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- In a soft berth car on the express train from Beijīng to Orúmqi
- (Wūlǔ-mùqí) in the Xīnjiǎng Uygur Autonomous Region, an American
- ethnologist, Gail Griffith (G), is standing in the corridor looking out
- the window at the passing scenery. Lí Ming (L), a cadre in the Ministry
- of Foreign Trade, steps out of the neighboring compartment, a glass of
- tea in his hand.
- L: Zǎoshang hǎo!
- G: Zǎoshang hǎo! Nín guìxìng?
- L: Wō xing LÍ, zài Beijīng wō Jiàn-
- guo nín.
- G: Zài Bǎijīng? Shénme dìfangr?
- L: Qīyuè sìhào wǎnshang, zài Měigué
- Dàshiguǎn.
- G: À! Qīyuè sihào, nèitiān yōu nàme duō rén, wō bú jìde le. Nín zài nǎr
- gōngzuò a?
- L: Wàimàobù. Nèitiān, Wàimàobùde
- gànbu qùle bù shǎo, nín bú hui Jide le. Wō hǎoxiàng Jìde nín shi gǎo
- yúyánxuéde.
- G: Bù zhī shi yǔyánxué, wō hái yán-Jiū mínzú wèntí, zhōngzú wèntí.
- L: O’. Dào Xīnjiǎng qù yánjiū mínzú
- wèntí ma?
- G: Bù, wō shi xiǎng duō liǎojiě
- yidiǎnr Wéiwúer wénhuà hé Zhōng-dōng wénhuàde guǎnxi.
- L: Ò! Zhèi kǎ shi yíge fǔzáde wèntí, wō bú shi lìshī xuéjiā, guǎnyú
- zhèige ne, wō zhīdaode bú tài duō.
- G: Nīmen zōng bī wōmen zhīdaode duō,
- Jiù qīng nín JiǎngJiang ba.
- L: Wō zhīdao cōngqián Wéiwúer rén yòngde wénzì shi Zhōngdóngde, yìzhí
- dào xiànzài, zài Xīnjiǎng Wéiwúer Zìzhìqūde xuéxiàoli háishi Jiao
- Wéiwúěrwén.
- Good morning!
- Good morning! May I ask your name?
- My name is LÍ. I met you in Beijīng.
- In Běijīng? Where?
- On the evening of July fourth, at the American Embassy.
- Ah! July fourth. There were so many people that day, I don’t remember.
- Where do you work?
- The Ministry of Foreign Trade. That day, a lot of cadres from the
- Ministry of Foreign Trade went; you wouldn’t remember. I seem to
- remember that you are in linguistics.
- Not only linguistics. I also study national and racial issues.
- Oh! Are you going to Xīnjiǎng to do research on nationalities?
- No. I want to get a better understanding of the relationship between
- Uygur culture and Chinese culture.
- Oh! That’s certainly a complex question. I’m not a historian. On that
- topic...I don’t know very much.
- But you know more than we do, in any case, so please tell me about it.
- I know that the writing which the Uygurs used to use was Middle Eastern.
- Even now, they still teach the Uygur language in the schools in the
- Xīn-Jiāng Uygur Autonomous Region.
- G: Name yōu duōshāo Wéiwúěr rén d3ng Hànyǔ net
- L: Dàgài bú die. bāifēnzhl èrshí.
- G: Ng, ben yōu yìsi, nàme zhèngfǔ zài zìzhìqūde zhèngcè he nèidì hen bù
- tóng ma?
- L: Wéiwúěr rén dabùfen xiāngxìn Yī-sīlán jiào. Zhōngguó yě shi zōng-jiào
- zìyóude guojiā, suōyl zài zhèngcèshang huì yōu yìxiě hé nèidì bù tóngde
- bànfā.
- G: Ng, wǒmen zài hui dào wénzì wèntí shang hāo bu hāo?
- L: Hāo a!
- Then how many Uygurs understand Chinese?
- Probably fewer than twenty percent.
- Hm, very interesting. Then is the government’s policy in the autonomous
- region very different from in the interior?
- Most Uygurs believe in Islam. China is a country with freedom of
- religion, too. So in the area of policy, some ways of doing things are
- different from in the interior.
- Mm. Could we go back to the question of the writing?
- Sure!
- G: Tīngshuō xiànzài Wéiwúěrwén yōule
- xīn wénzì le.
- L: Yōu, xīn wénzì shi Yī jiu qī wu ' nián kāishi yōngde. Zhèizhǒng xīn
- wénzì xiěqilai bījiào róngyi, cóng nèidì lái Xinjiangde rén xuéqilai yě
- róngyide duō.
