This is a sect of the Islamic religion based on the Koran, which uses spinning dance to achieve the purpose of spiritual practice.
The music was accompanied by a strong religious ritual, and an elder was chanting from beginning to end, with a high and penetrating voice. Their music and dance completely followed a certain religious ritual.
When people's consciousness was still dominant, the stage was filled with a joyful atmosphere, the beating of the instruments was full of powerful beauty, and the wildness and handsomeness of the Arab men were very full. As the music progressed, these men began to behave in a way that shocked Yunluo. Yunluo could understand that it was the power of religion, but it was too weird.
They began to show more and more charm, whether in dance or expression, they all showed some feminine colors, showing the feminine beauty of men's personality that was suppressed due to their social roles. A man dressed as a prince came up and began to spin rapidly in one direction for 40 minutes, which is unimaginable for ordinary people. He spun quickly, and his huge and heavy skirt flew up.
The characters slowly began to enter a state of listening to God, and a happy expression appeared on their faces as if they had seen the voice and appearance of Allah. The old man who was singing began to completely give up the shaking of his consciousness, and could clearly feel a song from the inner life after the unity of heaven and man.
The dancers around him knelt in a circle, and they were so crazy that they were crying for joy because they were so happy that they had seen a god.
The simple stage, simple costumes, simple musical instruments, and high-pitched yet peaceful singing voices took people into a world of gods. The beauty made Yunluo experience another color of this brave and warlike nation.
The Prophet Muhammad said to Ali: "You belong; it belongs to you." Hearing this, Ali, in ecstasy, began to dance unconsciously. At this time, what else can you do besides dancing? Only dance. Joy can flow forever in the flow.
Muhammad said to Jafar, "You look like him and you are like him. You belong to him, you belong to him." Hearing this, Jafar was mesmerized and began to dance. At this time, what else can you do besides dancing? Only by dancing can peace return to your heart.
Dance was, and still is, a habitual way of life among some relatively primitive people. When people are thirsty, they need to drink water; when they are hungry, they need to eat; when they are sick, they need to take medicine. These are still just particle-like actions under certain circumstances. Dance is far superior to them. It is like breathing, exhaling and inhaling, never stopping.
Dance when you are happy, and dance when you are sad; when you come, the clouds dance; when you leave, the clouds dance too; the clouds dance for life, and also for death.
Dancing was probably originally a natural phenomenon for everyone, but why did Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo forget it now? Was it the etiquette that restricted Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo from showing their emotions, or was it civilization that suppressed their inner throbbing? So they could only stretch their bodies without any scruples in a world where no one existed.
Therefore, the Sufi practice of dance is the greatest respect for nature. Then, does it also imply dissatisfaction and contempt for reality?
During the reign of the Umayyad dynasty in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, the rulers lived a life of luxury and corruption. The court struggles continued, and devout Muslims began to practice personal religious cultivation characterized by poverty, asceticism and abstinence due to dissatisfaction and helplessness with reality. They strictly followed the scriptures, teachings and religious duties.
They imitated the pious and simple life of the Prophet Muhammad and his disciples in their early years, hoping to express their protest and seek inner purity and spiritual comfort. They wore coarse woolen clothes, lived in seclusion, and had few desires. They meditated, chanted scriptures, and prayed; or they roamed around and preached along the way.
They make a living by giving alms or working, hoping to reach the mysterious realm of "silence", "no cloud without master", and "clouds are God". In the late 8th century, during the Abbasid Dynasty, with the rise of the translation movement, various philosophies and religious thoughts from ancient Greece, Persia and India infiltrated Islam.
The practice theories of Neoplatonism and Indian Yoga had an important influence on Sufi mysticism, which led Sufism to gradually develop from ascetic practice to mysticism in the form of religious theory.
Sufi's spiritual practice is a combination of extreme pain and extreme happiness, a collision of water and fire, tranquility and inaction, and fierce struggle. She is outside the mainstream world of Sunni and Shia, and is the mysticism of the Islamic world.
In this way, it is similar to the scholars in ancient China. Think of the Seven Sages of Wei and Jin Dynasties, who advocated the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, respected metaphysics, did not follow etiquette, gathered under the bamboo forest, lay beside the ancient zither, had good wine and light music, and talked about everything. They all wanted to escape from the world, but the difference is that Sufis cultivate themselves through tranquility and inaction to seek spiritual and mental peace.
The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove used their mutual sympathy, laughter, anger and insults in their writings to satirize the hypocrisy of the Sima court, and to some extent used alcohol to numb themselves from the pain and depression of their unsuccessful careers.
Because of deep pain, Ji Kang composed the ancient music "Guangling San"; because of dissatisfaction with reality, Sufis sought transcendence through dance, which is Sufi dance.
The best place to watch Sufi dance performances is the Ghori Palace, located next to the Al-Azhar Mosque opposite the Hariri Market in the center of Cairo. Although it is called a "palace", it is actually just a gray three-story building. Against the backdrop of the magnificent mosque next to it, this "palace" is a bit shabby and sad.
Many people say that finding the Gori Palace is not only a physical job, but also a technical job, because it is very difficult to find. I think it is "difficult" because of the preconceived understanding of the word "palace". If you use a microscope to look for the Himalayas, do you think you will search for thousands of years?
Sufi dance performances are free and are performed three times a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission starts at 6:30 p.m., and the formal performances usually start at 8 a.m. and last about 90 minutes. Performance location: Ghuri Palace next to Al-Azhar Mosque, opposite the Hariri Market in Cairo.
After waking up in the morning, Yunluo kept his eyes closed and lay quietly. He seemed to hear the sound of the river flowing, the sound of water birds' wings flapping on the water, and the joyful singing of people. Gusts of dry hot wind mixed with the smell of fresh soil and fresh grass came to his face.
