Uighurs

PRONUNCIATION: wee-GURS

LOCATION: China (Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region)

POPULATION: 7.2 million

LANGUAGE: Uighur

RELIGION: Islam

1 • INTRODUCTION

The Uighurs form the ethnic majority of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Their ancestors can be traced back 2,000 years. After the fifth century, many moved to Xiyu (present-day Xinjiang). Three centuries later, the Uighurs formed their own government under the control of the Tang Dynasty (ad 618–907). Chinese culture spread throughout their lands. Little by little, the Uighurs abandoned their nomadic life and settled down about 1,000 years ago.

After the fourteenth century, there were long periods of conflict in Xinjiang. Order was finally restored by the Manchu government of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). Many Mongols and Chinese were assimilated into Uighur society. However, the Uighurs had no lasting peace until the mid-1940s.

2 • LOCATION

The Uighurs live in the autonomous (self-governing) region of Xinjiang. It is the largest government district of China. The Uighurs live mainly in oases south of the Tianshan Mountains. They are also found in some counties of Hunan Province, in south China. The Tianshan Mountains divide Xinjiang into two parts. South Xinjiang has a huge basin (Tarim) and desert (Taklimakan) at its center. The Uighur population numbered 7.2 million in 1990.

3 • LANGUAGE

The Uighur language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altaic family. There are three dialects. The written language uses Arabic characters. It has existed since the eleventh century. The name Uighur means "to unite" and "to help."

4 • FOLKLORE

According to a Uighur tale, the Queen of Kala Khan gave birth to a son with a blue face and a hairy body. His mother breast-fed the infant only once. He then lived on raw meat and wine. He was able to talk right after birth and to walk forty days later. He grew up to be a hero and was called Wugusi. He killed a wild animal, saving many lives. One night, after hunting, he saw a beautiful girl after a flash of blue light. They got married. She gave birth to three sons called Sun, Moon, and Stars. Wugusi married a second wife who also gave birth to three sons. They were called Heaven, Mountain, and Sea. Wugusi's six sons had a total of twenty-four children, who founded twenty-four tribes. Wugusi became a Khan (leader) and united the nearby territories to form a large nation.

5 • RELIGION

In the past, the Uighurs believed in Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Nestorian Christianity. Since the eleventh century, they have turned to Islam.

6 • MAJOR HOLIDAYS

The Uighurs celebrate the two major holidays of Islam. (They call them the Corban Festival and the Lesser Bairam.) They also have their own traditional holiday, the Naoluzi Festival.

The annual Corban Festival is the biggest celebration. Each family fries twisted noodles and kills a sheep or an ox. Everyone dresses up and goes visiting. The Lesser Bairam (Festival of Fast-Breaking) marks the end of the fast month of Ramadan. After bathing, Muslims (followers of Islam) go to the mosque to pray, take part in rituals, and socialize. The Uighurs visit each other's homes, where guests are offered fried twisted noodles and other special foods.

The Naoluzi Festival is similar to the Chinese Spring Festival. Sports and other activities take place during this month-long holiday.

7 • RITES OF PASSAGE

Uighur families celebrate the birth of a child. Because the Uighur revere wolves, a mother-to-be lies on a mat of wolf fur. If the child is a boy, the Uighurs say the mother has "given birth to a wolf." The ankle bone of a wolf is hung around an infant's neck or over its cradle. This is believed to protect the baby and ensure that he grows up to be a brave man.

Funeral rites follow Islamic law. The body is cleansed with water, wrapped with white cloth, then buried underground three days after death. After the funeral, sacrificial rites are performed.

8 • RELATIONSHIPS

Uighur friends often embrace each other when they meet after a long time apart. Normally, they bow slightly or shake hands when they meet. The Uighurs are generous. Guests are served a meal of roast lamb and milk tea.

