Dungan
Encyclopedia
Dungans called by Chinese
and translated in Chinese language as Hui
("回族"), are an ethnic group of Persian
origin. The Dungans are dispersive people, comprising the majority population of Ningxia Autonomous Region
, and scatter in other parts of China. They also have middle-scale communities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia.
The Dungans, or as ancient Chinese called "Huihui", is originally Persians and Turks which resides in Khwarazm since ancient times. Yelü Dashi, the 12th-century founder of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, defeating the Huihui Dashibu (回回大食部) people near Samarkand – apparently, referring to his defeat of the Khwarazm ruler Ahmed Sanjar in 1141. Khwarazm is referred to as Hui-hui-guo (which means “the country of Dungans”) in the Secret History of the Mongols as well.
Between 1220 and 1231, the Mongols crashed the Khwarazmids by order of Gengkis Khan, and forced local Persians, Turks and Bukharian Jews to serve for Mongol army in China, who were classified later by Mongols as Semu. The Semu from Khwarazm suffered greatly under the mistreatment of Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan forced foreign Jews and Muslims in China to stop Halal and Kosher methods of preparing food:
Though classified higher than Han Chinese, Dungans eventually resisted the mistreatment of Mongol Empire with Han Chinese and constructed Ming Dynasty together. The Ming Dynasty employed many Dungans and the Ming Emperor treated Dungans relatively freely. Hui troops were also used by the Ming Dynasty to crush the Miao and other aboriginal rebels during the Miao Rebellions
, and were also settled in Changde, Hunan, where their descendants still live. Muslims in Ming Dynasty Beijing
were given relative freedom by the Chinese, with no restrictions placed on their religious practices or freedom of worship, and being normal citizens in Beijing. In contrast to the freedom granted to Muslims, followers of Tibetan Buddhism and Catholicism suffered from restrictions and censure in Beijing.
Among the whole Ming Dynasty, the comunication between Dungans and Middle Asia proceeded continuously. Joseph Fletcher
cites Turkic and Persian manuscripts related to the preaching of the 17th century Kashgarian Sufi master Muhammad Yūsuf (or, possibly, his son Afaq Khoja) inside the Ming Empire (in today's Gansu and/or Qinghai), where the Kashgarian preacher is told to have converted 'ulamā-yi Tunganiyyān (i.e., "Dungan ulema") into Sufism.
and Ningxia
to Kuldja and Kashgar
after the Revolt of Jahriyya
Dungans caused by the imprisonment of Ma Mingxin
. The Han Chinese sold the captured women and children to Middle Asian slavetraders. They mostly served in private wealthy households. After the abolition of slavery by the Russian conquest of Central Asia, female Dungan slaves still stayed where they were originally held captive, a Russian ethnographer Validimir Petrovich Nalivkin and his wife said that "women slaves almost all remained in place, because they either were married to workers and servants of their former owners, or they were too young to begin an independent life." Dungan women slaves were of mean status, and not regarded highly in Bukhara
.
Up to early 19th century, the Dungans became a major ethnic group in East Turkestan (Xinjiang). Marshall Broomhall
, who has a chapter on "the Tungan Rebellion" in his 1910 book, referred the translation of the report on "Tungans" by an Ottoman
writer named Abd-ul-Aziz. Abd-ul-Aziz divides the "Tungan people" into two branches: "the Tungans of China proper", as he also talks e.g. about the Tungans having 17 mosques in Beijing), and "The Tungans of Chinese and Russian Turkestan", who still look and speak Chinese, but have often also learned the Turkish language
.
The Dungans currently exists in the former Soviet republics are refugees who fled China in the nineteenth century, escaping retaliation of Han Chinese after the Muslim uprising in Northwestern China. In this uprising Dungans and Uighurs united to resist the enslavery of Chinese.
Muhammad Ayyub (Chinese: Bai Yan-Hu(白彦虎)) was the biggest leader of this Dungan uprising, often called by his followers Akhund Muhammad Ayyub or Imam
Muhammad Ayyub (he was the highest Imam of Shaanxi). Under the pressure of Chinese Army, his army went to East Turkestan (Xinjiang
), making an alliance with Yaqub Beg. After the falldown of Yaqub Beg, Muhammad Ayyub asked for protection of the Russian Empire. General Zuo Zongtang (called by Middle Asians as "Butcher Tso(Zuo)" for his responsibility to the massacre of millions of Dungan and Uighur civilians) demanded the extradition of Muhammad Ayyub and his followers, instantly refused by Russian government.
