In the 28th year of the Republic of China (1939), Mr. Mao Dun, a famous writer, went to work in Xinjiang, passed through Hami and stayed in a guest house (namely Yaole Bolou). In his memoir Storm in Xinjiang, he wrote: I saw Sam (the son of Mao Dun) coming upstairs with a rugby-like thing, which was green with yellow and covered with gray meshes. Dezhi (Mrs. Mao Dun) borrowed a knife. When you cut it open, it's green flesh, two inches thick. "ouch!" Dezhi cried, "It's just a melon!" Ah San grabbed a piece, took a bite and cried, "Delicious, like a raw pear." Sure enough, this cantaloupe is as crisp as a pear, but it is sweet and mellow, and it has a different fragrance. Pear can't be compared with it, and it is also very different from Lanzhou's "drunk melon". Everyone was full of praise while eating. This reminds me of asking Sang, where did you get this melon? "I bought it at the stall outside the door, but it was only 1200 Xinjiang ticket, which was equivalent to 25 cents in legal tender." Everyone marvels at the low price of melon, which is equal to half of the Yellow River in Lanzhou.
In the early Qing Dynasty, most of Xinjiang was under the rule of the East Chagatai Khanate, and Hami was no exception. 1678, Junggar, another part of Mongolia, defeated the East Chahetai khanate and established the Junggar khanate, and Hami also fell under the rule of the Junggar khanate. Junggar Khan galdan was an enemy of the Qing court and often harassed the border of the Qing dynasty. Emperor Kangxi decided to conquer Junggar. How could Junggar be an opponent of the Qing court? Shortly after the start of the war, Gordan suffered a crushing defeat. First of all, Ergun, the Uighur leader of Hami, broke away from the rule of Junggar and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He also took the initiative to capture Galdin's son and his subordinates, and took away Galdin's nephew and daughter. Emperor Kangxi believes that Ai Bundra has made outstanding achievements in taking the overall situation into account, understanding the overall situation and sincerely surrendering to the motherland. 1697, 10 in June, he imitated Mongolia as an example. At the beginning of the following year, when Yuan Langzhong and bursa came to Hami to form a flag team, they tasted the cantaloupe Jiageda collected by Ai Bundra, and thought that cantaloupe was sweet and crisp with unique flavor. If you give it to the emperor as a tribute, you will definitely win the appreciation of the emperor. Who knows that the speaker has no intention, but the listener has a heart, so Ai Bundra immediately deployed his subordinates, allocated tribute land, selected melon planting experts, and chose Jiageda, a melon variety that was cultivated by Hami melon farmers at that time and tasted by Bursai, as a tribute and carefully cultivated.
As luck would have it, in late autumn, AI Bundra just put the cultivated Guajia Geda into storage, and received the imperial edict of Emperor Kangxi about entering Beijing. In addition to Hami's local products, such as knives, antlers, phoenix trees and lamb skins, Ibn Dura's tribute is carefully cultivated Guajia Geda. Ebendura personally selected 65,438+000 melons, all of which were green in color, with even net patterns and moderate size. Then, invite experts in weaving, select the best wicker, weave a camel basket with beautiful and unified appearance, line it with Ma Lian, and bind it with wool rope. Each camel carries two baskets, each basket carries two melons, plus other tributes, food and water, and a group of 40 camels are on their way.
At that time, the only means of transportation were animal-drawn carts and camels, horses and other livestock. Whether Kyoko goes to his post or the frontier princes go to Beijing for pilgrimage, they usually use animal-drawn carts to walk instead of walking, while the people below are better off riding camels and Kyoko, and those with poor conditions can only walk. At that time, it was stipulated that Beijing officials would go to Hami for 1 15 days, while the pilgrimage of the vassal king was generally a hundred miles a day, with one stop a day and a rest at the station. Ebendura is the first pilgrimage. She is cautious, standing for one day and never delaying. At that time, the pilgrimage generally started from Hami, passing through Huangtian, Qin Cheng and Miaoergou, leaving Xinjiang from Mingshui, passing through Mazongshan, Ejina Banner, Baotou and Datong in Inner Mongolia, and then entering Beijing, which lasted more than 70 days. Ebeidur was taken to Beijing to unload his bag and check that all the melons he carried were still intact. Even the hospital he met, Langzhong bursa, was surprised. He thinks this is the powerful kindness of the emperor, the blessing of the gods, and a good omen for Bedour's pilgrimage.
At the banquet on New Year's Day, courtiers tasted this kind of strange melon and fruit, which is sweet as honey, crisp as pear, soft and delicious. They all feel that they have never tasted such delicious fruit, but they don't know what it is and where it comes from. Even Emperor Kangxi was surprised and immediately asked the courtiers. Bursa immediately knelt down and replied, "I went to Hami to set up a flag array at the beginning of the year, and I found Hami a strange melon. I suggest it as a tribute. Hearing the emperor's inquiry, Abdullah was frightened and immediately knelt down and replied, "This melon was planted in Hami, and my official paid for it. We Uighurs call melons Kuhong and Hami Kumule, which means the place where melons are harvested or harvested. "Emperor Kangxi was very happy to hear this, and then said," Hami is a fertile ground for melons, so let's name these melons after them, and call them Hami melons! " Hearing this, Abdullah and his ministers left and bowed. Long live the three calls, and thank the emperor for giving you the name of melon. The emperor said that cantaloupe was called cantaloupe from now on.
Because of the name given by Emperor Kangxi, cantaloupe is famous all over the country. Not only melons produced in other parts of Xinjiang are called cantaloupes, but even melons produced in Jinta Temple in Gansu are also called cantaloupes.