Comments on: Out West (again)

By: admin

admin — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:45:57 +0000

It’s difficult to be objective about the situation because there’s so much propaganda being thrown around from all sides. (The Western coverage of the recent episode near Kashgar has been shockingly dishonest for instance — counting dead Uyghur policemen as victims of the security forces.) The demography has been very unstable, and the anti-Han camp tends to begin their ‘analysis’ of the trends from the extreme low-point of Han settlement during the early- to mid-20th century. A longer term picture would be far more balanced. In any case, treating Xinjiang as a single place adds to the confusion — the population structures of the Tarim and Dzungarian basins are entirely different (even inverse). My sense of the place as a whole is that it’s not badly governed, certainly by regional standards. Do you disagree?

By: Alexander Kim

Alexander Kim — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:35:31 +0000

I’m a Korean who’s studied various Turkic languages, including Uyghur, but speaks negligible Mandarin … currently in Hotan, around 95% Uyghur, and about to head out to some remoter places still in the southern Tarim — the Uyghur demographic stronghold where Han Chinese tourists to the province by and large shy away from visiting. The locals have more ‘Europoid’ facial features here, as you probably already know, than in the northern and eastern parts of Eastern Turki territory, and I think I’ve seen more light eyes than in Kashgar. Aside from Tocharians, Sakas, etc., Indic influence was in ancient times (well, in a sense up until the cessation of cross-border trade with 20th-century India) also strong.

This throws the Uyghur-Han ethnic elbowing into disconcerting perspective, but it’s just too out there to be truly politically sensitive (I’m hoping).

Not the way you have in mind (à la Asatru Folk Assembly laying claim to Kennewick Man … whose ‘Caucasoid’ credentials, I should mention, are in all likelihood no more authentic than those of the Ainu). Some Uyghurs do regard the mummies as their own, and they do indeed have a greater claim to biological and partial cultural continuity with the pre-Turkic inhabitants of the region than any of the 20th-century Han importees have with, e.g., Chinese garrison troops from the relatively fleeting extensions of control into these ‘Western Regions’ by Central-Plains-centered states.

@spandrell: Uyghur culture doesn’t seem as vibrant anymore when they’re 90% of the population.

Yeah, if “vibrant” means pleasant for an east-coast Han in a hideously loud tour group ready to be regaled by singing and dancing exotics who (phew) speak good Mandarin.

Interestingly enough, a fair number of Han here (I’ve been told maybe around 20%), having grown up here as a tiny minority in times of more minimal putonghua penetration, are conversant in Uyghur.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:41:06 +0000

‘Multiculturalism’ is probably best decomposed into a number of quite different things. The Urumqi version has hints of dippy Cathedralism (especially when artists get involved), but it mostly reminds me of the Singapore version: an adminstrative tool rather than an ethnomasochistic vice.

Urumqi was still Dihuashi in 1947. Thanks for the backstory on that.

By: spandrell

spandrell — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:10:01 +0000

It seems to be that multiculturalism in China is run by the Department of Tourism Promotion instead of the Ministry of Education as in the West. And of course it’s easy to be enthusiastic about minorities when they are that, minorities. Uyghur culture doesn’t seem as vibrant anymore when they’re 90% of the population.

Maybe you know already, but Urumqi used to be Dzungar (West Mongol) territory, and after annexation, it was founded by the Han as 迪化 Dihua, i.e. Enlightenment. Meaning that the Chinese were bringing civilization to that god forsaken piece of land. The Uyghurs were late comers to that part of desert, and AFAIK they are still few. Hopefully the Enlightenment won’t turn Dark too soon. Only China can build a city that size in the middle of nowhere.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:31:11 +0000

Oddly enough the government-types here seem genuinely committed to multiculturalism, stressing that they’re not like the Han elsewhere in China (those I’ve met have all been Han, with the arguable exception of our Hui guide) because they’re deeply influenced by other cultures and thrill to ethnic diversity. Leaving aside predictable reactionary qualms, the leadership people here seem vastly superior to their Kashgar equivalents (who spent their time crouching in a sad ghetto of third-rate Han comfort, forlornly hoping to get out of the barbarian frontier regions as soon as possible). The Urumqi crew were amusing, friendly, obviously smart, and transparently enthusiastic about their city.
I’ll be shameless and admit it — I’m liking Urumqi a lot. Munching delicious Uyghur lamb pasties in an open market, whilst drinking a cold Xinjiang beer, is a shockingly tolerable experience.

By: spandrell

spandrell — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:08:51 +0000

FWIW I did enjoy your updates on Guizhou.

Urumqi is a monument to state power and forcible transfer of people through the military. What’s not to like?