According to Rimsky-Korsakoff (1992), three separate groups of the Dungans fled to the Russian Empire across the Tengri Tagh
during the exceptionally severe winter of 1877/78:
The next wave of re-immigration followed in the early 1880s. In accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881)
, which required the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Upper Ili
Basin (the Kulja area), the Dungans and (Uyghurs
) were allowed to opt for moving to the Russian side of the border. Many chose that option; according to Russian statistics, 4,682 Dungans remained in Xinjiang moved to the Russian Empire under the treaty. They migrated in many small groups between 1881 and 1883, settling in south-eastern Kazakhstan
and northern Kyrgyzstan
.
to protect other Middle Asians and fight with White movement. Magaza Masanchi
(Dungan: Магәзы Масанчын; Chinese: 马三奇) was their leader. Because of his bravery and leadership in Russian Civil War, Karakunuz was renamed Masanchi (sometimes spelt as "Masanchin") after him in 1965.
During World War II
, most Dungan men are ordered for military service, during which many of them died. Mansuza Vanakhun (Cyrillic Dungan
: мансуза ванахун; Mandarin Chinese:曼苏尔•王阿洪) was a Dungan National Hero
who led a mortar battery.
Nowadays many Dungan people live in cities such as Almaty
, Taraz
, Bishkek
, Tokmok
, Karakol
, Tashkent
, Andijan
and Samarkand
. Some of them still live in countryside.
The following table summarizes location of Dungan villages in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, alternative names used for them, and their Dungan population as reported by Ma Tong (2003). The Cyrillic Dungan spelling of place names is as in the textbook by Sushanlo, Imazov (1988); the spelling of the name in Chinese character is as in Ma Tong (2003).
The position of the Kazakhstan villages within the administrative division of Zhambyl Province
, and the total population of each village can be found at the provincial statistics office web site.
By the time of Khwarazmian dynasty the Dungans used Farsi (Persian), which had great currency among Dungans even after they were brought to China. Turkic languages and Arabic were spoken by foreingn residents in China, but the most important non-Chinese language was Persian, spoken by many of the conscripted artisans and soldiers from Central Asia, merchants and all the educated nobility and imams. In 1289 the Mongol Qubilai (Hu-bi-lie) Khan (1260-¬94), on the recommendation of the department of state affairs (Shang-shu Sheng), established a Muslim national university in Da-du (Khanbaliq
, modern Beijing
) for “the sons of officials and the rich” (gong-qing dai-fu ji fu-min zhi zi); a scholar from the elite Hanlin academy, Yi-fu-de-ha-lu¬-ding (probably Efteḵār-al-Dīn) was charged with responsibility for teaching it.
Since the Ming Dynasty the Dungans were restricted to use Persian in public, therefore the Dungans are forced to learn Mandarin as interracial language, mixing many Farsi words, which is now often called as Dungan language (Хуэйзў йүян or Huejzw jyian). After the Dungan uprising in 1860-1870s, with the arrival of Muslim Brotherhood, a few Dungans in China began to use Arabic instead of Persian privately, while remaining use Mandarin in normal life.
Unlike other minority nationalities in Central Asia, such as the Middle Asian Koreans
, the Dungans are trilingual. More than two-thirds of the Dungans speak Russian, and a small proportion can speak Kyrgyz or other languages belonging to the titular nationalities of the countries where they live.
The Dungan culture are basically similar to other ethnic nationalities in Middle Asia, especially Tajiks. The Dungan crafts and cuisine have Persian origin. Although Dungan finery had been influenced by Chinese fashion in the past (men wore Ma Gua(马褂) with Taqiyah while women wore Cheongsam), the Dungans now wear Russian clothes with Ushanka
.
