Dongxiang people

Chinese historians generally agreed that Dongxiang are the descendants of Central Asians migrated to Mongol-ruled China. They were converted to Islam in the 1340s by a missionary named Hamzeh (哈木則, Hāmùzé). They spoke a different Central Asian language before shifting to their current mother tongue, Dongxiang language, a member of the Mongolic languages.{{cite journal|title=The Dongxiang Language and People |journal=Journal of Cambridge Studies|date=2013|volume=8|issue=2|page=40-47|first1=Dan |last1=Xu|first2=Xiaodong |last2=Xie|first3= Shaoqing |last3=Wen|url=https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/d7a60928-c9b5-499f-94eb-deb58b66e27d/content }} Translated from: {{cite journal|title=东乡语和东乡人|last1=徐丹|last2= 文少卿|last3= 谢小冬|journal= 民族语文|date= 2012|issue=3|pages= 59–62}}

The name Dongxiang is derived from them living in what was called the eastern (Dong) part of Hezhou prefecture, present day Linxia.{{Cite book |last=Schwarz |first=Henry G. |url=https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=9&article=1007&context=easpress&type=additional |title=The Minorities of Northern China: A Survey |date=1984 |publisher=Western Washington |isbn=978-0-914584-17-9 |language=en}}

File:A Dongxiang Muslim elder with long beard, other Muslims, conversing with Christian missionaries, Hezhou ( Linxia), Gansu, 1934.jpg

Haplogroup analysis by Wen et. al. (2013) shows that the closest relative of Dongxiang people are the common ancestors of the Kyrgyz of Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang, the Tajiks of Khujand, Tajikistan, and the Ishkashimis of Tajikistan. The second closest relative is the Salars of Xinhua, Qinghai. The third closest relative are the commons ancestors of the Uyghurs and Tajiks of Xinjiang, the Shughnis of Tajikistan, the Bartangi of Tajikistan and various Uzbeks of different Central Asian countries.{{cite journal|title=接触与混合——从 Y 染色体的角度看东乡人群及其语言的关系 |journal=遗传|date=2013|volume=35|issue=6|page=766|last1=文少卿|last2=谢小冬 |last3=徐丹|url=http://www.chinagene.cn/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=2699}}

STR analysis excluding Kyrgyz, Tajiks and other Central Asians might conclude Dongxiang is close to East Asians as a whole.{{Cite journal|last1=Yao|first1=Hong-Bing|last2=Wang|first2=Chuan-Chao|last3=Tao|first3=Xiaolan|last4=Shang|first4=Lei|last5=Wen|first5=Shao-Qing|last6=Zhu|first6=Bofeng|last7=Kang|first7=Longli|last8=Jin|first8=Li|last9=Li|first9=Hui|date=2016-12-07|title=Genetic evidence for an East Asian origin of Chinese Muslim populations Dongxiang and Hui|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=6|issue=1|pages=38656|doi=10.1038/srep38656|pmid=27924949 |pmc=5141421 |bibcode=2016NatSR...638656Y |issn=2045-2322}}

Physical anthropological analysis by Li et. al. (2011) shows that the closest relative of Dongxiang men among the Chinese populations are the Tajiks in Tashkurgan, Xinjiang. The next closest relative is the common ancestor of the Mongols in Bayingolin, Xinjiang, the Salars in Xinhua, Qinghai and the Mongols in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. The physical anthropology of Dongxiang women show her closest relative are the common ancestor of the Bonans in Jishishan, Gansu and the Oroqens in Oroqen Banner, Inner Mongolia. Her next closest relative is the common ancestors of the Monguors in Huzhu, Qinghai, the Salars in Xinhua, Qinghai and the Tajiks in Tashkurgan, Xinjiang.{{cite journal|title=中国布里亚特人的体质特征|volume=30|issue=4|date=2011|last=李咏兰|journal=人类学学报|url=http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/rlxxb/xbwzxz/201112/P020111222354061423132.pdf|page=366}}

Distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroups in Dongxiang:{{Citation|last1=Wen|first1=Shaoqing|title=The Silk Road: Language and Population Admixture and Replacement|date=2017|work=Languages and Genes in Northwestern China and Adjacent Regions|pages=55–78|publisher=Springer, Singapore|doi=10.1007/978-981-10-4169-3_4|isbn=9789811041686|last2=Xu|first2=Dan|s2cid=135234209 |url=https://hal-inalco.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01935687}}

