Editing Uyghurs (section)

==Culture==
===Religion===
[[File:Khotan-mezquita-d03.jpg|thumb|A [[Khotan Mosque|Uyghur mosque]] in [[Hotan|Khotan]]]]

The ancient Uyghurs believed in many local deities. These practices gave rise to [[shamanism]] and [[Tengrism]]. Uyghurs also practiced aspects of [[Zoroastrianism]] such as [[fire altar]]s, and adopted [[Manichaeism]] as a state religion for the Uyghur Khaganate,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moriyasu|first=Takao|date=13 October 2015|title=New Developments in the History of East Uighur Manichaeism|journal=Open Theology|language=en|volume=-1|issue=open-issue|doi=10.1515/opth-2015-0016|doi-access=free}}</ref> possibly in 762 or 763. Ancient Uyghurs also practiced [[Buddhism in Central Asia|Buddhism]] after they moved to Qocho, and some believed in [[Church of the East]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tanghistory.net/data/articles/d02/621.html |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:回鶻觀音信仰考 |website=tanghistory.net |title=A Review of Guanyin Faith |access-date=28 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322065047/http://www.tanghistory.net/data/articles/d02/621.html |archive-date=22 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/93572.htm |language=zh-hant  |script-title=zh:回鶻彌勒信仰考 |publisher=Ccbs.ntu.edu.tw |access-date=3 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313160638/http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/93572.htm |archive-date=13 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Ben Westcott and Yong Xiong|date=22 July 2019|title=Xinjiang's Uyghurs didn't choose to be Muslim, new Chinese report says|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/asia/china-xinjiang-uyghur-muslim-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=24 March 2021|website=CNN|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Uighur Buddhism|url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0197.xml|access-date=14 February 2022|website=obo|language=en}}</ref>

People in the Western Tarim Basin region began their conversion to Islam early in the Kara-Khanid Khanate period.<ref name="sinor"/> Some pre-Islamic practices continued under Muslim rule; for example, while the Quran dictated many rules on marriage and divorce, other pre-Islamic principles based on Zoroastrianism also helped shape the laws of the land.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Starr|first=S. Frederick|title=Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0691157733|page=96}}</ref> There had been [[Christianity in Xinjiang|Christian]] conversions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these were suppressed by the [[First East Turkestan Republic]] government agents.<ref name="UhalleyWu2015">{{cite book|author1=Stephen Uhalley|author2=Xiaoxin Wu|title=China and Christianity: Burdened Past, Hopeful Future|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPnqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA274|date=4 March 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47501-9|pages=274–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880-1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA59|year=2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-16675-2|pages=59–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Edward Laird Mills|title=Christian Advocate -: Pacific Edition ..|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_vgtAQAAIAAJ&q=swedish+missionaries+1933+persecution|year=1938|page=986}}</ref> Because of persecution, the churches were destroyed and the believers were scattered.<ref name="Millward27">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA179|title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-231-13924-3|page=179|author=James A. Millward}}</ref> According to the national census, 0.5% or 1,142 [[Uyghurs in Kazakhstan]] were [[Christians]] in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title= kk:Қазақстан Республикасындағы ұлттық құрам, діни наным және тілдерді меңгеру |title= Nationality, religious beliefs and language skills in the Republic of Kazakhstan (Census 2009) |page= 329 |url= https://stat.gov.kz/census/national/2009/general |website= Republic of Kazakhstan Bureau of National Statistics |access-date= 10 March 2021 |location= Astana |date= 2011 |archive-date= 20 June 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210620060742/https://stat.gov.kz/census/national/2009/general |url-status= dead }}</ref>

Modern Uyghurs are primarily [[Muslims|Muslim]] and they are the second-largest predominantly Muslim ethnicity in China after the [[Hui people|Hui]].<ref name="Palmer">{{Cite book|title=Chinese Religious Life|first1=David|last1=Palmer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFaLDKFZpFgC&pg=PA62|first2=Glenn|last2=Shive|first3=Philip|last3=Wickeri|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|pages=61–62|isbn=9780199731381|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=dFaLDKFZpFgC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The majority of modern Uyghurs are [[Sunni Islam|Sunnis]], although additional conflicts exist between Sufi and non-Sufi religious orders.<ref name="Palmer"/> While modern Uyghurs consider Islam to be part of their identity, religious observance varies between different regions. In general, Muslims in the southern region, Kashgar in particular, are more conservative. For example, women wearing the veil (a piece of cloth covering the head completely) are more common in Kashgar than some other cities.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA153|title=Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road|author=Justin Jon Rudelson|year=1997|page=153|publisher=Columbia University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=0-231-10787-0|access-date=28 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The veil, however, has been banned in cities such as [[Ürümqi]] since 2014 after it became more popular there.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-30435691 |title=China Uighurs: Xinjiang city of Urumqi to ban Islamic veil |date=11 December 2014 |work=BBC}}</ref>

