Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity
by Dolkun Kamberi
Victor H. Mair, Editor
Sino-Platonic Papers
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Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity
Dolkun Kamberi
Introduction
Great politicians will pass from the earth, and the strongest imperial states will
collapse and disappear from a new generation's memory, but wisdom, civilization, and
cultural heritage will continue to playa significant role among human beings as long as
there is human history.
The land of the Uyghurs today consists of the Tarim, Junghar, and Turpan basins,
situated in the center of Asia. This region has had great importance since early times
because of its favored geographic location on the ancient trade routes between the East
and the West, connecting the Greco-Roman civilization with Indian Buddhist culture and
Central and East Asian traditions. Burgeoning trade, commerce, and cultural exchange
gave the Uyghurs' land a cosmopolitan character, marked by linguistic, racial, and
religious tolerance. The Uyghurs' culture and art developed not only on the basis of the
inheritance and preservation of their traditional culture, but also through cultural
exchanges with others in the East and the West.
"Uyghur-Iand" in this article denotes a geographical location rather than a
geopolitical entity. It is situated in the eastern part of Central Asia and measures at its
maximum 2,000 kilometers from east to west and 1,650 kilometers from north to south.
Uyghur-Iand comprises about one sixth of China's territory; it is now the largest
Autonomous Region of China. The Uyghur region includes a great portion of Central
Asia, from the northeast to the southwest; it borders Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, and India.
Not only is Uyghur-Iand situated in a strategic position on a vital communication
line in Central Asia, among three large imperial states, China, India, and Russia-it also
has a unique geographic environment, rich natural resources, and a special climate. Its
arid climate has helped to preserve ancient tombs. mummies, petroglyphs, city sites,
Buddhist caves. innumerable cultural relics, and underground antiquities and treasures.
Dolkun Kamberi, "'Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
Twenty-four different scripts, used for writing seventeen ancient languages, have been
unearthed from the Tarim and Turpan basin oasis cities and are well known to scholars.}
In Chinese sources, at various periods, this land has been called the "Western
Region" or the "Western Countries." In non-Chinese sources, it was known as
"Uyghuristan," "East Turkistan," "Chinese Turkistan," or "Chinese Central Asia." The
term "Uyghur Ali," found in a medieval Uyghur manuscript, means "The Country of the
Uyghurs." In 1884, the Qing Dynasty of China began to call the region "Xinjiang," which
means "new territory." Mter 1955, the name "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region"
was given to it by the government of the Peoples' Republic of China.
According to the July 1, 1990, official Chinese census, the Uyghur-speaking
population was at that time 7.2495 million and. comprised more than 60% of the region's
population. The Han Chinese population was 5.7466 nlillion, comprising about 30% of
the 15 million total population of the Uyghur homeland. A decade later, the Chinese
official census of 2000 indicated that the population of Uyghur-speakers was near 9
miJlion, but independent sources claim that the Uyghur population is currently about 16
million. In the past ten years, the Han Chinese population in the region increased almost
32 percent. By contrast, in 1949, Uyghurs accounted for more than 90 percent of the
region's population, while the Han Chinese accounted for only 5 percent of the roughly 5
million people in the Uyghur homeland at that time. Thus the Chinese population had
increased 500 percent in the last half of the twentieth century.
The Uyghurs historically formed the largest population group in the Central Asian
region. They possessed a rich literary art and music as well as a strong economy and
military. They had the ability to conduct state affairs, even to help other groups solve
their problems as well. They showed generosity: the abundant hospitality that they
offered was recorded in detail both in Chinese history and in the excavated Uyghur
manuscripts of various periods.
The Uyghurs and their ancestors established their reign under the rule of the Huns
(second century B.C.E. to second century C.E.), the Jurjan (third century to fifth century
1 Dolkun Kamhcri. "Xinjiang Ycqinqi Zaman Arhcologiyisi wa Qcziwelinghan Qadimqi Ycziqlarni
Qisqicha Tonushturush IBrief Introduction of Xinjiang Contemporary Archology and Unearthed Various
Ancient Scripts]:' Xi,ijiang Ijtima-i Pan/Cir Talqiqali. 1 (1984): 60-7Q.
2
•
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
C.E.), and the Turkish empires (522 to 744 C.E.). The Uyghurs also established their own
states throughout history; these included the Uyghur Ali (744 to 840 C.E.), the ld'iqut
Uyghur (605-840 to 1250), the Uyghur Qarakhan (tenth to thirteenth century), the
Uyghur Chaghatay (thirteenth to sixteenth centuy), the Yarkant Uyghur Khanate (15141678),
the Qumul and Turpan Uyghur Baks (from the end of the seventeenth century to
the beginning of the nineteenth century), and finally the Yakup Bak (1820-1877), which
lasted until the Qing invasion. The Uyghurs reclaimed Uyghur-Iand as the Republic of
Eastern Turkistan in 1933 and as the Eastern Turkistan Republic in 1944-1949.
The last Uyghur republic, established in 1944, was strongly supported by the
Soviet Union. In the early 1940s, the Stalin regime sent a Soviet Army political
commissar to every unit of the Eastern Turkistan Republic army, to control and monitor
the situation of the latter. These Russian commissars fed information about the political
views of the main leaders of the Eastern Turkistan Republic directly to Moscow. The
Chinese Communist Party also closely monitored the political situation in Uyghur-Iand.
The Eastern Turkistan leadership made a strong demand for independence from both
Russia and China. Joseph Stalin endorsed the decision for the Uyghur people made at the
secret conference with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt at Yalta in 1945. He
firmly believed that the Chinese Communist Party would agree to build a new China
following the USSR's 'ideological doctrine. Stalin immediately called Alihan Tore, the
Soviet-supported President of Eastern Turkistan, to Russia in 1946; Tore lived in
Tashkent until 1976.
. Alihan Tore's successor, Ahmatjan Qasim (1914-1949), Eastern Turkistan Army
Chief General Isaqbeg (1902-1949), Deputy Army Chief General DaJilkan Sugurbayev
(1902-1949), and a member of Eastern Turkistan Central Government, Abdukerim
Abbasov (1921-1949), all died in a mysterious plane crash on August 22, 1949, on their
way to Beijing to participate in the first Chinese Communist Party Central Committee
meetings that would decide the political fate of the Uyghurs and the Eastern Turkistan
Republic.
From 1946 to 1949, Russia and China attempted many governmental structural
reforms in Uyghur-Iand. During these reforms. both Russian and Chinese government
representatives promised the Uyghurs again and again that the presence of the Chinese
3
Dolkun Kamberi, "UyghufS and UyghUf Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May: 2005)
army In Uyghur-Iand was intended to promote democratization, free elections, and
greater autonomy, to help build the new Xinjiang, even to provide for the eventual
independence of the Uyghur lands.2 The content of those promises is similar to Zhang
Zhizhong's promise at the summit of Chinese Nationalists, Communists, and Uyghurs in
Urumchi in 1946. After 1950, "the communist revolutionary moment" in China touched
almost every aspect of traditional culture, especially during the Cultural Revolution. The
revolutionaries found that every aspect of culture in Uyghur-Iand was different from that
of China. This included languages, writing system, arts, literature, ideas, values, attitudes,
history, religion, customs, music, dance, songs, and thought, even the personal features of
the people, including their clothes, style of house decoration, and food. All of these
differences were attacked by the Chinese government in an attempt to change them.
The government, for example, has twice changed the writing system of the
Uyghurs, Kazaks, and Kirghiz, and it has punished all levels of educated intellectuals for
political reasons four times in fifty years. Furthermore, the politicians reorganized and
merged the Eastern Turkistan troops into Chinese Army units. After 1966, it caused the
army units of former Eastern Turkistan:-as well as their generals and high-ranking
commanders-to disappear.
One goal of this publication is to offer the evidence needed for the world to have a
better understanding of the distinctiveness of Uyghur identity.
