This paper focuses on perceptions of cultural loss felt by Uyghurs, one of Chinas fifty-five officially recognized minority ethnic groups, with respect to the demolition of the old district of the city of Kashgar. Although the western-based media describes the old city as being the heritage of the Uyghur people, through its ethno-historical development, the term Uyghur had vastly different meanings (Rudeslson 1997). The historical evolution of the term Uyghur shows that the current definition of Uyghur, as formulated by the State in China since the 1950s, differs from past meanings of Uyghur (Gladney 2004), particularly the era when the earliest parts of the old city district were constructed and inhabited.
By focusing on the city of Kashgar and tracing the ethno-historical development of the term Uyghur to its current definition as one of Chinas fifty-five officially recognized minority peoples, I examine the evolution of the relationship between the State and the people contemporarily known as Uyghurs, to understand better the dynamics which have led to the demolition of the best preserved example of an oasis city on the intercontinental trade route known today as the Silk Road.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MONTANA/oai:etd.lib.umt.edu:etd-06142013-200416 |
| Date | 27 June 2013 |
| Creators | Domitrovich, Nathan Francis |
| Contributors | G.G. Weix, Zhen Cao, Ardi Kia |
| Publisher | The University of Montana |
| Source Sets | University of Montana Missoula |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-06142013-200416/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Montana or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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