Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Ian Skoggard

XUAR, Xinjiang (新疆); Historical names: Western Region, Xiyu (西域), Hui Jiang (回疆), Zhun Bu (准部), Eastern Turkestan, Chinese Turkistan, Jungaria, Dzungaria

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is the People’s Republic of China’s largest province, covering 1,600,000 km² or one-sixth the land area of China. “Xinjiang” or “new territory” was the named given to the region in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), following the Manchu conquest of the area in the eighteenth century. The region borders on eight countries—Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India—and at 5,600 kilometers long, the border comprises a quarter of China’s frontier.

The geography of Xinjiang features three mountain ranges encompassing the two largest basins in China, the Tarim Basin (530,000 km²) in the south and the Junggar Basin (380,000 km²) in the north. Surrounding these basins are the Karakorum and Kunlun mountain ranges in the south separating Xinjiang from Kashmir and Tibet, and the Altai Mountains separating the province from Mongolia in the north. The basins are divided by the 1,700 kilometer-long Tian Shan mountain range. The Gurbantünggüt Desert (48,800 km²) lies at the center of the Junggar Basin; the Taklimakan Desert (337,600 km²) is at the center of the Tarim Basin. Major rivers include: the Ili, the largest in terms of volume, which flows into Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan; the Ertix which flows north to the Arctic Ocean; and the Tarim which flows into the Daxihaizi Reservoir (its original outlet, the once famous and much larger salt lake of Lop Nur, is now dry). Bosten Lake in the Tianshan Mountains covers an area of 980 km².

The region enjoys a continental climate of cold winters and hot summers. The average winter temperature is -20°C; average summer temperature is 33°C. Temperatures in the city of Turpan exceed 35°C for one hundred days of the year. The region is marked by strong sunlight, large swings between daytime and nighttime temperatures, and frequent sandstorms. Northern Xinjiang receives an average annual rainfall of 200 mm and the southern part of the province less than 100 mm a year. The Tarim Basin receives only 20 mm of rain a year on average, and the Turpan basin even less, at 12.6 mm.

Xinjiang has a diverse population comprised of forty-seven ethnic groups, of which the Uyghur people are the largest group. The total estimated population of the province for 2015 was 23,600,000, of which 46.4 percent were Uyghur and 40.0 percent Han Chinese. Other major ethnic groups in order of size were Kazakh (7.0 percent), Hui (4.5 percent), Kyrgyz (0.9 percent), and Mongolian (0.8 percent). Smaller groups include Pamir (Pamiris), Xibe, Manchu, Tujia, Uzbek, Russian, Miao, Tibetan, Zhuang, Tatar and Salar, each comprising less than 0.2 percent of the total population.

There are almost as many different languages spoken in Xinjiang as there are different ethnic groups. Uyghur is an Altai-Turkic language that used a modified Arabic script until 1928 when a Latin alphabet was adopted; the Chinese government has since adopted a Romanized pinyin script for Uyghur. The Han Chinese speaks Putonghua (Mandarin). Kazakh is another Altai-Turkic family language that originally used a modified Arabic script; it changed to a Latin script after 1949. Kirghiz is a Turkic language closely related to Kazakh and is written in various scripts, including Arabic. The Hui speak and write Chinese. The Xibe language is on the Manchu-Tungusic branch of the Manchu-Altaic family of languages and has its own script. The Tajik language belongs to an eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European family and uses a Uyghur script.

