In the center of the desert landscapes of Taklamakan, in the northern-west part of China, the land of Xinjiang is a very least populated province whereas it covers close to a sixth of the country's territory. Getting resisted while in generations the chinese domination, Xinjiang, or Old East Turkestan, fell within the Chinese Han control in 1949. From then, its population is primarily Uyghur People and Turkish - speaking System.
Muslim especially, the Uyghurs have a strong religious identification which usually, in specific, enabled them to preserve a strong big difference towards the Chinese invader. Without a doubt, the Uyghur Empire of Mongolia knew a great civilization, until its absorption by the Mongolian Empire in the XIIIth century.
During their historical past, the Uyghur People successively adopted Shamanism, Manicheism, Buddhism and the Nestorianism before finally converting to Islam when the Arab conquerors beat the Chinese in year 751 BC., thus beginning the way to the Islamization of the entire Central Asia.
Under the effect of the religions which they adopted, Uyghur People taken successively, and at times in a competing way, a large number of written forms (turco-runic, brahmi, tokharien, soghdien) before developing their own unique graphic system.
The entrance of Islam was a great modification simply because it was followed by the assimilation of the Uyghur land in the immense Turkic and Muslim Empire. Thus, the descendants of Genghis Khan slowly replaced their writing by a Arabo-Persan alphabet, still used presently.
If their own writing, their language and their religion mark a real big difference with the tradition of Chinese Han, the Uyghurs also differ from their aspect, so characteristic of Central Asia's people. A matt skin, eyes representing a whole pallet of colors, from black to deep blue, features pointing 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, though they represent only nine million people - a little for this huge region. Thus, Uyghur people are now part of the 56 ethnic minority groups having been well-known in an official way by the People's Republic of China.
This statute allows them a few privileges in a land where their big difference is very often repressed. Therefore, Uyghur people escape the "single child policy" and their language is known as the second official language in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The integration of the Uyghur people and their culture in China, however, appears very illusory. The presence of all-natural sources in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and its area with countries recognized as sensitive, strongly urged the government to increase the sinicization of this area. Million of Han thus came to settle in this new Chinese eldorado, monopolizing the more significant responsibility work opportunities.
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 primarily the recognition of their true identity, this movement was severely repressed by the power authorities in place Xinjiang.
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 Uyghur population continues today to proudly keep up their identity and their culture , although they become a minority on their own land.
For further information about the Uyghurs, you can visit a Uyghur website called Uyghur News at http://www.uyghurnews.com
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