The coverage of Islam expanded widely in China as it had spread and developed in the Tang (618-907 A.D.), Song (960-1279 A.D.), Yuan (1206-1368 A.D.) and early Ming (1368-1644 A.D.) dynasties. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, fundamental changes took place to the conditions for Islam to spread and develop in China. First of all, the Hui Huis‘ political status changed, reduced to that of being ruled from that of being second highest class in the Yuan Dynasty. Secondly, the Ming rulers pursued a policy of favoring agriculture and restricting trade, so the Hui Huis lost their advantage on trading, and it led to thedecline of their economic and social status. Thirdly, the distribution structure of the Hui Huis‘ population characterized by “big dispersion and small concentration” obstructed the contacts among the communities in different places. Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty pursued broad national assimilation and put restriction on marriage within the same race. It forced the Hui Huis to use the Chinese language, and their national language lost its value of practice gradually. Fourthly, Jiao Fangs (Muslim settlement) that appeared as Islam developed in China began to play an important role at that time. They gathered the dispersed Hui Huis into groups with similar features, and by Islamic belief and traditions made them a new national community which had common values, ethics and customs.
Affected by the above factors, the Hui Hui community in China evolved into ten ethic groups and two systems: the Uighurs, the Kazaks, the Khalkhas, the Uzbeks, the Tajiks and the Tatars living mainly in The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and the Huis, the Salas, the Dongxiangs and the Bao"ans living mainly in the Chinese inland.
Yili Mosque in
1. The Uighurs
“Uighur” literally means “unite” or “ally”? The ethnic origin of the Uighurs can be traced back to the 3rd century B.C. Their ancestors believed in Shamanism, Manicheism, Nestorianism, Mazdaism and Buddhism. The Uighurs are distributed mainly in The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, while a small portion live in Hunan and Henan Provinces. The present population of the Uighurs is about 7.2 million. In the middle of the 10th century, Islam was introduced to Xinjiang as Satuk Boghra (910-956 A.D.), khan of the Karakitai Dynasty embraced Islam. Kashgar, Yirqiang and Kuche became Islamic one after another after. After the 14th century Islam spread to the north of Xinjiang, and by the 16th century, the whole region became Islamic. The Eidkah Mosque in Kashgar, the Mazar of Afaq Khwadja, the tomb of the Uighur King in Hami and the Emin Minaret in Turufan all are Islamic constructions dating from early times. The Uighur Muslims are hospitable and adept at singing and dancing. Their beautiful folk art works, including the epic poem “Fu Le Zhi Hui” (wisdom and happiness) and the music and dance divertimento “Shi Er Mu Ka Mu” (twelve Mukams) are still popular at present. The Uighurs are engaged mainly in agriculture, being experienced in gardening and cotton growing.
They are also adept at carpet weaving, Uighur cap and knife making.
2. The Kazaks
The Kazaks are distributed mainly over Yili, Tacheng and A"ertai in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region with a population of 1.2 million. It is an amalgamation of several ancient minority groups living in the north of China. By the middle ofthe 15th century when the Kazak Khanate was founded, the Kazaks came into being as an ethic group. Islam wasintroduced to the Kazak Grassland rather early, and spread widely after the 18th century.
The Islamic doctrine was written in “Tou KeCorpus Juris“, the
national corpus juris of the Kazaks. There appeared in the history a number of Kazak mullahs and scholars who were well versed in both Islam and Arabic. The Kazaks are affluent in folklore, with the outstanding epics “Alpamis”, “Kobuland” and “Salih and Saman”? They like music, and are adept at singing and dancing. Donbura is their representative musical instrument. TheKazaks are engaged mainly in animal husbandry and a little agriculture as well, and some of them are engaged in industry and commerce.
3. The Khalkhas
The Khalkhas is also an ancient ethnic group living in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, who allied with the Uighurs, the Kazaks and the Mongols and cooperated with the army of the Qing Dynasty to put down the rebellions of the Elderand Younger Khwajas, and maintained the union of China. They live mainly in the Ke"erlesu Khalkhas Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang with a population of 140,000. They are engaged mainly in animal husbandry and a little agriculture as well. They have very beautiful folklore, legends and vivid sayings with unique national characteristics. The famous epic poem “Manas” is a treasure of their folk art. The Khalkhas women are adept at handicraft such as embroidery, carpet and mural production.
4. The Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are scattered in places such as Urumchi, Kashgar, Yining and Tacheng in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, with a population of about 15,000. Around the 15th century, they settleddown in China and embraced Islam. They use phonetic letters based on Arabic, which makes it much easier for them to studyIslam. The Uzbeks
have built some largemosques in Kashgar, Shache, Yili and Qitai. Most of the Uzbeks are engaged in commerce. The Uzbeks in southern Xinjiang are very skillful at silk weaving while the ones in northern Xinjiang are adept at animal husbandry.
5. The Tajiks