There is evidence of human habitation in the region since the Paleolithic Age. The Qijiaojing microlithic culture in eastern Xinjiang dates back to late Mesolithic and early Neolithic times. Four-thousand-year-old mummies with clothes and blankets intact were found in the Lop Nur area. Xinjiang jade has been unearthed in Shang Dynasty tombs and workshops in central China. The Silk Road passed through Xinjiang; the original route had two branches that ran along the northern and southern edges of the Taklimakan Desert. Chinese silks, bronze mirrors and lacquerware were found in Xinjiang tombs dating to before the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC). During the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) control over Xinjiang—then referred to as the “Western Region”—switched back and forth between the Han Chinese and the Xiongnu, a nomadic people from the steppes of Central Asia. China’s westward expansion during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was eventually checked by an Arab army in 751 in the Battle of Talas River near the border of present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. After the Tang Dynasty, three separate kingdoms emerged in the region: Halahan, Yutian, and Gaochang. In the ninth century the Uyghur, a confederation of Turkic tribes, began to migrate and settle south of the Tianshan Mountains, incorporating other immigrant groups. The Western Liao Dynasty (1124-1211) established control over the separate kingdoms in the region. The Mongol conquest in the twelfth century brought a unified administration to Xinjiang and set its current borders. Uyghur administrators, advisers, and accountants were employed throughout the Mongol Empire. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) the region again divided into separate kingdoms that eventually became tributaries to the Ming government, a relationship that continued under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the central government began to develop the region for both strategic and economic reasons. The government encouraged Han immigration, led by the People’s Liberation Army, to settle in major cities and border regions and develop the region’s abundant natural resources. In the 1990s a half million Han Chinese were relocated to Xinjiang from areas that were flooded by the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangzi River. The strong Han presence, especially in urban centers, has marginalized the Uyghur culturally, politically and economically, increasing ethnic tensions between the region’s two dominant groups. By the turn of the millennium the Han population was nearly as large as that of the Uyghur.

The Qing Dynasty faced periodic rebellions and revolts in the region: the Gardan rebellion in 1690, revolts of the Huite and Oirat tribes in 1750s, and a peasant uprising in 1765. Inspired by the Taiping and Hui rebellions in the 1860s, a general peasant uprising in Xinjiang occurred in 1864, resulting in the formation of several independent khanate chiefdoms. The Russian government took advantage of the general unrest and annexed the Ili region along the Sino-Russian border, but returned it to China in 1881 as part of the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty (Treaty of St. Petersburg). In 1884, Xinjiang province was officially established by the Qing government. The Wuchang Uprising erupted in 1911 in response to Sun Yat-sen’s Nationalist Revolution, and Xinjiang became part of the Republic of China under Yuan Shikai. After putting down the Kumul Rebellion in 1931, the Chinese warlord Sheng Shicai would come to dominate Xinjiang politics for the next two decades, switching his allegiance back and forth between China and Russia. The 1944 Ili Rebellion led to the establishment of the East Turkestan Republic, which lasted until 1949.

The roots of the five major ethnic groups in Xinjiang are as follows: • The Uyghurs are descendants of the Gaoche or “High Chariot People,” a nomadic tribe that lived between the Ertix River and Lake Balkhash in present-day Kazakhstan. In the seventh century they formed the Huihu alliance in resistance to Turkish intrusion. By the end of the ninth century the alliance had fallen apart and some groups migrated to the present-day Xinjiang region, merging with other nomadic groups such as the Tubo, Khitan and Mongolians to form the Uyghur as presently known. The very name Uyghur means “united” or “allied.” • The Kazakhs are descendants of the Usun, Yueshi and Scythian peoples. They later mixed with the Huihu, Karluk and Nayman peoples. Escaping from both Mongolian and Turkish rule, they earned the name “Kazak” meaning “escapees” or “refugees.” • “Hui” refers to Muslims who have immigrated to the Western Region and central China since the Song Dynasty (970-1279). Descendants of the Silk Road travelers and traders, the Hui have a varied ancestry and today speak Mandarin, distinguishing them from other Muslim minority groups. • The Xinjiang Mongolians are descendants of the Uyghur, Torgut (one of the four original Oirat tribes), and the Mongol Chahar tribe which is predominantly of Inner Mongolia. • The Kyrgyz are descendants of nomadic herders from north-central Siberia. They were a vassal tribe of the Xiongnu in Han Dynasty times. In the sixth century they were known as the Xiajiasi and formed a prefecture under the Tang and Liao Dynasties. As part of the Mongol Empire they became known as the “Kirgiz,” the meaning of which is unclear. Later they migrated to the Tianshan and Pamir mountains, where they mixed with Turkish- and Mongolian-speaking peoples and adapted to mountain herding.

