The Kenyan girl wanted to come to China and claimed to be a descendant of Zheng He
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The Ming Dynasty left a glorious chapter in Chinese history, and China at that time had a huge influence on the international stage. Especially after Ming Chengzu Zhu Di ascended the throne, in order to carry out national-level overseas **, Zheng He was sent to the West seven times, showing the strong national strength of the Ming Dynasty to overseas countries.
Zheng He's voyage to the West not only brought back rare treasures and exotic beasts overseas, but also promoted diplomatic relations with countries along the way, leaving behind many anecdotes. Among them, there is a team of more than 20 people who stayed in Africa and integrated into the local society.
Now, centuries later, what is it that an African girl who claims to be a descendant of Zheng He's sailors is eager to return to China to see? Mawamaka Sharif, a native girl from Kenya, has since been a child and has discovered that she is different from her friends in some ways.
This is the heritage of our ancestors, and our appearance comes from our ancestors. ”
Blue and white porcelain is a symbol of China, and Sharif the Younger believes that his ancestors have an indissoluble bond with China. Her friends began to call her "Chinese girl", much to Sharif's curiosity.
In 1999, she was admitted to a local secondary school, but she felt very uncomfortable with her little knowledge of China. So, she decided to look for some books on the subject to learn more about China.
However, in her remote villages in Africa, books are scarce, and even literate people are few. This made Sharif Jr. feel very lost and sad.
Luckily, the headmaster, upon learning of her predicament, generously shared his book collection. By reading these books, Sharif Jr. found that his family was becoming more and more closely connected to China.
Mother's small bowl originated from ancient China. For hundreds of years, it has carried the thoughts and expectations of a fleet. Six hundred years ago, the Chinese convoy was caught in a storm in the Indian Ocean, and only 20 people survived and were rescued by the islanders.
They live on the island with their advanced farming skills, but even though they have settled down, their longing for their homeland grows day by day. "Alone in a foreign land as a stranger, every festive season is full of family", they look forward day and night to the new fleet to take them home.
This small bowl is the carrier of their longing, and it is their expectation and yearning for home.
As the Ming stopped sending merchant ships to the Western Ocean, the hopes of these Chinese were gradually dashed. In order to survive and reproduce, they married local women, and the population gradually grew.
Under such circumstances, a village called "Shangjia" gradually formed. Over time, the second generation of Chinese began to intermarry, and the Chinese lineage was passed down in the village.
And the Chinese goods that drifted to the island from the sunken merchant ships became their heirlooms. Even in the Ming Dynasty, porcelain bowls and porcelain plates with low value were regarded as treasures in the family of the Shang family and were passed down from generation to generation.
In order to allow the souls to return to their homeland as soon as possible, the sailors asked their families to bury them by the sea before they died, facing the direction of China. Sharif's blue-and-white porcelain bowl in her hand made her ponder, and she learned of the existence of the Chinese caravan from the stories told by her mother, among which must be mentioned"Zheng He"。
She consulted a lot of information and finally learned about the history of Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, and combined with her own legends, she began to believe that her ancestors were likely to be part of Zheng He's fleet.
Sharif was overjoyed by this discovery, and she was eager to learn Chinese and visit the land of her ancestors.
Sharif is a proud heir of Chinese descent from Shangjia Village, a place that once thrived with Ming culture but was later hit hard by the invasion of Portuguese colonists.
Sharif's ancestors were Chinese merchants at the time, and they started Shangjia Village. Despite the bloodbath in Shangjia Village, Sharif's family still retains more Chinese blood.
As a result, she has a noticeable difference in appearance from her companions. She was very proud of this and started looking for a place to learn Chinese.
Sharif struggled to save money for his dream, and he learned from the village's most well-informed vendor that he could study Chinese in Mombasa with the help of Chinese merchants.
Despite his family's difficult circumstances, Sharif never gave up on his goal. In his spare time, he spared no effort to do small odd jobs to save money, brush dishes, pick up garbage, as long as he was capable of doing a job, he did his best.
