The death of Ma Yuanzhang, as narrated by the camelleer Wang Wanxi and recorded by Ma Shangwu (2005, 12-14).

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我先从沙沟太爷归真说起。1952年，王万喜——人称老四爷（我大姐的老公公）给我讲述沙沟太爷归真的经过。他说尊大的毛俩沙沟太爷归真的那一年，他从宝鸡驮棉花到平凉后，听说沙沟太爷在拱北上干尔麦里，他和黎明杨三赶忙到高坪寺上做了个大净，跟尔麦里。首先遇了太爷，太爷问：”王四，你回去还走哪里？”他回答说：”我想走天水。”太爷说”你能赶十一月初给我送上些炭、大米可以吗？”王四说”行、行、一定办到。”他说，我回家住了几天，就到井上驮了50驮子炭、50石子大米（因为他家开炭井，并拥有100多骆驼的家产）。

I’ll start by recounting the return of the Grand Master of Shagou. In 1952, Wang Wanxi, also known as the Old Fourth Master (and the husband of my eldest sister), related to me the circumstances surrounding the death of the Grand Master of Shagou. He said that in the year of the passing of our respected Mawlana, the Grand Master of Shagou, he heard upon returning from delivering a load of cotton from Baoji to Pingliang that the Grand Master of Shagou was hosting a memorial service at the Dome.{footnote}Ch. gongbei 拱北 < Persian gunbad ‘dome’, denoting the tomb of a holy man.{/footnote} He and Yang San of Liming village hurried to the Gaoping mosque where they made their full ablution, then joined with the memorial service. When he first greeted the Grand Master, the Grand Master asked, ‘Wang Four, after you finish here, where are you headed?’ He replied, ‘I’m planning to go to Tianshui.’ The Grand Master said, ‘Would you be able to make it back here early in the 11th month and deliver us some coal and rice?’ Wang Four said, ‘Sure, sure, I certainly can.’ He [Wang] recounted, ‘After staying back at home for a few days, I went to the mine and picked up 50 loads of coal, and fifty loads of rice.’ (Because his family operated a coal mine, and owned a hundred camels.)

我们于十一月初五到了西吉滩，沙沟太爷和家人以及来的客人都出来迎接我们，我们赶紧上前给太爷说了色俩目并跪下。太爷伸出手， 把我们拉起来并且说：”见我容易，见下一辈难，你们送的炭太多了，我烧不完。”我说：你老人家慢慢的烧，五年以后我再给你驮。太爷笑了，对老掌柜的说： “你把米钱炭钱都支付给他。”掌柜的说：”行，你回家的时候再说。”太爷叫我们把骆驼拴在山上的一块平地上。

‘We arrived at Xiji Tan on the 5th of the 11th month. The Grand Master of Shagou and his family and all the assembled guests came out to greet us. We promptly bid salam to the Grand Master, and knelt before him. The Grand Master reached out his hand and pulled us up, saying to us, ‘To meet me is simple matter, but to meet in the next life is hard. You brought me too much coal. I won’t be able to burn through it.’ I said, ‘Your respected self can burn through it at your leisure, and in five years time I’ll deliver you another load.’ The Grand Master laughed and said to the Old Accountant,{footnote}Ch. lao zhanggui 老掌柜, the caretaker of a mosque, in this case a brother of Ma Yuanzhang.{/footnote} ‘Pay them for the coal and the rice.’ The Accountant said, ‘Certainly, we will discuss this when you depart.’ The Grand Master instructed us to tether the camels on a piece of flat ground up on the hill.

初七下午太爷出来，我和几位老阿訇上前道安，太爷问我：”王四，你回家吗？”我说：”你老人家，吾俩目走陇南驮核桃、柿饼子在春节前向汉族人出卖。”太爷说：”也好。”他又问：”你们哪天动身？”我回答：”初七礼了主麻，初八休息一天，初九动身。”太爷听完后说：”那就好，你的骆驼还能给我帮上忙。”当时我以为还有什么活让我们做。

On the afternoon of the 7th the Grand Master came out, and several akhunds and I approached him to bid peace. The Grand Master asked me, ‘Wang Four, will you be heading home?’ I said, ‘Respected sir, ghulam{footnote}Ar. ‘servant’, used here by Wang as a first person pronoun.{/footnote} is heading to Longnan to cart walnuts and dried persimmons to sell to Han folk before the spring festival.’ The Grand Master said, ‘Okay.’ He then asked, ‘What day do you plan to depart?’ I replied, ‘I will pray jum’a{footnote}Ar. ‘Friday’, as in the Friday congregational prayer.{/footnote} on the 7th, rest for a day on the 8th, and depart on the 9th.’ After the Grand Master heard this he said, ‘That’s good, your camels will still be able to help me out with something.’ At the time I thought he was referring to some more work that he wanted me to do for him.