Around the late 19th century the Bride Price was between 240 to 400 rubles for Dungan women. Dungans take other women such as Kirghiz and Tatars as brides willingly, or kidnap Kirghiz girls. Though marriage customs of Dungans are conservative, Dungan men are allowed to marry Turkish girls, or even Russian and Jewish girls (in Middle Asia marriage between muslim men and non-muslim women are very common).
The Middle Asians also recognize Dungans and Han Chinese as two different groups. Marshall Broomhall]]’s book introduces "the name Tungan or Dungan, by which the Muslims of these parts [i.e., NE China] are designated, in contradistinction as the Chinese Buddhists who are spoken of as Kithay"; the reference to "Khitay
" shows that he was viewing the two terms as used by Turkic speakers.
Islam came to the Dungans in the manner it came to Hui people
. See the article on Gedimu, Jahriyya, Khwarazmian Dynasty, and Hui people for more information.
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
and translated in Chinese language as Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
("回族"), are an ethnic group of Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
origin. The Dungans are dispersive people, comprising the majority population of Ningxia Autonomous Region
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
, and scatter in other parts of China. They also have middle-scale communities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia.
History
The term “Dungan” is from the Turkic word döñän ("one who turns"), which has a similar meaning with the Chinese version of Dungans’ name "回回" (HuíHuí, "turnback"). The Chinese scholars tend to associate the name with Chinese word "东干" (Dong Gan), which means 'Eastern Gansu' (东甘), the region to which many Dungans can trace their ancestry. However the term "Dungan" ("Tonggan", "Donggan") has been used by Central Asian Turkic- and Tajik-speaking people for several centuries, and many Dungans can trace their ancestry to Shaanxi, therefore this theory is widely questioned (in fact, "Huihui" everywhere are referred to by Middle Asian Turks and Tajiks as Dungans).Diaspora from Middle Asia
Between 1220 and 1231, the Mongols crashed the Khwarazmids by order of Gengkis Khan, and forced local Persians, Turks and Bukharian Jews to serve for Mongol army in China, who were classified later by Mongols as Semu. The Semu from Khwarazm suffered greatly under the mistreatment of Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan forced foreign Jews and Muslims in China to stop Halal and Kosher methods of preparing food:
Among all the [subject] alien peoples only the Hui-hui say “we do not eat Mongol food”. [Cinggis Qa’an replied:] “By the aid of heaven we have pacified you; you are our slaves. Yet you do not eat our food or drink. How can this be right?” He thereupon made them eat. “If you slaughter sheep, you will be considered guilty of a crime.” He issued a regulation to that effect ... [In 1279/1280 under Qubilai] all the Muslims say: “if someone else slaughters [the animal] we do not eat”. Because the poor people are upset by this, from now on, Musuluman [Muslim] Huihui and Zhuhu [Jewish] Huihui, no matter who kills [the animal] will eat [it] and must cease slaughtering sheep themselves, and cease the rite of circumcision.
Though classified higher than Han Chinese, Dungans eventually resisted the mistreatment of Mongol Empire with Han Chinese and constructed Ming Dynasty together. The Ming Dynasty employed many Dungans and the Ming Emperor treated Dungans relatively freely. Hui troops were also used by the Ming Dynasty to crush the Miao and other aboriginal rebels during the Miao Rebellions
Miao Rebellions (Ming Dynasty)
The Miao Rebellions were a series of Rebellions of the aboriginal Miao and other aboriginal tribes of southern China. The Ming Dynasty crushed the rebels with overwhelming force...
, and were also settled in Changde, Hunan, where their descendants still live. Muslims in Ming Dynasty Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
were given relative freedom by the Chinese, with no restrictions placed on their religious practices or freedom of worship, and being normal citizens in Beijing. In contrast to the freedom granted to Muslims, followers of Tibetan Buddhism and Catholicism suffered from restrictions and censure in Beijing.
Among the whole Ming Dynasty, the comunication between Dungans and Middle Asia proceeded continuously. Joseph Fletcher
Joseph Fletcher (historian)
Joseph F. Fletcher, Jr., usually referred to simply as Joseph Fletcher was an American historian of China and Central Asia, a professor at East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department of Harvard University...
cites Turkic and Persian manuscripts related to the preaching of the 17th century Kashgarian Sufi master Muhammad Yūsuf (or, possibly, his son Afaq Khoja) inside the Ming Empire (in today's Gansu and/or Qinghai), where the Kashgarian preacher is told to have converted 'ulamā-yi Tunganiyyān (i.e., "Dungan ulema") into Sufism.
