The name of Makhtumkuri is still very unfamiliar to Chinese readers, but it is well known in Central Asia, especially Turkmenistan. Turkmen people often say: “When we were born into this world, the lullaby sung by our mother was the verses of Makhtumkuri; when we left this world, the relatives and friends who saw us off recited the same verses of Makhtumkuri.” Tumkuri was a famous Turkmen thinker, prophet and poet in the 18th century. His poems are second only to the Koran in the hearts of Turkmen people. There are few poets in the world who enjoy such a lofty position in the hearts of the people as Makhtumkuli.
We approached Makhtum Kuri because of the “Makhtum Kuri Poems” that was given to us by the former Chinese ambassador to Turkmenistan, Gong Liefu. Before that, we only knew that Turkmenistan was one of several former Soviet republics in Central Asia that declared independence after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. It is a landlocked country, bordering the Caspian Sea to the west, and 80% of the territory is covered by the Lakum Desert. Like many Muslim countries in that region, the Turkmens are mainly nomadic and tribal forces are strong. The people are bold by nature, love freedom and justice, and advocate poetry, swords, and good horses: “Young people who pursue love, weapons, horses/cowards always bring shame to the country.” Doshan horse, horse sweat blood”, sweat blood horse has always been regarded as the most precious horse. In the fourth year of Yuanding (113 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty received a bloody horse, and he was ecstatic and praised it as a heavenly horse. / Today, Anpixilong is a friend.” This sweaty horse was produced in Turkmenistan, and was called “Dawan Kingdom” at that time, and today this sweaty horse is still a national treasure of Turkmenistan. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, it has been the main road for the integration of Eastern and Western cultures. There have been many camel caravans, caravans, monks, and business travelers on the “Silk Road”. Similarly, there was once a battlefield where the Eastern and Western powers competed with swords and fire. The hooves of Persian, Macedonian, Turkic, Arab and Mongol horses trampled that land.
Makhtum Kuri was born in 1733 in the village of Aitirek in the town of Haragara, on the coast of the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan, and belongs to the Kuokran tribe. At that time, the Turkmen nation was in a state of division under the control of Tsarist Russia. His father, Azadi, was a respected religious figure and a well-known poet in the history of Turkmen literature: “My father never pursued high officials and riches/Never became a prisoner of lavish wine/The clothes he wore belonged to his hometown. Rough cloth / Just because he has not forgotten the destination of the end.” Mahtoum Kuri received a good education since childhood. He studied in his hometown Islamic school when he was young. He was not satisfied with reciting the “Koran”, but learned from it and understood Islam. history and the achievements, political propositions and philosophical thoughts of the sages. At the same time, he benefited from his father’s careful education and training in poetry creation, which played a positive role in his life path and poetry creation. In his youth, like all aspiring youths, Makhtum Kuri was reluctant to sit in front of his parents’ knees, hoping to be like a sweaty horse, raising its hooves across deserts and grasslands, and rushing to a wider world. Father saw his thoughts and asked anxiously. He later wrote about this in the poem “Talking to Father”. The poem takes the form of a father-son dialogue: “Azadi: Open your heart to me, don’t hide it / Don’t go against my teachings, my son / Hundreds of thoughts revolve in my head / But don’t hurt my trembling heart, I Son ∥ Mahtum Kuri: I bury the secret in my heart out of timidity / If you want to know, I will tell the truth, my father / Hundreds of thoughts are circling in my mind / Traveling to a foreign country is my wish, my Father.” The son is going to a foreign country, and it is natural for a father to worry: there are different ethnic groups and religions in foreign countries: the son is young and naive, “it is difficult for you to deal with things and immature”; “Afghanistan is full of vicious pirates/roads. On the way, I will lure you all the way”; “Don’t be in a desperate situation in the future” … even said: “I may die at any time, stay, my son”, “Don’t go, I’m begging…” But seeing that his son is determined, the father “has to fulfill your long-cherished wish/May Allah walk with you, go on the road, my son”…Makhtum Kuri traveled with several companions in India, Afghanistan and China other regions in Asia. He even hopes to go to Qinmaqin (China), Rome, and even farther places: “In Qinmaqin or Rome/In the Heavenly Palace or in the Himalayas/In the Cape or in the End of the World/Have you seen my beauty? ?” But for various reasons, it failed. “Travelers stop and rest in the middle of the road / Continue on the road without hesitation / Often aroused the desire to travel in my heart / How much I want to travel around the world / Like a diver roaming the underwater world / The coolness of the world, good and evil How I want to see. “Leaving his hometown, working tirelessly, wandering around, reading all the suffering and injustice in the world, but still searching hard. What is he looking for? He wrote in the poem “I am looking for”: “I put a beloved “I look for the god of power”, “I look for the god of power”, “I look for the lively market”, “I look for the warm eyes of the prophet”… “My fellow Turkmens! Where is the savior? / I will wash away Disaster flood search. The “beloved”, “the god of power”, “the lively market” and “the prophet’s warm eyes” in the poem are all just excuses. Except for traveling and feeling “the scorching good and evil in the world” , he thought hard and what he really wanted to find was the “flood that washed away the disaster” to rescue the suffering compatriots. This trip allowed him to understand the social history, customs and life of ordinary people of various ethnic groups, and broadened his horizons. His vision and rich experience made him gradually mature from naive. Later, he went to Heilat (now Khiva in Uzbekistan), a famous cultural city in Central Asia at that time, for further study at Shirhaz Institute. All these laid the foundation for his poetry creation a solid foundation.