The Uyghurs
Archaeological excavations and historical records show that Uyghur-Iand is the
most important repository of Uyghur and Central Asian treasures.
Many centuries ago, when a famous medieval Uyghur king mounted the throne,
he made an ambitious proposal for his kingdom's future. He said to his courtiers and
people, in verse:
man sanlarga boldum Qaghan, alaling ya taq'i qalqan.
tamgha bolsun bizga buyan, kok bora bolsungh"jl uran.
tomtir y'idalar bol orman, aw yarda ytirtistin qulan.
2 Zhang Zhizhong. COllg Dihua Huilall Dao Xinjiang Heping Jiejang Ihom Urumchi Summit lO Peaceful
Liberation of Xinjiang I (Urumchi: Xinjiang Renming Chuhanshe. 1987), pp. 166-67.
4
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
taqi" taluy taqi" milran, kiin tugh bolghi'l, kok qurqan....
I became a king for you. Pick up your bows and shields! Let the
symbol become our good fortune, make the blue wolf a totem. Let our
arms and armor be like [a thick] forest. Let wild horses speed on our
hunting ground. Let rivers and streams run in our land. May the sun be our
[royal] emblem, the blue sky our banner. ...
And then the king wrote a declaration, which was sent in all four directions by his
order. It said: "uyghurni'ng qakhan'i bolaman kim yarning tort bulungi"ni'ng qakhani"
bolsam kerak turuL ..." "I am a Uyghur king; the globe needs me; and I should be king of
the world's Four Corners.... " 3
The basic meaning of the name Uyghur is "Unite," but it may also be translated as
"union," "coalition," or "federation." The name first appeared in the Orkhun Kok Turk
inscriptions and in early Uyghur. Later forms of the name can be found in medieval
Uyghur, Manichaean, and Sogdian scripts, and in the Arabic script of the Uyghur
Qarakhanid and Chaghatay periods. Apart from these Central Asian forms, the name can
be found in different periods and diverse texts in Chinese, appearing in more than one
hundred translations.4
The Uyghurs and their forebears are an ancient people who have lived in Central
Asia since the first millennium B.C. Their ancestors can be traced in Chinese historical
sources, as the "'Di," "'Chidi," "Xiongnu," "Dingling," and "Gaoche" peoples who lived
north of the Heavenly Mountain (Tangri Tagh) and along the Selenga and Orkhun rivers.
The territory later became known as the Uyghur Empire. The Uyghurs have left historical
traces along the ancient Silk Road and also in Chinese historiography.
The Uyghurs, earlier than other prairie peoples, began to settle and build cities.
Certain kinds of evidence from both archaeological excavations and historical records
3 Qtidimqi Uyghur Yazma Yadikarlaridin Ta//anma ISelection of Ancient LJygher ManuscripL,;;I, ed.
Abdukeyim Khoja (Urtimchi: Khalq Nashriyati, 19R3).
4 See Dolkun Kamberi "A Survey of lIyghur Documents from Turpan and Their Importance for Asian and
Central Eurasian History," Central Asian Survey (J 999), IR(3): 283.
5
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
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show that, in an important period, many Uyghurs lived a settled urban life and embraced
Buddhist and Manichaean culture. Uyghur manuscripts that describe the religious and
cultural interaction of medieval Uyghurs with the peoples of neighboring countries,
during the period from the eighth to the eleventh centuries, show that this cultural
experience contributed to the medieval Uyghur culture. An important part of Uyghur
literature is devoted to the translation of Buddhist works from non-Turkic languages.
That is one reason why so many loan words from different languages appear in medieval
Uyghur literature.
Regarding the early medieval Uyghur culture and its kingdom, Professor Denis
Sinor writes: '1'he kingdom of Khocho [Idrqut Uyghur Kingdom], ruled by the Turkic
Uyghurs, was multiracial [and] multilingual and [it] permitted the peaceful coexistence of
many religions. It enjoyed a living standard unparalleled in medieval Central Eurasia." 5
He goes on:
Among. the non-Muslim Turkic peoples none has reached the
degree of civilization attained •by the Uyghurs and they developed a
culture in many respects more sophisticated than that of most of the
Muslim Turks. In the visual arts they continued a tradition, non-Turkic in
origin, of which they maintained very high standards. The script they used
gained widespread acceptance both to the east and the west. The Uyghurs
undoubtedly wrote one of the brighter chapters of Central Eurasian
history.6
Medieval Uyghur life and culture flourished until the Mongol invasion, at which
time Uyghur-land underwent two hundred years of war and division. A cultural
renaissance began under the famous Uyghur cultural founders Sakaki, Lutfi, and Ali Sher
Nawayi. For many decades, up through the present time, Uyghur scholars worked hard to
save and preserve Uyghur culture, and to recover it from both assimilation into other
cultures and external political pressure.
5 Denis Sinor. Inner Asia (Bloomington: Indiana University Publications. )969). p. ) 20.
6 Sinor. Inner Asia. p. 121. Sec also Anncmaric \"on Gahain. "Das uighurischc Konigrcich \"on Chotscho.
850-1250." in Sil=.ungsberichte der dew.'ichen Akademie der W,sseflscha!tell :.U Berllll. 1961. Nr. 5. and A.
6
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
A typical example of interference in Uygher life comes from recent history.
Following the assassination of Yakup Beg7 in April 1877, Uyghur-Iand endured eight
long years of intervention by both Russia and China. Fi~ally, the Manchu Qing dynasty
in 1884 made a secret deal with the Russians, and the two imperial forces annexed
Uyghur-Iand. The Qing dynasty renamed it "Xinjiang Province" and ruled it harshly~ this
reign was succeeded by the domination successively of Yang Zenxin, Jin Shuren. and
Shen Shicai.8 These rulers enforced three decades of severe control on Uyghur-Iand,
causing political, social, and economical instability, provoking ethnic conflict, and
forcing the decline of Uyghur intellectual life.9
Here is an example from the small village of Tijan in Artush County near
Qashqar: the rulers arrested more than fifty men during the period 1910-1928, and some
of these never came back. The fifty men who were taken away were among the most
influential, some being wealthy men and others leading intellectuals. In fact, throughout
all of Uyghur-Iand, nothing remained of Uyghur cultural and social activities, except for
limited religious freedom (permission to keep some mosques open).IO Finally, the
Qashqar uprising started under a few Uyghur intellectual leaders. The Uyghurs overthrew
the cruel rulers and established a new Republic of Eastern Turkistan in 1933. The cultural
renaissance that followed helped Uyghurs to enter the modern era.
From 1933 on, Qasimjan Kamberi, a cultural leader, Jed the Uyghurs in a literary
and artistic renaissance. He organized a performance troupe in the city of Ghulcha, which
then performed in other areas of Uyghur-Iand. He recreated the "Gherip-Sanam" opera;
he wrote plays, staged and directed them, and performed as a principal actor. He also
von Le Coq, Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan: An Account of the Activities of the Second and Third
German Turfan Expeditions (London, 1928).
7 Yakup Beg (1820-1877) was the founder of a dynasty (1864-1888) in Uyghuristan. TUrkey recognized
the kingdom in 1872. Queen Victoria of England sent a British delegation in 1870 and a second delegation
in 1873, with a document in her own handwriting recognizing the kingdom's legitimacy (Boulger, The Life
of Yakup Beg ILondon, 1878I, chap. 11).
8 Saypidin Azizi. Omiir Dastani IEpic of Life I(Beijing: MilHHlar Nashriyati, 1990), pp. 119-24.
9 Azizi. Omiir Dasrani. pp. 351-60.
10 The researcher obtained this information from a Uyghur historian, Abduqadir Aji ( 1902-1986).
7
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
made it possible for women to perform on the stage for the first time in modern Uyghur
history. I I
After the Republic was crush~d by the Chinese government, with Russia's help,
the Uyghurs once more lost the ability to advance their own culture. But ten years later
the Uyghurs took back their rights and independence. They founded the Republic of
Eastern Turkistan (1944-1949), which once again created a cultural revival in Uyghurland.
