"Flowers" in Bloom

There are in the Dongxiang area many folk songs which the local people have dubbed "flowers" and were sung in the past by people to express their hopes for a better life and to pour out their wrath against oppression. The "flowers," which had been ruthlessly trampled down in the old days, began to blossom anew following the emancipation of the Dongxiang people.

There are quite a number of popular narrative poems and folktales in the Dongxiang area. The long poem "Meilagahei and Miss Machenglong" sings the praise of the heroism of a young couple who pitted themselves against out-moded ethics and the feudal marriage system. The folklore "Green Widow Kills the Boa" depicts the courage, wisdom and self-sacrificing spirit of Dongxiang women.

Historical Changes

Many changes took place in the Dongxiang area after the arrival of the People's Liberation Army in the autumn of 1949. On September 25, 1950, the Dongxiang Autonomous County was founded to be followed by the establishment of many ethnic minority townships in other localities. "Solidarity Committees" were set up everywhere to eliminate disunity then still existing between the Dongxiangs and other ethnic groups. Many Dongxiangs were trained to be government functionaries at various levels.

Trees and grass were and are being planted on barren hills to check erosion which had plagued the Dongxiang area for ages. Large tracts of farmland on hill slopes have been transformed into terraced plots. All this, coupled with the construction of irrigation facilities, has greatly raised annual grain production.

A power station and factories turning out farm implements, cement, flour, bricks and tiles have made their appearance in the area, one of the most under-developed localities in China a few decades ago. Transport and travelling have been made easier with the arrival of trucks and buses, and with the construction of a highway network that links together all the townships, and the Dongxiang area with the provincial capital of Lanzhou.

Diseases such as kala-azar and leprosy in the area have, in the main, been stamped out, thanks to improved health care and health education conducted among the people.

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