9 • LIVING CONDITIONS

The Uighurs live in small, low, square houses made of adobe. Most are one story high. The door often opens to the north. There are no windows in the walls, only a skylight window in the ceiling. The Uighurs sit and sleep on a solid adobe platform one foot (thirty centimeters) high inside the house. A fireplace is used to cook food and to keep the house warm. Tapestries decorate the walls. Almost every house has a courtyard where trees, flowers, and grapes grow.

10 • FAMILY LIFE

Uighurs are monogamous (they marry only one person). Sons and daughters leave their parents when they marry. The man is the head of the family, and children take their father's name. The Uighurs follow the western naming convention: the given name comes first and the family name second, unlike the practice followed by the majority of Chinese.

11 • CLOTHING

Men usually wear a cotton robe with no buttons, two colored stripes, and a belt. The women usually wear a dress with a skirt underneath it and a black velvet vest on top. A small four-cornered hat embroidered with silk threads is worn by girls. Both men and women wear boots.

12 • FOOD

The main foods of the Uighurs include flour, corn, and rice. They eat a nang, flat bread shaped like a bagel or pancake and made with wheat or corn flour. A popular food at festivals is "rice taken by hand." Raisins are boiled with sliced onions, carrots, and small cubes of fried beef. Then they are put on soaked rice and boiled again. The ingredients are steamed for twenty minutes, then served. Before eating, one washes one's hands three times and dries them with handkerchiefs. Sitting cross-legged on cushions, people serve the rice on plates and eat it with their hands. Roast lamb is a special treat usually saved for guests.

13 • EDUCATION

There are thirteen universities and colleges and 2,300 secondary schools in the Uighur districts. About 90 percent of children enter school when they reach school age.

14 • CULTURAL HERITAGE

"The Twelve Great Songs" is an epic story performed with classical and folk songs, music, and dance. The Uighurs have dozens of musical instruments, including string and wind instruments and tambourines. The Uighur violin is played on one knee. Uighur dance is famous for its spinning. The many traditional dances include both solo and group dances.

Uighur literature includes folktales, fables, jokes, poems, and proverbs. A long poem titled "Fortune, Happiness and Wisdom" dates back to the eleventh century.

15 • EMPLOYMENT

Most Uighurs garden and grow cotton. Their cotton growing methods have been copied in other Chinese provinces. The Uighurs are also known for their skill in commerce. They are active in the restaurant, grocery, and clothing businesses in Xinjiang and in many other provinces.

16 • SPORTS

Ball games like basketball and volleyball are very popular. Rope walking is the Uighurs' favorite spectator sport. A pole 120 feet (36 meters) high is hammered into the ground. Then a long rope is connected to the top of the pole at one end and attached to the ground at the other. The athlete climbs up the rope while jumping, rolling, and performing other dangerous acts.

17 • RECREATION

The Uighurs love to sing and dance. Everybody joins in the lively dancing at festivals. Hundreds of people may end up dancing on these occasions. Movies and television are also popular forms of entertainment, and the Uighurs have a number of local musical and theater groups.

18 • CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

The Uighurs are skilled in crafts. Hotan jade sculpture is a fine art. Ingisa (Yengisar) knives are famous for their sharp blades and precious stones. Other Uighur crafts include carpets, tapestries, silk embroidered hats, copper teapots, and musical instruments.

19 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Because they lack natural resources and industry, the Uighurs have little income. They are leaving their homeland in growing numbers for work in other Chinese provinces. However, those who leave often return, bringing wealth and skills back to their communities.

20 • BIBLIOGRAPHY

Heberer, Thomas. China and Its National Minorities: Autonomy or Assimilation? Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1989.

Ma Yin, ed. China's Minority Nationalities. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1989.

Miller, Lucien, ed. South of the Clouds: Tales from Yunnan. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.

WEBSITES

Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Washington, D.C. [Online] Available http://www.china-embassy.org/, 1998.

World Travel Guide. China. [Online] Available http://www.wtgonline.com/country/cn/gen.html, 1998.

