LIFESTYLE/LIFE An Encounter With History Dungans, a group of Kazakh people of Chinese origin, manage to retain their traditions By SU YUEMIN provinces, so the places they reside today traditional costumes. The groom wears an y brothers and sisters live are called “Shaanxi Villages.” embroidered robe, a pair of riding boots and a skullcap. The bride’s hair is combed into a far away from here; China Chinese tradition is my mother,” Suahunov traditional bun and decorated with red flow- “M Dau says as recites one of Dungans have lived in Central Asia ers. She puts on embroidered shoes in Qing his poems in Chinese with a strong Shaanxi for more than 130 years. They have never Dynasty style, and a red silk wedding gown accent. As he talks, he glances toward the forgotten their Chinese origin, and have embroidered with patterns of dragons and towering Tianshan Mountains, beyond made great efforts to preserve traditional phoenixes. She keeps the dress on for weeks which is China, where his ancestors were customs. “Shaanxi Villages” are called the following the wedding ceremony, which incor- from. living fossils of ancient Chinese culture and porates rituals in the Qing Dynasty that are now Suahunov, in his 60s, is a famous customs. Many folk customs there are no often seen in Chinese movies or TV series. Dungan poet in Kazakhstan. He has written longer practiced in China. Lamian, a type of noodle popular in many poems about China, the country of In addition to speaking Russian, most northwest China, was still cooked by the same origin of the Dungan people. He said one Dungans speak Shaanxi dialect at home. method used 100 years ago among Dungan reason he writes poems is to let younger They call the government “yamen,” a teach- people. Lamian, together with other traditional generation of Dungan people not forget er “jiaoyuan” and a wife “poyi,” Chinese Chinese food that Dungan people hand down their own language. terms previously used in Shaanxi Province. from their ancestors, has been well received There are approximately 130,000 Early Dungan migrants were primar- by local people. Today, many restaurants in Dungans in Central Asia, who primar- ily farmers, and were not well educated. Kazakhstan offer Dungan lamian. ily reside in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Separated from China for a long time, Farming tools brought in by Dungan Uzbekistan, said Husai Daurov, head of the today’s Dungans no longer read or write people are displayed in a Dungan cultural Association of Dungans in Kazakhstan. Of Chinese characters. To preserve Shaanxi di- museum in a Dungan Village in Masanchi, these, about 50,000 to 60,000 Dungans now alect, they invented a unique way to record a Kazakh town where Suahunov lives. In live in Kazakhstan. the dialect in Russian script. Now, Dungan addition, traditional Chinese musical instru- The ancestors of these Dungan people people still use their Chinese surnames and ments such as erhu, as well as Qing Dynasty were a group of Chinese who fled to Central have both Chinese and Russian first names. costumes, are also exhibited there. Asia to escape wars in late Qing Dynasty In Dungan Villages, people wear either Yarchube Iskokov, head of the town, (1636-1911). Most of them came from suits or traditional Chinese clothing. At a said traditional cultural events are also held northwest China’s Shaanxi and Gansu wedding, a young couple invariably dress in every year. YANG JIA YANG CLOSE TIES: Husai Daurov explains cooperation between Dungan villages in Kazakhstan and China in recent years DUNGAN SCHOOL: A classroom of the Middle School in Masanchi Town 42 BEIJING REVIEW JUNE 24, 2010 http://www.bjreview.com Dungan people believe “more children etables consumed in Kazakhstan are grown quite favorable policies toward Dungans. mean more happiness.” Many families by Dungans. The vegetables have enriched In 2002, the government canceled most toll have four or more children. In Kazakhstan, local people’s dining tables, and increased stations along the routes where Dungans a mother with more than six kids is called the Dungans’ income. transported vegetables to facilitate the “Hero Mother.” Only in Masanchi and an- The average annual household income vegetable sale of Dungans. After that, the other town Sortobe in Kazakhstan, there are in Dungan Villages is around $3,000 to routes were called “green passages” by lo- more than 600 hero mothers. $4,000, and each household owns one to cal people. two cars or vans, Daurov said. Vehicles are Hardworking not for showing off, but necessities to work Friendly ties A hundred years ago, Dungan people in the fields and for selling vegetables. Dungans attach particular importance climbed over Tianshan Mountains and Since the late 1980s, Dungan Villages to culture and education. In Masanchi fled to Central Asia, bringing with them in Kazakhstan and China, especially town, there are four schools with more farming tools and seeds. Various difficul- Shaanxi Province, have engaged in eco- than 3,000 students. In two of the schools, ties they encountered turned them into nomic and cultural exchanges more and students learn Dungan language, as well hardworking people. Upon their arrival in more frequently. A greater number of as Kazakh, Russian and English. In ad- Central Asia, they opened up wasteland Dungans are doing border trade with China. dition, the Association of Dungans in and sowed seeds of vegetables such as Daurov has visited China many times, Kazakhstan selects 60 to 70 students each tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic and scallions. bringing back equipment and technologies. year and sends them to study in China’s Many of the vegetables were not grown in They learned greenhouse-planting skills universities such as Northwest University, the region previously. in China, which enabled Dungans to grow Xi’an International Studies University and Today, many Dungans make a living vegetables all year round. In recent years, Lanzhou University. Daurov’s son is now from growing these vegetables and sell- Dungans have also introduced brick mak- studying Chinese in Shanghai-based Fudan ing them in Kazakhstan’s Almaty, or even ing machinery and equipment to produce University. exporting them to Russia and elsewhere. biscuits and paint from China. Although many Dungans have never Statistics show more than half of the veg- The Kazakh Government carried out been to China, they miss the land. To bet- ter preserve their traditions and promote trade and cultural exchanges with China, the association plans to set up Chinese The Origin of Dungan People classes in Kazakhstan, aiming to make it more convenient to learn Chinese. In 1864, during the Taiping Rebellion, Hui people living in northwest China The association now has an office in (today’s Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia) began a large scale rebellion against Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province, which the Qing government which send troops to quell it. In 1877, about 10,000 facilitates exchanges and cooperation rebels migrated westward to escape the troops, crossing over the Tianshan with China. In the meantime, the Shaanxi Mountains. Several thousand people died on the road, but 3,000 eventually Government sends Chinese teachers to arrived in Central Asia, where they settled down in the border region of Kazakhstan to help young Dungan people the Russia Empire. They were called Dungans (people from the east) to learn Chinese and sends agricultural ex- by the Tsarist government. perts to teach vegetable growing and crop planting skills. n YANG JIA YANG OF DUNGANS OF THE ASSOCIATION COURTESY TRADITIONAL WEDDING: Traditional wedding dress worn by Dungan women YANG JIA YANG NEW GENERATION: Dungan children in the backyard of their home in Masanchi town DUNGAN SCHOOL: A classroom of the Middle School in Masanchi Town http://www.bjreview.com JUNE 24, 2010 BEIJING REVIEW 43 Copyright of Beijing Review is the property of Beijing Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use..