O=24.29(O2=18.69,O1a=1.87,O1b=3.73)

J=16.82

R1=16.82(R1a=14.02,R1b=2.8)

R2=9.35

C=6.54

G=5.61

N=5.6

D=4.67

E=3.74

Others=6.56

In another study in 2010 found that the majority of the Dongxiang belonged to Haplogroup R1a (R1a : 54%).{{Cite journal|last1=Xiao|first1=Chun-Jie|last2=Tang|first2=Wen-Ru|last3=Shi|first3=Hong|last4=Tan|first4=Si-Jie|last5=Dong|first5=Yong-Li|last6=Wei|first6=Chuan-Yu|last7=Qiao|first7=En-Fa|last8=Shou|first8=Wei-Hua|date=May 2010|title=Y-chromosome distributions among populations in Northwest China identify significant contribution from Central Asian pastoralists and lesser influence of western Eurasians|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|volume=55|issue=5|pages=314–322|doi=10.1038/jhg.2010.30|pmid=20414255|issn=1435-232X|doi-access=free}}

The Dongxiang have Mongol, Han Chinese, Hui and Tibetan surnames.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOM8qF34s4YC&q=dongxiang+muslim+mongols&pg=PA66|title=An ethnohistorical dictionary of China|author=James Stuart Olson|year=1998|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=66|isbn=978-0-313-28853-1|access-date=2010-06-28}} Dongxiang with Han Chinese surnames such as Wang, Kang, Zhang, Gao and Huang claim descent from Han Chinese. Surnames such as Ma and Mu are of Hui origin.{{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=611wAAAAMAAJ&q=Place+names+like+Tangwangchuan,+Wangjiaji,+Zhangjiacun,+Gaojiazhuang+and+Miaoerling+also+reflect+old+Han+residences.+The+least+numerous+surnames+are+of+Tibetan+origin;+in+fact,+only+the+Yang+clan+from+Yangzhijia+claims+descent+from|title=The minorities of northern China: a survey

|volume=17 of Studies on East Asia

|year=1984

|author=Henry G. Schwarz

|publisher=Western Washington

|edition=illustrated

|isbn=978-0-914584-17-9

|page=100

|access-date=17 July 2011}}(Original from the University of Michigan ){{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lZIAAAAMAAJ&q=tangwangchuan

|title=Muslim peoples: a world ethnographic survey, Volume 1

|year=1984

|author=Richard V. Weekes

|editor=Richard V. Weekes

|publisher=Greenwood Press

|edition=2, illustrated

|isbn=978-0-313-23392-0

|page=238

|access-date=17 July 2011}}(Original from the University of Michigan )

Some Dongxiang have said that, in the rare instances that they do marry with other people, it is only with Han and Hui, but not Tibetans.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/invisiblechinajo0000lege|url-access=registration|quote=dongxiang han hui marriages.|title=Invisible China: A Journey Through Ethnic Borderlands|author1=Colin Legerton |author2=Jacob Rawson |year=2009|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/invisiblechinajo0000lege/page/156 156]|isbn=978-1-55652-814-9|access-date=2010-06-28}}

In 1900, Generals Ma Fulu and Ma Fuxiang brought a Chinese Muslim troop comprising Dongxiang, Hui and Bonan to fight the foreign troops in the Boxer Rebellion. They were killed while defending the Zhengyang Gate in Beijing. In 1937–1945, General Ma Biao brought a multiethnic troop, including Dongxiang, to fight the Second Sino-Japanese War. Some claimed Ma Fuxiang himself was of a Dongxiang assimilated into the Hui Chinese.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sy2FOZy0kTsC&q=ma+fu+hsiang+mongol&pg=PA23|title=The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier: Their Origin, History, and Social Organization|author=Louis M. J. Schram|year=2006|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|page=23|isbn=978-1-4286-5932-2|access-date=2010-06-28}}

The base of the economy of Dongxiang is agriculture. The main products are potatoes, corn, barley, millet and wheat.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/muslimsinchina0000holl|url-access=registration|title=Muslims in China|last=Elliot|first=Sheila Hollihan|publisher=Mason Crest Publishers|year=2006|isbn=1-59084-880-2|location=Philadelphia|pages=[https://archive.org/details/muslimsinchina0000holl/page/65 65]}} They are also recognized craftsmen, specializing in the elaboration of traditional carpets.File:Muslims and a mosque, the prayer-hall, minaret, market, mountain, Dongxiang County, Gansu, 1934.jpg

