Tibet / Xinjiang culture - water touching stone

[tokyo_girl]

I have finished this book. Anyone here read it?

For anyone with interest in Tibet / Xianjiang culture

it is a book that seems to have a much more

sophisticated understanding of the culture than

I am accustomed to hearing. (My own understanding

is not sophisticated).

It is not preachy anti PRC - though this is to some extent

the conclusion the reader is lead to. It's much more

sophisticated than a political rant.

Well worth a read.

[wix]

Tibetan and Uighur (Xinjiang is just a modern Chinese name for East Turkestan which is home to the Uighur people) culture are very different in themselves. Why were they both discussed in this book? Also can you tell us a little more about the book, the author or ISBN number would be helpful.

[Guest Anonymous]

Who's the author?

[Guest Anonymous]

(Xinjiang is just a modern Chinese name for East Turkestan which is home to the Uighur people)

Hardly.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocharians

The Xinjiang region was the home to the Tocharians. Chinese settlers arrived in Xinjiang during the Han Dynasty (202 B.C - 220 A.D.) to established trade routes. The Chinese co-existed peacefull with the Tocharians. The Uighurs didn't come to Xinjiang until around 800 A.D. Please note that it was the Uighurs, not the Han Chinese settlers, who were responsible for the extinction of the native Tocharian culture in Xinjiang.

If anything, Xinjiang belongs to the Tocharians, but since these have long vanished or migrated elsewhere, under the pressure of the Uighur sword, the group with the longest claims to the province are the Han and Hui Chinese, whose settlements preceeded that of the Uighurs.

In any case, I disagree that the latest influx of Han Chinese settlers constitutes colonialism; it is merely the strengthening of an old and established Chinese presence that survived two millenia of tribal marauding and which must survive into the future if China is to grow strong. If the Uighurs don't like the fact that the effects of their earlier conquests are being reversed, they are welcome to migrate to other Central Asian Turkish nations. Xinjiang is Chinese, was Chinese, and will forever be Chinese.

Also keep in mind that the Chinese aren't expelling the Uighurs from Xinjiang like many other nations have done once they have acquired another people's homeland. When the Russians took part of Chinese territory in Souther Siberia during the Qing Dynasty, they immediately kicked out all Chinese nationals.

[wix]

Kulong, the name of East Turkestan was officially changed to Xinjiang in 1955. I mentioned nothing about colonialism, Trocharians and so on.

tokyo girl wrote Tibet/Xinjiang culture in the title of her post and I just assumed she meant Uighur culture and wanted to clarify that. I hope you will agree with me that Uighur and Tibetan culture are very different.

Perhaps we should wait for tokyo girl to respond with some more information about the book before we discuss this any further.

[Guest Anonymous]

Kulong, the name of East Turkestan was officially changed to Xinjiang in 1955. I mentioned nothing about colonialism, Trocharians and so on.

"Xinjiang" has been the name of the region since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), I would say that's way before 1955.

tokyo girl wrote Tibet/Xinjiang culture in the title of her post and I just assumed she meant Uighur culture and wanted to clarify that. I hope you will agree with me that Uighur and Tibetan culture are very different.

I competely agree.

[tokyo_girl]

Sorry......I absolutely did not mean that Tibetan and Xinjiang culture are the same for that matter Xinjiang I realise is a geographical term rather than a cultural term. Sorry for my poor phrasing. I used the term Xinjiang as there are Uighurs, Kazaks, Russian Chinese, etc that feature in the book and alll of them are facing a similar plight.

That said though, the book starts in Tibet and they drive into the border land with Xinjiang - where there has been a very old history of ethnic groups mixing. A number of people in the book are bi cultural - either genetically or to hide their Tibetan identity.

The author is Eliot Pattison.

The link to the review on Amazon is below.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312982178/qid=1061296929/sr=12-1/104-5958945-5087937?v=glance&s=books

[tokyo_girl]

In any case, I disagree that the latest influx of Han Chinese settlers constitutes colonialism; it is merely the strengthening of an old and established Chinese presence that survived two millenia of tribal marauding and which must survive into the future if China is to grow strong

.

The book addresses this point.

Part of the reason that I liked the book was that the Chinese in the book weren't all bad, the Tibetans weren't all good. There is quite rational argument that supports the poverty eradication scheme and on the other hand it can also legitimately be seen as the deliberate destruction of minority cultures.

I think it is hard to deny the strategic importance of the western regions is placed above the traditional cultures of the people. Whether this is the lesser of two evils is another matter.

I am interested to hear what others, who have more knowledge than I of the history of this area, think of the book.

[JackP]

You might want to read the book "Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Asia" by Karl Meyer and Shareen Brysac.

It's about the competition between the Tzarist Russian Empire and the Victorian British Empire and the influence it had on the Central Asian and Tibetan region.

It is more a British point of view, but it gives a good historical insight in the region as well.

JP

[tokyo_girl]

Sounds very interesting.

Thanks

[wix]

A new book about Xinjiang was reviewed in the Taipei Times recently. The book is Wild West China By Christian Tyler.