Uyghur History Project

The late Qing and early Republic of China era, spanning from 1877 to 1933, is widely recognized as a time of significant transformation in the region of Xinjiang or East Turkestan in Chinese Central Asia. During this period, there was a notable emergence of modern Uyghur national identity, leading to ethnonational conflicts. However, focusing solely on ethnic identity overlooks other factors that contribute to conflict, such as tensions that arose during periods of rapid economic change. Our discussion with Eric Schluessel highlights that much of the violence in Xinjiang was driven by competing local and regional interests. Despite this, the provincial government's information-gathering systems and the way they presented events to the outside world propagated the belief that the violence was due to differences in ethnicity and religion - a clash of Chinese and Muslim cultures. The people in power promoted portrayals of their society that served their political agendas and, in turn, benefited modern Chinese politics.

At the close of the nineteenth century, Confucian revivalists from central China gained control of the Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang, or East Turkestan. There they undertook a program to transform Turkic-speaking Muslims into Chinese-speaking Confucians, seeking to bind this population and their homeland to the Chinese cultural and political realm. Instead of assimilation, divisions between communities only deepened, resulting in a profound estrangement that continues to this day. In Land of Strangers, Eric Schluessel explores this encounter between Chinese power and a Muslim society through the struggles of ordinary people in the oasis of Turpan. He follows the stories of families divided by war, women desperate to survive, children unsure where they belong, and many others to reveal the human consequences of a bloody conflict and the more insidious violence of reconstruction. We highly recommend this book as a must-read for all students of Xinjiang, Chinese frontier and Inner Asian history.

Along the Russian-Qing frontier in the nineteenth century, a new political space emerged, shaped by competing imperial and spiritual loyalties, cross-border economic and social ties, and revolution. David Brophy explores how a community of Central Asian Muslims responded to these historic changes by reinventing themselves as the Uyghur nation. We highly recommend this book as a must-read for all students of Chinese and Inner Asian history.

What is Xinjiang before China? Why was it called East Turkestan and how it is related to Uyghur nationalism today? If we take away the ideas of sovereignty and nation state, how do we define this place? This episode traces some difficulties in the imagination and writing of Xinjiang’s national history, while offering a brief chronology of events that are seen as definitive to its modern day existence and conflicts.

How did the Uyghur come to be known as Uyghurs? Did they call themselves “Uyghurs” in the past? This episode examines how the concept of the Uyghur national identity came into being, and highlights the role of trans-regional politics and revolutionary movements in shaping the development of Uyghur nationalism in the early 21st century.