In the middle of the desert landscapes of Taklamakan, in the northern-west part of China, the province of Xinjiang is the least populated land whereas it covers close to a sixth from the country's territory. Getting resisted during generations the chinese control, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or Old East Turkestan, fell under the Chinese Han domination in 1949. From then, its population is mostly Uyghurs and Turkish - speaking System.
Muslim most importantly, the Uyghurs have a very good religious identity that, in specific, enabled them to keep a strong difference in opposition to the Chinese enemy. Definitely, the Uyghur Kingdom of Mongolia knew a brilliant civilization, until its absorption by the Mongolian Empire in the XIIIth century.
While in their history, the Uyghurs successively adopted Shamanism, Manicheism, Buddhism and the Nestorianism before finally moving to Islam when the Arab conquerors beat the Chinese in year 751 BC., as a result starting the way to the Islamization of the complete Central Asia.
Under the effect of the religions which they taken on, the Uyghurs used successively, and sometimes in a competing way, a large number of written forms (turco-runic, brahmi, tokharien, soghdien) before developing their own graphic system.
The arrival of Islam was a great modification because it was followed by the assimilation of the Uyghur areas in the immense Turco-Mongolian and Muslim Empire. Thus, the descendants of Genghis Khan progressively replaced their writing by a Arabo-Persan alphabet, still used presently.
If their writing, their own language and their religion mark a real difference with the culture of Chinese Han, the Uyghurs also differ from their aspect, so characteristic of Central Asia's people. A shiny skin, eyes representing a whole pallet of colors, from black to deep blue, features going out to the Mongolian, Turkish or Uzbek roots of these men and these women.
For a few years, China has integrated the proper identity of these remote people, although they represent only nine million inhabitants - a trifle for this kind of big area. Thus, the Uyghurs are now part of the fifty six racial minority groups having been known in an official way by the People's Republic of China.
This particular law allows them a few privileges in a country where their big difference is very often repressed. Therefore, Uyghur people escape the "single child policy" and their language is accepted as the second official language in Xinjiang.
The integration of the Uyghurs and their culture in the People's Republic of China, however, seems really illusory. The presence of all natural resources in Xinjiang, and its area with nations recognized as sensitive, strongly motivated the government to increase the sinicization of this area. Million of Han thus came to settle in this new Chinese eldorado, monopolizing the higher responsibility jobs.
In response to this true will to assimilate the Uyghur people into the Chinese culture, an independent party like East Turkistan Islamic Movement(ETIM) was born in the early 1990.
Saying more freedom, but mainly the acceptance of their true identity, this movement was seriously repressed by the power authorities in place Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The events of September 11, 2001, were the perfect occasion for the Chinese government to justify true reprisals: they declared the "Uyghur freedom fighters" as dangerous terrorists linked to Al Quaida because of their Muslim origins and their proximity with Pakistan and Afghanistan... However, the terrible repression which followed did not calm down the anger. The Uyghurs population continues today to proudly maintain their identity and their civilization , even though they become a minority on their own territory.
For additional information and facts about Uyghur people, you can visit a Uyghur website called Uyghur News at http://www.uyghurnews.com
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