His determination and hard work show us his courage and perseverance to fight for his dreams. "
After years of hard work, Sharif finally saved up enough money to travel to Mombasa in the summer of 2001. As soon as she arrived in the provincial capital, she was struck by the bustling scene in front of her, which was a world of difference compared to the small village where she lived.
Despite this, her mind is still looking for Chinese, because although she has read many books about China, they are all translated in local languages, and her understanding of Chinese is still half-understood, and she only knows that Chinese is a square word.
After a period of searching, she finally stopped in front of a restaurant where the words on the signboard were very similar to Chinese. She plucked up her courage and found the boss: "Hello, uncle, are you Chinese?" ”
Providence is so, Sharif's luck lies in meeting Zhao Hanqing, the owner of a Chinese hotel. The girl was dusty and her shoes were worn out, and the boss, Zhao Hanqing, served her a bowl of steaming noodles, giving Sharif his first taste of China.
She couldn't wait to ask to stay and work, and her boss, Zhao Hanqing, was impressed by her persistence and desire to learn Chinese. At that time, there were no Chinese cram schools in Mombasa, and since the girl proposed to work part-time, Zhao Hanqing pushed the boat along the river and left Sharif behind.
During the summer vacation, Zhao Hanqing enthusiastically became Sharif's Chinese teacher, teaching him to learn Chinese from scratch. In order to make Sharif better able to get started, Zhao Hanqing even borrowed pinyin building blocks suitable for children to learn Chinese from his fellow villagers to help Sharif master the basics through pinyin exercises.
Zhao Hanqing runs a local Chinese restaurant and a Chinese medicine hall, and Sharif repays his help by cleaning and drying Chinese medicine every morning. Although he is usually busy with his studies, he still uses his free time to practice Chinese, and when he is more free in the afternoon, he can find time to learn from Zhao Hanqing.
Summer vacation is over, and Sharif is about to return to campus. Before parting, Zhao Hanqing gave Sharif a big red envelope. Sharif opened it and found that it contained 20,000 shillings, equivalent to about 1,000 yuan.
For Sharif, this is a huge amount of money, and she has not been able to amass such a fortune after working in her hometown for two years. "I can't accept it, you teach me Chinese and take care of me, I can't take your money anymore. ”
Zhao Hanqing explained to Sharif that red envelopes are a traditional Chinese culture and represent the blessings of the elders to the younger ones.
These days of getting along, Zhao Hanqing has seen Sharif's diligence and enthusiasm for learning Chinese. He hopes that this grant will improve her learning environment and enable her to better master Chinese in the future.
This kindness deeply touched Sharif, and she gave Uncle Zhao a deep hug before parting. Sharif made a promise to Zhao Hanqing that she would definitely go to China, to her ancestral homeland, where she would study Chinese and live up to Zhao Hanqing's help to her.
After returning to the village, Sharif did not relax for a moment, and she used her spare time to actively study Chinese, and soon mastered basic vocabulary and phrases.
Sharif has always wanted to get up close and personal with the Chinese and learn from them. One day, while he was working at home, his friends in the village suddenly called him to go to the entrance of the village.
Sharif hurriedly followed his partner and found a group of yellow** black-haired people inspecting the village. Sharif was very excited, because these people looked very similar to Uncle Zhao, and they must be Chinese.
He immediately asked the village chief to take them to his house to rest, and then go home to get fruit for the dignitaries.
Sharif, who was originally full of confidence, suddenly felt a little uneasy: "Is my Chinese not good?" Why can't I understand a word of what they say? He tried to greet the men with a "hello," but the Chinese with an African accent confused the expedition members.
To prove that he was learning Chinese, Sharif took out a small blue and white porcelain bowl that the family had treasured for a long time from the cabinet. However, he really found the wrong person this time, and this group of people was not from China, but Japanese.
