Uyghurs

The Uyghurs (also spelled Uighur; Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر;) are an ethnic group of Central Asia. They are one of China's 56 officially recognized ethnicities.

Quotes



 * Uyghurs are the best among Turks. Their language is called Hakaniye Turkchesi (King's Turkish).
 * Kashgarli Mehmud, Divanü Lügat-it-Türk (The Dictionary of Turkic Languages), 1072.


 * Turfan (Turpan) is without doubt a forgotten Asian city of extraordinary interest. The size of it is remarkable: the inner, holy city, consisting only of temples and palace, measures 7,400 feet at the widest point of the still extant walls. Hundreds of terraced temples and grandiose vaulted edifices cover an extensive area of lane.
 * "Along the Ancient Silk Routes" show, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, April 3 - June 20, 1982


 * The Uyghur language and script contributed to the enrichment of civilizations of the other peoples in Central Asia. Compared to the Europeans of that time, the Uyghurs were far more advanced. Documents discovered in Uyghur Region prove that an Uyghur farmer could write down a contract, using legal terminology. How many European farmers could have done that at that period? This shows the extent of Uygur civilization of that time.
 * Shuyl Unver, Medicine in Uyghurs, Istanbul, 1936. pp. 4-6.


 * In Middle Ages, the Chinese poetry, literature, theater, music and painting were greatly influenced by the Uyghurs.
 * Wolfram Eberhard, History of China, Istanbul, 1947, p. 116.


 * The Uyghurs knew how to print books centuries before Guetenberg invented his press.
 * Lazlo Rasonyi, Turkic in History, Ankara, 1971, pp. 105, 107.


 * Russian scholar Pantusov writes that the Uyghurs manufactured their own musical instruments; they had 62 different kinds of musical instruments and in every Uyghur home there used to be an instrument called a "dutar".
 * Brief History of Uyghur Literature, Almaty, 1983, p. 7.


 * It is just that their thinking has been infected by unhealthy thoughts. Freedom is only possible when this ‘virus’ in their thinking is eradicated and they are in good health.
 * The Xinjiang Papers, Directive’s Question-and-Answer Guide, The New York Times (16 Nov 2019)


 * Like the waters of the Tarim we began in this place and we will finish here We came from nowhere else and we will not leave for anywhere If God made humanity God made us for this place If man evolved from apes we evolved from the apes of this place
 * Perhat Tursun, "The Tarim River"

2024

 * "Home" means different things to young Uyghurs – some of whom may have not even visited their ancestral homeland in China’s far western Xinjiang region. That was the theme of the latest annual art competition for Uyghur artists and others held by the Uyghur Collective, a -based youth group that has organized the annual event since 2019.
 * Nuriman Abdureshid, "Spirit of Uyghurs is celebrated in paintings of ‘Home’", Radio Free Asia (February 11, 2024)