There is also a general split between the Uyghurs and the Hui Muslims in Xinjiang and they normally worship in different mosques.<ref>{{cite book |title=Xinjiang, China's Muslim Borderland |chapter=Chapter 13 – Islam in Xinjiang |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA331 |author1=Graham E. Fuller |author2=Jonathan N. Lipman |name-list-style=amp |editor=S. Frederick Starr |pages=331–332 |isbn=978-0-7656-1318-9 |date=15 March 2004 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe }}</ref> The Chinese government discourages religious worship among the Uyghurs,<ref name="nyt2016">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/asia/xinjiang-seethes-under-chinese-crackdown.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103033831/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/asia/xinjiang-seethes-under-chinese-crackdown.html |archive-date=3 January 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Xinjiang Seethes Under Chinese Crackdown |work=The New York Times |date=2 January 2016 |first=Andrew |last=Jacob }}</ref> and there is evidence of thousands of Uyghur mosques including historic ones being destroyed.<ref name="lily">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/07/revealed-new-evidence-of-chinas-mission-to-raze-the-mosques-of-xinjiang |title=Revealed: new evidence of China's mission to raze the mosques of Xinjiang |first=Lily |last=Kuo |date=7 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |access-date=7 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507100720/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/07/revealed-new-evidence-of-chinas-mission-to-raze-the-mosques-of-xinjiang |archive-date=7 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a 2020 [[Australian Strategic Policy Institute]] report, Chinese authorities since 2017 have destroyed or damaged 16,000 mosques in Xinjiang.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=25 September 2020|title=Thousands of Xinjiang mosques destroyed or damaged, report finds|language=en-GB|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/thousands-of-xinjiang-mosques-destroyed-damaged-china-report-finds|access-date=26 September 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Skopeliti|first=Clea|date=25 September 2020|title=China: Nearly two-thirds of Xinjiang mosques damaged or demolished, new report shows|work=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/xinjiang-mosques-destroyed-damaged-china-uighurs-b597919.html|access-date=26 September 2020}}</ref>

In the early 21st century, a new trend of Islam, [[Salafi movement|Salafism]], emerged in Xinjiang, mostly among the Turkic population including Uyghurs, although there are Hui Salafis. These Salafis tended to demonstrate [[pan-Islamism]] and abandoned nationalism in favor of a caliphate to rule Xinjiang in the event of independence from China.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263064251 |title=Revisiting the Salafi-jihadist Threat in Xinjiang |last=Kuo |first=Kendrick |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |volume=32 |number=4 |date=December 2012 |pages=528–544 |doi=10.1080/13602004.2012.744172|s2cid=143745128 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mesbar.org/salafism-china-jihadist-takfiri-strains/|title=Salafism in China and its Jihadist-Takfiri strains|date=18 January 2018|access-date=24 July 2020}}</ref> Many Uyghur Salafis have allied themselves with the [[Turkistan Islamic Party]] in response to growing repression of Uyghurs by China.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gurcan |first=Metin |date=19 January 2015 |title=Oppressed by China, Uighurs drawn to Salafist ideas |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/turkey-china-uyghurs-to-salafist-oppressive.html |access-date=24 July 2020 |website=[[Al-Monitor]]}}</ref>

===Language===
{{Main|Uyghur language}}
[[File:Map of language areas of Xinjiang.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Map of language families in Xinjiang]]

The ancient people of the Tarim Basin originally spoke different languages, such as [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian]], [[Saka language|Saka]] (Khotanese), and [[Gāndhārī language|Gandhari]]. The Turkic people who moved into the region in the 9th century brought with them their languages, which slowly supplanted the original tongues of the local inhabitants. In the 11th century, [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]] noted that the Uyghurs (of Qocho) spoke a pure Turkic language, but they also still spoke another language among themselves and had two different scripts. He also noted that the people of Khotan did not know Turkic well and had their own language and script ([[Saka language|Khotanese]]).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAX5ohFkcVgC&pg=PA72 |title=slamic Central Asia: An Anthology of Historical Sources |author1=Scott Cameron Levi |author2=Ron Sela |page=72 |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0253353856 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=SAX5ohFkcVgC&pg=PA72 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Writers of the Karakhanid period, Al-Kashgari and [[Yusuf Balasagun]], referred to their Turkic language as ''Khāqāniyya'' (meaning royal) or the "language of Kashgar" or simply Turkic.<ref>{{cite book|author3-link=Robert Dankoff|author1=Mehmet Fuat Köprülü|author2=Gary Leiser|author3=Robert Dankoff|title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&pg=PA158|year=2006|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-36686-1|pages=158–|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&pg=PA158|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Edmund Herzig|title=The Age of the Seljuqs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ML2bBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|date=30 November 2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-947-9|pages=23–|access-date=22 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=ML2bBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

The modern Uyghur language is classified under the [[Karluk languages|Karluk]] branch of the [[Turkic languages|Turkic language family]]. It is closely related to [[Äynu language|Äynu]], [[Lop language|Lop]], [[Ili Turki language|Ili Turki]] and [[Chagatay language|Chagatay]] (the East Karluk languages) and slightly less closely to [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]] (which is West Karluk). The Uyghur language is an [[agglutinative language]] and has a [[subject-object-verb]] word order. It has [[vowel harmony]] like other Turkic languages and has noun and verb [[Grammatical case|cases]] but lacks distinction of gender forms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~celcar/pamphlets/Uyghur.pdf |title=Uyghur |work=Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region |publisher=Indiana University |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607223811/http://www.indiana.edu/~celcar/pamphlets/uyghur.pdf |archive-date=7 June 2015 }}</ref>

Modern Uyghurs have adopted a number of scripts for their language. The [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic script]], known as the [[Chagatay alphabet]], was adopted along with Islam. This alphabet is known as Kona Yëziq (old script). Political changes in the 20th century led to numerous reforms of the scripts, for example the [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]-based [[Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet]], a Latin [[Uyghur New Script]] and later a reformed [[Uyghur Arabic alphabet]], which represents all vowels, unlike Kona Yëziq. A new Latin version, the [[Uyghur Latin alphabet]], was also devised in the 21st century.

