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The Uygur Nationality |
The Uygur nationality has a population of 7,210,000, with the majority living in concentrated communities to the south of the Tianshan Mountains and the rest distributed in Northern Xinjiang,Ili and other places. The Uygurs believe in Islam and have their own written and spoken language. Mainly involved in agriculture, they grow fine cotton. From absorbing the best of both western and eastern cultures along the "Silk Road" connecting Europe and Asia, the Uygur nationality has created a unique national culture. Their jade carving, carpets, tapestries and other handicraft are all renowned.
Xinjiang, situated in the northwest border area of China and to the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, is a land where the extremes of poverty and riches, high mountains and deep valleys, fierce heat and numbing cold coexist amidst the deserts. The Uygur nationality with a brilliant culture is living right on this magic land.
Most Uygurs live in flat-roofed houses with a skylight. Their courtyards, usually square,are often planted with fruit trees and flowers. The bedrooms are often in the north. Inside the room are a Kang, a stove and a built-in wardrobe. The Kang, about 30 centimeters high, is built with earth and is not heated. The stove looks like a fireplace. Kangs against the walls are like windowsills on which quilts, bedding and clothes are put. The walls are sometimes decorated with figures.
The Uygurs are skilled in growing cotton, good at breeding silkworms, and hard-working with spinning and weaving. Their unique costumes are cleverly made from locally produced cloth and silk. The Uygur people like to wear the "Qiapan," a long gown. The men usually wear round-collared long gowns with no buttons. Narrow-sleeved, the gown opens under the right arm but with no slits in the sides below. Tied around the waist is a long square scarf. The women' s gowns are often open in the front with inner blouses and shirts reaching the knee. The girls comb their hair into dozens of braids. When going out on a visit, they cover their heads with a colorful scarf or white cloth, then put a veil over their faces and a hat on top of that. Some women wear broad-sleeved dresses under black waistcoats buttoned in the front.Most girls like to wear earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces and other ornaments to make themselves appear prosperous and beautiful.
The Uygur people are mainly farmers growing cotton, wheat, rice, corn and other crops.Using their experience and skill, the hard-working Uygurs have dug a unique irrigation system--"Karez," and thus opened up a string of oasis in the desert.
The Uygur region is famed for good yields of various melons and fruits, and is known as a land of melons and fruits. Raisins and Hami melons are especially renowned at home and abroad. Whenever we talk about Xinjiang, we think of those sweet grapes and luscious melons.
Men and women, young and old, just about everyone wears a colorful embroidered hat,which is both attractive and very characteristic of this nationality. As a unique handicraft of the Uygurs, the making of embroidered hats has a very long history. The hats they make are varied in style and bright in color. Besides wearing them as part of their costumes, the Uygur people also use these embroidered hats as gifts for relatives, friends and guests from far away.
The Uygurs were the first people to import the technology of silkworm breeding. Farmers in Hetian and Shache area still breed silkworms and weave silk products themselves. Atlas silk,which is famous at home and abroad, is produced using a special batik process. Rich and gaudy in style, the silk is prized by local people. When recent economic reforms take effect, Atlas silk is shining again on the ancient silk road.
The Yingjisha knife, which has a history of hundreds of years, is another traditionally famous handicraft of the Uygurs. The knife is elegantly molded: the body is flat and shiny; the blade is sharp; the handle is inlaid with silver, copper, jade, bone, stones and so on to create typical Uygur motifs. A fine leather sheath is fitted to make it easy to carry.
"Darwaz, ' meaning "walking on a rope in the air" in the Uygur language, is one of the traditional sports of the Uygur nationality; it has a very long history. "Dawazi' is similar to high wire walking in acrobatics, and the performers in general have great skill and exceptional courage. On June 22, 1997, in order to welcome Hongkong back to China, Adili, a young Uygur performed "Darwaz" over the torrents of the Three Gorges. He crossed the whole distance in only 13 minutes 48 seconds, which created a new world-record.
The traditional holidays of the Uygurs include Lesser Bairam, Corban and others. These two holidays both come from Islam. The dates are calculated according to the Islamic calendar and change from year to year, so sometimes they are in winter, sometimes in summer.
Lesser Bairam is also called "Fast-breaking Festival." According to the requirements of Islam, every adult Moslem must undergo a month's fast every year. During the period, the Moslems can only eat before sunrise or after sunset; they must not eat anything during the day. Thirty days later, they gather at the mosques to hold religious services before starting their happy holiday activities. Every household has prepared sumptuous food for the holiday.Everyone goes out to enjoy themselves, paying visits and offering each other congratulations.
The Uygur nationality has long been reputed as a nation of singing and dancing. In regions where they live in close communities, almost everyone is good at singing and dancing."Twelve Mukam" is a national epic of music and dance created by the ancient Uygur people.It stems from Qiuci music of over a thousand years ago, and still retains the lasting appeal of this ancient music. It has a rich content, including sections of narratives, ancient musical odes, dance music and musical compositions. It consists of more than 300 verses, all different in style from each other, and is regarded as a great treasure in the history of oriental music. "Twelve Mukamu" is deeply loved by the Uygur people, and has been handed down over the ages.
The dances of the Uygur are lithe and graceful, and are famous for sudden changes in movement and pace. The most popular among them is a folk dance called "Sanam." It is a piece of dance music included in "Twelve Mukam," and it has spread widely to the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. Whenever "Sanam" is played, people will always sit around clapping and singing to the music while making improvisations.
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