The Salar people (Chinese: 撒拉族, Pinyin: Sālāzú) are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They numbered 104,503 people in the last census of 2000 and live mostly in Qinghai (in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County 循化撒拉族自治縣 and Hualong Autonomous County of the Hui Nationality 化隆回族自治縣), in Gansu (in Jishishan Autonomous County of the Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Nationalities 積石山保安族東鄉族撒拉族自治縣) and in Xinjiang (in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture 伊犁哈薩克自治州). Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell and yin means sound. The most common variant of pinyin in use is called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: , Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... Qinghai (Chinese: 青海; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching-hai; Postal System Pinyin: Tsinghai; Tibetan: མཚོ་སྔོན་ mtsho-sngon; Mongolian: Köke Naγur; Manchu: Huhu Noor) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, named after the enormous Qinghai Lake. ... Xunhua Salar Autonomous County (simplified Chinese: 循化撒拉族自治县; pinyin: Xúnhuà SÇŽlázú Zìzhìxiàn) lies in the southeast of Haidong Prefecture of the Chinese province of Qinghai, for instance 35. ... The Hui people (Chinese: 回族; Pinyin: ) are a Chinese ethnic group, typically distinguished by their practice of the Islamic religion. ... Gansu (Simplified Chinese: 甘肃; Traditional Chinese: 甘肅; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kan-su, Kansu, or Kan-suh) is a province located in the northwest of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Bonan (also Baoan) people (保安族; pinyin: bÇŽoān zú) are an ethnic group living in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in northwestern China. ... The Dongxiang people (own name: Sarta or Santa; Simplified Chinese: 东乡族 Traditional Chinese︰東鄉族; Pinyin: Dōngxiāngzú) are an ethnic group closely related to the Mongolians, who practice Islam. ... Xinjiang (Uyghur: (Shinjang); Chinese: æ–°ç–†; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsin1-chiang1; Postal Pinyin: Sinkiang), full name Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Uyghur: شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى (Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni); Simplified Chinese: 新疆维吾尔自治区; Traditional Chinese: 新疆維吾爾自治區; Pinyin: XÄ«njiāng Wéiwúěr ZìzhìqÅ«), is an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture (Chinese: 伊犁哈薩克自治州, Pinyin: YÄ«lí Hāsàkè zìzhìzhōu, Kazakh: ىله قازاق اۆتونومىيالى وبلىسى / Іле Қазақ автономиялы облысы, Uyghur: ئىلى قازاق ئاپتونوم ۋىلايىتى / Ili ĶazaÄ· aptonom wilayiti), in northernmost Xinjiang, is the only Kazakh autonomous prefecture of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Their ancestors were migrating Oghuz Turks who intermarried with the Tibetans, Han Chinese, and Hui. They are a patriarchal agricultural society and Muslims. The Oghuz Turks (also with various alternate spellings, including Oguz, OÄŸuz, Ouz, Okuz, Oufoi, Guozz and Ghuzz) are regarded as one of the major branches of Turkic peoples. ... A Tibetan pilgrim The Tibetans speak the Tibetan language natively and form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), although in anthropological terms they include more than one ethnic group. ... Han Chinese (Simplified Chinese: 汉族; Traditional Chinese: 漢族; Pinyin: hànzú) is a term which refers to the majority ethnic group within China and the largest single human ethnic group in the world. ... The Hui people (Chinese: 回族; Pinyin: ) are a Chinese ethnic group, typically distinguished by their practice of the Islamic religion. ... A patriarch (from Greek: patria means father; arché means rule, beginning, origin) is a male head of an extended family exercising autocratic authority, or, by extension, a member of the ruling class or government of a society controlled by senior men. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ...

History

Their origins are uncertain but according to Salar tradition, during the thirteenth century their ancestors left Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan and eventually settled in their present location. In 1781, Qing armies crushed a Salar uprising with the results being disastrous for the Salar. As much as 40% of their entire population was killed in the revolt. Colour photograph of a Madrasa taken in Samarkand ca. ... 1781 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; Pinyin: Qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, is a Chinese term for the Empire of the Great Qing (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: dàqīngguó), founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what...