In the 1990s, many Uyghurs in parts of Xinjiang could not speak [[Mandarin Chinese]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/china00pete/page/304|title=China the Silk Routes|author=Peter Neville-Hadley|series=[[Cadogan Guides]]|publisher=[[Globe Pequot Press]]|page=304|year=1997|isbn=9781860110528|quote=Travelling east from Khotan{...}Many Uighurs speak no Chinese at all, and most hotels are even less likely to have English speakers than those elsewhere in China.}}</ref>

===Literature===
{{main|Uyghur literature}}
[[File:Manicheans.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Leaf from a [[Uyghur Khaganate|Uyghur]]-[[Chinese Manichaeism|Manichaean]] version of the ''[[Arzhang]]'']]

The literary works of the ancient Uyghurs were mostly translations of Buddhist and Manichaean religious texts,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hk.plm.org.cn/e_book/xz-11348.pdf |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:西域、 敦煌文獻所見回鵲之佛經翻譯 |website=hk.plm.org.cn |access-date=28 July 2013 }}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> but there were also narrative, poetic and epic works apparently original to the Uyghurs. However it is the literature of the Kara-Khanid period that is considered by modern Uyghurs to be the important part of their literary traditions. Among these are Islamic religious texts and histories of [[Turkic peoples]], and important works surviving from that era are ''[[Kutadgu Bilig]]'', "Wisdom of Royal Glory" by [[Yusuf Khass Hajib]] (1069–70), [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]]'s ''Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk'', "A Dictionary of Turkic Dialects" (1072) and Ehmed Yükneki's ''Etebetulheqayiq''. Modern Uyghur religious literature includes the [[Tadhkirah (Ahmadiyya)|Taẕkirah]], biographies of Islamic religious figures and saints.<ref name="Thum2014 2">{{cite book|author=Rian Thum|title=The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pP6EBAAAQBAJ&q=tazkirah&pg=PA113|date=13 October 2014|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-59855-3|pages=113–}}</ref><ref name=Thum2012>{{cite journal |last1=Thum |first1=Rian |title=Modular History: Identity Maintenance before Uyghur Nationalism |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |date=August 2012 |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=627–653 |doi=10.1017/S0021911812000629 |s2cid=162917965 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Shaw|title=A Sketch of the Turki Language: As Spoken in Eastern Turkistan ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw7gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA102|year=1878|pages=102–109|access-date=26 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821113649/https://books.google.com/books?id=dw7gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA102|archive-date=21 August 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India)|title=Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0G0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA325|year=1877|pages=325–347|access-date=26 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109085728/https://books.google.com/books?id=0G0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA325|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|url=https://archive.org/details/journalasiatics03benggoog|year=1877|publisher=G.H. Rouse, Baptist Mission Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/journalasiatics03benggoog/page/n334 325]–347|access-date=26 July 2016}}{{cite book|author=Robert Shaw|title=A Sketch of the Túrkí Language as Spoken in Eastern Túrkistán (Káshgar & Yarkand) Together with a Collection of Extracts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlpIAQAAMAAJ&q=nucta+rashid|year=1875|publisher=Printed at the Central jail Press|pages=i–xxix}}</ref> The Turki language ''Tadhkirah i Khwajagan'' was written by M. Sadiq Kashghari.<ref name="Storey2002">{{cite book|author=C. A. Storey|title=Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VleM1pOXgdQC&q=Semyonov+chahars&pg=PA1026|date=February 2002|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-947593-38-4|pages=1026–}}</ref> Between the 1600s and 1900s many Turki-language tazkirah manuscripts devoted to stories of local sultans, martyrs and saints were written.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/review/xinjiang-stories-nile-green-rian-thum-sacred-routes-uyghur-history|title=Xinjiang Stories – Los Angeles Review of Books|date=3 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406002413/https://lareviewofbooks.org/review/xinjiang-stories-nile-green-rian-thum-sacred-routes-uyghur-history|archive-date=6 April 2016}}</ref> Perhaps the most famous and best-loved pieces of modern Uyghur literature are [[Abdurehim Ötkür]]'s ''Iz'', ''Oyghanghan Zimin'', [[Zordun Sabir]]'s ''Anayurt'' and [[Ziya Samedi]]'s novels ''Mayimkhan'' and ''Mystery of the years''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}

Exiled Uyghur writers and poets, such as [[Muyesser Abdul'ehed]], use literature to highlight the issues facing their community.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Freeman|first=Joshua L.|title=Uighur Poets on Repression and Exile|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/08/13/uighur-poets-on-repression-and-exile/|access-date=9 November 2020|website=The New York Review of Books|date=13 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