The Uyghurs had survived some of the most difficult circumstances and tremendous
pressures in human history. Uyghur intellectual circles, using every opportunity,
successfully brought about the transfer of Uyghur cultural heritage to the new generation.
Uyghur Linguistic Identity
The Turkic peoples historically used the Uyghur literary language. The ancient
Uyghur language, which was used in the eighth century during the Uyghur Khanate, is
the same as the language of the Orkhun-Yenisay inscription, called ancient Tiirki. There
was no great difference between the literary language of the Iduqut Uyghur Khanate and
the Uyghur literary language of Khaqaniyid.
This phenomenon proves that the ancient Ttirki literary language, which was in
use before the eighth century, actually was the Uyghur literary language. As we know,
until the fourteenth century, the ancient Uyghur literary language was commonly in use
among the Tlirki peoples. Shamsidin Sami, the author of Qamusu/'A/am, wrote:
"Uyghurs being most advanced in cultural development, their.language was the common
literary language among the Tiirki peoples, since at the period during which the
Chaghatay Khan was In power, the Uyghur language, called Chaghatay TilL was
famous."l2
Based on the history, literature, religion, content, and script of Uyghur linguist~c
materials, I have classified Uyghur language into five different periods:
1. Pre-historic Uyghur language, before the sixth century B.C.E. No written
material in Uyghur from this period has been found so far, but the language has come
II Xinjiang Tarikh Malerya/liri IXinjiang Historical Materialsl (Urtimchi: Xinjiang Khalq Nashriyali,
1990), 27inchi Saui, pr. 200-11.
8
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
down to us through Uyghur oral literature, idiom, idiomatic phrase, folk story, folk song,
and folk literature, and through the ancient mythology and legends recorded in other
languages.
2. Ancient Uyghur language, sixth to tenth century C.E., mostly pre-Islamic
literatures, whose influence spread from non-Altaic languages.
3. Medieval Uyghur language, tenth to fifteenth century C.E. These mostly
record Islamic literature and are strongly influenced by the Arabic and Persian languages.
4. Early Modern Uyghur language, sixteenth century to the end of the
nineteenth century C.E.
5. Modern Uyghur language, from the end of the nineteenth century to the
present.
Modern Uyghur belongs to the Ural-Altaic language family, a Turkic language
group of the easter~ branch. Among the six major Turkic languages, the Turkish and
Azari languages are very close; the Kazakh and Kyrgyz languages also are closely
related; and•the Uyghur and Uzbek languages are similarly paired. In each "couple," the
languages can communicate with each other on simple subjects.
Modern Uyghur has two major dialects, southern and northern. According to the
official Chinese census of 2000, the number of native speakers of Uyghur is nearly ten
million. Of these, the vast majority lives in the Uyghur Autonomous Region under
Chinese rule. There are considerable communities of Uyghur-speakers living in the
Central Asian Republics and Turkey, and smaller communities live in Russia, Mongolia,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and in the Western countries.
According to Uyghur Autonomous Regional law, the standard Uyghur language
has served as the official language of the Uyghur Autonomous Regional government
since 1955. Despite the fact that there are more than' ten million Uyghurs living
throughout a vast region of Central Eurasia, and despite the fact that they have possessed
a very rich literary heritage for almost two thousand years, the Uyghur language has been
greatly neglected by the international community. There are no generally accessible
Western publications or education on the Uyghur languages and literature, except for a
few early publications in Russian. and some in German and Swedish. Uyghurs have used
12 Khamit Tc)mtir, Chghatay TiJi IChaghalay Language J(Qashqar: Qashqar LJyghur Nashiryali, 1987), p. 2.
9
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
more than eight different writing systems from early medieval times to the present. Now
they use the Arabic-script-based modern Uyghur writing system.
Uyghur Writing Systems from Medieval Times to Present 13
1. Brahmi Script I
2. Brahmi Script II
3. Uyghur Runic Script
4. Medieval Uyghur Script
5. Uyghur, Sogdian and Manichaean Script
6. Arabic-Persian-Script-Based Uyghur-Chaghatay Writing System
7. Modern Uyghur Script
8. Roman-Script-Based Modern Uyghur Writing System
See Appendix for a full description of these systems.
Uyghur Cultural Identity
The Uyghurs are indigenous peoples of Central Asia. They have developed a
unique culture and have made significant contributions to Asian literature, medicine,
architecture, music, songs, dance, and fine arts. The Uyghur economy is based on light
industry and on the farming of fruits, cotton, wheat, and rice, made possible throughout
this arid region by the ingenious irrigation method invented by the Uyghurs over two
thousand years ago. In addition, Uyghur-land has rich oil and mineral reserves.
Generally speaking, the ldi"qut Uyghurs maintained friendly relations with all their
neighbors. Evidence excavated in Turpan Basin shows that the ldqut Uyghur Kingdom
was for centuries a major Central Asian Buddhist cultural center. During the tenth
century, Wang Yande, an envoy of the Sung dynasty, visited the IdYqut Uyghurs between
981 and 984 and was impressed by the high level of civilization he found in the kingdom.
Under Uyghur rule, there were at that time more than one hundred temples in Kuchar and
13 Turghun Almas, UyghurLar [The lJyghursJ (Oriimchi: Xinjiang Yashlar-OsmUrluar Nashriyati. 1989).
pp. 801-] 0; Annemarie von Gabain. Alttiirkische Grammatic IAncient Turkish Grammarl (Wiesbaden: OUo
Harrassowitz. 1974), pp. 1-41; Weiwuer Zu Jianshi IBrief History of lJyghurl. cd. by a Group «(Irtimchi:
Xinjiang Renmin Chubanshc, ]991); Liu Yi Tang. n/eiwuer ralljw IStudies of lIyghurl O-aibci:
Zhengzhong Shujii, 1975), pp. 517-84: Abdukeyim Khoja. cd., Qadimqi Uyghur Yazma 'YadikarJaridin
Tallanma IA Selection of Ancient Uyghur Manuscripts] (Uriimchi: Khalq Nashriyati, 1983). pp. 37-44.
10
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
more than fifty temples and libraries in the city of Turpan, and welfare programs existed
for the support of the poor. 14
This level of cultural attainment is shown both by archaeological excavations in
the Uyghur region and by Uyghur historical documents. The wall paintings and
manuscripts discovered in the Turpan Idlqut Uyghur Khanate offer further pertinent
illustrations of the cultured lifestyle and the continuity of Uyghur civilization. For
instance, wall paintings discovered at Turpan offer a picture of the Uyghurs as a refined
people, with elegant ladies and well-dressed gentlemen in long embroidered tunics
holding long-stemmed.flowers. in their hands. Many other art objects and manuscripts
were also recovered from the ancient Yarghul and Jdi'qut cities. Later, when the Taoist
Chang-Chun, on his way to visit Chingis Khan in the thirteenth century, passed through
the still-flourishing Uyghur kingdom, he marveled at its riches. The fields were all
irrigated with water brought from a great distance. He was entertained by dwarves and
musicians, offered wine and marvelous flowers, and treated to watermelons weighing
.some thirty pounds. I5
Medieval Uyghur saying: "oktiz adaqi' bolghlncha buzaghu bashi' bolsa yig."
Modern Uyghur saying: "oktiz ayighi bolghi'cha mozay beshi bolsa yakhshi."