A young man needs to have a craft if he wants to stand in the society. Mahtumkuri is well aware of this truth. He also said in his poem: “It is better to have a craft than a blessing that you cannot get”, “Without craftsmanship, without ability / Opponents have opportunities / In this era Too honest / often bullied and excluded.” He also learned a craft: making gold and silver jewelry, and after returning to his hometown, he opened a jewelry workshop. At that time, it was an ancient and very popular skill in the Mediterranean coast, Central Asia and even Xinjiang in my country. Whether it was in the bustling markets or commercial districts of Istanbul, Beirut, Damascus, Tehran or Baghdad, the most striking thing was That’s a splendid jewelry store. Most of these jewelry stores are in the pattern of front shop and back square, and the shopkeepers are mostly technicians passed down from generation to generation. These jewelry stores are also the most sensitive indicators of whether the people are healthy and whether the current situation is stable. If there is a troubled time, who would have the heart to create jewelry? In the era of Mahtum Kuri, the current situation in his hometown seemed to be unstable, and the market Depressed too: “shops have long been empty”, “prosperous markets have long since closed”, because “rich men snatch their fortunes vilely/The sun and the clear moon are covered/How many beautiful and peaceful paradises/Now become slaves The iron cage / / The people are struggling in the abyss of pain / The house is in ruins / The hero who gallops on the battlefield / Weakly breathing in the prison…” In such a situation, Mahtum Kuri resolutely devoted his main energy to Used in poetry creation, even if he “speaks the truth about a lie / I was beaten for this”, he is still indomitable, and he will not forget his promise: “Makhtum Kuri is the mouthpiece of Turkmen, and he will always be there. , Forever!” he exclaimed in the poem “Must March”: “My friends, Muslim brothers / We must march hard / A life of suffering / And suffering and ravages / / The world is boundless , endless suffering / Countless innocent lives burned to ashes / tyrants oppressed the people / whipped the innocent and raging / / The khan of Korlan lost his way / We remember their atrocities / They drove away all the cattle Sheep/We let them run amok//Makhtum Kuri don’t begrudge your life/Get ready in the armor of wrath/The cruel king is too deceiving/Have to set a trap for him.” To the oppressor of the people The tyrannical ruler, these verses of Makhtumkuli, undoubtedly “was a sharp sword/was a golden axe that gleamed coldly”.
Mahtumkuri’s poems cover a wide range of subjects, and even religious works such as “The Story of Yusuf” are by no means a simple interpretation of religious teachings. His poems always closely linked the industrious, brave, simple, kind, freedom-loving, and anti-slavery traditions of the Turkmen people for thousands of years to the social reality of Turkmen. Passionately praised freedom, independence, and love; profoundly revealed the hypocrisy and fraud of the ruling class, and called on the people of all tribes to unite and build an independent and unified country where all ethnic groups live in harmony. These ideas and propositions are also of guiding significance today. These are concentrated in poems such as “Turkmen…”, “On This Day”, “Your Figure”, “Songtag Mountain” and “Mimosa”. He suppresses evil and promotes good, and his philosophical verses are almost flat, such as: “The most difficult thing is to explain the truth to the ignorant / An honest dog is kinder than a thief”, “Don’t be like a arrogant pheasant to disgust the mountains / Lost your wings by the temptation of appetite”, “If your reason is able to distinguish right from wrong/Don’t get angry at everything and give up on yourself”, “When the sun is shining, cast a green shade for the people/You must boldly hold the words in your heart to the people, and Be patient”, “It is better to fight the sky and die in the eagle’s claws / It is better to be born in a mouse hole”, “If a coward is boasting brave / The battlefield will embarrass him”… According to legend, before Mahtum Kuri was alive, people often came from all directions. Riding a camel or a horse, go to listen to, copy, and recite his poems, because his poems reflect the people’s aspirations, the people regard his works as treasures, and regard him as their mentor and friend and the most loyal ‘s representative.
Ambassador Gong Liefu said that he knew Makhtumkuli from the materials he had read before he took office, and after he took office, he studied the times he lived in and the great influence and role his thoughts and poetry had on the Turkmen people. , he was determined to introduce his works to China. Fortunately, his wish was quickly supported by a young scholar in our country, Minawar, who was a Ph.D. student at Minzu University of China and was studying Turkmen literature at Mahtumkuri University in Ashgabat. She is Uyghur, and her ethnic traditions, languages, and living habits are similar to those of the Turkmens. With her knowledge and talent, it is natural for her to be the translator. At the same time, this wish was fully supported by Mr. Li Tongsheng, the general representative of my country Harbour Construction Corporation in Moscow, who has a reputation as a Confucian businessman in the international market. Finally, the jade became a major piece that added a heavy touch to the history of friendly exchanges between China and Turkey. good thing. Although Makhtumkuli never visited Qin Ma Qin, China, which he mentioned many times in his poems, but more than two hundred years after his death, his poetry collections and the ideas conveyed in his poems are similar to his What is said in the poem: this “artwork crafted by God” – a treasure of cultural and artistic genres, “crossing the mountains and reaching as far as Qin, Ma and Qin”.