===Music===
[[File:Uyghur Meshrep.jpg|thumb|Uyghur Meshrep musicians in Yarkand]]
{{Listen|filename=Chirayliq.ogg|title=Uyghur folk music with modern influence|description=An example of modern Uyghur music}}

[[Muqam]] is the classical musical style. The '''12 Muqams''' are the national oral epic of the Uyghurs. The muqam system was developed among the Uyghur in northwestern China and Central Asia over approximately the last 1500 years from the Arabic [[maqama]]t [[Mode (music)|modal]] system that has led to many musical genres among peoples of [[Eurasia]] and [[North Africa]]. Uyghurs have local muqam systems named after the oasis towns of [[Xinjiang]], such as [[Dolan people|Dolan]], [[Yining|Ili]], [[Hami|Kumul]] and [[Turpan]]. The most fully developed at this point is the Western [[Tarim Basin|Tarim]] region's 12 muqams, which are now a large canon of music and songs recorded by the traditional performers [[Turdi Akhun]] and [[Omar Akhun]] among others in the 1950s and edited into a more systematic system. Although the folk performers probably improvized their songs, as in Turkish [[Taqsim|taksim]] performances, the present institutional canon is performed as fixed compositions by ensembles.

The Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang has been designated by [[UNESCO]] as part of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?RL=21 |title=UNESCO Culture Sector – Intangible Heritage – 2003 Convention |publisher=Unesco.org |access-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514084005/http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?RL=21 |archive-date=14 May 2011 }}</ref>

[[Amannisa Khan]], sometimes called Amanni Shahan (1526–1560), is credited with collecting and thereby preserving the Twelve Muqam.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kashi.gov.cn/English/Tourism/Customs/12muqams.htm |title=Kashgar Welcome You! |publisher=Kashi.gov.cn |access-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181818/http://www.kashi.gov.cn/English/Tourism/Customs/12muqams.htm |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> 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|duttar]]".

Uzbek composer [[Shakhida Shaimardanova]] uses themes from Uyghur folk music in her compositions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic |url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Uzbek+Soviet+Socialist+Republic |access-date=2 August 2022 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com}}</ref>

===Dance===

[[Sanam (dance)|Sanam]] is a popular folk dance among the Uyghur people.<ref>{{cite book|title=Imagined Differences: Hatred and the Construction of Identity|editor1-first=Günther|editor1-last=Schlee|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|year=2002|chapter=Temperamental Neighbours: Uighur-Han Relations in Xinjiang, Northwest China|last=Bellér-Hann|first=Ildikó|page=66|quote=The fact that many young girls hope to pursue careers as folk dancers is perhaps another indication that the stereotype promoted by the Chinese authorities of the colourful, exotic minorities who dance and sing is not a pure Chinese invention: the Uighur themselves regard this as an important expression of their identity.}}</ref> It is commonly danced by people at weddings, festive occasions, and parties.<ref name="abliz">{{cite web|url=http://people.cs.pitt.edu/~mehmud/uyghur/music_dance.html|title=Uyghur Music|author=Mehmud Abliz|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228164528/http://people.cs.pitt.edu/~mehmud/uyghur/music_dance.html|archive-date=28 February 2014|access-date=28 September 2013}}</ref> The dance may be performed with singing and musical accompaniment. Sama is a form of group dance for [[Newruz]] (New Year) and other festivals.<ref name="abliz"/> Other dances include the Dolan dances, Shadiyane, and Nazirkom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oqya.5u.com/catalog.html|title=Brief Introduction of Uyghur Dances work – Uyghur Music Dance and Songs Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030203232734/http://www.oqya.5u.com/catalog.html|archive-date=3 February 2003|url-status=dead}}</ref> Some dances may alternate between singing and dancing, and Uyghur hand-drums called ''[[dap (drum)|dap]]'' are commonly used as accompaniment for Uyghur dances.

===Art===
[[File:Turpan-bezeklik-pinturas-d02.jpg|thumb|Wall painting at [[Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves|Bezeklik caves]] in Flaming Mountains, Turpan Depression]]
[[File:Khotan-fabrica-alfombras-d09.jpg|thumb|Xinjiang carpet factory]]

During the late-19th and early-20th centuries, scientific and archaeological expeditions to the region of Xinjiang's [[Silk Road]] discovered numerous cave temples, monastery ruins, and wall paintings, as well as miniatures, books, and documents. There are 77 [[Rock cut architecture|rock-cut]] caves at the site. Most have rectangular spaces with [[round arch]] ceilings often divided into four sections, each with a [[mural]] of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]. The effect is of an entire ceiling covered with hundreds of Buddha murals. Some ceilings are painted with a large Buddha surrounded by other figures, including Indians, [[Persians]] and Europeans. The quality of the murals vary with some being artistically naïve while others are masterpieces of religious art.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.showcaves.com/english/cn/misc/Bezeklik.html |title= Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Caves |website= www.showcaves.com |access-date= 21 September 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103033/http://www.showcaves.com/english/cn/misc/Bezeklik.html |archive-date= 29 September 2007 }}</ref>