Over sixty percent of Xinjiang is uninhabited desert or mountains. Most of the population lives along the lower slopes of mountains surrounding the desert basins where the spring snowmelt and underground sources provide plenty of water year-round. Historically, settlement occurred along a string of oases, each having its own polity and identity. Inhabitants of this oasis region referred to themselves according to their local or regional affiliations, such as “Turfanlik” (person of Turfan), “Kashgarlik,” “Aqsulik,” “Yarkandlik,” and “Khotanlik,” often indicating such urban centers as Yining, Kashgar, Aksu, Yarkand, Hami, and the provincial capital, Urumqi. Under the People’s Republic of China new cities and towns were established, including Karamay, Kuytun, Shihezi, Aral, and Tashidian. There are, altogether, a thousand oasis settlements ranging in size from small villages of a few homesteads to towns of a thousand households to cities of as many as a half million people. The Han Chinese are heavily concentrated in Urumqi, Karamay and Shihezi; the Uyghur are found mainly in the Tarim Basin south of the Tianshan Mountains.

Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Mongolians live in felt yurts; in permanent settlements there are homes of adobe brick and stone.

Over the millennia people in the region developed a unique, oasis-based agricultural economy. A large land area, many hours of sunshine and, in some areas, ample water makes the province a prime region for raising crops and livestock. The construction of reservoirs and irrigation systems has extended agricultural lands that by 1990 covered over 300,000 hectares. The major cereal crops grown are winter and spring wheat, maize, rice, sorghum (kaoliang), and millet. Vegetables produced include cabbage, spinach, coriander, wild cabbage, turnips, kidney beans, tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, gourds, celery and Chinese chives. There are over forty-six million hectares of pastureland for sheep, cattle, horses, goats, donkeys, camels, mules, and yaks. Wildlife, much of which is protected in nature reserves, is a source of furs, and of medicinal and chemical products. Hundreds of different kinds of wild plants are collected for medicine, aromatic raw materials, and for use in clothing, paper and building materials. Sturgeon, carp and perch are fished in the rivers, and farmed in lakes and reservoirs. Beekeeping and silk farming are additional economic activities.

A long frost-free season of 220 days in the Tarim Basin is ideal for long-fiber cotton. Other cash crops include oil-producing crops, tobacco, sugar beets, hemp, and medicinal herbs. Abundant sunshine is ideal for growing fruit, particularly melons, and the region leads the country in their production. There are large reserves of coal, iron, salt, and rare metals. Altogether, 118 kinds of minerals are mined, including gold, jade, mica, precious stones, manganese, and non-metallic minerals. Karamay and Dushanzi are centers of the oil industry, and newer deposits have been found in the Tarim, Junggar and Turpan basins. Tourism has become another major industry.

The different ethnic groups are engaged in particular economic activities. Most Kazakhs and Kyrgyz are engaged in animal husbandry and Huis are agriculturists, but a few in each group work in commerce and handicraft industry. The Xibe are agro-pastoralists. Mongolians, who were once nomadic herders, are now settled farmers. The Tajiks herd high in the Pamir Mountains. Uzbeks live in cities where they work in commerce and craft production.

Xinjiang has been a center of handicrafts since the Han Dynasty, known for its jade carving, pottery, woven blankets, bronze teapots and tea sets, wine cups, boots, saddles, silks, carpets, hats, musical instruments, embroidery, and ornaments. Traditionally, tailors, haberdashers, cobblers, blacksmiths, jewelers, bakers, and barbers set up workshops quartered in the bazaars. In China’s First Five Year Plan (1953-1957) industrial zones were developed in Kashgar, Yining, Urumqi, Hami and Altay, and new industries were established, including iron and steel, machinery, cotton, linen, cement, food processing, chemicals, paper, oil refining, coal mining, electric power, and sugar refining.

In addition to developing a unique form of oasis agriculture, the early residents of Xinjiang became merchants along the Silk Road that linked China to the western civilizations of Rome, Byzantium, and Persia. External trade today exists on a much smaller scale. Although bazaars no longer dominate the centers of towns, there are many local open-air markets. Uyghur men have been deeply involved in long-distance trade throughout China, and Uyghur communities are found in most of central China’s large urban centers, as are members of the Hui minority. Xinjiang exports to central China and overseas include wool, furs, melons, and preserved fruit.

