Uyghur Language
Uyghur language is a very ancient language belonging to one of the Turkic dialects, the Ural-Altai language family. It has identical language roots as Turkish, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Tatar, Bashkurd, Tchuvash, Yakut and other Turkic language dialects.
The original Uyghur language became known with the Orhun Uyghur alphabet - a script inspired and derived from the Sogdian script. From the 13th to the 20th century, Uyghur was written in a version of the Arabic script known as the "Tchagatay" alphabet. During the 20th century, the language was written in its own versions of the Latin or Cyrillic alphabets, depending on the area of the Uyghur inhabitants. However, the Latin alphabet became unpopular, and since 1985 the Arabic script has been reused as the official script for Uyghur in East Turkestan. The Cyrillic version is still used by Uyghurs in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and other post-Soviet republics.
Uyghur literature
Die frühen literarischen Werke waren meist Übersetzungen von buddhistischen und christlich-manichäistischen Religionsbüchern. Forscherexpeditionen brachten später zahlreiche Erzählungen, epische Texte und Poesie ans Licht, die ins Deutsche, Russische, Englische und Türkische übersetzt wurden. Selbst nach der Islamisierung hielten die Uiguren an ihrer kulturellen Dominanz in Zentralasien fest. Während dieser Epoche machten in aller Welt uigurische Wissenschaftler und Gelehrte von sich reden. Sie schrieben unzählige wertvolle Bücher, von denen 130 später entdeckt und eingehend studiert wurden. Einige der berühmtesten sind „Kutadgu Bilik“ von Yusuf Has Hajip, „Divani Lugat-it Turk“ von Mahmud Kaschgari und „Atabetul Hakayik“ von Achmed Yukneki. Das 1069-1070 von Yusuf Has Hajip geschriebene Werk ist eine einzigartige Quelle des gesellschaftlichen, kulturellen und politischen Lebens der Uiguren zu jener Zeit.
Kashgari's book Divani Lugat-it Turk, published around the same time, also provides a good insight into the life of the Uyghurs at that time. The work describes the different dialects of the Turkic peoples, social developments, education, customs, traditions and settlement areas. The author of this encyclopedic reference work wandered through the settlement areas of all Turkic peoples, explored their ways of life and thus collected comprehensive material for his work.
The book "Divani Lugat-it Turk" is one of the most important sources of Turkology today.
Architecture, art, music and printing art
The Uyghurs also have a rich history in architecture, art and music. Scholars, archaeologists and Chinese envoys who traveled through East Turkestan often expressed their high appreciation and respect for Uyghur culture. They were full of admiration for the advanced civilization and culture. For example, during his service in the Krakhoja Uyghur Kingdom (981-984), the Chinese envoy Wang Yen De wrote the following in his memoirs:
"I was impressed by the vast civilization in the Uyghur Kingdom. The beauty of the temples, monasteries, murals, statues, towers, gardens, residences, and palaces throughout the kingdom cannot be described. The Uyghurs are very skilled in handicrafts of gold and silver, vases and ceramics. Some people say that only God gave them this talent."
Albert Gruenwedel wrote:
"Turfan is undoubtedly a forgotten Asian city of exceptional interest. Its size is remarkable: the inner, sacred city, consisting of temple and palace, measures 7,400 feet at the farthest point of the surviving walls. Hundreds of terraced temples and grandiose vaulted buildings extend over a vast area of the country."
Ferdinand de Sassure:
"Those who preserved the language and written culture of the Central Asian region were the Uyghurs."
Albert of Lecoq described the process of development in the 7th and 8th centuries:
"The Uyghur language and script contributed to the enrichment of the civilizations of other peoples in Central Asia. Compared to the Europeans of the time, the Uyghurs were far more advanced. Documents found in East Turkestan prove that a Uyghur peasant was able to draw up a contract in legal terminology. How many European peasants would have been able to do that at the time? This shows the extent of Uighur civilization at that time."
Laszlo Rasonyi:
"The Uighurs knew how to print books centuries before Gutenberg invented his printing press."