They took the porcelain bowl and muttered that it was an antique, but upon closer inspection, they found that it was just a very rough household bowl, and they did not pay attention to it, and accidentally dropped it to the ground.
When the porcelain bowl shattered into several pieces, Sharif's heart was also broken, and the scene became awkward, and everyone dispersed silently. However, Sharif was not discouraged by this, but strengthened his resolve.
She decided to go to China with Uncle Zhao, and she had a more important purpose besides finding her roots. Sharif's family was poor, and her father left her when she was still very young, so that the livelihood of the whole family of six was on the shoulders of her mother alone.
Her mother's hard work and the birth of multiple children made her often feel back pain, and sometimes even too painful to get up. The village doctor could only prescribe some painkillers for her, but these drugs only temporarily relieved the pain, not the root cause.
Seeing his mother suffering, Sharif thought of Uncle Zhao.
When he helps out in Sharif's shop, he also helps to dry herbs. Although the soup made from these herbs is bitter, it can ** some local diseases that are difficult to regulate, so that Sharif deeply feels the magic of traditional Chinese medicine.
He took his mother to the provincial capital and asked Zhao Hanqing to help see a doctor. After taking several doses, within a month, his mother's back pain was greatly relieved. Compared with the backward methods in his hometown, the curative effect of Chinese herbal medicine shocked Sharif.
The idea of studying Chinese medicine began to sprout in his heart, and he knew that it would be difficult, but as long as he could learn it, he would be able to make his mother never suffer from back pain again.
For children from poor African families, the dream of studying abroad is like an unattainable galaxy. For Sharif, the chances of finding Uncle Zhao to sponsor her study abroad were slim to none, and she embarked on a journey to find out how to get to China.
In Sharif's hometown, where girls are usually married around the age of 14, Sharif has reached that age, but she still persists in her education to pursue her dream of China.
The story of Sharif's relationship with Zhao Hanqing has been spread locally through word of mouth, and some reporters have found Sharif to report her story of learning Chinese, making her a small celebrity in the local area.
In 2004, when she learned that Sharif was trying to find a way to get to China, a local journalist approached her out of kindness.
Sharif was overjoyed to learn that some universities in China have scholarship policies for international students. She is well prepared for this and hopes to seize this opportunity.
To get help, she checked the address of the Chinese embassy in Kenya and wrote a letter. "Greetings, Mr. Distinguished Ambassador of China! My name is Marwamaka Sharif, and I am a descendant of Zheng He's sailors who went to the West hundreds of years ago.
I am currently studying Chinese and am about to graduate from high school. I want to go to the ancestral hometown to see, can you help me? In September 2004, the Chinese ambassador to Kenya, Guo Zongli, received this particular letter.
Although the Chinese in the letter is somewhat skewed and typosed, it can be seen that the writer was very attentive.
Touched by Sharif's earnest plea, the ambassador was also shocked by his busy work. He did not expect that in the distant land of Africa, there was another descendant of the Ming Dynasty who was learning Chinese and dreamed of going to China to find his roots.
The ambassador immediately contacted the Kenyan experts and went to Sharif's hometown together. Soon after, when Sharif saw Ambassador Guo Zongli, he couldn't believe his eyes, he originally thought that the letter would not lead to anything, but he did not expect the ambassador to come to the door in person.
This sudden happiness surprised and touched him. Accompanied by the Sharif family, Guo Zongli came to the cemetery of the sailors who were buried in another country.
Looking at the tombs facing north and the scattered porcelain pieces, Guo Zongli was convinced that everything this little girl said was true, and they did leave the descendants of the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty in the land of Africa.
Under the guidance of Guo Zongli, we came to the tombs of Sharif's ancestors and offered incense and wine to these great seafaring pioneers, who made outstanding contributions to the spread of Chinese civilization.
This special occasion coincides with the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyage to the West, and Nanjing TV is planning to shoot a documentary to commemorate the great navigator. Guo Zongli brought Wu Jianning, a documentary director who came to Kenya for an interview, to visit Sharif.
