Uygur Ethnic Minority
Edition History Edit Introduction:
View 2 photos, or upload your photo.
TOPGeneral Information
"Uygur" is a name for short for Uygur ethnic group and it signifies unity or union. Uygur people usually lives in concentrated communities of areas like Karsh, Hetian, Akesu and Ku'erle, all of which lie south to Tianshan Mountain of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Some scatter in Ili which is north to Tianshan Mountain and others live in Taoyuan or Changde of Hunan Province.
Uygur people have their own languag>—Uygur Language, which is a branch of Tujue Language in Altay Language Category. Its characters are Pinyin based upon Arab. Since the founding of PRC, a new form of characters based on Latin has been put into use together with the former one.
Uygur people depend upon agriculture. They plant various crops such as cotton, grain, corn, rice and so on. Besides, they are also good at gardening. The largest grape production area in China is situated in Turpan Basin, which is 184 kilometers away from Urumchi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The culture and art of Uygur people is unique and distinctive. Almost everybody knows well The Story of Afantee, music dance epic The Twelve Mukam and local Uygur dancing. Dances of Uygur people have a lot of categories, and the traditional dances include Dingwan Dance (dancing with several bowels on one's head), Dagu Dance (dancing with big drum beating), Tiehuan Dance ( dancing with iron rings), and Puta Dance. Besides, the uygur folk dances are characterized by Sainaimu and Xiadiyana, and folk musical instruments are represented by Dapu (darobokka), Duta'er and Rewapu. In addition, uygur medicine is a very important component of Chinese medicine.
TOPLanguage
Uygur Language, which is a branch of Tujue Language in Altay Language Category. Its characters are Pinyin based upon Arab. Since the founding of PRC, a new form of characters based on Latin has been put into use together with the former one.
TOPAccessory
Color Cap is a kind of popular accessory among Uygur people, and also a signification of beauty. There are many methods to make a color cap. For instance, Silk Thread Flat Embroidery, Shizi Color Embroidery, Silk Thread Knot Embroidery, Bead-string Patch Embroidery, Grid Supported Embroidery, Gold Surrounded Silk-thread Embroidery, Floss Embroidery, and combined embroidery through procedures of puncture, prick, bunch and set. Females in Uygur like to embroider colorful and varied pictures on the four surface parts of a cap, and then knit them together on their top. Put an inner layer into it and set a black floss rim on it. Finally a lovely and beautiful cap comes into form.
TOPArchitecture
Residential buildings of Uygur people are characterized by courtyard clusters. Their entrance doors usually face the west. Architectures of Uygur people have their unique features. They are square with deep, front corridors; habitacles are decorated with various veins in the room. The layout of a hall features neatness and plain; the wall is in white and blue decorated with hanging carpets; the bed is placed close to the wall and the beddings are under carpet or counterpane with only a pair of pillows on it. Normally in the middle of a room there is a long or round table; furniture at home are usually covered with an embroidery blanket for decoration; a silk or satin hanging shade is necessary decorated with mesh hosieries; the ground has folk pictures as an ornament. People of Uygur like to grow various plants, flowers, fruit trees, and grapes. The integral environment is fresh and quiet.
TOPCatering
Uygur people are used to three meals. They like to have pancake, melon or guard jam, sweet jam, milk tea, oil tea, etc as their breakfast, various staple food for lunch, and pancake, steamed dumpling, and noodle for dinner. Uygur people favor strong tea and milk tea. In summer different fruit and melons are their good choice.
TOPFestivals
The traditional festivals of Uygur people include Rouzi Festival, Gu'erbang Festival and Chuxue Festival (celebrating the first fall of snow). Rouzi Festival: also called Kaizhai Festival. Uygur people emphasize traditional festivals very much. Gu’erbang Festival: a traditional festival held 70 days after Rouzi Festival.
TOPMarriage
In terms of marriage, Uygur people follow monogamy. Before marriage, they will first have the tiqin (marriage-interview) and contract-for-a marriage ceremonies, which reflect their respect to and prudence on marriage. Marriage-interview is a necessary step that must be taken if a young man fells in love with and want to marry a lady, or a family wants to arrange a marriage for its son. Before marriage-interview, the man who will become a bridegroom must make sure that he knows about the background of the lady he fells in love with, including her age, looking, character and her family members. He will propose the marriage when he feels it is appropriate. In many cases the man and the lady might have been in courtship before that. They would first agree to marry with each other and then ask the family members of the male to do marriage-interview so as to publicize and make legitimate their relationship.
TOPTaboo
Uygur people never eat pork or the meat of other animals which are not killed by people or without blood-shedding. When guests come, the host should invite them to take the senior seats, treat them first with tea or milk, and then bring some pancakes, cookies and candy. Fruits or vegetables should also be provided in summer. When the meal is ready, the host will bring a kettle of water to invite the guests to wash hands and then treat them with Zhuafan (rice taken by hands).When the meal is finished, senior people will take the lead to conduct Duwa, a kind of local pray rite. Guests should stay on their seats until the host clear up all the used utensils and dishware. It is not polite for the guest to fiddle with the food on his/her dish, to go close to the boiler, or leave some food in or put of his/her own bowel. Was there any fallen rice, pick it up and put it on your own tissue.
Never give back the rice that you once took it up. After the meal, guests should not stand up or behave carelessly when senior people are holding the Duwa rite. At dinner time, all family members should first wash their hands and sit together with the senior above the salt. It will be very discourteous if somebody splashes the water on his/her hand. Never make the Nang (a local food like pancake) down-sided while eating it. It is impolite to wear a smallish shirt or a cloth with a large collapsible. Normally the frock should extend to ones knee and the truer should reach the foot-surface. Don't wear pants in the open. Uygur people never make their entrance door face west. When they sleep, they usually lie on their back with their head towards the east. When male friends meet with each other, they should shake hands with each other, solute, touch their bear with two hands, and withdraw one step with his right arm on the left chest. Females should solute after meeting each other and then say goodbye. Two hands should be used when receiving gifts or treated with tea.
Help us improve our web site by Editing This Article.
Topics about Uygur Ethnic Minority
There are 0 questions about Uygur Ethnic Minority:
