1 Introduction
1.3 The History of China and Xinjiang
this question relates to the legitimacy of both PRC and separatist claims to Xinjiang.
Scholars, however, do tend to agree on some things. The Uyghurs originated in northwestern Mongolia.7 Contrary to popular belief, the Uyghurs were not originally Muslims. The first Uyghurs were Buddhists. They did not begin converting to Islam until the 12th century.8 The process lasted until the 17th century.9
1.3 The History of China and Xinjiang
The belief that Uyghurs have always been Muslim is one of many misconceptions about them.
China has had a strong interest in Xinjiang for a very long time. Around the year 139 BCE, the Han Empire was clashing with the Xiongu, a “…confederation of Altaic-speaking tribes, [that] formed an empire encompassing Mongolia, northwest China, and Zhungaria.”10 The battlefront between the Han and the Xiongu was primarily southern Xinjiang. During this period, the Han had a military presence in Xinjiang, but did not control it completely.11 After the Han Chinese divided the Xiongu,12
7 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, Political and Cultural History Through the Late 19th Century , in Xinjiang, China’s Muslim Borderland (M.E. Sharpe, 2004)
another confederation of nomads, called the Ruanraun, established an empire and ceded control of Xinjiang to an Iranian nomad empire called the
8 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. p. 40
9 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. p. 40
10 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. p. 35
11 Justin Rudelsen and William Jankowiak, Xinjiang, China’s Muslim Borderland (M.E. Sharpe, 2004) p. 36
12 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. pp. 35-36
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Hephthalites.13 After the Hepthalites fell in 560 AD, a primarily Turkic empire from Mongolia became the power of the day in Xinjiang. There were other interested parties as well, all trying to wield influence over the region: “…powers based in Tibet and in the west, from Arabia to western Turkistan, entered into a new geopolitical struggle that would eventually engulf the oases of southern Xinjiang.”14 The first major influence of the Han Chinese in Xinjiang came in 60 BC.15
Later, the Tang Dynasty attempted to wield influence in the Xinjiang region.
The Tang were different from previous Chinese in that those living in the west became more “Turkicized.”
After dealing a strong blow against the Xiongnu, the Han established military farms in the area, giving itself a strong presence there. However, strife in China proper often diverted Han attention from the ‘western regions.’ While it is true that the China established a presence in 60 AD, the following three centuries were more of a battle for control than a time of Chinese dominance.
16 Texts describe Chinese leaders from this time as enjoying
Turkic music and food, and wearing Turkic clothing.17
13 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. p. 37
Through shrewd political maneuvering, the Tang wielded a great deal of indirect influence over Xinjiang.
14 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. p. 37
15 James A Millward Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang (Columbia University Press, 2007) p.
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16 James A. Millward, 2007. p. 33
17 James A. Millward, 2007. p. 32
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However, after a Tang military defeat at the Battle of Talas, (751 AD)18 and peasant rebellions in China proper,19 the Tang Dynasty withdrew from Xinjiang. China was not to have a presence in Xinjiang for the next thousand years.20 In the fifteenth century, missions from Xinjiang presented tribute to Beijing in return for supplies and trade opportunities. James Millward says that “…these exchanges of goods…fall within the ‘tribute system’ model familiar to students of Chinese history.”21
The Qing Dynasty incorporated Xinjiang into the empire in 1884.
He goes on to tell us that although some previous and modern Chinese scholars cite this as evidence of Xinjiang’s submission to Chinese rule, the relationship was more complex.
In fact, he says, it was more an exchange between equals. The Chinese concept of a tribute system is unfamiliar to most westerners, and has thus led to disagreements over territorial claims. While China did have a strong influence over Xinjiang
during this period, Chinese claims of complete sovereignty are an exaggeration.
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18 Dru Gladney, Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People’s Republic (Harvard University Press, 2004)
Because the Qing Dynasty fell less than 30 years later, this constitutes a very brief, shaky period of control. In the 1930s and again in the 1940s, Uyghur nationalists took advantage of political instability and established the East Turkestan Republic. The
19 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. p. 39
20 James A. Millward and Peter C. Perdue, 2004. p. 39
21 James A. Millward, 2007. pp. 72-73
22 The China Institute, From Silk to Oil. p. 18
http://www.chinainstitute.cieducationportal.org/cimain/wp-content/themes/chinainstitute/pdfs/educatio n/fromsilktooil_pdf2.pdf accessed March 21st, 2011
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
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first republic was brought down by the Kuomintang, the second by the CCP. This long, tenuous history can easily be manipulated by both Uyghur and Chinese nationalists. People on both sides of the conflict selectively use history to support their cause for Xinjiang independence or PRC dominance.
The purpose of this historical narrative is to emphasize two points. First, PRC claims that Xinjiang has been an integral part of China for thousands of years are a gross oversimplification. Second, Xinjiang has held high strategic value for a very long time. It is therefore no surprise that it has also been a place of frequent strife and conflict, up to the present day.