Translation: "It is better to be a head of a calf than to be a hoof of an ox." 16
(In other words-it is better to be a big frog in a small pond than a small frog in a big
one.) The saying expresses the idea of Uyghur longing for freedom and independence. It
also suggests that a person should think independently, not follow others, no matter
whether the others are big or rich. This proverb encourages an individual to be a leader,
although he might lead only a small or poor group or place, rather than to be a servant; to
decide everything for himself; and to refuse to live under constraint. Makhmut Qashqari
recorded this medieval Uyghur saying in the eleventh century. The saying has remained
14 Gcng Shcmin. Gudai Weiwuer Shige Xun (Selection of Ancient Uyghur Poemsl (Xinjiang Renming
Chubanshc. 1983). pp. 5. 19.
.15 ~S1' 00r, Inner A.fl.a. pp.l] 8- ]9.
16 Makhmul Qashqari. Turk; Tillar Divani ITurkic Languages Diclionary I (lJrumchi: Xinjiang Khalq
Nashriyati, 198 I).
11
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
prevalent among Uyghurs for more than a thousand years, and it retains the same form
and meaning.
The medieval Uyghurs, striving over a long period to build great cities and to
develop their cultural life and agriculture, finally earned their independence and
established a strong base in medieval Central Asian cultural development, as suggested in
the saying quoted above. Thereafter, Uyghurs founded a strong empire in Central Asia
and became leading figures among other groups of Central Asian peoples for the extent
of the medieval period. For this reason, medieval Uyghur literature made an
unprecedentedly rapid development. Early Uyghur manuscripts, recently excavated, will
offer further understanding about this period, its religious life, social activities, urban
culture, and the general cultural background of the Uyghurs. The existence of the
manuscripts itself indicates that Uyghurs had a close relationship with other groups and
engaged in consider~ble social exchange with them.
These manuscripts include the following: (l) Maitrisimit, (2) Altun Yaruq, (3)
Samso Acharining Tarjimali, (4) Sakiz Ytikmak, (5) Abidarim Koshvardi Sutra, (6) Guan
Shi 1m Pusar, (7) Linhua Chachak Uza Itigi Yaratigh'i Atllgh Sutra, (8) Amitaba Sutra,
(9) Aryarajavavadaka Sutra, (10) Mahamegha Sutra, (11) Kshanti Qilghuluq Nom, (12)
Kimqoki Vajiracchetika Sutra, (13) Tishastwustik Sutra, (14) Yitigan Sutra, (15)
Amitayus Sutra, (16) Agamas Sutra, (17) Prajna-Aparamita Sutra, (18) Dashakrma
Budaawtanamal Sutra, (19) Lailitaristara Sutra, (20) Yogacharyabhuni Sastra, (21)
Nagarjuna Liligig Otlamag Taqshut, (22) Insadi Sutra, (23) Mahamayuri Sutra, (24)
Manijushirinama Samgiti Sutra, (25) Jataka and Awadana Story, (26) Alqu Aylgh Yawuz
Yollarigh Artuqraq Uz Aritdachi Sutra, (27) Mahapaya Utlisin Yanturmish Sutra, (28)
Alqu Anchulayu Kalmishlarning Ushnirlaqshanlarintin bnrnish Afi Kotirilmish
Sitatapadra AtI'igh Utsuqmaqsiz Darni, (29) Oghuz Nama, '(30) Chashtana Big Bag, (31)
Ikki Tigin Yikayisi, and many more.
The Uyghurs established an excellent writing system and, over time, created
literary genres unique among all the neighboring groups. The medieval Uyghur
urbiculture evinced unprecedented development, especially under the leadership of Ay
Tangrida Qut 8ulm-ish Tangri Al Bilga Bogti Arslan. the Uyghur emperor who reigned
759-779 A.D. The Uyghurs twice provided significant military aid to the Tang court (618
12
Dolkun Kamberi, "UyghUfS and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
A.D. and 907 A.D.), saving it from internal political disaster and rebuilding its political
and economic power. 17 During the pre-Idqut and Idqut Uyghur Khanate (605-1250 A.D.),
the Uyghurs not only strengthened their political power but also developed a strong
economic society and cultural life. They played an important role in the Silk Road
economy and contributed to Central Asian literature, as well as creating localized
Buddhist arts.
The credibility of the Uyghurs made them the regional power. They were able to
achieve a developed literary life, and not only during a period in which they had a great
leader or because they were briefly dominant regional figures. Their cultural
achievements were built upon an endeavor to develop their arts over centuries. "For some
150 years, from about 400 A.D., the entire C~ntral Asia region from northern Korea to
Karashar [qarashahar] was dominated by the JuanJuan [Jurjan] and the ancestors of the
Uyghurs; the Kaoch'e [the Qangq'il] lived under their control as subjects." 18
I have deciphered a poem unearthed from Bezeklik in Turpan that belongs to the
medieval period. The poem presents the very kindly feeling of its author for his relative,
who evidently Jives far away. The author not only greets him, but also encourages him to
study hard, giving him good advice and wishing him great success when he returns. The
poem also reflects the attitude of the medieval Uyghurs toward learning. They believed
,17 See the section "Decline of Uyghurs in History" in Dolkun Kamberi, "The Study of Medieval Uyghur
Drama and Related Cultural Phenomena: From Maitrisim.it to Qutadghu BIlik, ca. 767-1069 A.D."
Dissertation. (Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Company, 1995), chap. 5.
18 Colin Mackerras, The Uyghur Empire (744-840), According to the T'ang Dynastic Histories (University
of South Carolina Press, 1972), p. 8.
13
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Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
thatknowledge combined happiness with great honor. Thus, this well-written poem
indicates that medieval Uyghurs took education very seriously. (The document is
preserved in the Turpan Museum. The original document number is 80. T. B. I 522, and it
measures 37.5 x 3 em.
Transliteration:
1. ozting-ning ogranmish yandJ."rlarta
2. oglina adgii-ki-ma busugh silikil
3. ongi-ma nagii-kim yanglar-ta oslii-
Translation:
1. No matter what subject, study in your
own way;
2. Think more; be aware; do not be a showoff;
3. Be careful and steady, whatever you
5. Iuq koziim birla oqYp sanga i'di'm.
4. nchti-singa Ui.gi anchulayu oj umuqengageln;
4. That is the only way to be outstanding.
5. I read this with hopeful eyes and send it
to you.
Uyghur culture likely will survive indefinitely but may not hold the vitally
important place it occupied in the past. That culture seems to exist only in the preserved
form witnessed in the Uyghur Masharap performance or in old museum pieces. A select
but substantial group of scholars and readers may well continue to admire the
magnificence of such medieval arts. But no matter what benefit the study of medieval
Uyghur culture may confer, drastic social change cannot fail to transform the traditional
culture. Yet the preservation of that culture will benefit contemporary civilization greatly,
especially as it preserves the cultural identities of peoples through their arts.
Uyghur Artistic Identity
Uyghur arts have spread widely and had a powerful impact on public education i.n
Central Asia and therefore on the cultural history of the region. Such material is of
fundamental importance for understanding Uyghur civilization and philosophy. Uyghurs
have kept their cultural identity alive in literature and art; they have also continued to
develop their traditional culture up to the present.
The Uyghurs formed a design system and decorative style of their own unique
flavor in arts and crafts. The distinctive Uyghur style persists especially in clothing. hats.
14
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
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jewelry, boots and shoes, scarves, bed sheets, tablecloths, carpets, bed felts, blankets,
wall hangings, pillows, bags, riding bags, knives, musical instruments, bedside
cupboards, horse gear, doors, designs on windows and buildings, and household
decorations. These designs are derived from various plants, animals, landscapes, shapes,
and geometric figures. The designs are unique in form, compact in organization, and rich
in subject and color. Ancient petroglyphs, Buddhist and Manichaean temple wall
paintings, and archaeological finds in the Uyghur region offer evidence of the origins of
Uyghur design and art.