Culture

For the Salar, divorce is a very easy procedure, although it can only be requested by the husband. In order to dissolve the marriage, the man only has to tell his wife that he no longer wishes to remain married to her. The woman abandons the conjugal residence and he remains free to be married again.

The typical clothing of the Salar very similar to other Muslim peoples in the region. The men are commonly bearded and dress in white shirts and white or black skullcaps.

The young single women are accustomed to dressing in Chinese dress of bright colors. The married women utilize the traditional veil in white or black colors.

They have an instrument musical called the Kouxuan. It is a string instrument manufactured in silver or in copper and only played by the women.

Language

The Salar language has two large dialect groups. The divergence is due to the fact that one branch was influenced by the Tibetan and Chinese languages, and the other branch by the Uyghur and Kazakh languages. Only about one third of Salar speak their own language. In addition to Chinese, many Salar also speak Tibetan. Salar is not a written language. There are reported similarities with Turkmen. Anthropologically the Salar are of the Mongoloid Central Asian race but have mixed with Tibetans,Han and Mongols. Salar is a Turkic language spoken by the Salar people, who mainly live in the provinces of Qinghai and Gansu in China. ... The Tibetan language is spoken primarily by the Tibetan people who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering South Asia, as well as by large number of Tibetan refugees all over the world. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Uyghur (ئۇيغۇرچه UyurqÉ™, or ئۇيغۇر تىلى Uyur tili; Simplified Chinese: 维吾尔语; Traditional Chinese: 維吾爾語; Pinyin: WéiwúěryÇ”) is a Turkic language spoken by the Uyghur people in Xinjiang (also called East Turkestan or Uyghuristan), China. ... Kazakh, also Kazak, Qazaq, Khazakh, Kosach, and Kaisak (Қазақ тілі in Cyrillic, Qazaq tili in the Latin alphabet, and قازاق تءىلءي in the Arabic alphabet) is a Western Turkic language closely related to Kyrgyz, Nogai and Karakalpak. ... The Tibetan language is spoken primarily by the Tibetan people who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering South Asia, as well as by large number of Tibetan refugees all over the world. ...

References

• Tenišev, E.R: Stroj salarskogo âzyka (The structure of the Salar language). Moscow, Nauka 1976).
• Lin Lianyun (林莲云): 汉撒拉、撒拉汉词汇 (Chinese-Salar Salar-Chinese lexicon. Chengdu, People's Press of Sichuan. 1992.

Nauka is a Russian publisher of academic books and journals. ... (Chinese: 四川; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ch`uan; Postal Pinyin: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ...

External links

• The Salar ethnic minority (Chinese government site)
• Arienne M. Dwyer: Salar Grammatical Sketch (PDF)
• Salar language materials, including pronunciation and sentence examples
• Ma Wei, Ma Jianzhong, and Kevin Stuart, editors. 2001. Folklore of China’s Islamic ` Nationality. Lewiston, Edwin Mellen.
• Ma Quanlin, Ma Wanxiang, and Ma Zhicheng (Kevin Stuart, editor). 1993. Salar Language Materials. Sino-Platonic Papers. Number 43.
• Ma Wei, Ma Jianzhong, and Kevin Stuart. 1999. The Xunhua Salar Wedding. Asian Folklore Studies 58:31-76.
• Ma Jianzhong and Kevin Stuart. 1996. ‘Stone Camels and Clear Springs’: The Salar’s Samarkand Origins. Asian Folklore Studies. 55:2, 287-298.
• Han Deyan (translated by Ma Jianzhong and Kevin Stuart). 1999. The Salar Khazui System. Central Asiatic Journal 43 (2): 204-214.
• Feng Lide and Kevin Stuart. 1991. Ma Xueyi and Ma Chengjun. Salazu Fengsuzhi [Records of Salar Customs]; Han Fude, general editor. Salazu Minjian Gushi [Salar Folktales]; Han Fude, general editor. Minjian Geyao [Folk Songs]; and Han Fude, general editor. Minjian Yanyu [Folk Proverbs]. Asian Folklore Studies. 50:2, 371-373.