Is this the air from more than 3,000 years ago? Is this the bank of the Nile?
When Yunluo opened his eyes with an uneasy mood, he looked up and saw a blue sky. The blue was so pure, with a few white clouds floating by like catkins. Yunluo slowly stood up and looked up. The sun was rising on the horizon. The earth was vast and empty in the morning mist.
The Nile River, which brought eternal life to Egypt, sparkled brightly under the golden morning sun. The dark green water rippled, and both sides of the river were covered with triangular-shaped, lush green papyrus with umbrella-shaped stems at the top.
A surge of excitement surged in my heart for no reason. The birthplace of ancient civilization more than 3,000 years ago was right here, right in front of Yunluo. Yunluo was standing on the street 3,000 years ago, passing through the crowd. The city of Memphis was much larger than Yunluo had imagined. Tall date palm trees and palm trees were planted on both sides of the street. People of different skin colors and different clothes walked on the street.
Libyans, Nubians, Canaanites, Amurru, Cretans, Cypriots. Different voices, different words, merchants with smiles on their faces peddling their wares, oriental fabrics, Hittite honey, Cretan pottery, Lebanese glass bottles. Everything you could imagine.
In Memphis, there seemed to be no distinction between rich and poor houses. Under the tall buildings were small houses built of dry bricks. In the alleys next to the wide garden villas, people and animals could be seen coming and going. Camels and donkeys carrying heavy loads were the most common livestock here. The city was filled with curses, bargaining and laughter.
Traveling, especially traveling in Egypt, is simply synonymous with tracing the ancients and visiting the origins. When Yunluo woke up from a dream three thousand years ago, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo prepared to visit the ancestor of the pyramids - the Step Pyramid of Zoser, and the capital city of Memphis, where Yunluo had just lost himself in the dream.
The Step Pyramid is in Saqqara, near Memphis, far from the city. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo checked out of the hotel early in the morning and packed their bags to take the train to Aswan in the evening. They walked to Elharam Station and took the subway at Sadat Station, then transferred to Line 1 and headed north to Mubarak Station.
The Cairo train station is right outside the subway station, which is also called Rames station. The train station is not big. When you take the train south, the third-class cabin is full of hard plastic seats on both sides. The train is full of Egyptians, and only two foreigners, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo, are standing in the middle, looking around with smiles. Get off at the Badrashein station in the small town, and walk two kilometers due west to reach Memphis.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Memphis was the capital of Egypt from the first dynasty after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt to before the eleventh dynasty. A thousand years of glory has gone, and now there is only an open-air ruins park, Mitrahinamuseum, located in a run-down village called Mithrashina.
The ticket price is 35 Egyptian pounds. There are two treasures in the garden. One is the statue of Ramses II lying on the two-story pavilion. This statue, about 14 meters high, is carved from a whole piece of limestone. It is exquisite and huge. In an earthquake, the statue's legs and left hand were broken.
Therefore, the statue can only lie on the floor of the museum hall; the other twin brother of the statue still stands in the square of Mahattatramses, the Ramses train station in downtown Cairo. As the second pharaoh of the 20th Dynasty, Ramses II was good at fighting and traveled around in good health.
The old man lived for more than 90 years, and he was still ambitious and wanted to build monuments and write biographies to praise himself. Another is the Sphinx of Memphis in the garden, which is currently the second largest in Egypt. It is more than 4 meters high and is carved from a single piece of alabaster weighing more than 80 tons.
Some say he represents Amenophis II, others say he is based on the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, but the annotation is clear: The Sphinx of Memphis. There is also another granite statue of Ramses II in the garden.
These monuments of emperors were dug from nearby fields. The real ancient city had long been buried deep underground in the village after several Muslim invasions and erosion by the Nile River, nourishing green vegetable seedlings. However, large-scale excavation was temporarily impossible because the water level of the Nile River was too high.
Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo could only glimpse the prosperity of the past through these broken limbs. If this place is not on your way, it is highly recommended not to come.
Walking five miles west along the dirt road out of Memphis, you will reach Saqqara. You can also take a minibus that runs from village to village. The name Saqqara comes from the "God of Death of Memphis". The nobles were buried here, which is equivalent to the Babaoshan Imperial Tomb in the western suburbs of the Yunluo Dynasty. The Step Pyramid of Zoser is in the desert about three kilometers northwest of Saqqara.
Go north along a canal for less than two kilometers, turn left and pass the Ambarmiyas Monastery, and climb a sand dune to the Imhotep Museum & Saqqara scenic spot, with a ticket price of 60 Egyptian pounds. So far, Egypt has discovered 110 pyramids of various sizes, not all of which are for burying people, and some are only used for sacrifices.
The Pyramid of Zoser is the oldest of them so far. It was only excavated in 1924 by archaeologists based on the clue of the Temple of Seraphim. Who knows how many surprises are buried in the endless yellow sand of the west coast.
The entrance is a huge yellow-brown wall. Passing through the spectacular multi-column hall, you can reach the large courtyard on the south side. This place is where the emperor exercises in the morning. In ancient times, there was a slogan on the west side that read "Exercise for one hour every day" and a slogan on the east side that read "Healthy life for fifty years". The emperor would practice Tai Chi and run in the courtyard with the cabinet ministers.
The pyramid on the north side of the square is 60 meters high and has six floors. Although it is not as big as Khufu's pyramid, it is still spectacular. There are not many tourists here, and the vast desert makes it more majestic.
A few dozen meters northeast of Zusser is the Teti Pyramid, which can also be entered. It is also empty and has been looted long ago. On the north side of the pyramid is a row of tombs of dignitaries, the tombs of Mereruka and Ankhmahor. The highlight here is the vivid painting of the circumcision scene on the wall of Ankhmahor's tomb. (To be continued...)