One of the most important early nledieval Uyghur Buddhist art centers, the
Bezeklikmonastery is located in the Murtuq River gorge of the Flaming Mountains
(Yalqun Tagh), about forty kilometers east of Turpan. One can still see the traces of the
perfonnance stage, though it is ruined. The monastery consists of caves spaced for one
kilometer along the cliffs on the west side of the gorge. There are eighty-three surviving
caves, of which about forty are decorated with wall paintings totaling approximately
twelve hundred square meters. The surviving caves date mostly to the Uyghur Idi'qut
Khanate period. Researchers have examined some typical wall paintings from the caves,
and their analysis shows that Uyghur Buddhist art was an important feature in medieval
Uyghur culture.
The German archaeologist A. von Le Coq cut out many wall paintings, shipping
them back in several hundred cases to Berlin. The world was surprised by the esthetics of
Uyghur Buddhist art. The consensus is that the art of the Bezeklik Buddhist Monastery is
the most representati ve, important, and numerous as well as the best preserved of Uyghur
Buddhist art objects. The British archaeologist Aurel Stein, who visited Bezeklik at the
end of 1914, indicated that, in terms of richness and artistry, no other finds from similar
sites in the Turpan Basin can match those of Bezeklik, which parallel the rich ancient
paintings of the Dunhuang Thousand Buddha Caves. 19 Professor Albert Griinwedel
(1856-1935) \\-Tites in a letter dated April 2, 1906: "'For years I have been endeavoring to
find a credible thesis for the development of Buddhist art. and primarily to trace the
19 M. Aurel Stein, Ruins ofDesert Calha)' (New York: Dover Publications, Inc), pp. 353-63.
15
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
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ancient route by which the art of imperial Rome, etc. reached the Far East. What I have
seen here goes beyond my wildest dream. If only I had hands enough to copy it all, [for]
here in the Kizil are about 300 caves, all containing frescoes, some of them very old and
fine."20
Uyghur Musical Identity
The Uyghurs also have a colorful and outstanding heritage in music, song, and
dance. One achievement of the contemporary Uyghur intellectuals who have worked
toward a cultural revival is the return of the classical suites of the Muqam and of the
Uyghur songs and dances that once appeared on the stage in Uyghur-Iand.
The Uyghur Twelve Muqam, for example, is well preserved and very popular
among Central Asians. The Muqam was a part of Uyghur theatrical culture that was
recreated under Abdurishit and Amannisa Khan in the sixteenth century. Abdurishit
(1533-1570) was the king and son of the founder of the Yarkant Uyghur Khanate (15141678);
his wife, Queen Amannisa Khan (1534-1567),21 was an outstanding Uyghur
musician who compiled and created the Uyghur Twelve Muqam. Together they
conserved and developed the muqam during the cultural revival that emerged in the
sixteenth century in Uyghur-Iand.
The original Muqam texts came mainly from Uyghur folk songs and oral
literature; the later were gradually replaced by the writings of poets and thinkers like
Atayi, Muhammad Sakkaki, Lutfi (1366-1465), and Elishir Nawayi, Uyghur cultural
revivalists and reformers active after the Mongol invasion, who made a great contribution
to the literary renaissance in Central Asia. Uyghur literary development underwent an
experience similar to that of other groups in the Central Asia at that time. Arabs and
Persians had influenced literary history more strongly than ever during the thirteenth to
fifteenth centuries. Uyghur society faced a cultural decline under the rule of Chaghatay
Khan's descendants. As time went on, the Muqam was in danger of disappearing from
20 Herbert Hartel and Marianne Yaldiz. Along the Ancienl Silk roules: CCnlral Asian Art from the West
Herlin Slate Museums (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1982). p. 41.
~ I See Uyghur on Ikki Muqam Haqqlda [Regarding Uyghur Twelve Mukam] (Urumchi: Xinjiang Khalq
Nashriya{j, 1992), pp. 342-47.
16
Dolkun Kamberi, HUyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
contemporary Uyghur history.22 But thanks to the many Uyghur musicians who worked
to sustain it, it has survived to the present. For instance, one of the most famous Uyghur
folk musicians, Turdi Akhun (1881-1956), who had been born into an aristocratic musical
family, was still active in Qashqar in 1950 and could play and sing the Muqam
completely from memory, including the poetic texts.
In 1950, Turdi Akhun and the people of his town clearly remembered four notable
generations of folk musicians from his family, preceding -himself. They were: his greatgreat-
grandfather Ibrayim Akhun, his great-grandfather Ashim Akhun, his grandfather
Qawul Akhun, and his father Tawakktil Akhun. The five generations of that aristocratic
Uyghur musical family thus go back to the Yarkant Uyghur Khanate period (1514-1678).
If the father of Ibrayim Akhun were also a folk musician, he would be a person in the
same generation as the well-known Uyghur poet and thinker. Nizamiddin Elishir Nawayi
(1441-1501).23 This hypothesis offers an explanation of why there were many Nawayi
poems in the Muqam's texts-not only did the old Muqam texts performed by Turdi
Akhun include many of Nawayi's poems, but there were also countless verses of Nawayi
in his amazing memory. He probably acquired the words directly from the earlier
generations of his own family. This phenomenon offers the best evidence for connecting
the continuation of the Uyghur Muqam with the social activities of th~ sixteenth-century
female Muqam compiler and creator Amannisa Khan.
These five generations of one musical family offer an invaluable heritage of
music and poetic literature, brought forward from Lutfi's' and Nawayi's works to modern
22 See Tawarikhi musiqiyum [The History of Musicians], written by Uyghur scholar Mulla Ismatulla
Mujizi in 1854, in the city of Khotan in Uyghuristan. He mentions in the preface of his book that, after
receiving an order from the king of Khotan, Alishir Hekim, he started to collect materials to write his
history of musicians. He described seventeen famous musicians in the book. The Queen, Amannisa Khan,
from the middle of the sixteen century, was the last described and also the only female musician. At the end
of the work, the author wrote "Moreover, I should explain that during each century, in each city has
appeared a hundred or a thousand musicians. If a book described the events of each person one by one.
there wouldn't be room. Therefore, I selected only one from a thousand, chose someone who created the
music or the Muqam, or invenled one of the instruments, or wrote in this field, to become famous. 1 used
this information about the musicians presented, in this brief introduction in front of you." See also
Abdushukir Muhammat Imin. "Amannisa Khan He Shi Er Muqan," Si Chou Zhi Lu Yue Wu Yi Shu
(LJrumchi: Xinjing Remin Chu Ban Shi. 1985), pp. 32-35.
23 Ali Shir Nawayi was born in a lJyghur Bakhshi family in Heral; his father's name wa~ Ghiyasidin
Kichik. See UyghurLarda kilasik iidiibiya IUyghur Classic Literature I (LJrumchi: Xinjiang Yashlar•
Osmtirlar Nashriyati. 1988), p. 35 I.
17
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and UyghUf Identity"
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generations. Their lives also fill a gap in the history of Uyghur musicians that extended
from Amannisa Khan to 1950, evidence of which was nearly lost. During the period
1951-1954, the outstanding Uyghur artistic leader Qasimjan Kamberi (1910-1956)24
organized a group of Uyghur folk musicians in Qashqar headed by Turdi Akhun, and thus
saved the Uyghur classical music Muqam.25 Today, such Uyghur classics as the Twelve
Muqam serve as the basis of Uyghur and Central Asian contemporary music.
Uyghur Religious Identity
A productive way to understand the rituals of medieval Uyghurs is to view them
as exercises in religious practice. A number of the more insightful analysts of the
medieval Uyghur manuscripts have already highlighted the importance of religious
symbolism and role-playing. The ritualized quality of the religious d.evotions and the
significance of audience participation make them very important social and cultural
activities in a religious context. The symbolic implications of a variety of Uyghur
religious texts and dramatic metaphors capture the mood and explain the impact of
religious literature on Uyghur identity since the early medieval period.
