The first volume of the sixth grade Chinese 1 Unit "Grassland"

The place that people love and cherish-grassland

Spring on the grassland is beautiful, with green grass, birds and flowers, and water plants. Herds of cattle, horses and sheep run and stroll freely on the endless grassland, enjoying the delicious food endowed by nature all the time. No matter where you go to the ends of the earth, the grassland will always be the place where Mongolian people are attached. ...

First, the home of grassland people-Mongolian yurts

Pictures related to grassland always include blue sky, white clouds, green grass and lovely yurts. The yurt is a unique building on the grassland and a "mobile house" for nomadic people. Until today, the Mongolian, Ewenki, Kazak, Tajik and other ethnic groups in the north still live in buildings similar to yurts. Mongolian yurts are called "Mongolian Liege" in Mongolian. Why do we call it yurt now? It turns out that around the Southern Song Dynasty, the ancestral jurchen of Manchu had frequent contacts with Mongols, and the Manchu called "home" "Bo", so the Manchu called Mongolian folk houses "Mongolian Bo", and "Bo" was homophonic with "Bao". When expressed in Chinese characters, it is written as "Mongolian yurt".

Here comes a more detailed question: What was the predecessor of Mongolian yurts? What are the parts? Why is it round?

Early nomadic people who lived by hunting lived in shacks, which were pointed at the top and rounded at the bottom. Dozens of tree trunks are used as supports, and the captured hides or birch bark are covered on the supports to keep out the wind and rain. This is the predecessor of Mongolian yurts. Later, the lifestyle of nomadic people changed from hunting to animal husbandry. They need to choose a place with a lot of aquatic plants, and they need to move every once in a while. Therefore, they need a house that is easy to dismantle and move, and the yurts with round vaults came into being.

The yurt is mainly composed of Wu Nai, Hana, Tao Ao, skylight, door, felt, etc. It is fixed with bristle rope or leather rope. The main component at the top of the yurt is Wu Nai, which plays the role of a house basket. People flattened dozens of wooden rafters, punched holes at the upper and lower ends, and strung them together with leather ropes, which became Wu Nai. The top of Wunai is connected with Taoao, which is a wooden circular skylight with the functions of ventilation, lighting and smoke exhaust. Wu nai and Tao ao are covered with blankets. When the weather is fine, the Mongols will lift a corner of Tao Ao to the center. When it rains or at night, a long piece of wood will be used to stir up the felt and cover the Tao 'ao. The skeleton of the yurt round body is called Hana. Hana is a net wall made of willow, which can be quickly removed during migration, which is very convenient.

Why is the yurt designed as a barrel instead of a square or rectangle? Because circular objects have stronger wind resistance, they can withstand winds from all directions on the grassland. Because the circle has no edges and corners, it can disperse the direct pressure of strong wind on the building and make the wind pass smoothly, thus preventing the strong wind from blowing to a certain place in the building. Secondly, in the case of limited materials, the circular yurt has the largest area. Mongolians certainly want to live in the biggest house and use the most economical materials.

Second, the grassland taste on the tip of the tongue

Derailment horse banquet

Hearing this name, you may be a little confused: did the "horse racing feast" eat horses? Horses are inseparable companions of Mongols. They love horses so much, how can they be willing to eat them?

Cheating on horses was an ancient feast enjoyed by Mongols in Yuan Dynasty, which was only available to the royal family. Historians who study yuan dynasty history have put forward different views on the meaning of horse racing banquet. Some people think it is Persian, which means "clothes", because everyone, including the emperor, has to change into the same color clothes when eating horse racing banquets, and change a set every day; Some people think it is Mongolian, which means the whole animal with its hair removed; Emperor Qianlong once thought that cheating a horse was racing.

What kind of food is there at the horse racing party? The first is the "Eight Treasures of the North", including tí hú, Cuo, wild camel's hoof, deer's lips, camel milk, roasted swan, purple jade paste and jet cream. When making cheese, the upper layer condenses into crisp, oily and sweet; Cuckoo refers to the young of ostrich (jūn); The hoof of a wild camel is a camel's hoof; Deer lips refer to moose lips; Camel milk is camel milk, and rice refers to porridge; Roasting swan is roasting swan meat; Purple jade pulp refers to wine; Yuxuan pulp is a kind of wine made from mare's milk grapes.

Roast Whole Lamb

Maybe you haven't eaten roast whole lamb, but you must have heard of its name, right? In Mongolian, a horse racing feast refers to a whole animal that has lost its hair, so roast whole sheep also has a place in the food list. Roast whole sheep is a traditional Mongolian food, which has been loved by people all over the country since ancient times. To roast the whole lamb, you should slaughter it first, brush it with hot water, remove the internal organs, and then skewer it on the iron frame for roasting. Sheep are coated with cumin, pepper, chilli and other spices. When the iron frame rotates, all parts of the sheep can be roasted evenly. Roasted mutton is golden in color, crispy and tender, and even just looking at it will make your mouth water.