Among the Uyghur many crafts and trades have been traditionally monopolized by males, but females have engaged in specific industries such as embroidery, making patterned felt, and weaving rugs.

In Xinjiang water was the scarce resource, and in oasis areas it was water rather than land that was traditionally subject to inheritance. With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China land was collectivized. In the reform period, peasants were free to hire labor, access land other than that allocated by the collective, and engage in non-agricultural activities. However, the state is still very much involved in household agricultural production, stipulating which crops, seed varieties, pesticides, and farm equipment are to be used. In marginal areas the state gives free land to households to open up and cultivate.

A patrilineal kinship system is predominant among Turkic, Mongolian and Chinese peoples, although the power of lineages and clans has diminished. For the Kyrgyz the patrilineal extended family (oey) is the basic kin group, including a man and wife, all sons and unmarried daughters, and the wives and children of married sons. Several oeys recognizing a common ancestor constitute a patrilineage. The Kazakhs also recognized matrilineal kin relationships.

Among the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Uzbeks relationships are often categorized according to relative age. For example, older men are addressed as dada and older women as ana. An older brother (aka) is distinguished from younger brother (uka) and elder sister (apa) from younger sister (singil). Young people of the same sex address each other as adash, or friend; and officials call each other yoldash, or comrade. Certain relatives are given terms of respect and endearment, in addition to more formal titles. For example, an aunt (apa) and uncle (togha) are also called “little mother” (kichik apa) and “little father” (kichik dada), respectively.

Although polygamy was practiced by most groups in the region, monogamy predominated. Most groups practice exogamy, marrying outside the clan or village, with some exceptions. Unlike some other groups that follow Turkic prohibitions against marriage to close kin, the Uyghur favored vicinal marriage and village endogamy. The Kazakhs formerly practiced marriage by abduction, which continues to be imitated in marriage ceremonies. Beginning in 1959 the Marriage Law was strictly enforced, with particular stress on monogamy and legal sanction for divorce. Marriage patterns vary between rural and urban areas in the proportion of arranged marriages compared to those in which a couple freely chooses to be together.

Uyghur homesteads accommodate extended families, including sons and their wives, who live in adjoining units around a courtyard. Contemporary apartments with several rooms frequently house a nuclear family, although relatives often live nearby. The basic residential unit of the Kyrgyz was the patrilineal extended family (oey), which shared a yurt.

Before collectivization, property was equally divided among the sons for most of the cultural groups in the area.

All of Xinjiang’s ethnic groups value courtesy and are known for their hospitality. Guests are greeted in an order that recognizes age, and are seated accordingly in relation to the host. Elders are showed respect in many ways, such as being offered the best seats and served first at meals. Serving tea is a common form of hospitality.

Tribal and clan organization was prevalent among most of Xinjiang’s national minorities and it persists to this day, especially in rural areas where traditional ways of life are maintained. Tribal identity has become ethnic identity, officially recognized as national minorities (Shaoshu Minzu) by the Chinese government. The patriarchal extended family is the basic social unit, and lineage is still important for purposes of mutual aid.

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was established on October 1, 1955 as a provincial-level administrative unit. It is divided into sub-provincial units, variously grouped as municipalities, national minority autonomous prefectures, or regular prefectures. The autonomous cities are Urumqi, Karamay and Shihezi, all predominantly Han Chinese. The autonomous prefectures include Bayangolin Mongol, Bortala Mongol, Changji Hui, Kizilsu Kirghiz, and Ili Kazakh. The regular prefectures are Aksu, Altay, Turpan, Hami, Kashgar (Kaxgar), Hotan, and Tacheng. While leaders in local and regional government are from ethnic minority groups (in accordance with the Law of Regional Autonomy), top leaders in the Chinese Communist Party Committee (which acts as a shadow government) are mostly Han Chinese.