The religious processional performance of the medieval period, first of all,
embraces certain religious institutional activities in both a fixed and an unfixed form.
These include daily prayer as well as religious teaching offered in both fixed and unfixed
locations such as monastery, temple, mosque, or on the street-untitled, improvisational,
with constantly changing casts. Though fluid in form, the religious activities nevertheless
followed a historically established tradition of group participation. This means that even
participants in religious events worked from familiar "scripts," which gave a common
sense of how to behave during a given action. These included: where and when to pray,
how to express one's beliefs, how to costume oneself and apply makeup when preparing
to perform the ritual for calling for God's protection from evil, and so on.
24 Sec Xinjiang TarikJz Materyalliri IXinjiang Historical Materials I (Ortimchi: Xinjiang Khalq Nashriyati.
1990),27: 200-11.
25 Amatjan Hamidi, "On Ikki Muqam Tarikhidiki Ycngi Namayanda INew Discovery in Twelve Mukam
History)," in Uyghur on ikki Muqam hdqqida [Regarding Uyghur Twelve Mukam) (Urtimchi: Xinjiang
Khalq Nashriyati, 1992), pp. 458-77.
18
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
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Some of these ritual performances and the makeup used in them originated in the
distant past, even stretching back millennia. For example, I examined three-thousandyear-
old mummies in excellent pres~rvation from ancient tombs in Uyghur-Iand that
offered evidence of such rituals. The male corpse was dressed in a short jacket and long
trousers, all made of dark purple wool. The female wore a dark reddish-brown one-piece
open-necked dress that was cut to below knee length. There were multicolored felt socks
and knee-high white deerskin boots on their feet. Traces of makeup in ocher spiral sunsymbols
could be seen on their faces. The presence in the tomb of two small bone spoons
with dried ocher pigment in them may indicate that the makeup was applied, after death.
Some other ritual objects unearthed from the tomb included yarn, which may have been
used as a symbol of fire, and some reed bundles bound in red wool yarn and suspended
from forked branches.26
Furthermore, historical evidence shows that ritual ceremony, religious
institutional activities, and processional performance underwent considerable
development in Uyghur-Ianrl. In medieval times, the Buddhist processional performance
paraded from the fourteen largest monasteries of Khotan City of Uyghur-Iand during the
spring Buddhist festival. People carried large images of Buddha and colorlul banners
emblazoned with the images of various Buddhist figures. Each monastery would perform
on a certain day. The entire event would go on for fourteen days, and the participants
included the king of Khotan as well as all the civilians engaged in state rituals and official
ceremonies, who supplied additional "scripts" for the religious theater.
The processional performance remains very popular today in Uyghur-Iand; it
performs a kind of ritual drama. The processional performances occur during the
religious festivals or in great ceremonies of renewal, or they may appear in a more
abbreviated form. The performances are offered respectfully for divine as well as for
human enjoyment, and they vary little as the troupes parade from temple to temple or
from mosque to mosque. Bystanders and other informants affirm that it is all just fun, a
local tradition without special meaning.
26 Dolkun Kamberi. "The Three-Thousand- Year-Old Charchan Man Preserved at Zaghunluq:' SinoPlalOllic
Papers, No. ..w (January. I 99-t, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studics. Univcrsity of
Pennsylvania).
19
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
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Ethnographers have acknowledged the religious significance of the procession
without suggesting systematic interpretations for its components. But the standardization
of the elements of the procession throughout the region suggests a definite set of
conventions; moreover, taboos and obligatory ritual greetings at the temples visited
indicate that what goes on is more than entertainment. Even taking into account that some
of the performances have lost all meaning and that some always have been purely
entertaining, ritual procession may be seen as a form of fundamental play, in which both
participants and observers are saying something about themselves.
The development of Uyghur Buddhism and its art is an important feature of
Uyghur culture. The Buddhist heritage of Uyghur culture in the Qizil, Qumtura, Bezeklik,
Siggim, Murtuq, and other Buddhist monasteries of Uyghur-Iand is a very important
component of Uyghur civilization. Although the early Buddhist teaching of Gautama
Buddha probably began in the sixth century B.C. (ca. 563-483), its oldest surviving
remains and manuscripts are much later in date. The first independent evidence for
Buddhism comes in the reign of the Maurya Emperor Asoka (273-232 B.C.), whose stone
inscriptions are the earliest Indian historical records.
They mainly explain a benevolent creed that he called "Dharma," a word also
used in Buddhism. Dharma was a system of duties and values, as it was in Buddhism.
The Gautama Buddha was born in northeast India as Prince Siddhartha of the Sakya clan.
His precepts originated in a critical appraisal of the Brahman religion. The term
Buddhism also includes later interpretations, which, after the Buddha's death, were
propagated by the different schools. The two most important of these schools were the
Hinayana and the Mahayana. The Buddha is usually known by the title of Sakyamuni
(Sage of the Sakyas), which derives from his clan name. According to the Buddhist
legend, the Maitreya will be a future Buddha.27
The Buddhist idea is similar to other philosophic systems created in the world.
The Buddhist prophets also place perfection, peacefulness, happiness, richness, freedom,
hopes, and Sukhavati (pure land) in the future. If people do good deeds in this world, they
will be reborn in the future. Therefore, the most pious Buddhist believers. using various
forms and mediums. propagandize and eulogize the infinitely merciful kindness of the
20
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
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future Buddha, Maitreya. That is why legends, myths, poetic eulogies, poetry, sutras, and
literary dramas about the future Buddha, Maitreya, were created throughout the Buddhist
history of Central Asia and in Uyghur.
Maitreya, the future Buddha, the most famous, dramatic, and great figure' in
Buddhism after Sakayamuni, appeared in medieval Uyghur Buddhist manuscripts
approximately between the seventh and eighth centuries. But the archaeological evidence
shows that belief in Maitreya was very popular from the second century B.C. onward in
Uyghur-Iand. Maitreya symbolizes the consummation of the rich legacy of Buddhist
literature in Central and East Asia. All Buddhist monks believe that the arrival of the
future Buddha will deliver all suffering creatures from a miserable life and establish a
perfect state of justice, peace, purity, happiness, and truth.28
"Every religion, every culture, and every civilization has a characteristic view of
the future as well as a characteristic way of recollecting the past, which together
influence its understanding of the meaning of present existence."29 Historically,
Buddhism has shaped and influenced the culture, and thus the values, ideologies, arts,
and imagination of the medieval Uyghurs. Since Buddhism and its arts were introduced
to China through Uyghur-Iand, it, along with India and Gandhara, became a major source
for Chinese Buddhism and its arts.
Besides Buddhis~, the Uyghurs also believed in Manichaeism, and that is also an
important component in the medieval Uyghur cultural development. Manichaean religion
was created by the Persian Mani (216-274? or 276 A.D.) in the third century, under the
influence of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Christianity. Dualist in nature, it postulates
the contention between Light (good) and Dark (evil). It came under the protection of the
Shapur I (r. 241-272 A.D.) of the Sassanian Empire, but was banished by Bahram I (r.
273-293) as heresy, and Mani was executed. During Mani' s lifetime and soon after his
27 W. Zwalf. cd.• Buddhist Art and Faith (London: British Museum PUblications. 1985). pp. 9-16. 26.32.
28 Maitrisimit (Urumchi: Xinjiang Reming Chubanshe. 1988). p. I.
29 Alan Sponberg and Helen Hardacre. cds. Maitreya. The Future Buddha (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. 1988), p. 1.
21
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
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death, his religion was disseminated to Egypt, Syria, and North Africa and later to
Europe.30
According to the Chinese official record, Manichaeaism spread to the Uyghurs of
the Orkhun river area in 762 C.E. The Uyghur Manichaean document discovered in
Turpan is dated to approximately the middle of the sixth century C.E. Mani believed in
two opposing principles: light and dark, or good and evil. The material world and
especially the human body assisted darkness. He taught that time should be viewed in
three phases, in the first of which good and evil were separated, in the second mingled,
and in the third again distinct. The human existed as body and spirit only in the middle
phase, and it was the human's duty to abstract himself from all matter. This would help
bring on a great cleansing process, which Mani believed would usher in the third phase.