===Education===
Historically, the education level of Old Uyghur people was higher than the other ethnicities around them. The Buddhist Uyghurs of Qocho became the civil servants of Mongol Empire and Old Uyghur Buddhists enjoyed a high status in the Mongol empire. They also introduced the written [[Mongolian script|script]] for the [[Mongolian language]]. In the Islamic era, education was provided by the mosques and [[Madrasa|madrassas]]. During the Qing era, Chinese Confucian schools were also set up in Xinjiang<ref name="Millward PA142">{{harvnb|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA142 142–148]}}</ref> and in the late 19th century Christian missionary schools.<ref name="benson"/>

In the late nineteenth and early 20th century, schools were often located in mosques and madrassas. Mosques ran informal schools, known as [[Maktab (education)|mektep]] or ''maktab'', attached to the mosques,<ref>{{cite book|author=S. Frederick Starr|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA192|date=15 March 2004|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-3192-3|pages=192–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109081722/https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA192#v=onepage&q=schools&f=false|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''maktab'' provided most of the education and its curriculum was primarily religious and oral.{{sfn|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA146 145–147]}} Boys and girls might be taught in separate schools, some of which offered modern secular subjects in the early 20th century.<ref name="Millward PA142"/><ref name="benson"/><ref>{{Cite book|title = East Turkestan history|last = Muhammad emin|first = Bughra|year = 1941|location = Kabul|page = 155}}</ref> In madrasas, poetry, logic, Arabic grammar and [[Islamic Law|Islamic law]] were taught.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rian Thum|title=The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqOmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63|date=13 October 2014|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-96702-1|pages=63–|access-date=15 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109065008/https://books.google.com/books?id=QqOmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 20th century, the [[Jadid]]ists Turkic Muslims from Russia spread new ideas on education<ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew D. W. Forbes|title=Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17 |date=9 October 1986|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-25514-1|pages=17–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA166|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=166–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109091416/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA166#v=onepage&q=schools&f=false|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=80–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109085604/https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/Ibrahim.pdf |title=Ibrahim's story |author=William Clark |journal=Asian Ethnicity |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=203–219 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119004309/http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/Ibrahim.pdf |archive-date=19 November 2015 |doi=10.1080/14631369.2010.510877 |year=2011 |s2cid=145009760 }}</ref> and popularized the identity of "Turkestani".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/uyghur|title=What Is a Uyghur? |work=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=26 October 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403153046/https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/uyghur|archive-date=3 April 2016 }}</ref>

In more recent times, religious education is highly restricted in Xinjiang and the Chinese authority had sought to eradicate any religious school they considered illegal.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA168 |title=Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|page=168}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Madrasa in Asia: Political Activism and Transnational Linkages |url=https://archive.org/details/madrasaasiapolit00noor |url-access=limited |editor1= Farish A. Noor |editor2=Yoginder Sikand |editor3=Martin van Bruinessen |author=Jackie Amijo |chapter=Chapter 6 – Muslim Education in China |pages=[https://archive.org/details/madrasaasiapolit00noor/page/n185 185]–186 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year= 2008 |isbn=9789053567104 }}</ref> Although Islamic private schools (Sino-Arabic schools ({{lang-zh|first=s|s=中阿學校|t=中阿學校|labels=no}})) have been supported and permitted by the Chinese government in Hui Muslim areas since the 1980s, this policy does not extend to schools in Xinjiang due to fear of separatism.<ref name="VersteeghEid2005">{{cite book|author1=Kees Versteegh|author2=Mushira Eid|title=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics: A-Ed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuNiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA383|year=2005|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-14473-6|pages=383–|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109043648/https://books.google.com/books?id=SuNiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA383|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/31-1_007.pdf ALLÈS & CHÉRIF-CHEBBI & HALFON 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429210144/http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/31-1_007.pdf |date=29 April 2016 }}, p. 14.</ref><ref name="Relations2005">{{cite book|author=Senate (U S ) Committee on Foreign Relations|title=Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, 2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04dlwzB2SvcC&pg=PA159|date=August 2005|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-072552-4|pages=159–|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108235844/https://books.google.com/books?id=04dlwzB2SvcC&pg=PA159|archive-date=8 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Beginning in the early 20th century, secular education became more widespread. Early in the communist era, Uyghurs had a choice of two separate secular school systems, one conducted in their own language and one offering instructions only in Chinese.<ref>{{Cite book|title = English language education across greater China|last = Anwei|first = Feng|page = 262}}</ref> Many Uyghurs linked the preservation of their cultural and religious identity with the language of instruction in schools and therefore preferred Uyghur language schools.<ref name="benson">{{cite book |title=Xinjiang, China's Muslim Borderland |chapter=Chapter 7 – Education and Social Mobility among Minority Populations in Xinjiang |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA191|author=Linda Benson |date=15 March 2004 |editor=S. Frederick Starr |pages=190–215 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-1318-9 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA128|title=Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road|author=Justin Jon Rudelson|year=1997|pages=127–129|publisher=Columbia University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=0-231-10787-0|access-date=28 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> However, from the mid-1980s onward, the Chinese government began to reduce teaching in Uyghur and starting mid-1990s also began to merge some schools from the two systems. By 2002, [[Xinjiang University]], originally a bilingual institution, had ceased offering courses in the Uyghur language. From 2004 onward, the government policy has been that classes should be conducted in Chinese as much as possible and in some selected regions, instruction in Chinese began in the first grade.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse |url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf |author=Arienne M. Dwyer |publisher=East-West Center Washington |year=2005 |pages=34–41 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101342/https://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf |archive-date=11 October 2017 }}</ref> A special senior-secondary [[boarding school]] program for Uyghurs, the Xinjiang Class, with course work conducted entirely in Chinese was also established in 2000.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLPhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA158|title=Language, Education and Uyghur Identity in Urban Xinjiang |editor1= Joanne Smith Finley |editor2=Xiaowei Zang |pages= 158–159|isbn= 9781315726588|date=2015 |publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Many schools also moved toward bilingual Chinese-Uyghur education from 2012,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200724-fears-for-uighur-culture-as-scholars-vanish-in-china-crackdown |title=Fears for Uighur culture as scholars vanish in China crackdown |work=[[France 24]] via [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] |date=24 July 2020 |access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref> with teaching in the Uyghur language limited to only a few hours a week.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2015/06/27/tongue-tied |title=Tongue-tied |newspaper=The Economist |date=27 June 2015 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The level of educational attainment among Uyghurs is generally lower than that of the Han Chinese; this may be due to the cost of education, the lack of proficiency in the Chinese language (now the main medium of instruction) among many Uyghurs, and poorer employment prospects for Uyghur graduates due to job discrimination in favor of Han Chinese.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grose |first1=Timothy A. |title=The Xinjiang Class: Education, Integration, and the Uyghurs |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |date=March 2010 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=97–109 |doi=10.1080/13602001003650648 |s2cid=38299716 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLPhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA165|title=Language, Education and Uyghur Identity in Urban Xinjiang |editor1= Joanne Smith Finley |editor2=Xiaowei Zang |pages= 165–166|isbn= 9781315726588|date=2015 |publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Uyghurs in China, unlike the [[Hui people|Hui]] and [[Salar people|Salar]] who are also mostly Muslim, generally do not oppose [[coeducation]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRSOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|title=China's universities, 1895–1995: a century of cultural conflict|author=Ruth Hayhoe|year=1996|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=202|isbn=0-8153-1859-6|access-date=29 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=qRSOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> however girls may be withdrawn from school earlier than boys.<ref name="benson"/>

