Maoxian is just a small county town, much smaller than our county town. Most of it is located on the mountainside. After eating a bowl of noodles and learning a little about the local customs, I went back to sleep.
It was my first time in a place like this, and my body wasn't used to it. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I was woken up by Xiang Fei the next morning. After breakfast, it started to snow lightly outside.
The Qiang people usually live in mountain villages, often halfway up the mountainside. Fortunately, I grew up in a hilly area, so I'm quite good at walking mountain paths. Since there are many tourist attractions in these areas, you can often see groups of tourists.
I originally wanted to find a local to be our guide, but Xiang Fei said it wasn't necessary. He had been here several times before, of course, for tourism. Moreover, many Qiang people nowadays can speak Mandarin or understand it. The Qiang people are very hospitable and don't have many rules, which made things very convenient for us.
Before long, we saw some Qiang people appearing, dressed in a style similar to that of Tibetans and Miao people. Some tourists went up to take photos with them, but Xiang Fei and I didn't care about that and headed straight for the Qiang village. Along the way, there were some other tourists also going to the Qiang village, so it was quite lively.
According to Xiang Fei, there is a Qiang village not far from here at Qinglong Cliff. It is one of the larger Qiang villages. He had been there before and knew the village chief.
Although the journey to Qinglong Cliff is not long, it involves crossing several mountains, making it feel like walking deep into the mountains, far from the world, and exceptionally quiet and peaceful.
The number of tourists gradually decreased, since most people couldn't endure the hardship. The two of us walked and rested as usual.
After crossing another mountain, we will reach Qinglong Cliff. A towering Weiyue Mountain peak can be vaguely seen, hidden in the clouds and mist, like a fairyland.
Many tourists stopped here to rest, preparing to walk to Qinglong Cliff in one go. We also stopped here to rest for a while. It was already noon. Because many tourists stayed here, various restaurants and such have sprung up over time, making this place quite lively.
The tea from the Qiang people is quite good; we tried some here. An elderly Qiang man, carrying a string of beads and a book, walked up the mountain, singing as he went. Of course, to me it was just singing, and I couldn't understand it.
The old man sang very earnestly, and his expression looked very devout.
Xiang Fei said in surprise, "This is a Qiang chanter. They inherit the oldest language and history of the Qiang people, just like the Tibetan people. I never thought I would meet one today. You know, there are only a few of these chanters in the entire Qiang people. Let's hurry up and catch up with him and chat with him."
The Qiang singer had the same goal as us, which was to go to Qinglong Cliff, and we soon caught up with him.
He was standing on a protruding rock, chanting in his loud voice. I couldn't understand it, but Xiang Fei was completely absorbed in listening.
One hundred and ten chanters
After a while, he said with a strange expression, "The song says that the ancestors of the Qiang people came from the clouds, from the place closest to 'heaven,' and were descendants abandoned by the gods."
Hearing him say that surprised me. If that's true, then it means the Qiang people are descendants of gods and immortals, which matches the relics found in the Shu tombs. Could it be that the Qiang people are really descendants of the Shu people?
Xiang Fei stopped the chanter and they began to communicate in the Qiang language. After a moment, the chanter suddenly said, "You are Han Chinese, aren't you?"
Xiang Fei and I exchanged a glance. "You can speak Chinese!"
"Of course, many years ago, our Qiang people began to interact and communicate with your Han people. Now, most of the younger generation of Qiang people can speak Chinese, although the Chinese spoken here is mostly Sichuan dialect."
The chanter could speak Mandarin, which made things much easier for us. We sat down on the rocky hill and started chatting with him. The old man was very talkative. He said that he didn't even know how many generations of chanters he had been, only that it had been passed down from generation to generation.
The tradition has been passed down from generation to generation so that the descendants of the Qiang people will not forget their ancestors and their culture. More importantly, it is hoped that their descendants will one day be able to return to their ancestral land.
After chatting with him for a while, we learned that the ancestors of the Qiang people did indeed migrate to other places, and the places where the modern Qiang people live are all places left behind during their migration.
Then Xiang Fei showed him the rubbings of the text he had made in the Shu tomb. The old man stared at them for a long time, his expression very solemn. "Where did you see these characters?"
"In an ancient tomb," we told the old man without hiding it. We were researchers of ancient Shu culture who had come here by chance, and of course, we concealed many details.
"These characters are very similar to the characters used by our ancestors. It's a pity that probably no one can recognize them now. Perhaps only the elders of each village can recognize some of them."
"And what about you?"
"I can only understand a small part of it. The text on it should be about some things in the lives of the people of Shu. It seems to be about sacrifices, about the specific content and methods of sacrifices."
We had already roughly guessed it, because Xiang Fei also recognized some of them. However, the most important part seemed to have some specific meanings. Even if you recognized it, you still wouldn't understand it. It's like you can read a sentence but don't know what it means.
"I advise you not to continue researching this, lest it bring disaster!" the old man said earnestly.
After the old man finished speaking, he continued singing. This time, the singing seemed different, like an ancient prayer. Xiang Fei's expression changed drastically. "When the ancient curse is uttered, the sealed demon will appear, and it will kill everyone..."
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