咱们新疆好地方，民族团结一家亲。库尔班·吐鲁木是新疆各族人民的优秀代表，我小时候就听说过他爱党爱国的故事，让人十分感动。多年来，你一直坚持你父亲爱党爱国的情怀，给后辈和乡亲们树立了榜样。希望你们全家继续像库尔班大叔那样，同乡亲们一道，做热爱党、热爱祖国、热爱中华民族大家庭的模范，促进各族群众像石榴籽一样紧紧抱在一起，在党的领导下共同创造新疆更加美好的明天。

Xinjiang is a good place, where all ethnic groups are united as one family. Mr. Kurban Tulum was an outstanding representative of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. When I was a child, I listened to his stories of love for the Party and the country, which are very touching. Over the years, you love the Party and the country as your father did, setting a good example for your descendants and your fellow villagers. I hope that you and your family, together with local people, will continue what Uncle Kurban did, to be role models of love for the Party, for the motherland, and for the big family of the Chinese nation, to promote ethnic unity where all ethnic groups stay as close as pomegranate seeds, and to build a better future for Xinjiang under the Party's leadership. 

——习近平总书记2017年1月11日在给库尔班大叔的后人的回信中强调

——An excerpt from President Xi Jinping's letter in reply to Uncle Kurban's descendants, dated on January 11, 2017

在新疆维吾尔自治区和田市的团结广场上，矗立着一座巨大的雕像：毛泽东主席亲切地与一位维吾尔族老人握手，眼中满是慈祥与厚爱。走进和田的老乡家，几乎家家都可以看到毛主席与这位老人握手的图片。

On Unity Square in Hotan city of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, there stands a tall statue of Chairman Mao Zedong, eyes glittering with affability and affection, shaking hands cordially with an elderly Uyghur man. In Hotan, such a photo of Chairman Mao shaking hands with this old man can be found almost in every family.

老人名叫库尔班·吐鲁木，也就是我们耳熟能详的“库尔班大叔”。

This old man was Mr. Kurban Tulum, widely known as "Uncle Kurban".

库尔班·吐鲁木出生在新疆和田地区于田县托格日尕孜乡一个贫苦农民家庭。他从小失去父母，在地主家的羊圈里度过童年。成年后，为摆脱被奴役的生活，他带着妻子逃到荒漠里，靠吃野果生存。后来妻离子散，他独自度过17年“野人”生活。

Born into a poor peasant family in Tuogeri Gazi Township of Yutian County in Hotan, Xinjiang, Kurban lost his parents when he was a little child, and spent his childhood in a landlord's sheepfold. Grown up, he and his wife fled to the desert, where they lived on wild fruits, to escape from slavery. After his family got ripped apart, he lived alone like a "wild man" for 17 years.

1949年，在中国共产党的领导下，新疆和平解放。库尔班·吐鲁木回到了村里，乡村干部给他安顿了住处，还帮他找到了离散的家人，库尔班·吐鲁木从此获得了新生。土地改革中，他分到14亩耕地，有了一所房子和一头毛驴。

After Xinjiang was peacefully liberated in 1949 under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Kurban returned to his village, where the local officials helped him settle down and also found his wife and children back. His new life had been launched since then and in the land reforms, he received 14 mu (0.93 ha) land, as well as a house and a donkey.

平生第一次真正掌握了自己的命运，库尔班·吐鲁木萌生出一个真挚的愿望：“多亏了毛主席，我才有了耕地和粮食。我一定要去北京，去看毛主席，让他尝尝我的丰收果实。”

Truly mastering his own fate for the first time in his life, Kurban now had a strong wish: "It is because of Chairman Mao that I have owned land and grain. I must go to Beijing to visit him and let him taste my harvested fruits."

杏子熟了，他就晾杏干；玉米熟了，他就拣最大的留下，准备随时带上去北京。1955年秋，一个晴朗的日子，库尔班大叔穿上节日盛装，带上馕，骑着毛驴出发了。

When apricots were ripe, he dried them in the sun; when maize was ripe, he picked out the biggest ones with which he would be ready to go to Beijing anytime. On a fine autumn day of 1955, Uncle Kurban put on his formal dress, packed naan bread, and set off on the back of his donkey.

当天，时任于田县委书记李玉轩下乡检查工作，听说库尔班大叔骑着毛驴要上北京，立即追赶上去。“从和田到北京坐汽车都要近一个月，骑毛驴可不行。”好不容易，他才把库尔班大叔劝回。

Upon hearing this, Li Yuxuan, the then Party secretary of Yutian, who was on an inspection visit to the village on that day, immediately went and caught up with Kurban. "Even if you take a bus to Beijing from Hotan, it will take you nearly a month, not to mention riding a donkey." It took Li quite a while before Uncle Kurban was dissuaded.

“北京在地上，只要我的毛驴不倒下去，一直走，就一定能到北京。”被劝回家不久，库尔班大叔又一次次上路，一次次被乡亲们劝回。

"Beijing is just there on the ground, and so long as my donkey keeps walking and doesn't fall down, I'll reach Beijing one day." Shortly afterwards, Uncle Kurban started off time and again, but each time he was dissuaded by the villagers.

1958年6月，和田专区组织优秀农业社主任、技术员和劳动模范去北京参观农具展览会。库尔班·吐鲁木凭着生产生活中的优异表现，入选参观团之列。

In June 1958, Hotan Prefecture organized outstanding directors, technicians and model workers in the agricultural cooperatives for a visit to a farm implements exhibition in Beijing. Kurban was chosen as one of the delegation for his hard work in production and life.

