In Xinjiang there are other Muslim populations of Turkic language origin from Central Asia, and the most important are the Uygur people. They are the majority population in Xinjiang, and this western-most province of China has a distinct Central Asian feel to it. Islam is more of a culture than a metaphysical system for many Uygurs. Being Muslim is an integral part of the ethnic identity of being Uygur although people may not practice Muslim ritual on a daily basis.
The West of China borders with the Muslim Central Asia republics, and the Chinese have been in contact with them for at least the last 2,000 years. In Xinjiang, the far northwestern province of China, the majority population is Muslim, and there are notable Muslim populations as far east as the city of Kaifeng. Li Po, the Tang poet and perhaps the most loved of Chinese poets, was from Central Asia, as was China's greatest admiral, Zheng He, who led the voyages to the West during the Ming Dynasty. The people of Central Asia have been a central part of Chinese history, and they still are.

Chinese Muslims: Uygur, Kazakh, Hue and Others

About one-half of the Chinese Muslims are of Han descent (known as the Hue), and the others (Uygurs, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgiz, Sala, Tartars, Tajiks, Tungxiang, and Paoan) are of Central Asian descent. The Uygurs are the largest of the Turkic speaking Central Asian peoples which also include Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Sala, Kyrgiz, and Tartars. The Tajiks are a Persian speaking group. The Tungxiang and Paoan are Muslims of Mongol descent who live in the Province of Gansu. The Uygurs are the majority population in the Province of Xinjiang in the northwest of China which is the largest province in land area in China. The Muslim groups are politically important in China because they occupy much of the western half of the nation which contains important oil and other mineral deposits. They also occupy the borders stretching from Mongolia and Russia through the Central Asian Republics to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. China is quite aware that the restiveness of the Islamic Central Asian peoples was a major contributing factor to the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1990, and they fear the potential strength of an Islamic separatist movement in Xinjiang. The western border is most vulnerable area of China, its achilles heel.
The ethnic origin of Muslim men is indicated by the colors and designs on the skull caps that they wear daily. Hue men wear white caps, but the men of Central Asian groups wear caps of colors, and the particular color and pattern varies according to the oasis or town and group of origin. Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang Province, and it is a modern city of 1.6 million people completely in contact with the larger Han society in China. Kashgar (also known as Kashi) is the cultural heartland of the Uygurs, and the Han presence is hardly felt here. Kashgar is a traditional Muslim city where people maintain the rich heritage of culture ranging from hand made crafts to music. Kashgar's largest mosque can hold 10,000 people far overshadowing the mosques of Urumqi.
Uygurs are firm in their ethnic identity as Muslims, but they are on the margins of the Muslim world, far from the orthodox Arab heartland. Although Muslims are not supposed to have alcoholic drinks, Uygurs drink, sometimes heavily, at weddings and other social events. Uygurs tell a joke on themselves, which is "It takes three Uygurs to make a Muslim," which is a comment on their casual observance of Islam. Mosques are ever present in the towns and cities of Xinjiang, and they are filled for the noon prayers on Friday, the most holy day of the week. Uygur mosques have an architecture reminiscent of Central Asia with blue facades (fine ones) or packed earthen walls (poor ones), but those of the Hue (Han Muslims) look like traditional Han architecture with up turned corners on the roofs and red exteriors. Most Uygur women dress in brightly colored dresses, and they do not wear scarves or cover their heads with one exception: women who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca wear a total veil over their heads to indicate their special status. As they walk along the streets or in the markets, they can quickly be distinguished from other women.
 In contrast to austere Arab Muslims, Uygurs love music and dance which are central to their ethnic identity. The Uygurs share a musical tradition with other Central Asians peoples known as the muqham, and it uses a variety of stringed instruments and percussion. Not only is the muqham a style of music, but it is also a specific cycle of music that lasts over twelve hours. Musicians are honored among the Uygurs, and those who maintain the tradition of the muqham have a special status in the society. When there is music at a Uygur gathering, inevitably people will dance.