Re-immigration to Middle Asia
The Dungans first re-appeared in Middle Asia were prisoners and captive exiled from GansuGansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
and Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
to Kuldja and Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
after the Revolt of Jahriyya
Jahriyya
Jahriyya is a Sufi order in China that once existed in Persia and the Turkish World. Founded by Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani, it was brought to China in the 1760s by Ma Mingxin...
Dungans caused by the imprisonment of Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin was a Dungan Sufi master, the establisher of the Jahriyya Sufi order in China.-Names:Ma Mingxin's religious name was Ibrāhīm. After returning to China from Arabia he started calling himself 'Azīz.He was also called Muhammad Emin.-Life:A Persian-speaking Muslim from Gansu, Ma Mingxin...
. The Han Chinese sold the captured women and children to Middle Asian slavetraders. They mostly served in private wealthy households. After the abolition of slavery by the Russian conquest of Central Asia, female Dungan slaves still stayed where they were originally held captive, a Russian ethnographer Validimir Petrovich Nalivkin and his wife said that "women slaves almost all remained in place, because they either were married to workers and servants of their former owners, or they were too young to begin an independent life." Dungan women slaves were of mean status, and not regarded highly in Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
.
Up to early 19th century, the Dungans became a major ethnic group in East Turkestan (Xinjiang). Marshall Broomhall
Marshall Broomhall
Marshall B. Broomhall , was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. He also authored many books on the subject of Chinese missionary work. He was the most famous son of the anti-opium trade activist and General Secretary of the C.I.M...
, who has a chapter on "the Tungan Rebellion" in his 1910 book, referred the translation of the report on "Tungans" by an Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
writer named Abd-ul-Aziz. Abd-ul-Aziz divides the "Tungan people" into two branches: "the Tungans of China proper", as he also talks e.g. about the Tungans having 17 mosques in Beijing), and "The Tungans of Chinese and Russian Turkestan", who still look and speak Chinese, but have often also learned the Turkish language
Uyghur language
Uyghur , formerly known as Eastern Turk, is a Turkic language with 8 to 11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Significant communities of Uyghur-speakers are located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and various other...
.
Muhammad Ayyub (Chinese: Bai Yan-Hu(白彦虎)) was the biggest leader of this Dungan uprising, often called by his followers Akhund Muhammad Ayyub or Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
Muhammad Ayyub (he was the highest Imam of Shaanxi). Under the pressure of Chinese Army, his army went to East Turkestan (Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
), making an alliance with Yaqub Beg. After the falldown of Yaqub Beg, Muhammad Ayyub asked for protection of the Russian Empire. General Zuo Zongtang (called by Middle Asians as "Butcher Tso(Zuo)" for his responsibility to the massacre of millions of Dungan and Uighur civilians) demanded the extradition of Muhammad Ayyub and his followers, instantly refused by Russian government.
According to Rimsky-Korsakoff (1992), three separate groups of the Dungans fled to the Russian Empire across the Tengri Tagh
Tian Shan
The Tian Shan , also spelled Tien Shan, is a large mountain system located in Central Asia. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Victory Peak , ....
during the exceptionally severe winter of 1877/78:
- The first group, of some 1000 people, originally from Turpan in XinjiangXinjiangXinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, led by Ma Daren (马大人, 'Master Ma'), also known as Ma Da-lao-ye (马大老爷, 'The Great Lord Ma'), reached OshOshOsh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". The city is at least 3,000 years old, and has served as the administrative center of Osh Province since 1939...
in southern KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
. - The second group, originally from DidaozhouLintao CountyLintao County is administratively under the control of Dingxi, Gansu province. In ancient times, Lintao was centered around present day Min County.-Geography:...
