Later, various thrush materials appeared, such as bronze, bluebird and snail. According to legend, the blue finch headdress is a kind of dark gray thrush material, which was introduced from the western regions in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. What the bluebird is made of is unknown, because there is little relevant information. Strangely, the more magical usman grass was not introduced into the Central Plains via the Silk Road, which is almost an unforgivable mistake.
The most touching thing about Uighur girls is their thick eyebrows and long eyelashes. Why are the eyebrows of Uighur girls so beautiful? The secret is "usman Grass". Uighurs have used usman grass for thousands of years. Applying its juice to their eyebrows will make them black and bright. Besides drawing eyebrows, you can also nourish your hair with usman grass to make it black and shiny.
Usman grass is a variety of Isatis indigotica, which is endemic to Xinjiang. It is said that this plant is very picky about the living environment, and only the landform and climate conditions in Xinjiang are suitable for grass growth in usman. If transplanted to other places, although it can survive, the effect of long eyebrows will weaken or even disappear. What is even more peculiar is that there are about 30 kinds of Isatis indigotica, and only usman grass has the effect of eyebrow trimming. Therefore, usman grass is also called "food for eyebrows".
Because of its unique effect, usman Grass has already developed various cosmetics, but it seems that people prefer to buy usman Grass and apply it to their eyebrows. Led by a Uighur colleague, I came to Subiyi Building on Xinhua East Road. According to her, usman grass is sold here. Sure enough, when I came here, I found the Uighur women selling usman grass and Haina in front of Subiyi Building without any difficulty. Usman grass is not expensive, and a handful of usman grass tied with rubber bands only costs 2 yuan.
The usage of usman grass is very simple. Take a few grasses and knead them into a ball, or chop them up, then squeeze out the juice and drop it on the bottom of a small bowl, then dip it with a fine cotton swab and apply it to your eyebrows. When the grass juice is dry, rinse it with clear water and then apply it several times. Usman grass can also be applied to eyelashes and hair. But a long hair, I don't know how much grass juice to use, so few people use usman grass to moisten their hair. At most, there is excess grass juice after painting eyebrows, which can be applied to the hair by the way.
The ancients called eyebrows a "rainbow of seven emotions" because different eyebrow shapes can show different modalities and make the face more three-dimensional. Slender, curved, eyebrows like mountains, is also an aesthetic standard for girls in ancient China. When Uyghur women draw eyebrows, there is something special, that is, the eyebrows should not only be painted very black, thin and long, but also be tied together. In fact, there is a reason for this.
According to the book Taboo and Uygur Traditional Culture written by Xinjiang scholar Anniwal Samaiti, there is a saying among Uighurs that the distance between women's eyebrows is used to predict the distance of their marriage. The closer the eyebrows are, the closer the marriage is, and the farther the eyebrows are, the farther the marriage is. If you have eyebrows, marry your neighbor.
In the past, because of the inconvenient transportation, people were reluctant to marry their daughters to distant places to avoid the pain of parting. Although distance is no longer a problem now, which parent doesn't want their children to be closer to themselves? Up to now, Uighurs have maintained a custom. Seven days after the girl is born, the mother should daub her daughter's eyebrows with Usma grass juice and connect them, so that the mother and daughter can be soul mates when they grow up and don't marry too far.
Of course, if you like, you can also use the juice of Umma grass to connect your eyebrows. In front of Subiyi Building, I saw a middle-aged Uighur woman whose eyebrows had just been painted with Usma grass juice and were still attached.
I also bought a small handful of usma grass. Although I don't believe that the distance between eyebrows can determine the distance where my daughter marries, I am still willing to give it a try. This is my parents' selfishness and hope. No matter where my daughter is in the future, I will never forget the nourishment of Xinjiang.