When that time arrived, those who had succeeded in freeing themselves from the material
world would live in the region of light, those who had failed in that of darkness.31
Uyghur Historical Identity
The Uyghurs and their forerunners are an ancient group of Turkic-speaking
people who have been living in Central Asia since the first millennium B.C.E. Their
ancestors can be traced to the people who lived along the ancient Silk Road. That
territory later became known as the Uyghur Empire. The social and cultural activities of
the Uyghurs can he found in historical and archaeological materials of different times,
from the Bronze and Iron Ages to the modern period. Even before the leaders of the
medieval Uyghurs appeared in history in A.D. 605, the world-famous Silk Road had
provided not only an immigration and trade path but also a route for cultural exchanges
30 Ren Ju Yu, Zong jiao Zi dian [Religious Dictionaary] (Shanghai: Shanghai Ci Shu Chu Ban She, 1981),
p.1140.
31 Scholars have principally used the historical texts of the Chinese version of the Toquz Uyghur
inscription as evidence that Uyghurs adopted Manichaeaism in 762 A.D. However, they have taken the
material out of contex t and have not considered the entire source. IL is possible to obtain a quite different
reading from the same sources heretoforc used by these studies. Moreover, one sentence in that particular
paragraph of thc source has not been cxplained properly. It could hc translated as "...Due to ignorance in
the past. Buddha was as spirits (to us)." Thal sentence shows that. hefore some of thc llyghurs received the
Manichaean faith. they were adherenL"i of Buddhism (Dolkun Kamhcri, ''The Study of Medicval lIyghur
Drama and Related Cultural Phenomena: from Maitrisimit to Qutadghu BlJik. ca. 767- 1069 A.D." IAnn
Arbor: UMI Company, 1995».
22
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
between the East and West. Uyghuristan32 was the main region through which the Silk
Road had to pass.
In the year 757 A.D., one of the military governors of the Tang dynasty, named
An Lushan, started an uprising and strengthened his military power. In the year 744, he
marched against the capital of Tang (Changan) with 200,000 troops; on his way he
conquered the eastern capital, Loyang, and made himself emperor (756, Yen dynasty).
Tang troops were sent against him under the leadership of the Tang general Gou Ziyi, but
they were quickly defeated by the uprising army; An Lushan captured Changan. The
emperor Xuan Zong now abdicated and fled into Sichuan. His son, Prince Li Heng
(Emperor Su Zong 756-762) also fled into northwestern Shanxi. The Tang royal families
begged help from the Uyghur emperor with a promise to give a daughter of the Tang
emperor as a wife to the Uyghur Bugu Qakhan, plus payment from the Tang government
of 10,000 bolts of silk. And they also signed a treaty for coming years relating to the
horse-for-silk trade.33 ,
The second time Uyghurs gave aid was in the year 762 A.D. Another military
governor, Shi Siming, rose against the central government of the Tang. He had
commanded his troops to come from the Hebei region to the south and cross the Yellow
River, into the central plain. He conquered the eastern capital of Tang Luoyang, and
important cities including Heyang and Huaizhou. He made the Tang dynasty once again
lose political and military control, seizing almost all the Tang Empire territory. In the
meantime, the new emperor, Daizong (Li Yu), immediately recalled the friendship and
generosity of Uyghurs and begged their help once more. The Uyghur Qakhan himself,
Tangri II Bilga Bogii Qakhan, led troops into China, defeated Shi Siming, wrested all the
land he had seized and restored it to the hand of the Tang. The Uyghurs then •helped the
Tang court to rebuild their power in both Changan and Luoyang. But the Tang never
carried out their trade promises, except that they did give a princess in marriage. But at
the time the Uyghur Empire collapsed, the Tang court still owed it countless silks.
32 The name lIyghuristan, like "Uyghur-Iand." is used in this monograph as a geographical location rather
than a geopolitical term. ••Uyghur Ali," found in a medieval Uyghur manuscript. means "The Country of
'the lJyghur:'
23
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
There are many records regarding this historical event in various Chinese sources.
A passage from one of them reads: "The Uyghur Empire has coexisted peacefully with
the Tang dynasty for more than a hundred years." There is also a record that an envoy of
the Tang told Tibet's General Shangchi Shiner: "The Uyghurs have performed the feat of
saving our country from disaster, yet they never occupied a foot or an inch of our land."
And he added, "There is a horses-far-silk trading convention signed between the Uyghurs
and the Tang. In these trades, the Uyghurs always were creditors and the Tang always
were debtors, until the Uyghur Empire went into decline. "34
After A.D. 840, because of weak kings and internal and external political
disasters, including attacks by outside powers such as the Kirghiz and the Tang dynasty,
the Uyghurs' political importance greatly declined. Everyone in the Tang court still
clearly remembered how the Uyghurs had twice saved them from internal political
disaster only a short time before, when the Uyghurs were strong. When the Uyghurs
experienced still more problems, the Tang dynasty seized the s.udden opportunity and
used force to clear its debts.35
The Tang dynasty used a conflict between the Kirghiz and Uyghurs to its own
advantage. Their officials closed the border against some Uyghurs who were trying to
escape into Tang territory. They withheld all help from the Uyghurs, attempting to
destroy completely their power~ they then attacked them from the rear. In the year 843,
Manichaean property of the Uyghurs in China was confiscated, and Manichaean books
and paintings were publicly burned. In the two capital cities, Uyghurs were ordered to
dress in Chinese fashion. An edict by the Emperor sums up quite candidly the ultimate
aim: "Now that the Uyghurs have been defeated, they should be extirpated for good." 36
As a result, the central power of the Uyghur Empire collapsed. This historical
event prevented the Uyghurs from retaining their position as one of the most civilized
33 Turghun Almas, Uyghurlar [The Uyghurs] (Urumchi: Xinjiang Yashlar-OsmurHir Nashriyati, 1989). pp.
681-700. See also Jiu Tang shu, Juan 2] 7, Huigu Zhuan (Beijing: Zhonghua Shujiu, 1972).
34 Feng Jiashen, Mu Soulo. and Mu Guang wcn, Weiwuer Zu Shilao Jianbian IA Brief History of the
llyghursl (Beijing. 1955), p. 15.
35 Turghun Almas. Uyghurlar IThe l/yghurs I (t1rumchi: Xinjiang Yashlar-{)smurlar Nashriyati. 1989), pp.
6B 1-700.
36 Dcnis Sinor. Inner Asia (Bloomington: Indiana Univcrsity Publications, 1969). p. 117.
24
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
peoples and societies in the contemporary world. But the central government's decline
did not mean that the civilization of the Uyghurs disappeared at that time. The Uyghurs
had a long history of urbiculture and a high level of civilization as well as numerous
intellectual groups in their court.
They also had developed a regional influence over the region so that the area
remained solidly civilized in the Uyghur fashion. Evidence refutes some of the previous
research by other scholars on these Uyghur historical e'vents. At this time, the Uyghurs
shifted the center of their power to another location or, to put it another way, they were
forced to change the capital of the Uyghur Empire to another of their cities. They were
ab,le to move the surviving ruling group into the surrounding region without battle
because their civilization extended througho.ut the area. Scholars have never found a
historical record or even a single piece of evidence in any historical document that says
that the Uyghurs used force when their remnants, driven by the Kirghiz, came down into
the area of the present Uyghur-land. This is a true even though the Chinese historians of
the Tang court left behind rich historical materials about the Uyghur Empire and detailed
reports related to the history of the Uyghurs of that time.