(狄道州) in Gansu, led by an ahondAkhoondAn akhoond is a Persian name for a Muslim cleric, common in Iran, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. The Dungani word for imam "ahond", in Mandarin "阿訇", used in particular by the Dungans, also derives from this term....
named Ma Yusuf (马郁素夫), also known as Ah Yelaoren (阿爷老人, 'the Old Lord'), were settled in the spring of 1878 in the village of Yrdyk ( or Ырдык) some 15 km from KarakolKarakolKarakol , formerly Przhevalsk, is fourth largest city in Kyrgyzstan, near the eastern tip of Issyk Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan, about from the Kyrgyzstan-China border and from the capital Bishkek. It is the administrative capital of Issyk Kul Province...
in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. They numbered 1130 on arrival. - The third group, originally from ShaanxiShaanxi' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
, led by Muhammad Ayyub, were settled in the village of Karakunuz (now Masanchi) located in Zhambyl ProvinceZhambyl ProvinceJambyl Province is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taraz. The population of the province is 1,000,000; the city is 335,100. The province borders Kyrgyzstan, and is very near Uzbekistan. Jambyl also borders three other provinces: Karagandy Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Almaty...
of Kazakhstan. This group numbered 3314 on arrival.
The next wave of re-immigration followed in the early 1880s. In accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881)
Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881)
The Treaty of Saint Petersburg , also known as Treaty of Ili, was the treaty between the Russian Empire and the Chinese Empire, signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 12 February 1881...
, which required the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Upper Ili
Ili River
thumb|right|300px|Map of the Lake Balkhash drainage basin showing the Ili River and its tributariesThe Ili River is a river in northwestern China and southeastern Kazakhstan .It is long, of which is in Kazakhstan...
Basin (the Kulja area), the Dungans and (Uyghurs
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
) were allowed to opt for moving to the Russian side of the border. Many chose that option; according to Russian statistics, 4,682 Dungans remained in Xinjiang moved to the Russian Empire under the treaty. They migrated in many small groups between 1881 and 1883, settling in south-eastern Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
and northern Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
.
Soviet rule
The Dungans and the Russians maintain a very close and solid relationship. During the Russian Civil War, many Dungans joined Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
to protect other Middle Asians and fight with White movement. Magaza Masanchi
Magaza Masanchi
Magaza Masanchi or Magaza Masanchin was a Dungan Communist revolutionary commander and Statesman in the Soviet Union. He participated in the Russian Revolution on the Bolshevik side. Karakunuz in Kazakhstan was renamed Masanchi after him...
(Dungan: Магәзы Масанчын; Chinese: 马三奇) was their leader. Because of his bravery and leadership in Russian Civil War, Karakunuz was renamed Masanchi (sometimes spelt as "Masanchin") after him in 1965.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, most Dungan men are ordered for military service, during which many of them died. Mansuza Vanakhun (Cyrillic Dungan
Dungan language
The Dungan language is a Sinitic language spoken by the Dungan of Central Asia, an ethnic group related to the Hui people of China.-History:...
: мансуза ванахун; Mandarin Chinese:曼苏尔•王阿洪) was a Dungan National Hero
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
who led a mortar battery.
Dungan settlements in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Almaty
Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
, Taraz
Taraz
Taraz , is a city and a center of the Jambyl Province in Kazakhstan. It is located in the south of Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, on the Talas River...
, Bishkek
Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
, Tokmok
Tokmok
Tokmok ; , Tokmak) is a city of about 53,087 in northern Kyrgyzstan, east of the country's capital of Bishkek. Its geographical location is ; its altitude is 816 m above sea level. From 2004 until 19 April 2006 it served as the administrative seat of Chui Province...
, Karakol
Karakol
Karakol , formerly Przhevalsk, is fourth largest city in Kyrgyzstan, near the eastern tip of Issyk Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan, about from the Kyrgyzstan-China border and from the capital Bishkek. It is the administrative capital of Issyk Kul Province...
, Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, Andijan
Andijan
Andijan or Andizhan is the fourth-largest city in Uzbekistan, and the capital of the Andijan Province. It is located in the east of the country, at , in the Fergana Valley, near the border with Kyrgyzstan on the Andijan-Say River...
and Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
. Some of them still live in countryside.