Third, the Mongolian people's own "Spring Festival"

The Mongolians have their own Spring Festival, called Bai Jie, also called Bai Yue, and the Mongolian pronunciation is Chagan Sari. White Festival is the biggest festival of Mongolian people in a year. On this day, people hold sacrificial activities, taste delicious mutton and white milk, and pray for good luck in the new year.

Why is the Mongolian Spring Festival called "Baiyue"? It turns out that Mongolians lived a nomadic life before the13rd century. In autumn, grass grows very luxuriantly, cattle, sheep and horses eat a lot, have strong physique and high survival rate, so the harvest season of nomadic people is in autumn. There is an ancient Mongolian example, that is, in the month when the prey is the richest and the fur of wild animals is the best, a celebration is held to distribute the prey to hunters. During the nomadic life, the Mongolian New Year is in September, which is the season with the richest free food, so it is called "Baiyue". This name has been used ever since, and the date has been changed from September to the first month. Italian traveler Kyle Poirot once recorded the prosperity of Mongolian Spring Festival in his book:

The new year really began in February of the solar calendar, when Khan and all his officials resumed a festival ... that was the day when Khan and all his subjects wore white robes, so all men, women and children wore white clothes, as if white clothes were auspicious clothes, so they wore them on New Year's Day, so that this New Year would be blessed all the year round. ..... The subjects gave each other white things, hugged and kissed each other, and celebrated important events, thus making the whole year very happy.

-"Travel Notes of Marco Polo"

Mongolians regard pure white as an auspicious color, so when welcoming guests from afar, they will give each other pure white hada to express their pure and sincere feelings for the guests. After talking about the origin of Baiyue, let's learn more about how Mongolians spend the Spring Festival.

On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, every household will hold a fire sacrifice, which is a prelude to the Spring Festival. First, they want to hang a clean wind horse flag on the platform just south of the house; Then the family took out sheep sternum, cream porridge, snacks, red dates and other delicious foods and put them on the table; Then remove the ashes from the fire bracket and rekindle a fire. The elders at home respectfully offered the sternum of the sheep to the flame, while others scattered the rest of the food on the flame and stood and kowtowed in order of age.

In Mongolian, New Year's Eve is called "special closing temperature", which means "closing day". Like the Han nationality, Mongolians also pay attention to having a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. After eating mutton, roast whole sheep, steamed stuffed bun and jiaozi, the whole family will sing and dance, toast and chat, and enjoy this reunion.

On the morning of the New Year's Day, the Mongolians have to sacrifice to heaven, which is a tradition handed down from generation to generation. When offering sacrifices to heaven, the whole family circled around the yurt counterclockwise, bowed while walking, and sprinkled milk bumps and koumiss on the yurt to pray for good weather in the coming year. Later, the younger generation will hold Hada to pay a New Year call to their elders, who will say some auspicious words to them. After the family pays New Year's greetings, they will go to their neighbors' homes to pay New Year's greetings.

On the third day of New Year's Eve, the old people of every household will gather on the grassland to hold an entertainment activity for the elderly and accept the hospitality and blessings of the younger generation.

Is the Mongolian word "Baiyue" distinctive? Will all kinds of delicious food make your mouth water? If you have the chance, visit Mongolian people during the Spring Festival!

Fourth, the body language of horses.

Mongolians are called "people on horseback", and they have deep feelings for horses. How do Mongolian friends communicate with horses? In fact, the horse's body language represents what it wants to say.

Horses' ears can talk. If the horse's ears are straight ahead, it means that it is curious or alert to what is in front of it, as if to say, "Look, who is this man?" I have never seen it. "If the horse's ears turn back a little, it means that it is listening and seems to say," What are you talking about? I also want to hear it. "If the horse's ear is close to the head, you should be careful. Because it means that it is angry, maybe your little actions will irritate it. It seems to say, "hey, stay away from me, I'm so bored!" " "

Horses' eyes can also talk. If the horse's eyes are bright oval, it means that it is worried; If its eyes are fierce and cold, it is telling you: "leave me alone!" " "or" my body hurts, let me have a good rest! " "If the horse's eyes are half open, it means that it is pestered by sleepy people and wants to take a nap; If the horse's eyes look soft and friendly, it means that it is happy, relaxed and willing to associate with you.

Horses' tails can also talk. Flies often surround the ponytail. If the horse drives away the flies in a rhythmic and relaxed way, it means that it is in a leisurely and happy mood at this time. When a horse runs unscrupulously on the grassland, it may throw its tail high, even higher than its back, which shows that it feels very happy and enjoys it. But if there are no flies, the horse still wags its tail, which means it is upset. You should be careful. If it wags its tail and makes a sound like a whip, it is warning you that "idle people should not disturb".