An early ethnography of Dongxiang was documented in 1940 by the American Asiatic Association. The author interviewed Ma Chuanyuan, a Muslim Mongol who was the magistrate of five districts, on the origins of his people. The account described them as a community of one hundred thousand, Mongol by race, Islam by religion and Chinese by culture.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3oeAAAAMAAJ&q=honey+milk|title=Asia: journal of the American Asiatic Association, Volume 40|author=American Asiatic Association|year=1940|publisher=Asia Pub. Co.|page=659|access-date=2011-05-08}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIBCAAAAYAAJ&q=nankai|title=The Moslem World, Volumes 31–34|author=Hartford Seminary Foundation|year=1941|publisher=Hartford Seminary Foundation|page=182|access-date=2011-05-08}}

Common Dongxiang cuisine includes the use of a potato mash that is used for noodles, snacks, alcoholic drinks and more.

Traditional Dongxiang dress for men includes buttoned robes and a broad waistband. These waistbands are sometimes used to hang knives, snuff bottles, or small bags on them. A vest over a white shirt, trousers and a beret like cap makes up the rest of the traditional outfit. Seasonal clothing like sheepskin coats are also worn during the winter. Dongxiang women wear embroidered outfits which include wide sleeved shirts and trousers. Older women wear kerchiefs and younger women tend to wear bright decorated cotton caps and silk veils. On special occasions, women wear embroidered shoes with a medium heel.

The Dongxiang speak the Dongxiang language, a member of the Mongolic family.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSttAAAAMAAJ&q=Whatever+racial+origin+they+may+have,+they+speak,+or+least+up+to+recent+times+they+spoke,+a+Mongol+dialect|title=The Mongols and Ming China: customs and history, Volume 1|author1=Henry Serruys |author2=Françoise Aubin |year=1987|publisher=Variorum Reprints|page=cxv|isbn=978-0-86078-210-0|access-date=2010-06-28}} The language has distinct features resembling Middle Mongolian and has up to 35% loan words borrowed from Mandarin Chinese. The negligible words of Persian, Turkic and Arabic origin are probably remnants of their original languages before language shift to Dongxiang. The Dongxiang people also have a rich tradition of oral literature and use the Arabic alphabet.

As a result of the language shift, some 20,000 people in several villages in the Northeastern Dongxiang County now speak the so-called "Tangwang language": a creolized version of Mandarin Chinese with a strong Dongxiang influence, in particular in its grammar.{{cite book

|author=International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies

|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1996

|isbn=978-3-11-013417-9

|title=Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 2, Part 1. (Volume 13 of Trends in Linguistics, Documentation Series).

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=glU0vte5gSkC

|pages=875–882

}}

Government statistics show that the Dongxiang are among the poorest and least literate of China's minorities, with most Dongxiang having completed only an average of 1.1 years of schooling, a problem aggravated by the lack of a written language.

In 2004, the Ford Foundation provided US$30,000 in grant money for a pilot project to promote bilingual education in Mandarin and Dongxiang, in an effort to reduce school drop-out rates. The project is credited with the publication of a Dongxiang–Chinese bilingual dictionary as well as recent rises in test scores.

• Ma Wanfu, anti-Qing rebel and Yihewani founder
• Ma Dahan, anti-Qing rebel

{{Reflist}}

• {{PD-old-text|title=The Moslem World, Volume 10|year=1920|author=Christian Literature Society for India, Hartford Seminary Foundation}}

{{Portal|China}}

{{Commons category|Dongxiang people}}

• [http://pray4hui.com/people-groups/dongxiang The Dongxiang]
• [http://www.china.org.cn/e-groups/shaoshu/shao-2-dongxiang.htm The Dongxiang ethnic minority] (Chinese government site)
• [http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18444/CH Dongxiang in China]
• Oliver Corff: [http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~corff/im/Sprache/Dongxiang.html The Dongxiang Mongols and Their Language]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070313131148/http://www.fordfound.org/grants_db/view_grant_detail.cfm?grant_id=233346 Ford Foundation Grant Information: Narisi Primary School of Dongxiang Autonomous County]
• [http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/07/news/china.php Poor, illiterate, and unaware they're in China]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101007110728/http://www.chinadongxiang.com/ Dongxiang people history and photo gallery]

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