The following table summarizes location of Dungan villages in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, alternative names used for them, and their Dungan population as reported by Ma Tong (2003). The Cyrillic Dungan spelling of place names is as in the textbook by Sushanlo, Imazov (1988); the spelling of the name in Chinese character is as in Ma Tong (2003).
| Village name (and alternatives) | Location (in present-day terms) | Foundation | Current Dungan population (from Ma Tang (2003)) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... - total 48,000 (Ma Tang (2003)) or 36,900 (Kazakhstan Census of 1999) |
|||
| Masanchi or Masanchin (Russian: Масанчин; Cyrillic Dungan Dungan language The Dungan language is a Sinitic language spoken by the Dungan of Central Asia, an ethnic group related to the Hui people of China.-History:... : Масанчын; 马三成), prior to 1965 Karakunuz (Каракунуз, Караконыз). |
(42°55′40"N 75°18′00"E) Korday District Korday District Korday is a district of Zhambyl Province in south-eastern Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is Korday town.... , Zhambyl Province Zhambyl Province Jambyl Province is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taraz. The population of the province is 1,000,000; the city is 335,100. The province borders Kyrgyzstan, and is very near Uzbekistan. Jambyl also borders three other provinces: Karagandy Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Almaty... of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... (8 km north of Tokmok Tokmok Tokmok ; , Tokmak) is a city of about 53,087 in northern Kyrgyzstan, east of the country's capital of Bishkek. Its geographical location is ; its altitude is 816 m above sea level. From 2004 until 19 April 2006 it served as the administrative seat of Chui Province... , Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east... ) |
Spring 1878. 3314 people from Shaanxi Shaanxi ' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province... , led by Muhammad Ayyub (白彦虎). |
7,000, current mayor: Ishar Ussupovich Lou |
| Sortobe Sortobe Shor-Tyube is an urban-type settlement in Korday District of Zhambyl Province of Kazakhstan. It is located on the Chu River, opposite and a bit downstream from Kyrgyz Tokmok. The population is predominantly Dungans,... |
(42°52′00"N 75°15′15"E) Korday District Korday District Korday is a district of Zhambyl Province in south-eastern Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is Korday town.... , Zhambyl Province Zhambyl Province Jambyl Province is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taraz. The population of the province is 1,000,000; the city is 335,100. The province borders Kyrgyzstan, and is very near Uzbekistan. Jambyl also borders three other provinces: Karagandy Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Almaty... . On the northern bank of the Chui River opposite and a few km downstream from Tokmok; south of Masanchi (Karakunuz) |
(Karakunuz group) | 9,000 |
| Zhalpak-tobe, | Zhambyl District, Zhambyl Province Zhambyl Province Jambyl Province is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taraz. The population of the province is 1,000,000; the city is 335,100. The province borders Kyrgyzstan, and is very near Uzbekistan. Jambyl also borders three other provinces: Karagandy Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Almaty... ; near Grodekovo, south of Taraz Taraz Taraz , is a city and a center of the Jambyl Province in Kazakhstan. It is located in the south of Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, on the Talas River... |
3,000 | |
| Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east... - total 50,000 (Ma Tang (2003) |
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| Yrdyk ; ; ) | (42°27′30"N 78°18′0"E) Jeti Oguz Jeti-Oguz District Jeti-Oguz or Jeti-Ögüz is a raion of Issyk Kul Province in north-eastern Kyrgyzstan. The capital lies at Kyzyl-Suu.-Towns and villages:... district of Issyk Kul Province Issyk Kul Province Issyk Kul Province is a province of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Karakol. It is surrounded by Almaty Province, Kazakhstan , Chui Province , Naryn Province and Xinjiang, China .... ; 15 km south-west from Karakol Karakol Karakol , formerly Przhevalsk, is fourth largest city in Kyrgyzstan, near the eastern tip of Issyk Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan, about from the Kyrgyzstan-China border and from the capital Bishkek. It is the administrative capital of Issyk Kul Province... . |
Spring 1878. 1130 people, originally from Didaozhou (狄道州) in Gansu, led by Ma Yusu (马郁素), a.k.a. Ah Yelaoren (阿爷老人). | 2,800 |
