Notice: This is the official website of the All Empires History Community (Reg. 10 Feb 2002)

  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

Who are the Dungan?

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
JiNanRen View Drop Down
Colonel
Colonel
Avatar

Joined: 06-Apr-2005
Location: China
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 547
  Quote JiNanRen Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Who are the Dungan?
    Posted: 05-Sep-2005 at 13:34
Dungan is the considered a dialect of Chinese(almost identical to the Shaanxi and Gansu dialect of Mandarin) and the only Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Central Asia.  It is also the only dialect of Chinese thats written with the Cyrillic alphabet.  It is spoken by Chinese Muslims that fled China.  So is this group of people numbering 100,000 in Central Asia the same as the Hui of China Proper or are they different.  How and why did they decide to come to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Back to Top
Guests View Drop Down
Guest
Guest
  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Sep-2005 at 18:43

JiNanRen,

I have very limited knowledge on Dungan people, here it is anyway

Dungans were Chinese Hui Muslims, late in 19th century they revolted to establish their own community.  They were not sucessful, and left China to various Central Asian countries.  Originally they wrote their Mandarin language using Arabic script.  After Russian revolution they were forced to switch to Latin and later to Cyrillic alphabet.
Dungans have many Arabic, Turkic, Persian and Russian loan words.
All the younger generation of Dungans are fluent in Russian. Dungans are well known with their vegetable gardens, good restaurants in the regions that they live.

I think Dungan is a Turkic name given to them, because even before they left China they were mixed with Turkic people living in China.

Back to Top
Emperor Barbarossa View Drop Down
Caliph
Caliph
Avatar

Joined: 15-Jul-2005
Location: Pittsburgh, USA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2888
  Quote Emperor Barbarossa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Sep-2005 at 19:18
Actually, Dungan is a Russian name given to them because they lived in Eastern Gansu.

Back to Top
Guests View Drop Down
Guest
Guest
  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Sep-2005 at 02:10

Following URL has some additional information on Dungans, including several possibilities where the Dungan name came from.

http://big5.china.com.cn/english/2003/Aug/72893.htm

Back to Top
Guests View Drop Down
Guest
Guest
  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Sep-2005 at 03:36
The term "Dungan" was first seen in the late 18th century. Between 1755 and 1759, after suppressing a rebellion of local tribes, the Qing government moved floods of Hui people from Shaanxi and Gansu into Xinjiang to open up the frontier areas on a vast scale. These Muslim emigrants were called by the local Turki-speaking Uygurs "Tunggan," which derived from Turup Qalghan, meaning "people who have settled down." More than a century later, the defeated Muslim rebels brought their culture as well as the name of Tunggan to Central Asia. Tunggan was pronounced "Dungan" in Russian, hence the name.
Back to Top
barbar View Drop Down
General
General
Avatar
retired AE Moderator

Joined: 10-Aug-2005
Location: Italy
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 781
  Quote barbar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Sep-2005 at 22:17

We, by no means, can relate "Tunggan" with Turkic term "Turup qalghan". Actually "Tunggan" came from "Donggan" which means in chinese "East Gan", according to the geographical location they came from---east Gansu. This makes more sense. Ethnically they are the same people as Huis. Who are Huis? It's still debateable. First they were called " Hui hui", Which is close to the term "Hui hu" as the Chinese called Uyghurs.  They seem to prefer to claim that they are the decendants of Arab and Farsi merchants.

  

Either make a history or become a history.
Back to Top
JiNanRen View Drop Down
Colonel
Colonel
Avatar

Joined: 06-Apr-2005
Location: China
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 547
  Quote JiNanRen Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Sep-2005 at 22:25
they are still called Hui Hui or Huor Huor sometimes.  Also the term Hui is very vague, used kinda like how the Russians used the term Tartar.  Anyone from a Cham in Hainan to a Persian/Arab descendent to a recent Han convert are all considered Hui.
Back to Top
Anthropologists View Drop Down
Immortal Guard
Immortal Guard


Joined: 06-Aug-2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1
  Quote Anthropologists Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Aug-2012 at 05:01

Dungan nationality is originated from Arab and Persian merchants and preachers of 7th-10th centuries who came to China and were given the best women of the ruling dynasty of those days for their bravery and wise advices they gave to the Emperor. Later, they have formed a dungan people community which was very traditionally Islamic. By the way, Dungans are still very conservative. The language is close to the Chinese Mandarin dialect with the great influence of Arabic, Persian and Turkic and Russian words. The name of the nationality, both in Turkic (dungan) and Chinese (hui) has a meaning  of "A nation that will sooner or later go back to their roots...".

Lots of Dungans are living in ex-Soviet countries. Their surnames can differentiate from the culture they are living in. In post Soviat countries, their language is written both in Russian and Arabic scripts... The culture is a mix of Muslim with chinese influence... Though Dungan people like to emulate to the Arabic culture and Sunna of Prophet Muhammed (Salaalahu Aleihi  Wa Salam). Thus, Prophet (pbuh) said: "Seek for knowledge even if you need to go as far as to China".

Back to Top
Don Quixote View Drop Down
Tsar
Tsar

Retired AE Moderator

Joined: 29-Dec-2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4734
  Quote Don Quixote Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Aug-2012 at 08:39


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Dungan-Girls.JPG/250px-Dungan-Girls.JPG

Interesting and varied phenotype, IMHO
Back to Top
heyamigos View Drop Down
Samurai
Samurai


Joined: 31-Aug-2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 126
  Quote heyamigos Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31-Aug-2012 at 04:55
Dungan and Hui are the same people (basically Chinese Muslims).  Only difference is the ancestors of Dungans rebelled against the Chinese emperor and decided to move to Russia to avoid wholescale slaughter after the war, while the ancestors of Hui did not resist emperor and stayed in their villages.
 
Their identity is very complicated.  Most maintain they are descended from Arab, Iranian and Turkic Muslim merchants or soldiers from Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty.  But, a good example, was when a famous descendant of the Ma family (claim descent from a Persian/Turkic general - Seyyid Shams Aladin), he took a DNA test and found out his Y chromosome was O1.  That is one of genetic markers for Chinese, and absolutely ruled out Arab, Persian or Turkic.  They are most native Chinese who converted to Islam but retained a separate identity because of either persecution or their belief make them separate from infidels living amongst them
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.56a [Free Express Edition]
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz

This page was generated in 0.109 seconds.