The ancestors of the Uygurs migrated from Mongolia into Central Asia over 1,500 years ago. After the rise of Islam, Arab and Persian traders took the new religion into Central Asia, and by the tenth century C.E. many Uygurs had converted to Islam. For 1,000 years from the Tang to the Ming Dynasties (seventh to seventeenth centuries) the Uygurs played an important role in Chinese imperial politics and culture. The Silk Route was the major avenue for contact with the rest of the world, and it ran through the Uygur lands. The Uygurs were excellent animal handlers, and they were in charge of the horses and camels that made up the caravans carrying trade across the deserts and grasslands of Central Asia. The Uygurs had their own independent kingdom and became quite wealthy with the trade of the Silk Route, and they built oasis cities, the ruins of which can still be visited today. The Uygurs were strong and proud, and that history infuses their approach to life today. Uygurs are proud of their heritage and approach life with a jest and confidence that is infectious.
The Uygurs had contacts with the Han Chinese on the East and the Persians and Arabs on the West which gave them a richness of cultural influences. The music, dance, and poetry coming out of Central Asia through the Uygurs had a major impact on the Tang Dynasty and later periods. Uygur scribes could translate documents from Mandarin with its particular script to Arabic with its script, and they knew the philosophy and literature of both traditions. Perhaps the most popular poet in the history of China is Li Po who came from this area during the Tang Dynasty, and his poetry is still quoted widely in China today. During the Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty Uygurs held important positions as translators, administrators, and finance managers. The Mongols probably could not have ruled China during this period without the skills of the Uygurs. During the Ming Dynasty the greatest Chinese admiral was Zheng He who led the voyages of exploration to the west, and he was from Xinjiang.
Although some Uygurs continue the nomadic lifestyle of their Central Asian ancestors, the Kazakhs are the true heirs to that tradition today. The Kazakhs migrate each season by kinship groups looking for pasturage for their sheep, goats, horses, and cattle. Today, well-to-do Kazakhs are more likely to travel in a Toyota pickup truck than on a horse when possible. The truck can carry the yurt or other family belongings when they migrate. Among the Central Asian people skilled in horsemanship like the Kazakhs, Mongols, and others, the truck is taking on the emotional significance of the horse. It is the new means of transportation that makes the Kazakh or Mongol as free as the wind. Bus and truck drivers from these groups drive their mechanical steeds with a jest and relish almost as great as when they ride horses. The Kazakh horses are small, nimble, and fast. Both men and women are expert equestrians, and they race at great speed even through crowded throngs of people and seemingly never have an accident. They enjoy the abilities of their horses and are pleased to show them off.

The Kazakhs tend to live in the Tian Shan Mountains of Xinjiang, and during the summer months they move to the grassy slopes higher up the mountain. This is a region of cool air, forests of fir trees, mountain streams, and cascades that is a sharp contrast to the desert areas which make up most of Xinjiang. During the summer months, nomadic Kazakhs live in yurts, the dome-shaped felt tents for which they are so well known. The outside walls of the yurts are a greyish beige color which is broken by the brightly painted door. As one goes through the door the yurt opens into one room where the floor is completely covered with beautiful rugs from the region. Cushions and bed rolls are moved to the edges of the yurt and form sitting areas. The wooden frame runs along the walls and supports the roof, and it is painted and decorated, a popular color being red. There is usually a stove in the middle of the yurt with a smokestack venting through a hole in the roof. In the winter they move their livestock down to the more protected valleys, and they live in log houses which are faced with mud to keep out the cold. The Kazakhs are one of the last representatives of the nomadic, herding lifestyle of the steppes of Central Asia. Of course they are also changing. Today some Kazakh families cluster in the summer around Heavenly Lake and waterfalls that are popular with urban visitors from Urumqi where they make money renting horses and even providing traditional meals in their yurts. During the week they are busy with their livestock, but on the weekends they earn additional money from tourism. That may be the face of the future.