===Traditional medicine===
Uyghur traditional medicine is known as [[Unani]] (طب یونانی), as historically used in the [[Mughal Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Justin Jon Rudelson |author2=Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson |title=Oasis Identities: Uyghur Nationalism Along China's Silk Road |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&q=rudelson+unani&pg=PA84 |year=1997 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-10786-0 |pages=84–}}</ref> Sir [[Percy Sykes]] described the medicine as "based on the ancient Greek theory" and mentioned how ailments and sicknesses were treated in ''Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BC5yAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA318 Sykes & Sykes 1920] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=BC5yAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA318 |date=1 January 2016 }}, p. 317-321.</ref> Today, traditional medicine can still be found at street stands. Similar to other traditional medicine, diagnosis is usually made through checking the pulse, symptoms and disease history and then the pharmacist pounds up different dried herbs, making personalized medicines according to the prescription. Modern Uyghur medical hospitals adopted modern medical science and medicine and applied evidence-based pharmaceutical technology to traditional medicines. Historically, Uyghur medical knowledge has contributed to Chinese medicine in terms of medical treatments, medicinal materials and ingredients and symptom detection.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA81 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=81– |access-date=20 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109084148/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA81 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Uyghur cuisine}}
[[File:Uyghur polu closeup.JPG|thumb|Uyghur ''[[Pilaf|polu]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|پولۇ}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|полу}})]]
Uyghur food shows both [[Central Asian cuisine|Central Asian]] and [[Chinese cuisine|Chinese]] elements. A typical Uyghur dish is ''polu'' (or [[pilaf]]), a dish found throughout Central Asia. In a common version of the Uyghur ''polu'', carrots and mutton (or chicken) are first fried in oil with onions, then rice and water are added and the whole dish is steamed. Raisins and dried apricots may also be added. ''Kawaplar'' ({{langx|ug|Каваплар}}) or ''[[chuanr]]'' (i.e., [[kebab]]s or grilled meat) are also found here. Another common Uyghur dish is ''[[leghmen]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|لەغمەن}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|ләғмән}}), a noodle dish with a stir-fried topping (''säy'', from Chinese ''cai'', {{lang|zh|{{linktext|菜}}}}) usually made from mutton and vegetables, such as tomatoes, onions, green bell peppers, chili peppers and cabbage. This dish is likely to have originated from the Chinese ''[[lamian]]'', but its flavor and preparation method are distinctively Uyghur.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA190 |title=Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia|chapter= Chapter 10, ''Polo'', ''läghmän'', ''So Säy'': Situating Uyghur Food Between Central Asia and China|author=M Critina Cesàro|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=185–202|access-date=30 July 2010}}</ref>

Uyghur food ({{lang|ug-Latn|Uyghur Yemekliri}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Уйғур Йәмәклири}}) is characterized by [[Lamb and mutton|mutton]], [[beef]], [[Camel meat|camel]] (solely [[Bactrian camel|bactrian]]), [[Chicken (food)|chicken]], [[goose]], [[carrot]]s, [[tomato]]es, [[onion]]s, [[Capsicum|peppers]], [[eggplant]], [[celery]], various [[Dairy product|dairy foods]] and fruits.