1958年6月28日，是这位历经坎坷的老人最幸福的一天。库尔班·吐鲁木来到中南海，受到毛主席的接见。

June 28, 1958 was the happiest day for this elderly man who had gone through all the vicissitudes of life. Kurban was received by Chairman Mao at Zhongnanhai.

此后的日子里，他时常会幸福地回忆起那天的情景：毛主席迈着稳健的步伐朝大家走来，向大家招手致意并合影留念。当毛主席来到库尔班·吐鲁木面前时，他紧紧握住毛主席的手，久久不愿松开。他随毛主席来到藤条圆桌旁，桌上摆放着他送给毛主席的礼物——两袋杏干、桃干、葡萄干及两块手工编织的土布。毛主席握住他的手，亲切地说：“新疆的少数民族老百姓多好啊，这么大老远的还要骑毛驴来看我。谢谢你！”这时，站在一旁的记者抢拍下了这一幕，于是有了那张流传久远的照片。

In the days after, he often recalled happily the scenes of that day. Chairman Mao walked to them in firm steps, waved his hand in greeting, and had photos taken with the delegation. When Chairman Mao came to him, Kurban held his hand firmly for quite a while. He followed Chairman Mao to a round rattan table, on which were put the gifts he presented - two bags of dried apricots, peaches and raisins, as well as two pieces of homespun cloth. Chairman Mao held his hand and said genially, "People of ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang are kind. I heard that you even wanted to ride a donkey to see me despite the great distance. Thank you!" This moment was captured by a reporter standing nearby, and thus came the photo that is widely spread .

在社会主义建设中，库尔班·吐鲁木把对党的深厚感情，化作坚定不移跟党走的强大动力，他听从党的号召，参加互助组，加入合作社，积极积肥、卖余粮，用自己的实际行动践行了一名优秀共产党员的庄重承诺，受到了社会各界广泛敬仰。1975年5月26日，库尔班·吐鲁木因病逝世，享年92岁。

In socialist construction, Kurban turned his deep affection for the Party into a strong motivation to follow the Party unswervingly. He responded to the Party's calls to participate in the mutual aid group, join the cooperatives, actively stock up manure and sell surplus grains, fulfilling with his action the solemn promises of an outstanding Party member and earning respect from all walks of life. Kurban died of illness, aged 92, on May 26, 1975.

库尔班大叔“骑着毛驴上北京”的故事，在神州大地传为佳话。在库尔班大叔的家乡于田县，库尔班·吐鲁木纪念馆作为重要的爱国主义教育基地，每年都要接待数万名来自全国各地的游客参观学习。库尔班大叔的感人事迹还被创作成电影、歌舞剧、绘画和雕塑等作品，鼓舞着中华各族儿女爱党爱国、团结奋斗。

The story of Uncle Kurban "riding a donkey to Beijing" has been handed down and widely spread across the country. In his hometown Yutian County, the Kurban Tulum Memorial is a major base for patriotic education receiving tens of thousands of guests from across the country a year. Uncle Kurban's touching stories have been adapted to film, musical theater, painting, sculpture and other forms of art, inspiring the Chinese nation to love the Party and the country and work for greater unity.

几十年过去了，库尔班大叔的后人们传承着爱党爱国、拥军爱军、民族团结的良好家风。2016年底，库尔班·吐鲁木的女儿、如克亚木·麦提赛地年近90岁的奶奶托乎提汗·库尔班，让孙女代笔写信，向习近平总书记汇报家乡发生的巨大变化，表达于田各族群众对党的感恩之情。2017年1月11日，习近平总书记给托乎提汗·库尔班回信，嘱咐他们做热爱党、热爱祖国、热爱中华民族大家庭的模范。

Decades have passed and Uncle Kurban's descendants have carried on his good family tradition of love for the Party and the country, support for the army, and upholding ethnic unity. At the end of 2016, Tuohutihan Kurban, Kurban’s daughter and Rukeyamu Maitisaidi's paternal grandmother, who was in her late eighties, asked her granddaughter to write, on her behalf, a letter to President Xi Jinping reporting on the great changes taken place in their hometown and expressing gratitude of people from all ethnic groups in Yutian to the Party. President Xi Jinping wrote back to Tuohutihan Kurban on January 11, 2017, encouraging them to continue to be the role model of love for the Party, for the country, and for the big family of the Chinese nation.

党的光辉照边疆，边疆人民心向党。新中国成立70余年来，库尔班大叔上北京的故事，在广袤的中华大地上以不同的形式上演。从雪域高原唱响“北京的金山上”，到阿佤山上“阿佤人民唱新歌”；从艾尼瓦尔姐妹从天山南麓给习近平总书记送去“同心共筑中国梦”十字绣匾，到内蒙古大草原、独龙江畔、毛南山乡的各族群众给习近平总书记寄去一封封纸短情长的信件……库尔班大叔爱党爱国的精神在神州大地代代相传，熠熠生辉。

The Party work sincerely for the people living at border area and they follow the Party wholeheartedly. In more than 70 years since the founding of P.R.C., similar stories like Uncle Kurban have taken place in China. From the song "Over the Golden Hill of Beijing" that resounded on the Tibetan Plateau, to the song "Awa People Sing a New Song" on Awa Mountain where the Wa people live, from the embroidery "Building the Chinese Dream with one heart and a concerted effort" sent to President Xi Jinping by Ainiwa'er sisters from the south foot of the Tianshan Mountains, to the affectionate letters sent to President Xi Jinping from ethnic minorities living on the Inner Mongolian grassland, by the Dulong River, and in Maonanshan Township. Uncle Kurban's spirit of love for the party has been handed down generation by generation on the Chinese land, glittering with glory.