Wolfram Eberhard:
"In the Medieval period, poetics, literature, theater, music, and painting of the Chinese were significantly influenced by the Uyghurs."
The Russian scholar Pantusov writes that the Uyghurs made their own musical instruments. There were 62 different instruments and each household owned a dutar.
The prestige, culture and power of the Uyghurs dominated Central Asia for more than 1000 years. The Uyghurs' loss of power and rapid decline of part of their civilization began with the invasion by the Manchus in the 19th century. The Chinese nationalists continued this foreign domination and paved the way for the communists who rule today. In view of their extreme Sinicization policy, the Uyghurs today must fear the complete destruction of their culture and thus of their identity as a people.
Uyghur Museum in Urumqi
Uighur house from outside and inside
Buddhist and Islamic monuments in Turpan
Yusuf Has-Hajip Mausoleum
Idqah Mosque in Kashgar
Old city gate in Yarkent and streets in the old town
Obwohl zahlreiche Objekte des uigurischen religiösen Erbes – sowohl Moscheen und als auch Schreine – auf Chinas eigenen nationalen und regionalen Listen des Kulturerbes aufgeführt sind und anerkannte Kulturerbestätten nach nationalem Recht geschützt werden sollten, erfolgte der gänzliche oder teilweise Abriss Tausender Moscheen und Schreine seit 2016 einschließlich solcher geschützter Stätten. Die Zerstörung dieser Stätten hatte nicht nur eine Säuberung der Landschaft von religiöser Architektur zum Ziel, sondern gehört auch zur politischen Linie, bewusst das uigurische kulturelle Gedächtnis auszulöschen.
The Medicine of Uyghurs
East Turkestan is the place of origin of Uyghur medicine. This 2,500-year-old medical science combines advantages of Arabic and ancient Greek medicine as well as influences of traditional Chinese medicine. Uyghur medicine is characterized by its unique basic theory and rich knowledge of clinical treatments.
As early as the fifth century BC, the ancestors of the Uyghurs began to treat simple diseases with natural remedies. Compared to the traditional medicine of the Chinese and the Tibetans, the medicine of the Uyghurs is distinguished by its unique treatment ideas and results in the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular and skin disorders, and diabetes.
Natural products such as musk, aromatic herbs such as the flower of the clove tree and Fructus Piperis Longi are frequently used. Also, some poisonous herbs, such as nux vomica, common datura and semen hyoscyamine, are used.
Uigurische Küche
The staple foods of the Uyghur diet and cuisine are first and foremost "flour-based foods" (un tamaq) such as noodles, dumplings, bread (nan) and the others.
Meat (especially lamb or mutton) represents another staple food and strongly dominates the Uyghur diet. For Uyghurs, meat forms an essential and coveted part of the daily diet. A meal without meat is considered incomplete and inferior in taste by them. While Forsyth (1873) for Kashgar and Vámbéry (1885) for East Turkestan pointed out that, given the availability of meat affordable to all classes of the population, both rural and urban populations far surpassed the Turkic peoples of Central Asia in their consumption of meat and fish and resembled Europeans in this regard. However, the actual consumption of meat in East Turkestan varies greatly according to income and is also dependent on gender. The amount of meat consumed thus represents an important statement about social class, and a small amount of meat prepared for consumption in the household serves as a negative indication of social status for the population. This also represents one of the reasons that Uyghur hosts strive to satisfy their guests with a selection of "prestigious foods," especially meat dishes. Moreover, according to Smith Finley (2013), a stereotype exists among Uyghurs that Han Chinese rarely eat meat at home, with the implication that the lighter and more "feminine" physique of Han men, compared to the stronger, broader physique of Uyghur men, is the result of lower meat consumption.
Furthermore, large quantities of fruit are also consumed, especially in summer, while the vegetables imported largely by Han Chinese, whose names are still often recognizably of Chinese origin, are consumed in much smaller quantities.