The Central Asia Republics: From Afghanistan to Kazakhstan

The five countries along China's western border are all Muslim. The Central Asian peoples are mostly Turkic speaking Muslim groups that extend from Afghanistan into western China. These countries include Kazakhstan (the largest and northernmost country), Krygystan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan form the southwestern border of this region, and it is a transition zone that includes culturally different and conflicting tribal groups. All of these countries, except Afghanistan, were formerly part of the Soviet Union, and today they still have significant Russian minority populations. They became independent in 1990 with the break-up of the Soviet Union, so they are very new countries still organizing their national institutions, schools, and economies.
Although these Central Asian countries are among the newest in the world, their cultural heritage is deep. They experienced periods of relative wealth and power during the height of trade along the Silk Route, especially during the time of the Mongol Empire. Toward the end of the Mongol period, Tamerlane carved out a smaller empire in the south around modern day Uzbekistan and made his capital of Samarkand one of the most beautiful cities in the world. At the present Central Asian peoples are building nation-states for the first time, and tribal loyalties are being transformed into national loyalties. It requires people to move from a tribal cosmovision to a more global one.

Soviet Influence. The peoples of the Central Asia Muslim republics were a part of the Soviet Union until its disintegration in 1991 when they received independence. Each is predominantly Muslim although the practice of Islam in Central Asia is less strict than in core Middle Eastern countries. The route of contact between the Middle East and Central Asia has traditionally been through Afghanistan, a country slightly smaller than Texas with a population of just under thirty million. Afghanistan had a prolonged civil war for twenty-five years starting in the late 1970's, and it has continued with lower intensity until recently. The Soviet Union intervened from 1979 to 1989 but eventually withdrew, and the Taliban came into power with a radically conservative brand of Islam. The United States intervened in 2001, driving out the Taliban. Afghanistan has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world, forty-seven years for men and forty-six for women, and there is a high birth rate with almost six children born per woman. Eighty-four percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, and 15 percent are Shi'ites. The population is divided between various ethnic groups with the Pakhtuns being the largest (44 percent) and the Tajiks next at 25 percent. People from the various Central Asia groups (Uzbeks, Turkmens, and others) make up the remainder of the population. Each of the ethnic groups speaks its own language with English being used as a common language by the educated elite. Literacy rates are low with 51 percent of the men being literate but only 21 percent of the women. Social pressure is strong on Afghani women to wear the burkah, a tent like garment that covers the woman completely from head to foot. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, largely because of the long civil war.
The peoples of the Central Asian republics have in common the Turkic/Mongol background, being Muslim, and having been controlled by the Soviet Union, but each is somewhat different ethnically. The largest of these countries in land area is Kazakhstan which is almost four times the size of Texas, but it is sparsely populated with only sixteen million people. It is also the country most influenced by the Russians. Only 47 percent of the people are Muslim, and 44 percent of Russian Orthodox. It is the site of Russia's Baykonur Cosmodome, a carry over from being part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was also the site of nuclear testing for the former Soviet Union and has problems of nuclear contamination. Of the other countries in Central Asia, Uzbekistan has the largest population with twenty-five million people. To the east of Uzbekistan is Tajikistan, a mountains country with a population of seven million people. The smaller, more desert-like country of Turkmenistan has only five million people, as does Krygyzstan. These countries range from 85 to 90 percent Muslim. One of the benefits of having been under the Soviet government is the high literacy rate of people in the Central Asian republics, 99 percent for men and 98 percent for women which makes them the most literate populations in the Muslim world.
      Well-Being in the Muslim Central Asian States. The Muslim Central Asian states demonstrate the correlation between low income and a high percentage of the population working in agriculture. Kazakhstan has the most industrialized economy and is also the wealthiest.
Table 13.1
Well Being in Muslim Central Asian States