Social control has been exercised through a process of sinicization, which is an attempt to break the hold of Islam and other ethnic identities over the indigenous population. In education, for example, the government has brought the Uyghur language closer to Chinese, using the same Chinese Pinyin script and adding many Chinese loan words. Additionally, proficiency in the Chinese language has become a prerequisite for higher education and any professional career. As elsewhere in the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party controls much of the political life, and it recruits, trains and monitors minority cadres according to strict party ideals and discipline. Other political organizations are outlawed and in some areas even social gatherings, such as meshreps, are banned. A large security apparatus is present across the region. In major cities where there has been unrest, police outposts are located every few blocks and policemen check the identification of pedestrians.

A multi-ethnic border region rich in natural resources, Xinjiang has been the object of intense political oversight and control by China’s central government which tolerates little dissent and responds in force to any provocation. Between March 1951 and May 1981 there were 19 regional–scale revolts and uprisings in the region, and 194 cases of counter-revolutionary separatist activities. In the Hotan Uprising of December 31, 1954, thousands of Uyghurs took up arms, led by a popular religious figure. In the Ili-Tarbagatay (I-Ta) Incident of May 1962, people wishing to emigrate to the Soviet Union were surrounded and fired upon by a People’s Liberation Army battalion, killing many. Student demonstrations and youth gatherings (meshrep) have met with violent reprisals by the security police and army. In the post-9/11 era, the Chinese government regards any dissent by human rights, nationalist, or religious organizations as a terrorist threat and deals with them accordingly. The Urumqi Riots of July 2009, in which two-hundred mostly Han people were killed, resulted in the criminal arrest of four-hundred Uyghurs and nine executions.

By the tenth century Islam had made inroads into eastern Central Asia, and by the fifteenth century it had gained a stronghold throughout Central Asia, superseding local belief systems. In spite of its potential to do so, Islam never unified Xinjiang into one political regime. The majority of the Uyghur, Kazakhs, Huis, Uzbeks, and Tatars became Sunnite Muslims of the Hanafi branch, with some following Sufism. Tajiks and Kirghiz are members of the Isma’ili Shi’ite sect. Other Xinjiang Muslim groups include the Salar, Dongxiang, and Baoan. The Islamic worship of saints (mazar) is widespread. People pray before holy relics at various saintly shrines, making vows and asking favors. Some Kirghiz practice Buddhism, as do most Mongolians, Xibe, Manchu, and some Han Chinese. A small minority of Han follow Protestantism and Catholicism. The small resident Russian population practices Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Nestorianism have all but died out. Some Xibe continue to practice shamanism.

Muslims strictly observe Koranic food practices and dietary requirements (halal), which includes abstaining from eating pork and only consuming beef and mutton that has been ritually slaughtered according to Islamic law. Muslims in general have their own dining halls and restaurants in cities throughout Xinjiang.

Buddhism was introduced into Central Asia during the first century BC. During the following centuries, Zoroastrianism, an Indo-Iranian religion based on the duality of light and dark, and Nestorianism, a Gnostic sect of Christianity, spread throughout much of Central Asia. Such religions coexisted in the region for centuries. The Manichean religion combined aspects of Zoroastrian, Nestorian, and Buddhist traditions, and was practiced by Uyghur elites. As in Zoroastrianism, Manichean cosmology centered on the struggle between Light and Darkness, associated with good and evil; imprisoned in Darkness, the soul sought reunification with Light, a journey that could take many reincarnations. Shamanism, which calls upon spirits of nature for healing and divine intervention, has persisted among the Uyghur. By the time the Uyghur Kingdom was reestablished in the Turfan oasis region to the southwest, Buddhism had eclipsed Manicheanism as the state religion.

Most Uyghur and Hui villages and towns have a mosque run by an imam (ahung) assisted by a muezzin (mezin). Some pre-Islamic practices persist. For example, among the Uyghur mullahs and shamans alike were called upon to perform healing trances.