After hearing Sharif's story, Wu Jianning was deeply moved by her persistence: "You have 1.3 billion relatives in China, and you are a daughter of China!" Although Sharif didn't quite understand such a long length of Chinese, she felt very cordial to Wu Jianning's solemn expression, and when she heard the other party call her daughter, she happily replied: "Dad! ”
Under the guidance of Ambassador Guo Zongli and Wu Jianning, Sharif soon received an invitation from China. The city of Taicang in Jiangsu Province is about to hold a commemorative event at the place where Zheng He set sail, and they specially invited Sharif to attend as a guest.
In 2005, Sharif was thrilled to set foot in the homeland of his ancestors for the first time. Seeing the exquisiteness of Zheng He's restored treasure ship, she was convinced that her ancestors had come across the ocean on such a treasure ship.
As a descendant of Zheng He's sailors, she is very proud. With the help of Ambassador Guo Zongli, the Ministry of Education has specially approved a Chinese government-funded study abroad quota in Kenya. Finally, the "Chinese Girl" has returned to her homeland!
In the bustling metropolis of Nanjing, Vice Mayor Xu Huiling personally received a special international student - Sharif. Sharif was dazzled by the bustling streets, but she wasn't fooled by the city's bustle.
When asked what she came to China to study, she replied firmly: "I want to study Chinese medicine, and I want to go back to Kenya and use Chinese medicine technology to help the ......people there.""Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine did not have any prejudice because of Sharif's special status, but accepted her and gave her full scholarship support.
Now, Sharif has started a new life in China, moving back and forth between dorms and classrooms, just like other Chinese university students.
After two years of Chinese study and hard work, Sharif successfully passed the Chinese Proficiency Test. Now, she is finally able to understand the teacher's professional lessons and can confidently ask questions from everyone.
Since her original name was relatively long in Africa and difficult to pronounce, she asked her Chinese teacher for a new Chinese name, Xia Ruifu. The name is a transliteration of her original name, but it is poetic.
In the next five years, Xia Ruifu focused on studying traditional Chinese medicine, and ...... angelica, sand ginseng, and sedumThe names of these herbs are unique and difficult to remember, which is a big challenge for her who is not proficient enough in Chinese.
Xia Ruifu's path to learning has not been smooth, and Chinese medicine masterpieces such as the human acupuncture point map and the Yellow Emperor's Neijing have become challenges on her way forward. In order to overcome these difficulties, she made a large number of small cards like memorizing English words, on which various TCM professional terms were densely recorded.
Every morning, she would take her notebook to the library to take a seat, and she would take the opportunity to ask the teacher for advice after class. With such efforts, she successfully completed the combined study of her bachelor's and master's degrees.
However, Xia Ruifu was not satisfied with the status quo, she knew that advanced Chinese medicine needed to be continuously studied, so she decided to pursue a doctorate at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and chose obstetrics and gynecology, which was most in demand in her hometown of Kenya.
In the days of studying in China, she often missed her mother in her hometown, and every time she received her mother's **, she felt extremely happy and comforted.
While studying for a doctorate, Xia Ruifu is also always thinking about his relatives in Kenya. She knows that her parents and fellow villagers have given her the grace of life and nurturing, so she hopes to help improve the lives of people in her hometown by bringing the advanced medical knowledge she has learned in China back to Kenya.
Despite China's rapid economic development and rapid urban transformation, Kenyan friends and relatives still live in poverty and instability. Xia Ruifu hopes that she can bring hope and change to the people in her hometown, so that they can also enjoy the benefits of modern medicine.
Just like our ancestors who bravely went to sea, we must also become ambassadors of cultural exchange. In Xia Ruifu's story, we see the tenacity of life and the passion for knowledge.
In the history of China-Africa friendly exchanges, her unremitting struggle will surely leave a glorious mark and let the world witness the inheritance and development of civilization. What do you think of this African girl who dreams of finding her roots?