Uigur

ETHNONYMS: Aksulik, Kashgarlik, Uighur, Uygur, Turfanlik

At just under 7,215,000 people, the Uigur are one of China's most populous minorities. They live in Xinjiang Province and make up two-fifths of the population there. The Uigur live primarily in the districts of Hotan, Kashgar, Turfan, Aksu, and Korla, where they occupy oasis land at the edge of the Taklamakan Desert and Tarim Basin. The Uigur language belongs to the Turkic Branch of the Altaic Family and is written in Arabic script, which has been modified to express all the sounds to be found in Uigur. There are a large and growing number of Chinese loanwords in Uigur.

The Uigur have a long and well-documented history, at least in part because it has been so intertwined with Chinese history. In the eighth century, the forerunners of Uigur were under the control of the East Turkic Steppe Confederation. When that confederation fell apart, the Uigur, along with the Karluk, took control of the area (western Outer Mongolia) themselves. They came to the aid of the Tang dynasty in 757 and 762, defeating a rebellious Chinese general. During this period, the Uigur converted to Manichaeism. Later they would adopt Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, and finally undergo a widespread conversion to Islam. In 840, they were routed from the area by the Kirgiz and spread in many directions. Most went west and ended up where nearly all the Uigur are now, in what is now Xinjiang. They set up their own state, but later came under Karakitai control. In the twelfth century they broke away and allied themselves with Ghengis Khan. Following the decline of the Mongol empire, the area was disunified and numerous political powers, in different places and times, held sway. Unification under one leadership did not come until 1884, when the Qing government took control of what they called "Xinjiang." After 1911, it was under warlord rule until 1933, had a short period as a "republic," and was back under Chinese (KMT) rule from 1944 to 1949. Xinjiang became an autonomous region in 1955.

The Uigur traditionally were pastoralists, although the economy had diversified by the tenth century. Some Uigur were oasis farmers. They developed extensive irrigation systems to facilitate growing grains, cotton, fruits, and melons. Many were town artisans and merchants—the area has a number of towns of large size that were points on the Silk Road. Though the Uigur today are heavily involved in manufacturing, mining, oil drilling, trading, and transportation, their pastoralist past still shows itself in their diet; all meals must contain meat (particularly mutton) to be considered a meal and dairy products are part of the daily diet. The arid Xinjiang Province is unsuited to most types of agriculture, but many Uigur are employed in growing cotton. Wool is also a major export of the region. Uigur have largely adopted Western dress. They are noted for their music and dancing.

The Uigur did not convert to Islam until the mid-fifteenth century. For some five centuries before that the name "Uigur" referred specifically to Buddhist and Nestorian oasis dwellers in Xinjiang. Today, however, all Uigur are Sunni Muslims and adherence to Islamic teachings is one of the key markers of their identity.

See also Uighur in Part One, Russia and Eurasia

Bibliography

Ecsedy, H. (1964). "Uigurs and Tibetans in Pei-t'ing (790-791)." Acta Orientalia Hungaricae 17:83-104.

Gladney, Dru (1990). "The Ethnogenesis of the Uighur." Central Asian Survey 9(l):l-27.

Ma Yin, ed. (1989). Chinas Minority Nationalities, 136-151. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.

National Minorities Questions Editorial Panel (1985). Questions and Answers about China's Minority Nationalities, Beijing: New World Press.

Schwarz, Henry G. (1976). "The Khwajas of Eastern Turkestan." Central Asiatic Journal 20:266-296.

Schwarz, Henry G. (1984). The Minorities of Northern China: A Survey, 1-16. Bellingham: Western Washington University Press.

Uighur. A Turkic people who ruled a central Asian empire in the medieval period, first in the Turfan-Kucha region and later in the Tun-huang area. Though its early rulers were keen Manicheans, many of the general population were Buddhist, and Buddhist texts were translated into Uighur as early as the 7th century ce. Later the rulers also became Buddhists and with their support several flourishing centres of Buddhist learning were established. The Uighurs often functioned as traders and scribes and thus were instrumental in transmitting Buddhism to other people in the area. Their script, itself derived from an earlier Sogdian model, served as the basis for the standard script that was adopted by the Mongols. See also Mongolia.