- G: Yōule xīn wénzì yīhèu Wéiwúěrzǔ rén juéde zěnmeyàng? Tāmen hěn
- gāoxìng ma?
- L: Zhōngguó shi yíge duō mínzúde shèhuizhuyì dà jiātíng, Wéiwúěr rénmín
- yě shi yào tōngyīde ma! Yōule xīn wénzì, Hànzú hé shāoshù mínzúde wénhuà
- jiāoliú yě róngyì-duō le ma!
- I understand that the Uygur language now has a new orthography.
- Yes, the new orthography began to be used in 1975. It’s easier to write,
- and for people who come to Xīnjiāng from the interior, it’s much easier
- to learn.
- What do the Uygur people think now that they have the new orthography?
- Are they very happy?
- China is a socialist family of many nations. The Uygurs want to be
- unified, too! With the new orthography, cultural exchange between the
- Hans and the minority nationalities has also become much easier!
- G: Ni shuōde yōu dàolī. Duì le, nī kě bu kéyi gàbsu wō Xīnjiāng
- rén-kōude qíngkuàng?
- You are right. Oh yes-can you tell me about the population of Xīnjiāng?
- L: Xiànzài Xīnjiāng yōu JiǔbSiwàn rén zuōyōu, yīhōu huì gèng duō.
- Xīnjiāng now has approximately nine million people, and there will be
- even more in the future.
- G: Shāoshù mínzú y3u duōshāo ne? How many of that number are
- minority
- nationalities?
- L: Chàbuduō q lb Si duō wàn, érciě zhèi
- Somewhere over seven million. And
- qībāiduō wan rénlī yōu shísānge mínzú<
- G: òu. . Xinjiang shāoshù mínzú gēn Hànzúde Jiāoliú yōu duō Jiù le?
- L: Xinjiang diqū he nèidìde JingJi Jiāoliú yījīng yōu Jīqiānniánde lìshī
- le, yong wénzì xiěxiàláide JīngJi wénhuà Jiāoliú shi cong gōngyuán qián
- liùbāi nian zuō-yòu kāishīde. Gōngyuán qián liù-shí nian Jīngguò Jīcì
- zhànzhēng yīhòu Xīnjiāng hé nèidi tōngyī le, wénhuà, yìshude Jiāoliú ye
- Jiu yuè lái yuè duō le.
- G: Wō tīngshuǒ Jiěfàng yīhòu yōu
- hěn duō rén ban dao Xīnjiāng lái zhù le.
- L: XI Jiu wǔ ling nián, Xīnjiāng hé-píng Jiěfàng. Jiěfàngjūn dàole zhèli
- yīhòu Jiù hé zhèige dìfangde nōngmín yìqī gSo JīngJi Jiànshè.
- XI Jiu liù èr nián yīhòu měinián dōu yōu hěn duō niánqīng rén dào zhèli
- lái, nèi shihou biānjlāngde shēnghuó bī nèidi chàde duō, xiànzài
- Jiànshède bú cuò le.
- G: Nàme zhèixiē Jiànshè biānjlāngde
- niánqīng rén dōu shi cōng nār láide ne?
- L: Duōbànr shi Tianjin, Běijīng,
- Shànghāi, Zhéjiāngde qīngnián.
- G: Tǎmen hái kéyi hui dà chéngshì ma?
- L: Xiànsàl Jiāotōng fāngbiàn, fàng-Jiàde shihou tǎmen kéyi hui lāojiā
- kànkan. Duobànrde niánqīng rén zài zhèli Jiēle hūn, yōule háizi tǎmen
- yījīng shi Xīnjiāng rén le!
- G: Tǎmen zài zhèli zuò shénme? Jiù gāo nōngyè ma?
- among these seven million people there are thirteen nationalities.
- Oh. How long has there been interchange between the minority
- nationalities of Xīnjiāng and the Han people?
- Economic interchange between the Xīnjiāng region and the interior has
- been going on for several thousand years. Economic and cultural
- interchange which was put down in writing began around 600 B.C. In ŌO
- B.C., after several wars, Xīnjiāng was united with the interior, and
- there began to be more and more cultural and artistic interchange.
- I understand that many people have moved to Xīnjiāng since liberation.
- In 1950, Xīnjiāng was peacefully liberated. After the PLA arrived here,
- they carried on economic construction with the peasants. Since 19Ō2,
- every year, a lot of young people have come here. Back then, life in the
- border region was much worse than in the interior; but now, construction
- has been pretty well carried out.