初七那天，我们跟太爷礼了迪各热的拜和沙目拜，拜后我们都下来了，唯有太爷没下来，他在念《古兰经》和”华者”的苏热。不大一会儿，三爷（沙沟太爷三子）他来人家念了班克，就礼了胡伏滩拜。可怜我无知的人做完独儿就下来到帐棚里喝茶。我边喝边想：太爷在冬季习惯八、九点礼胡伏滩，念《穆罕麦斯》，并念《古兰经》，今天怎么七点礼了？是不是他老人家有什么忙事要做？另外沙目拜后他无缘无故，却愁眉苦脸，精神不振，好像有什么心事，就在这时大地震动开了，帐棚几乎也倒了，当时月亮星星都看不见了，连续几次。过了一个多小时，我和我们的几位人都上去看太爷和多思达尼们下来了没有。但是窑门房、住房都坍塌了，我们赶忙去看拜房窑，窑门已经被一块大土块堵住了，我们用了大约两个小时，才将大土块搬掉。我先进去，三爷（沙沟太爷三子）面向东南，其余的人各个不同，只有我们的毛俩向西跪着，两手放在膝盖子上，就象活人跪在那儿，尊贵的《穆罕默斯》张开着，好像是”土哈非”的第三段子。我一摸太爷的肉体冰凉了，我就喊：”你们块进来把太爷放到拜毡子抬出去。”于是他们都进来先后把太爷、三爷和其他人一一抬出去了。

On that day of the 7th, we performed the digar and sham prayers{foonote}Pers. the ‘afternoon and sunset’ prayers.{/footnote} with the Grand Master, after which we all came down. Only the Grand Master remained there, reciting the Quran and the verse of the khoja. Not long afterwards, the venerable Third Younger Master (the third son of the Grand Master) recited the call to prayer, and we performed the evening prayer. This pitiful, ignorant one came down directly after the supplication to drink tea in my tent. As I was drinking my tea I pondered to myself: the Grand Master was in the habit of performing evening prayer at eight or nine o’clock, and to recite the Mukhammas and also the Quran. How was it that the prayer was performed at seven o’clock today? Was it that his venerable self had some urgent business to attend to? And why after dusk prayer was he, with no apparent cause, knitting his brow in worry and looking dejected, as if he had a heavy weight on his chest. Preoccupied with such thoughts, the earthquake hit. The tent collapsed, and for those moments neither the moon nor the stars could be seen. The quake came in several waves. After over an hour had passed, I went up with several others to see if the Grand Master and all the dustan{footnote}Pers. ‘friends’; Chinese Muslims typically address other Muslims as ‘friend’ (Pers. dust), while members of the Jahriyya community distinguish themselves by addressing fellow community members using the plural form, presumably in the sense of ‘friends of the shaykh’.{/footnote} had come down, but the dugout entrance chamber and the sleeping quarters had both collapsed. I hurried to the prayer chamber, but found its door blocked by a large section of fallen earth. It took us a couple of hours just to move this earth out of the way. I was the first to go in, and found the Third Younger Master (the third son of the Grand Master of Shagou) facing towards the southeast, and all the others strewn about facing different directions. Only our Mawlana was kneeling, facing west with his hands resting on his knees, just like a living person kneeling in prayer. The revered Mukhammas was open, I recall, to the third stanza of the section that begins tuhfi. Upon first touch, the Grand Master’s mortal body was cold. He had already left us. I cried out for everyone to come in and help place the Grand Master on the prayer carpet and carry him out. And so they came in and we carried out the Grand Master, followed by the Third Younger Master, and then each of the rest in turn.

又一阵子地震。

Then another round of tremors struck.

地震过后，我赶忙让所有在场者（拉骆驼的十几个和我们十几个）搜救。我们救了很多人，其中又老掌柜全家。我把太爷的《穆罕默斯》、特思毕罕、香炉全部都拿出来保管好。

After this wave of tremors had passed, I pressed all those around (a dozen of the camel hands as well as a dozen of us) to seek out the survivors. We saved many people, including the entire family of the Old Accountant. I retrieved the Grand Master’s copy of Mukhammas, along with his tasbih{footnote}Ar. ‘prayer beads’.{/footnote} and incense burner, and put them away in a safe place.

References

Ma Shangwu 马尚武. 2005. Daotong shi xuji: Shagou Taiye, Benguangyin Taiye, Yinchuan Erye shiji zhi jishu 道统史续集：沙沟太爷、本光阴太爷、银川二爷事迹记述 (Continuation of the history of the Jahriyya lineage: Records of the acts of the Shagou Master, the Master of This Age and the Yinchuan Master). Edited by Ma Zihong 马自宏. Yinchuan: N.p.