Muslims observe the Fast of Ramadan and celebrate the two major Muslim holidays, the Eid Al-Fitr (Festival of Fast Breaking), and Eid Al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice). The birthday of the Prophet Mohammed is also celebrated. Large numbers of Muslims make the hajj to Mecca and other sites sacred to Islam. Buddhists make pilgrimages to Taer (Gumbum) Monastery in Qinghai Province and Wutaishan Monastery in Shanxi Province. They commemorate the anniversaries of Buddha’s birth, his Enlightenment, and his entry into Nirvana. The birthday and death of the Maitreya Buddha, and the death of Tsongkhapa are also celebrated. Official non-religious holidays are New Year’s Day, International Labor Day, National Day, and Spring Festival.

Cave paintings in the oasis kingdom near Turfan feature Buddhist deities, princesses, and noblemen. With the coming of Islam the depiction of human and animal figures was discouraged, and instead a decorative art emerged using geometric forms, arabesques, and plant motifs. Pomegranates, flower buds and vines, and interlaced tendrils carved in panels were popular designs. Over the past few centuries, Chinese and/or Western influence has resulted in more naturalistic depictions of flowers and landscapes.

Since the time of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 24) music from Xinjiang has spread to the rest of China, influencing musical traditions. Classical Uyghur music was influenced by that of Persia and Arabia. The “Twelve-Part Mukam” (or twelve muqams) is a compilation of melodic formulas used in musical composition and improvisation. Folk music varies according to occasion, and a number of folk genres are associated with informal social gatherings, weddings, and other celebrations. Official and informal organizations alike promote musical and dance performances.

Each ethnic group has its own myths, legends, fables, stories, narrative and epic poetry, mottos, proverbs, and riddles. Epic poetry and long narrative poems are popular among the Kazak, Kirghiz, and Mongolian peoples. The Kazakh long poem The Forty Happy Branches is similar in structure to the Arabian Nights, with its series of connected but independent stories. The Kirghiz epic poem Manas is over 200,000 lines long and recounts heroic deeds of family members over several centuries. The MongolianThe Tale of Janger tells the story of an orphan who grows up to vanquish demons and monsters. The Uyghur trace the beginnings of their literary tradition to the seventh century runic Orhon inscriptions in northern Mongolia. The eleventh century produced two famous Uyghur works, Divani Lugatit Türk (The Complete Turkic Dictionary) and Kutadku Bilig (The Knowledge of Happiness). The Kutadku Bilig , a poem of over 13,000 lines by the Turkish poet Yusuf Has Hajip, addresses a fictive king about how to bring peace, prosperity and contentment to his people. In the fifteenth century the Timurid Turkic poet and philosopher Alishir Nowai, claimed by Uzbeks as well as by Uyghurs, based his epic poems on the Irano-Central Asian love stories of Leyla and Majnun, and of Farhad and Shirin. Many of these works were written in Chagatai, a medieval Turkic language written in an Arabic script. The Story of Oghuznama is a legend about the origin of the Uyghur people.

In the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, the ghazal and qasida lyrical genres flourished. In addition to themes of heroism, romantic tales expressed Sufistic themes of earthly love and divine union. Famous poetic works of this time include “Muhabatnama we Mihnetkame” (Love and Bitterness Intertwined) by Hirkit, Gul we Bulbul (The Rose and the Nightingale) by Shah Yari, and Muhbatnama (Love Letter) by Molla Abdureyim. In the nineteenth century, Uyghur literature also included Musa Sayrami's Tārīkh-i amniyya (1903) and a revised version Tārīkh-i ḥamīdi (1908) about the Dungan Revolt (1862–77) in Xinjiang.

Classical medicine was influenced not only by folk cures, but by Islamic and Greek philosophy and science. In the seventeenth century, Imaddidin Kashgari and his disciples advanced surgery, skin and eye treatment, and medical research. Mare’s milk, melons, and raisins are used as medicine for various ailments and to maintain general health.

All Xinjiang minorities bury their dead. Muslims wash and wrap the corpse in a shroud, burying it without a coffin. Mourning ceremonies (nezir) are observed on the seventh and fortieth day after death, when scripture is recited and a feast is held. The tombs of Islamic holy men are revered as sacred places.

The culture summary was written by Ian Skoggard in August, 2017.

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