Ethnic groups in Xinjiang are inseparable from the Chinese nation
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VCG111221312532.jpgOn June 16, 2019, people of all ethnic groups celebrated the apricot harvest by singing and dancing in Aksu, Xinjiang. (Photo: VCG)

Historically, the Chinese nation took shape and developed through cultural communication, exchanges and integration between peoples in the Central Plains and in other regions, the white paper said.

“Historical Matters Concerning Xinjiang,” released by the State Council Information Office, said different ethnic groups in China eventually settled among each other, with compact communities here and there after a long historical process. Multiethnicity is a prominent feature of China.

Together, the ethnic groups of China have explored the country’s rich resources and vast territories, and have created a long history and a splendid culture, the document said.

VCG111221524396.jpgThe 12th Xinjiang Stone Fair was held in Urumqi on June 18, 2019. (Photo: VCG)

Xinjiang has been in close contact with the Central Plains since ancient times. As early as the Shang Dynasty (BC 1600-BC 1046), the Western Regions traded jade with the Central Plains.

During the Han Dynasty (BC 202-8; 25-220), emissaries and merchants traveled the Silk Road, and in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), merchants from the Central Plains and the Western Regions traded silk and horses, which all acted upon the close ties between the ancestors of the Western Regions and the Central Plains.

“Music and dances from Khotan, Gaochang and other places in the Western Regions were performed in the Tang court,” it said. “And the music of Qiuci (today’s Kucha, Xinjiang) enjoyed great fame in the Central Plains, and became an important component of court music in the Sui (581-618), Tang and Song dynasties.”

The white paper pointed out that in modern times, at critical junctures of the Chinese nation, the ethnic peoples in Xinjiang have fought alongside the rest of the country with great patriotism.

VCG111189835786.jpgOn February 3, 2019, on the train from Changchun to Urumqi, a Spring Festival Gala put on the stage. The stewardess and minority students gave a performance. (Photo: VCG)

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), ethnic relations in Xinjiang have entered a new era characterized by equality, solidarity, mutual help and harmony.

Xinjiang has been a multiethnic region since ancient times. And the white paper also pointed out that the earliest explorers of Xinjiang included peoples living in the Tianshan Mountains and the Xiongnu and Han peoples in the pre-Qin, Qin (BC 221-BC 207) and Han dynasties.

From the period of the Wei, Jin (220-420) to the period of the Yuan (1206-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1912), large numbers of various ethnic groups entering Xinjiang at different periods brought technology, culture and ideas, folk customs, and many other aspects of their lives into the region, promoting economic and social development through exchanges and integration. They were all explorers of Xinjiang, the white paper said.

By the end of the 19th century, 13 ethnic groups, including the Uygur, Han, Kazak and Mongol, had settled in Xinjiang, with the Uygurs having the largest population.

VCG111223925494.jpgThe grand bazaar in Urumqi (Photo: VCG)

Ethnic groups had grown, developed and integrated with each other despite periods of isolations and conflict, and shared good fortune and hardship based off of a close relationship. All of them have made important contributions to exploring, developing and protecting Xinjiang, and they are all masters of Xinjiang, the document noted.

Currently inhabited by 56 ethnic groups, Xinjiang is one of the provincial-level administrative regions with the most ethnic groups in China. The Uygur, Han, Kazak and Hui have populations of one million and above, and the Kirgiz and Mongol have populations exceeding 100,000, the document said.

Today, Xinjiang is not only home to various ethnic groups, but also an integral part of the Chinese nation. 

The Uygur ethnic group was formed through a long process of migration and integration. The main ancestors of the Uygurs were the Ouigour people who lived on the Mongolian Plateau during the Sui and Tang dynasties. 

Historically, to resist oppression and slavery by the Turks, the Ouigour people united with some of the Tiele tribes to form the Ouigour tribal alliance. From the Tang Dynasty to the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang further merged. 

In 1934, Xinjiang issued a government order stipulating that “Uygur” would be the standard Chinese name for the ethnic group, the document said.VCG111219711855.jpgOn June 5, 2019, cadres and masses of all ethnic groups made zongzi together in Kumul to celebrate the advent of Dragon Boat Festival. (Photo: VCG)

“The evolution of ethnic relations in Xinjiang has always been linked to that between all ethnic groups in China,” the white paper pointed out, “There have been periods of isolation and conflict, but exchange and integration, and unity and joint effort have always been the prevailing trend.” 

(Compiled by Cui Chunhui)