During the Tang Dynasty, there were many Buddhist countries in the western region, which were completely different from xinjiang in later generations. This transformation occurred from the early Song dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. This is the reshaping of Western culture, which is both a fault line of culture and a rebirth of culture.
The transformation of culture is, in the final analysis, the result of the collision of forces. Since the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty forces withdrew from the Western Regions, thus forming a vacuum of power and power, and opening the prelude to cultural reshaping and national integration.
Thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Qarakhanids: The Introduction of Islam</h1>
The establishment of the Qarakhanid dynasty was an important event in the change of the pattern of the Western Regions. Since the Battle of Tilus, the Arabs have stopped their eastward advance. Islam's second eastward advance was the fierce iron shoe of the Qarakhanids.
Previously, most of the major countries in the western region believed in Buddhism, including Zoroastrianism and Jingjiao. In the face of the strong advance of Islam, Khotan, Gaochang and other countries rose up to resist. After decades of religious wars, Khotan collapsed, Qarakhanid stopped expanding, and the western regions returned to relative balance.
The Western Regions of the 10th Century
During this period, the early Uyghur culture gradually took shape. Under the Qarakhanid dynasty, Islam ruled the western half of the Tarim Basin, and the Uighur language began to switch to Arabic spelling, transitioning to the modern Uyghur language.
At the same time, literature and art developed. Yusufu Hath Hajiv wrote the famous long poem "The Wisdom of Bliss", which Mahmoud Kashgari compiled into the Great Turkic Dictionary.
Statue of Yusufu Haas Hajifu
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > II. Western Liao: A Brief Revival of Han Culture</h1>
Yelü Dashi, the founding prince of the Western Liao Dynasty, was the patriarch of the Liao Dynasty and was also an important force in the Liao state to resist the Jin army. Due to differences with Emperor Tianzuo of Liao, Yelü Dashi led his army to leave in an attempt to revive. Due to the strength of the Jin Dynasty, the homeland could not be returned, and Yelü Dashi could only find another foothold.
In 1130, Yelü Dashi led an army to the territory of the Qarakhanid Dynasty, and seeing that the Qarakhanid Dynasty was already worried about internal and external troubles, he began to conquer the western region. As early as 1041, the Qarakhanids had split into east and west, and the west became a vassal of the Seljuk dynasty.
The Great Stone Statue of Jerusalem
Yelü Dashi initially planned to conquer the whole of Hexi by force, but was met with stubborn resistance from the Eastern Qarakhanid Dynasty, and the Uighurs of Gaochang, who had previously surrendered, took advantage of the chaos and suffered heavy losses.
After that, Yelü Dashi changed his strategy, rested with the people, united the various departments of the Western Regions, and formally established the Western Liao regime in 1132. The Western Liao adopted a more tolerant cultural and religious policy, but Han culture always dominated the Western Liao regime.
Yelü Dashi's personal Han cultural attainment is very high, and with Confucianism as the governing ideology, the cultures of various ethnic groups can be integrated into each other in a peaceful environment, and the Han culture in the Western Regions was briefly revived during this period, while the Uighur culture continued to integrate with Persian and Arab cultures, and Uyghur culture further developed.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Mongol rule: the great integration of cultures</h1>
In the western expedition of the Mongol army, the Western Liao, Gaochang Uighurs, Eastern Qarakhanid Dynasty and other states were destroyed one after another, and the western region became the territory of the Chagatai Khanate. The Mongol rulers of Central Asia converted to Islam and became the driving force behind a new wave of Islamic spread. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, turpan's last Buddhist forces withdrew, and southern Xinjiang became a complete muslim homeland.
The Chagatai Khanate split into east and west in 1347, the western khanate later evolved into the Timurid dynasty, and the eastern region ruled more permanently. In 1514, the royal family of the Eastern Chagatai Khan, Seyid, established the Yarkand Khanate. Almost at the same time, Yunus Khan, who was also from the Chagatai royal family, established the Turpan Khanate.
Mausoleum of King Yarkand Khan
The Yarkand Khanate was a continuation of the Chagatai Khanate, which, after annexing the Turpan Khanate, ruled a vast area including the Tarim Basin and the Turpan Basin, while the Ming dynasty forces had long since retreated to Jiayuguan.
During the Period of the Yarkand Khanate, Uyghur culture was basically fixed, and Mongolian culture, Wu'er (i.e., Uighur) culture, and Central Asian culture were integrated.
Statue of Amanisha Khan
Rashid Khan, the second ruler of the Yarkand Khanate, strongly supported the development of literature and art. Rashid's princess Amanisha Khan, with his support, arranged the Muqam Suite with the court musician Yusufu Kodir Khan. The twelve chapters left behind by this suite became the famous "Twelve Mukams" after being adapted and sorted out.
From the Qarakhanid Dynasty to the Yarkand Khanate, Uighur culture and Western Oasis culture, Arab and Persian culture, Mongolian culture and Han culture constantly collided, exchanged and integrated, and finally formed a brilliant Uyghur culture, adding a dazzling stroke to Chinese culture.
Muqam Suite Performance Diagram
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > bibliography</h1>
A Survey of Chinese Regional Cultures • Xinjiang Volume