With the exception of Afghanistan, these countries were former republics of the Soviet Union, and this contrast explains something about religious behavior. In Afghanistan, people tend to practice a conservative version of Islam, and people are ready to fight for their beliefs, and they did fight a long bloody war of resistance against the Soviet Union in the 1980’s. In the former Soviet republics, people are more relaxed in the practice of Islam. Although large majorities identify as Muslims in every country except Kazakhstan, it is more of an ethnic identity than a religious one. Although the people of Afghanistan are the most fervently Muslim of the Central Asia peoples, it is also the poorest and least literate. The least Muslim of these countries, Kazakhstan, is also the most developed economically, showing the importance of religious and cultural diversity in development. The economies of Afghanistan (80 percent), Tajikistan (67 percent), and Krygyzstan (55 percent) are primarily agricultural, and they have little industrial infrastructure. The largest concentration of laborers in these countries is in agriculture. The Gini Indices indicate a relatively homogeneous distribution of wealth within these countries. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are the leaders of this group with strong economic growth rates and relatively high per capita GDP. The five former Soviet republics have much better indicators of well-being than does Afghanistan which has been a war for much time since the 1970's.
      Especially notable are the literacy rates for men and women, and the women's literacy indices are among the highest in the world for these five countries, equal to the best of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Gini indices for these five countries show some equity in the distribution of income within the society which indicates a sound basis for the economy. The high literacy rates and the equitable distributions of income within the five former Soviet states give them a comfortable standard of living in comparison with other regions of the non-industrialized world. The political ideology of communism seems to have had more impact on shaping the levels of well-being in these nations than has their religious ideology.

Conclusions

In addition to the political problems of recent history in Afghanistan, there is another potential problem area in the Xinjiang Province of China. The Uygurs have watched as their Central Asian cousins gained freedom from the Soviet Union and established their own countries. Uygurs have an ambiguous relationship with China. Being citizens of China has given talented Uygurs the opportunity for significant roles in Chinese society and government, but many feel that they have little future within China and would like to establish their own independent country. That has led to a conflict with the Mandarin speaking Han majority in China that is being played out quietly under the mantle of the state control of the press. China quickly allied with the United States in its attacks on the radical Muslim government of the Taliban in Afghanistan because of their own fears of the spread of Muslim fundamentalism in Xinjiang.

Boxed Insert One. Muslim Hospitality Shown by a Uygur Family
The Uygurs, a Turkic speaking Muslim people from Central Asia, are the majority population in Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. During the summer that my family and I spend in Xinjiang, we worked closely with a number of Uygur students and professors. Our Uygur colleagues at the University were effusive in greeting us, and soon we were meeting each other with hugs in contrast to the more formal distant greetings common for Han Chinese people. On various occasions, Uygur families invited us to their homes for lunch, and we experienced the celebrated hospitality of the Central Asian peoples. One such lunch was with the Rashid family, and as in every Uygur home that we visited, we were warmly greeted at the door by the entire family, including the father, mother, two daughters, and a son. We were led to the sofa in the living room, and in front of the sofa was a long coffee table filled with cakes, cookies, fruits, and nuts.
The family spoke only Uygur, which we did not, but a daughter was studying English at the university, so she translated for us. While we waited on the sofa and eating the sweets laid out for us, the family completed the preparation of the meal. The sweetness of the fruits and cakes is supposed to open the appetite for the heavier meat and rice dishes that were to come, but it is also a way of welcoming visitors into the home. As we looked at the long table completely filled with sweet foods, we were a bit overwhelmed. Even this first course was a banquet which we could only sample. When the mother and daughter came back to check on us, they exclaimed that we had eaten almost nothing, and I knew that we needed to show our appreciation for all of the delicious food that they had prepared by making a more obvious dent in it. As they returned to the kitchen, we served ourselves another round of cakes and fruits.