanging on the high terrace houses were "lit up", fiery and red, illuminating the night sky on the banks of the Tuman River. (Correspondent Xiao Yi)

Editor/Li Xinli