- And where have all these young people who are carrying on the
- construction of the borderlands come from?
- Most of them are youth from Tiānjīn, Běijīng, Shànghāi, and Zhéjiāng.
- Can they still go back to the big cities?
- Now, transportation is convenient, so when they have vacation, they can
- go back to visit their original home. Most of the.young people have
- married here and have children; they have already become Xīnjiāng
- natives!
- What do they do here? Just farming?
- L; Ò! BÙ dǒu shi gio nōngyè. Yě yōude ahi gōngren, yě yōude gào wénhuà
- jiàoyu gōngzuò, hái yōude gio xùmuyè.
- G: Duì le, suīrán Xīnjiǎng yōu hěn dàde ahǎmò, kěshi xùmuyè hái shi hěn
- fǎdáde.
- L: NĪ Jiànguo Xīnjiǎngde dìtǎn
- meiyou?
- G: Zài zhànlànhuìshang Jiànguo. Tz!
- Zhen mei! Duō měide dìtin!
- L: Měinián Xīnjiǎng dìqǔ Jiǎo gěi
- guójiǎ bù shào dìtin. Tǎmende shēngchàn qíngkuàng bú cuò, shù-liang bù
- shio, zhìliàng yě hěn gāo, wàiguo pengyou hěn xīhuan mil.
- G: À! Wō zhīdao le, nì shi dào Xīnjiǎng qu chūchǎide ba!
- L: Duì le. Qù he Jìge dìtinching tǎolùn míngniǎnde shēngchàn Jìhuà.
- G: Zhèixiē dìtànchàng kě bu kéyi cānguān na?
- L: Zěnme bù kéyi? Huǎnyíng huān-
- yíng! Nín hé LÙxíngshè tányitán, tǎmen hui ǎnpaide.
- G: Duìbuqì, nīde biio xiànzài Jìdiàn
- le? Wōde biio hàoxiàng kuài le ma.
- L: ZhōngwS shfàrdiàa.
- G: Wō zěnme Juěde tiǎn liàngle bù Jiù a.
- L: Nín bié wàng le, zhèrde shíjiǎn hé Běijīng chà sìge zhōngtóu ne!
- G: Zěnme chà sìge zhǒngtǒu?
- Ohj not all of then. Some are workers, some do cultural and educational
- work, and some do livestock farming.
- Oh, yes; although Xīnjiǎng has a big desert, livestock farming is still
- very well developed.
- Have you ever seen Xīnjiǎng carpets?
- At an exhibition. Gee! They’re really beautiful! Such beautiful carpets!
- Every year the Xīnjiǎng region hands over quite a few carpets to the
- state. They are doing well in production; they produce quite a number of
- carpets, and the quality is also very high. Foreign friends love to buy
- them.
- Ah! Now I know: I bet you’re going to Xīnjiǎng on business!
- Right. I'm going to discuss next year's production plan with a few
- carpet factories.
- Can one visit these carpet factories?
- Of course! You are very welcome to visit! Talk to the Travel Service
- about it, and they’ll make the arrangements.
- Excuse me—what time do you have? My watch seems to be fast.
- Twelve noon.
- How come I feel as if it's only been light out for a little while?
- Don't forget, there's a four-hour time difference between here and
- Běijīng!
- How is that?
- L: Zài Béijīng qīdiān zhòng tian Jiu
- liàng le, zài zhèr BéiJIng shíjiān shíyīdiān tian cài liàng ne!
- G: Duìle, duìle...óu, quānguó dōu
- tōngyīde yòng BōiJIng shíjiān ma? Zhèi hé Mōiguó bù yíyàng, Meiguo yōu
- sìge shíjiān ne....
- Xiànzài wǒmen yījìng zài huōchē-ahang guòle qlshige zhōngtóu le! Shénme
- shihour kéyi dào Wūlumùqí ya?
- L: Hèi yōu bāge zhōngtóu ne. HSo
- le, zhànlèi le ba, wō gǎi huíqu xiūxi yìhuīr le. Hui tour Jiàn!
- G: Hui tóur Jiàn, Lí Xiānsheng.
- In BōiJIng it gets light at seven o'clock. Here, it doesn't get light
- until eleven o'clock BōiJIng time!
- I see, I see...hm, Beijing time is used throughout the country? That's
- different from America. America has four times....
- Now we've already spent seventy hours on the train! What time will we
- get to Orumqi?
- We still have another eight hours. Well, you must be tired of standing
- up. I should go back and rest a bit. See you later!
- See you later, Mr. Lí.
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