| Sokuluk Sokuluk Sokuluk is a large village with a de jure population of 11,968 in the Chuy Province of Kyrgyzstan.Sokuluk is the administrative center of Sokuluk District, and is located about 5 km away from the town of Shopokov, the main economic center of the area.-History:According to historians, Sokuluk... ; may also include adjacent Aleksandrovka (Александровка) |
Sokuluk District Sokuluk District Sokuluk District is a raion of Chuy Province in northern Kyrgyzstan. The capital lies at Sokuluk village.:-Towns, rural communities, and villages:... of Chuy Province Chuy Province Chuy Province or Chui Province is the northernmost province of the Kyrgyz Republic. It is bounded on the north by Kazakhstan, and clockwise, Issyk Kul Province, Naryn Province, Jalal-Abad Province and Talas Province... ; 30 km west of Bishkek Bishkek Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to... |
Some of those 4,628 Hui people who arrived in 1881-1883 from the Ili Ili River thumb|right|300px|Map of the Lake Balkhash drainage basin showing the Ili River and its tributariesThe Ili River is a river in northwestern China and southeastern Kazakhstan .It is long, of which is in Kazakhstan... Basin. |
12,000 |
| Milyanfan Milyanfan Milyanfan is a village in the Ysyk-Ata District of the Chuy Province of Kyrgyzstan. It is located near the southern bank of the Chuy River, which forms Kyrgyzstan's border with Kazakhstan.Most of the population are ethnic Dungans.... |
Ysyk-Ata District Ysyk-Ata District Ysyk-Ata District is one of the eight districts of Chuy Province in the northern Kyrgyzstan. The administrative center of the district is the city of Kant, and the district itself was known as Kant District in the past... of Chuy Province Chuy Province Chuy Province or Chui Province is the northernmost province of the Kyrgyz Republic. It is bounded on the north by Kazakhstan, and clockwise, Issyk Kul Province, Naryn Province, Jalal-Abad Province and Talas Province... . Southern bank of the Chuy River, some 60 km west of Tokmok and about as much north-east of Bishkek. |
(Karakunuz group (?)) | 10,000 |
| Ivanovka village | Ysyk-Ata District Ysyk-Ata District Ysyk-Ata District is one of the eight districts of Chuy Province in the northern Kyrgyzstan. The administrative center of the district is the city of Kant, and the district itself was known as Kant District in the past... of Chuy Province Chuy Province Chuy Province or Chui Province is the northernmost province of the Kyrgyz Republic. It is bounded on the north by Kazakhstan, and clockwise, Issyk Kul Province, Naryn Province, Jalal-Abad Province and Talas Province... . Southern bank of the Chuy River, some 30 km west of Tokmok. |
(Karakunuz group (?)) | 1,500 |
| Dungan community of Osh Osh Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". The city is at least 3,000 years old, and has served as the administrative center of Osh Province since 1939... |
Osh Osh Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". The city is at least 3,000 years old, and has served as the administrative center of Osh Province since 1939... City |
Spring 1878, 1000 people, originally from Turpan in Xinjiang Xinjiang Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2... , led by Ma Daren, also known as Ma Da-lao-ye (马大老爷) |
800 |
The position of the Kazakhstan villages within the administrative division of Zhambyl Province
Zhambyl Province
Jambyl Province is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taraz. The population of the province is 1,000,000; the city is 335,100. The province borders Kyrgyzstan, and is very near Uzbekistan. Jambyl also borders three other provinces: Karagandy Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Almaty...
, and the total population of each village can be found at the provincial statistics office web site.
Language
, Dungan languageDungan language
The Dungan language is a Sinitic language spoken by the Dungan of Central Asia, an ethnic group related to the Hui people of China.-History:...
By the time of Khwarazmian dynasty the Dungans used Farsi (Persian), which had great currency among Dungans even after they were brought to China. Turkic languages and Arabic were spoken by foreingn residents in China, but the most important non-Chinese language was Persian, spoken by many of the conscripted artisans and soldiers from Central Asia, merchants and all the educated nobility and imams. In 1289 the Mongol Qubilai (Hu-bi-lie) Khan (1260-¬94), on the recommendation of the department of state affairs (Shang-shu Sheng), established a Muslim national university in Da-du (Khanbaliq
Khanbaliq
Khanbaliq or Dadu refers to a city which is now Beijing, the current capital of the People's Republic of China...
