Chapter 2 Xiaoyin

Who can say enough about the joy that travel brings to life? I got used to it over the years.As a companion when I was young, I made friends with friends, and gradually I made my companions fall in love with it.Back in my youth, what filled my body was dripping joy. As time goes by, people are more accustomed to getting satisfaction from fatigue.Needless to say, it is a "travel" with a classical meaning; it is different from tourism that shows off wealth, and it has nothing to do with sensational adventure.It is far more important than money and success, but it can heal and expand oneself.It has long been my way of life, synonymous with my hometown and base.I greet and see off the years in the continuous long journey, and I don't realize that the twilight of life is coming.The exquisiteness of the route, the bathing of the vision, the glimpse of the true knowledge, and the moving of the submergence - all come one by one with the physical and mental actions of the feet.I gradually understood: they are works in themselves, and the articles left on the way are just footprints that can be left or discarded.

My feet have also set foot on foreign lands. If we look back at our overseas footprints, perhaps Japan is the first to be promoted.Because after all, I studied there twice, not only had a rough knowledge of the language, but also had some insight into the culture. When life was difficult and dangerous, it was there that I achieved a turning point.Secondly, Mongolia can be counted, which is an extension of my lifelong exploration of the Ujimqin Grassland.In addition, the Malays in Nanyang are unforgettable, which gave me an important eye-opener.Needless to say, there are many more places to look at: Turkey and Kazakhstan, Mauritania and Chechnya, Cyprus and Palestine, a mysterious black Africa, and a hopeful South America. ——On my favorite list, France, Germany, the United States, and Canada can only be ranked last, the so-called first-class countries.Although I have traveled thousands of miles, and I have repeatedly sought to go deeper, they are as thin as paper with me, and cannot arouse the urge to flee or investigate.

Only Spain is a special case! Compared with the ambiguous Japanese culture, its colors are strong and vivid, and its context is as clear as a knife.It was like the bad boy of the House of Europe, unkempt, crude, and somewhat poor.Each of its cultural customs has a different appearance, and each story is entangled with the outline of world history.It is the real border between the East and the West, and the black ashes of the sword marks of the battle are still left on the wall today, for people like me to search for and archaeologically visit the present.It has a touching and wild nature, you can't imagine that so many towering and dangerous mountains are crowded in one peninsula.Aesthetically compelling men and women are busy there, as if following the ancient times, as if proving something.After meeting them, you suddenly realize: Didn't you always dream of the ends of the earth when you were a child, and that place has already arrived.

It's like speaking fluent English and being inadvertently stained with the color of a shrewd businessman by the language; a chest-resonant Spanish often gives the other party a hint of sexiness and freedom.Alas, that language that seems to lack vowel harmony, like Altaic, has verbs and adverbs in its place, sounds rough and bright, speaks catchy, can't explain its annoying charm, just want to... learn it!An example of this kind of language that does not make people's true colors retreat but highlights people's character may be Japanese.They make people shape themselves when they speak, which is wonderful.

The Arabs called Muslim Spain Al-Andalus.From the 8th century AD to the 15th century AD, the south-central part of the Iberian Peninsula and the area south of the Strait of Gibraltar was a place where legendary civilizations blossomed, fruited, and withered.Therefore, the word Al-Andalus also means that historical era.It is natural for me to be deeply interested in it; because it is not only the victory of Muslims over the West, but also the only time in the history of the entire East over the West, especially the victory of civilization over the West. Taking advantage of the intermission in life, it is a rare and sensible thing to gather enough money for a long journey, cross the Strait of Gibraltar, arrive at the old place of Al-Andalus, and do one or even several trips to study! ...I have traveled to almost every historical place in Al-Andalus, covering Spain, Morocco, and Portugal.Recalling those days of new knowledge in those six months, every day is like a little legend.Running around and proving, I am happy for my young enthusiasm, and I am even more shocked by the connotation of Al-Andalus.

So at the end of the journey, a sense of certainty draws near.I thought about it deeply, and I had the desire to pick up a pen and describe it in depth. The new imperialism is holding the black flag of the crusaders and colonialism of the past in its march to control and oppress the East.Antiquity didn't end there.Andalus, its brilliance and desolation, its achievements and significance, its failures and lessons, just today, it is more necessary to convey to friends. This little book was written with assistance. I don't know if I should say: it has nothing to do with overseas travel books in popular book markets.Because its intention is first of all to criticize the world where hegemony is rampant.The second is the investigation, research, and annotation of a period of history that is of great significance to the third world.It is too much to say that it is an academic book, so I always say it is a study notebook.It is, however, an emotionally soaked notebook; after all, Al-Andalus signifies a great victory for the Muslims, the cultural wealth and spiritual pride of the Third World.

Like the photographic essay collection "Continent and Emotions" and several recent essay collections: the maps, paintings, photos, and calligraphy in the book are all photographed, drawn or graffitied by the author himself, except for a few noted otherwise. Yusufu Hashajifu wrote a few lines of poems emphasizing study in addition to the main text of "Fule Wisdom".I think it must be because that great work forced him to study like a schoolboy.He worked hard and learned something, so there is a pleasure of learning between the lines: Knowledge is like the ocean, bottomless and boundless,

How can the little bird drink the sea water dry? Go seek knowledge, that is the so-called man above man, Or don't you call yourself a human being, go and keep company with animals! —I speak forthrightly, wildly and pungently, —Wise man, please appreciate my blunt words. I like his state of mind more than studying his tome.Yes, this little book is nothing more than a study note.Sometimes I am inspired, and sometimes I find something new to me, the words will be excited, and the pleasure and loss will be beyond words-these need to be apologized first. Zhang Chengzhi During Ramadan on November 11, 2004,

On the death of Arafat, the last great man of our time