As opposed to the Han Chinese in East Turkestan, who prefer green tea as a beverage, Uyghurs drink black tea in the first place, which they often "cure" with tchay dora, a spice mixture that is also said to have therapeutic properties.
Polo, läghman and kawab are counted among the "typical" Uyghur dishes.
Obwohl zahlreiche Objekte des uigurischen religiösen Erbes – sowohl Moscheen und als auch Schreine – auf Chinas eigenen nationalen und regionalen Listen des Kulturerbes aufgeführt sind und anerkannte Kulturerbestätten nach nationalem Recht geschützt werden sollten, erfolgte der gänzliche oder teilweise Abriss Tausender Moscheen und Schreine seit 2016 einschließlich solcher geschützter Stätten. Die Zerstörung dieser Stätten hatte nicht nur eine Säuberung der Landschaft von religiöser Architektur zum Ziel, sondern gehört auch zur politischen Linie, bewusst das uigurische kulturelle Gedächtnis auszulöschen.
The Medicine of Uyghurs
East Turkestan is the place of origin of Uyghur medicine. This 2,500-year-old medical science combines advantages of Arabic and ancient Greek medicine as well as influences of traditional Chinese medicine. Uyghur medicine is characterized by its unique basic theory and rich knowledge of clinical treatments.
As early as the fifth century BC, the ancestors of the Uyghurs began to treat simple diseases with natural remedies. Compared to the traditional medicine of the Chinese and the Tibetans, the medicine of the Uyghurs is distinguished by its unique treatment ideas and results in the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular and skin disorders, and diabetes.
Natural products such as musk, aromatic herbs such as the flower of the clove tree and Fructus Piperis Longi are frequently used. Also, some poisonous herbs, such as nux vomica, common datura and semen hyoscyamine, are used.
The staple foods of the Uyghur diet and cuisine are first and foremost "flour-based foods" (un tamaq) such as noodles, dumplings, bread (nan) and the others.
Meat (especially lamb or mutton) represents another staple food and strongly dominates the Uyghur diet. For Uyghurs, meat forms an essential and coveted part of the daily diet. A meal without meat is considered incomplete and inferior in taste by them. While Forsyth (1873) for Kashgar and Vámbéry (1885) for East Turkestan pointed out that, given the availability of meat affordable to all classes of the population, both rural and urban populations far surpassed the Turkic peoples of Central Asia in their consumption of meat and fish and resembled Europeans in this regard. However, the actual consumption of meat in East Turkestan varies greatly according to income and is also dependent on gender. The amount of meat consumed thus represents an important statement about social class, and a small amount of meat prepared for consumption in the household serves as a negative indication of social status for the population. This also represents one of the reasons that Uyghur hosts strive to satisfy their guests with a selection of "prestigious foods," especially meat dishes. Moreover, according to Smith Finley (2013), a stereotype exists among Uyghurs that Han Chinese rarely eat meat at home, with the implication that the lighter and more "feminine" physique of Han men, compared to the stronger, broader physique of Uyghur men, is the result of lower meat consumption.
Furthermore, large quantities of fruit are also consumed, especially in summer, while the vegetables imported largely by Han Chinese, whose names are still often recognizably of Chinese origin, are consumed in much smaller quantities.
As opposed to the Han Chinese in East Turkestan, who prefer green tea as a beverage, Uyghurs drink black tea in the first place, which they often "cure" with tchay dora, a spice mixture that is also said to have therapeutic properties.
Polo, läghman and kawab are counted among the "typical" Uyghur dishes.
Other Uyghur dishes, all of which include noodles combined with mutton meat and much smaller amounts of vegetables, include chöchürä, qoldama, suyuq ash (or suyqash; a noodle soup), ügrä, manta (meat-filled dumplings), samsa, gösh nan, pörä, xoshän, and others.
Other Uyghur dishes, all of which include noodles combined with mutton meat and much smaller amounts of vegetables, include chöchürä, qoldama, suyuq ash (or suyqash; a noodle soup), ügrä, manta (meat-filled dumplings), samsa, gösh nan, pörä, xoshän, and others.