A Uyghur-style breakfast consists of [[tea]] with home-baked bread, [[hardened yogurt]], [[olive]]s, [[honey]], [[raisin]]s and [[almond]]s. Uyghurs like to treat guests with tea, [[naan]] and fruit before the main dishes are ready.

''[[Sangza]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|ساڭزا}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Саңза}}) are crispy fried [[wheat flour]] dough twists, a holiday specialty. ''[[Samsa (food)|Samsa]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|سامسا}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Самса}}) are lamb [[pie]]s baked in a special brick oven. ''[[Youtazi]]'' is steamed multi-layer bread. ''Göshnan'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|گۆشنان}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Гөшнан}}) are pan-grilled lamb pies. ''[[Pamirdin]]'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Памирдин}}) are baked pies stuffed with lamb, carrots and onions. ''[[Chorba|Shorpa]]'' is lamb [[soup]] ({{lang|ug-Arab|شۇرپا}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Шорпа}}). Other dishes include ''[[Tohax|Toghach]]'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Тоғач}}) (a type of [[tandoor bread]]) and ''[[Doner kebab|Tunurkawab]]'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Тунуркаваб}}). ''Girde'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Гирде}}) is also a very popular [[bagel]]-like bread with a hard and crispy crust that is soft inside.

A cake sold by Uyghurs is the traditional Uyghur nut cake.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://offbeatchina.com/an-unbelievably-expensive-piece-of-xinjiang-nut-cake-and-what-it-tells-about-the-ethnic-policy-in-china |title=An unbelievably expensive piece of Xinjiang nut cake and what it tells about the ethnic policy in China |date=4 December 2012 |work=Offbeat China |access-date=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915171022/http://offbeatchina.com/an-unbelievably-expensive-piece-of-xinjiang-nut-cake-and-what-it-tells-about-the-ethnic-policy-in-china |archive-date=15 September 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://world.time.com/2012/12/05/dont-let-them-eat-cake-how-ethnic-tensions-in-china-explode-on-the-streets/ |title= Don't Let Them Eat Cake: How Ethnic Tensions in China Explode on the Streets |author= Austin Ramzy |date= 5 December 2012 |magazine= Time |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121212194419/http://world.time.com/2012/12/05/dont-let-them-eat-cake-how-ethnic-tensions-in-china-explode-on-the-streets/ |archive-date= 12 December 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/xinjiang-nut-cake-scandal-in-china-2012-12 |title=Chinese Racial Tensions Flare Over An Overpriced Nut Cake |author=Adam Taylor |date=4 December 2012 |work=Business Insider |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821152730/http://www.businessinsider.com/xinjiang-nut-cake-scandal-in-china-2012-12 |archive-date=21 August 2016 }}</ref>

===Clothing===
[[File:Uyghur-Dopa-Maker.jpg|thumb|upright|Doppa maker, traditional Uyghur hats, Kashgar]]

[[Chapan]], a coat, and [[doppa]], a type of hat for men, is commonly worn by Uyghurs. Another type of headwear, salwa [[telpek]] (''salwa tälpäk'', салва тәлпәк), is also worn by Uyghurs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA91 Friederich 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA91 |date=1 January 2016 }}, pp.91–92.</ref>