, modern Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
) for “the sons of officials and the rich” (gong-qing dai-fu ji fu-min zhi zi); a scholar from the elite Hanlin academy, Yi-fu-de-ha-lu¬-ding (probably Efteḵār-al-Dīn) was charged with responsibility for teaching it.
Since the Ming Dynasty the Dungans were restricted to use Persian in public, therefore the Dungans are forced to learn Mandarin as interracial language, mixing many Farsi words, which is now often called as Dungan language (Хуэйзў йүян or Huejzw jyian). After the Dungan uprising in 1860-1870s, with the arrival of Muslim Brotherhood, a few Dungans in China began to use Arabic instead of Persian privately, while remaining use Mandarin in normal life.
Unlike other minority nationalities in Central Asia, such as the Middle Asian Koreans
Koryo-saram
Koryo-saram is the name which ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states use to refer to themselves. Approximately 500,000 ethnic Koreans reside in the former Soviet Union, primarily in the now-independent states of Central Asia. There are also large Korean communities in southern Russia , the...
, the Dungans are trilingual. More than two-thirds of the Dungans speak Russian, and a small proportion can speak Kyrgyz or other languages belonging to the titular nationalities of the countries where they live.
Culture
The Dungans are famous for their hospitality, bravery and respect of honor. The urban Dungans are mostly highly-respected rich merchants (some of them are bankers). Those who live in countryside are farmers, growing rice, vegetables and raise dairy cattles.The Dungan culture are basically similar to other ethnic nationalities in Middle Asia, especially Tajiks. The Dungan crafts and cuisine have Persian origin. Although Dungan finery had been influenced by Chinese fashion in the past (men wore Ma Gua(马褂) with Taqiyah while women wore Cheongsam), the Dungans now wear Russian clothes with Ushanka
Ushanka
An ushanka , also known as a trooper, is a Russian fur cap with ear flaps that can be tied up to the crown of the cap, or tied at the chin to protect the ears, jaw and lower chin from the cold. The thick dense fur also offers some protection against blunt impacts to the head...
.
Around the late 19th century the Bride Price was between 240 to 400 rubles for Dungan women. Dungans take other women such as Kirghiz and Tatars as brides willingly, or kidnap Kirghiz girls. Though marriage customs of Dungans are conservative, Dungan men are allowed to marry Turkish girls, or even Russian and Jewish girls (in Middle Asia marriage between muslim men and non-muslim women are very common).
Identity
The Dungans who settle in Middle Asia define themselves as the descendants of Hui-hui-guo (Khwarezm) and an ethnic group of Middle Asia, rather than Chinese. But the Hui people in China, though share same blood and ancestry with the Dungans, consider themselves Chinese citizen and devote themselves to their country, meanwhile insist that they are an individual ethnic group and are not Han Chinese who converted to Islam. As Ding (2005) notes, "[t]he Dungan people derive from China's Hui people, and now live mainly in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Their population is about 110,000. This people have now developed a separate ethnicity outside China, yet they have close relations with the Hui people in culture, ethnic characteristics and ethnic identity."The Middle Asians also recognize Dungans and Han Chinese as two different groups. Marshall Broomhall]]’s book introduces "the name Tungan or Dungan, by which the Muslims of these parts [i.e., NE China] are designated, in contradistinction as the Chinese Buddhists who are spoken of as Kithay"; the reference to "Khitay
Names of China
In China, common names for China include Zhonghua and Zhongguo , while Han and Tang are common names given for the Chinese ethnicity. Other names include Huaxia, Shenzhou and Jiuzhou...
" shows that he was viewing the two terms as used by Turkic speakers.
Religion
The large majority of Dungans are Gedimu muslims, with a Sufi minority (mostly Jahriyya)[citation needed]. Many Dungan villages contain a mosque run by village elders.Islam came to the Dungans in the manner it came to Hui people
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
. See the article on Gedimu, Jahriyya, Khwarazmian Dynasty, and Hui people for more information.
External links
- 'A Very Dungan Wedding' Article on Kyrgyz Dungans
- Dungans Forum (rus)
- Chinabroadcast.cn
- About the Dungan alphabet
- Soviet Census data analyzed by mother tongue and second language, in English
- Association of Dungans of the Kyrgyz Republic, in English and Russian
- Samples of the Dungans' Cuisine