After the Uyghurs shifted their central power and the surviving populations into
the present Uyghur-land, they joined with that area's civilization to establish the Uyghur
Qara Khanate and Id'iqut Uyghur Khanate. They developed their culture in the present
southern and eastern parts of the Uyghur region, reorganizing and rebuilding as well as
further advancing their culture. And they made the region into a center of civilization of
Central Asia once again, which lasted until the Mongol invasion.
Chingiz Khan conquered Eurasia in the thirteenth century (during the period
1219-1225). The war ruined innumerable cities, cultures, and antiquities. The Uyghurs,
like other Central Asian groups, were forced to change their cultural life completely
under both political and social pressure following the Mongol invasion. The Uyghurs also
had changed ideologically, having converted to Islam in 960 A.D. But neither the
Chinese, the Persians, the Arabs, nor the Mongols could assimilate them. The Uyghurs
persisted as a distinct culture through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Regarding Uyghur civilization destroyed by the Mongol war. the scholars Thomas
Francis Carter an~ L. Carrington Goodrich have described it as follows:
25
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
It is known that the Uyghur civilization did not long survive the
drain on its manpower caused by the Mongol wars. Therefore, the date at
which the Turpan documents ,come to an end cannot be much later than
the close of the thirteenth century. It may therefore be said with a fair
degree of certainty that a number of the best printed pieces-and perhaps a
very considerable number- belong to the thirteenth century and the
opening years of the fourteenth. whenUyghur printing came to its climax
and ended. How far back this art goes can be only matter for conjecture. It
may possibly go back as far as that at Tunhuang or further. It is certain
that there is a large amount of very primitive printing and near printing,
which may indicate several centuries of development. Some would assign
much of the printing in the Uyghur language to an early date, because the
Uyghur civilization rose to its height during the ninth and tenth
centuries.37
There were many Uyghur scholars who have led Uyghurs to preserve Uyghur
cultural heritage and maintain their cultural identity across time. These were: Tonyuquq,
Yola Tegin, Zakak Bagan, Tangri Bogti Al Bilga, S'ingqu Sali, Chii Tashygan,
Pirtanrakshit, Kiky Qorsa, Sultan Sutuq Bughra, Yiisiif Khas Hajip, Makhmud Qashqari,
Barchuq Arat, Akhmat Yiiknaki (seventh to twelfth centuries C.E.). Later scholars were
Atayi, Sekaki, Lutfi, and Elisher Nawayi (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries C.E.). They
played significant roles in their lifetimes in protecting the Uyghur cultural identity and
ethnicity since the early medieval times. Their names and works live among the Uyghurs
and in Central Asian cultural history.
Every historian understands that much evidence has not yet and may never be
found. Numerous Uyghur scholars and their great leaders (the Arslan Khans) who ha~e
contributed to Central Asian civilization, silently passed away unknown to their own
people and public, left without even a tomb in history. A sense of their names and traces
will be remembered by the Central Asian people, in the way one modern Uyghur poet
unites the past with the present:
37 Thomas Francis Carter and L. Carrington Goodrich. The In~'ention of Printing in China alld Its Spread
Westward. 2nd edition (New York: Ronald Press Company. 1988). pp. 143-44.
26
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
IZ [Trace]
1. We were young when we made the long journey on horseback,
2. It happens that those grandchildren of ours, in a way, have now
mounted up.
3. We were few when we mounted horses for the demanding journey,
4. Now, leaving a trace in the deserts, we emerged as a great caravan.
5. The trace still remained through the deserts, sometimes in mountain
passes,
6. So many lion-hearted ones38 were left in the plain, in the desert, without
graves.
7. In a field where the tamarisk turns red, don't say "left without graves,"
8. Our graves wrap themselves in blooms and flowers at dawn, in spring.
9. A trace lingered, the halting place lingered, and all of them lingered, far
away,
10. When a storm comes up, even if the dunes shift, they will scarcely
bury our trace.
11. From the route of the ceaseless caravan, although the horses grow
emaciated,
12. One day, our grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, will most
assuredly find this trace,
13. No matter what. 39
The poem is a highly artistic condensation of Uyghur history. It comprehensively
traces the dramatic changes in Uyghurs society and reveals the continuous development
of Uyghur civilization.
38 "Lion" (UArslan") here refers to the title given by Uyghur leaders across time to their kings. The author
tries to remind new generations of Uyghurs nOl to forget their historic leadership and independence, even
though the Arslan-like kings of the lIyghurs arc gone without trace ("left \vithout graves"). As soon as the
season turns into "spring"-whcn the political weather turns fine-the names of the "Arslanlar" will be
memorized hy the hearts of the people fore"er.
39 Abdirehim Otkur. 198.... for details. see itA Gentle. Ncw Allegory by an Older lIyghur Author." trans.
and annotatcd by Edward Allworth and Gularncuin Pahta. Central and Inner Asian Studies 1: 107-16 (Ncw
York, 1987).
27
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
Uyghur Regional Identity
According to Uyghur legend, people call Uyghur-Iand "three mountain grip three
basins." The Tangri Mountains divide the entire Uyghur-Iand into two different natural
geographical areas: the Yarish Basin in the north and the Tarim Basin in the south. The
Turpan Basin and the Qumul district lie to the far east of Tangri mountain ranges,
contiguous to the Buddhist caves of Dunhuang.
At the center of the Tarim Basin lies the Taklimakanian Desert, which has a
surface area of 0.32 million square kilometers. One of the world's oldest civilizations and
the, richest urbiculture of the Uyghur city-kingdoms (which included Yotkan, Aksepil,
Tokoz Saray, Niya, Kroran, Lelelik, Sub~xi, and Miran) was buried under the
Taklimakanian sands. The 2,OOO-kilometer-long Tarim River intersects the
Taklimakanian Desert, aHowing both sides of the river to be cultivated; here the Uyghur
created their civilization, unique in all the world. Among the Uyghur people there is the
belief that "Taklimakanian" refers to a place where, "If you go in, you will never come
out." However, the original meaning of "Taklimakanian" In ancient Uyghur is
"Vineyard," and the meaning of "Tarim" is "cultivated land."
Geographical formations separated Uyghurs throughout history into the natural
oasis communities of the south and the north, divided by the Tangri Mountains; one
result is the difference in dialects spoken by southern and northern Uyghurs. Uyghur-Iand
has a dry climate typical of the region, with rich natural resources; these include coal
mines, metals, gold, silver, oils, gas, a vast green steppe for animal husbandry, vineyards
of long cultivation, and orchards that, owing to its geological formation, produce various
fruits unique to this land.
Conclusion
Archaeological excavations and historical records show that Uyghur-Iand is the
most important repository of Uyghur and Central Asian treasures. Indeed, there are only a
few places in the world that can claim the religious, linguistic. cultural, and artistic
diversity at any period that Uyghur-Iand can. Shamanism. Buddhism. Manichaeism.
Nestorianism, an~ Islam flourished in Uyghur-Iand side by side and one after another.
28
Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
along with the traditions of early ethnic Uyghur cults. Uyghurs are an indigenous people
of Central Asia; they have developed a unique culture and arts that made significant
contributions to the Asian culture. The Uyghur intellectuals have struggled to renew and
keep their cultural identity since the tenth century C.E., and the best way to understand
Uyghur identity is to learn Uyghur history and civilization.
By carefully examining the various aspects of Uyghur Identity, I hope I have
demonstrated what I deeply believe: that neglecting Uyghur civilization is neglecting
Central Asian civilization, neglecting Central Asian civilization is neglecting Asian
civilization, and neglecting Asian civilization is neglecting world civilization; in other
words destroying the Uyghur cultural heritage is destroying a rich part of the world's
cultural heritage. Saving the Uyghur culture is saving Central Asian, Asian, and world
culture.
29












Dolkun Kamberi, "Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 150 (May, 2005)
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44
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