Paul Hattaway

Uygur

November 30

been working in Central Asia

KAZAKSTAN MONGOLIA
Habahe
for a century.7 One of the
forerunners of todays Uygur
KYRGYZSTAN
were the Turkic Keirat tribe.
XINJIANG
By 1009, 200,000 Keirat
8
Minfeng
had been baptized. During
TIBET
the twelfth and thirteenth
Scale
0
KM
800
centuries the whole tribe
were considered Christian.9 Population in China:
7,164,231 (1990)
It has recently been
9,041,200 (2000)
estimated there were as
11,410,000 (2010)
many as eight million
Location: Xinjiang, Hunan,
Christians in Central Asia.10 Guangdong, Beijing
Religion: Islam
In the fourteenth century
Christians: 50
Christianity disappeared
from among the Uygur for
Overview of the Uygur
500 years, and they
Countries: China, Kazakhstan,
converted to Islam. The
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
Swedish Missionary Society Afghanistan, Mongolia, Pakistan18
recommenced work among Pronunciation: Wee-gur
Other Names: Uighur, Uigur,
the Uygur in 1892. By the
Uighuir, Uiguir, Weiwuer, Yuanhe,
1930s more than 300
Huihe
Uygurs had been converted, Population Source:
Location: More than nine
contains loanwords from
primarily in Kashgar. When 7,214,431 (1990 census);19
5,962,814 (1982 census);20
million Uygurs live in the
Chinese, Arabic, Persian,
Abdullah Khan came to
300,000 in Kazakstan (1993);
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Russian, and Mongolian.5
Yarkant in 1933 he expelled 37,000 in Kyrgyzstan;
36,000 in Uzbekistan (1993);
Region in northwest China.
the missionaries and
3,000 in Afghanistan;
In 1876 Eastern Turkestan History: In the mid-eighth
eliminated the Uygur
1,000 in Mongolia;
1,000 in Pakistan21
century the Uygur inhabited believers in a mass
was invaded by the ruling
11
Location: Xinjiang;22 Hunan;
Manchu army, and its name part of present-day
execution. Abdullah
Guangdong; Beijing
Mongolia. Around AD 840
changed to Xinjiang, which
claimed, It is my duty,
they were attacked from the according to our law, to put Status:
means new dominion.
An official minority of China
Since the 1950s millions of north by the Kirgiz and fled you to death, because by
Language: Altaic, Turkic,
Chinese have migrated into southwest to their current
your preaching you
Eastern Turkic, Southeast
Xinjiang and, by their sheer homeland.6
destroyed the faith of some Literacy: 56%
Dialects (2): Central Uygur, Hotan
numbers, have put an end
of us.12 Despite the
Religion: Islam, Animism
Customs: Many Uygur
to the Uygurs hope for an
presence of many Han
Christians: 50
cultivate cotton, grapes,
independent homeland.1
Christians in Xinjiang, few
Scripture: Bible 1950; New
Two thousand Uygur live in melons, and fruit trees
have a vision to reach the
Testament 1914; (Obsolete
Hunan Province.2 In
through an ingenious
Uygurs. One visitor reported, script); Portions 1898
addition, approximately
irrigation system which
Many [church] leaders
Jesus film: Available
20,000 Uygur have recently pipes mountain water into
openly acknowledge, without Gospel Recordings:
migrated to Guangzhou in
the desert oases.
guilt or shame, that they do Uygur #03371; Qashqari #03376
southern China.3
not have such a burden for Christian Broadcasting:
Available in three dialects (FEBC)
Religion: Most Uygur follow these people.13 One church ROPAL code: UIG00
Identity: Before 1921 the
a folk Islam mixed with
elder, when asked about
various Turkic groups in
superstition. Islam is
evangelizing Uygurs,
Status of Evangelization
Xinjiang called themselves
stronger in southern Xinjiang responded by shouting,
90%
by the name of the oasis
than in the north. Today,
Youre crazy!14 Today
near which they lived. When although almost all Uygur
about 50 known Uygur
Turkic leaders met in
confess to be Muslims, few Christians meet in two small
Tashkent in 1921, they
are aware of the time in
fellowships in China,15
9%
chose the name Uygur as the history when the majority of although 400 Uygur
1%
mark of their identity.4 Uygur Uygur were Christians.
believers have recently
A
B
C
means unity or alliance.
emerged in neighboring
Christianity: When
Kazakstan.16 Recent reports A = Have never heard the gospel
B = Were evangelized but did not
Language: Uygur is a Turkic Nestorian missionaries first indicate that many Uygur in
become Christians
C = Are adherents to any form of
language, related to Uzbek, appeared in China in 635
China may be on the verge
Christianity
AD, after they had already
Kazak, and Kirgiz. It also
of accepting Christ.17

528 UYGUR