In the early 20th century, face covering veils with velvet caps trimmed with otter fur were worn in the streets by Turki women in public in Xinjiang as witnessed by the adventurer Ahmad Kamal in the 1930s.<ref name="Kamal2000">{{cite book|author=Ahmad Kamal|title=Land Without Laughter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bM2fGu9nnPUC&pg=PA110|date=1 August 2000|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-01005-9|pages=110–|access-date=19 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109075816/https://books.google.com/books?id=bM2fGu9nnPUC&pg=PA110|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Travelers of the period Sir [[Percy Sykes]] and Ella Sykes wrote that in Kashghar women went into the bazar "transacting business with their veils thrown back" but mullahs tried to enforce veil wearing and were "in the habit of beating those who show their face in the Great Bazar".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.11941 |title=Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia |publisher=Macmillan |author1=Ella Constance Sykes |author2=Percy Molesworth Sykes |year=1920 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.11941/page/n71 61] |access-date=1 December 2015 }}</ref> In that period, belonging to different social statuses meant a difference in how rigorously the veil was worn.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008 2">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA193 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=193– |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109075533/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA193 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Qoy Baziri (198247507).jpeg|thumb|left|Uyghur man having his head shaved in a bazaar. Shaving of the head is now seen mostly among the older generations.]]
[[File:Uyghur-redhead.jpg|thumb|upright|Uyghur girl in clothing made of fabric with design distinctive to the Uyghurs]]
Muslim Turkestani men traditionally cut all the hair off their head.<ref name="CrossleySiu2006">{{cite book|author1=Pamela Kyle Crossley|author2=Helen F. Siu|author3=Donald S. Sutton|title=Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ethnicity, and Frontier in Early Modern China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtNVMUx9qIIC&pg=PA127|date=January 2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-23015-6|pages=127–|access-date=1 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109082522/https://books.google.com/books?id=EtNVMUx9qIIC&pg=PA127|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Sir [[Aurel Stein]] observed that the "Turki Muhammadan, accustomed to shelter this shaven head under a substantial fur-cap when the temperature is so low as it was just then".<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008 3">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA80 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=80– |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109081249/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA80 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> No hair cutting for men took place on the ''ajuz ayyam'', days of the year that were considered inauspicious.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008 4">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA397 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=397– |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109133217/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA397 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Traditional handicrafts===
[[Yengisar County|Yengisar]] is famous for manufacturing Uyghur handcrafted knives.<ref name="Witness">{{Cite book|title=China|publisher=Eye Witness Travel Guides|page=514}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.china.com.cn/aboutchina/txt/2009-07/09/content_18103305.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219070822/http://www.china.com.cn/aboutchina/txt/2009-07/09/content_18103305.htm |archive-date=19 December 2013 |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:新疆的英吉沙小刀(組圖) |publisher=china.com.cn}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.e56.com.cn/minzu_eng/weiwuerzu.asp |title=The Uyghur Nationality |work=Oriental Nationalities |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520075916/http://www.e56.com.cn/minzu_eng/weiwuerzu.asp |archive-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> The Uyghur word for knife is pichaq ({{lang|ug-Arab|پىچاق}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|пичақ}}) and the word for knifemaking (cutler) is pichaqchiliq ({{lang|ug-Arab|پىچاقچىلىقى}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|пичақчилиқ}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uy.ts.cn/dihan/2013-11/06/content_312722.htm|language=ug|script-title=ug:شىنجاڭ دېھقانلار تورى|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208072440/http://uy.ts.cn/dihan/2013-11/06/content_312722.htm|archive-date=8 December 2015|access-date=5 December 2015}}</ref> Uyghur artisan craftsmen in Yengisar are known for their knife manufacture. Uyghur men carry such knives as part of their culture to demonstrate the masculinity of the wearer,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sinobuy.cn/theme/longLock/yjshd.html |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:英吉沙小刀|publisher=sinobuy.cn|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109204518/http://www.sinobuy.cn/theme/longLock/yjshd.html|archive-date=9 November 2015}}</ref> but it has also led to ethnic tension.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/postcard/strangers |title=The Strangers: Blood and Fear in Xinjiang |first=James |last=Palmer |date=25 September 2013 |work=China File |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226015816/http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/postcard/strangers |archive-date=26 December 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/china/kunming-attack-further-frays-ties-between-han-and-uighurs |title=Kunming attack further frays ties between Han and Uighurs |date=5 March 2014 |work=Today |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013095751/http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/china/kunming-attack-further-frays-ties-between-han-and-uighurs |archive-date=13 October 2016 }}</ref> Limitations were placed on knife vending due to concerns over terrorism and violent assaults.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-c1-china-uighur-knives-20140917-story.html |title=For China's Uighurs, Knifings Taint An Ancient Craft |author=Julie Makinen |work=Los Angeles Times |date=17 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716135226/http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-c1-china-uighur-knives-20140917-story.html |archive-date=16 July 2016 }}</ref>

=== Livelihood ===
[[File:Uyghur women on their way to work, Kashgar. 2011.jpg|thumb|Uyghur women on their way to work in Kashgar, 2011]]

Most Uyghurs are agriculturists.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} Cultivating crops in an arid region has made the Uyghurs excel in irrigation techniques. This includes the construction and maintenance of underground channels called ''karez'' that brings water from the mountains to their fields. A few of the well-known agricultural goods include apples (especially from [[Yining|Ghulja]]), sweet melons (from [[Hami]]), and grapes from [[Turpan]]. However, many Uyghurs are also employed in the mining, manufacturing, cotton, and petrochemical industries. Local handicrafts like rug-weaving and jade-carving are also important to the cottage industry of the Uyghurs.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Human: The Definitive Visual Guide|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2004|isbn=0-7566-0520-2|editor-last=Winston|editor-first=Robert|location=New York|page=447|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Dr. Don E.}}</ref>

Some Uyghurs have been given jobs through Chinese government affirmative action programs.<ref>{{Cite journal|title= Affirmative Action, Economic Reforms, and Han-Uyghur Variation in Job Attainment in the State Sector in Urumchi.| journal= China Quarterly |edition= no. 2022010: 344–61. |author=Zang, Xiaowei. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20749382 |date= June 2010| volume= 202 | issue= 202 | pages= 344–361 | doi= 10.1017/S0305741010000275 | jstor= 20749382 | s2cid= 155040095 }}</ref> Uyghurs may also have difficulty receiving non-interest loans (per Islamic beliefs).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cao |first1=Chunfang |last2=Chan |first2=Kam C. |last3=Hou |first3=Wenxuan |last4=Jia |first4=Fansheng |date=3 October 2019 |title=Does religion matter to informal finance? Evidence from trade credit in China |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/78769132/CaoEtalRN2019DoesReligionMatter.pdf |journal=[[Regional Studies (journal)|Regional Studies]] |publication-place=[[University of Edinburgh]] |volume=53 |issue=10 |pages=1410–1420 |doi=10.1080/00343404.2019.1575506 |bibcode=2019RegSt..53.1410C |hdl-access=free |s2cid=158546228 |hdl=20.500.11820/004e1138-77cb-40a3-bf73-76caa787e700}}</ref> The general lack of Uyghur proficiency in Mandarin Chinese also creates a barrier to access private and public sector jobs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harlan |first1=Tyler |last2=Webber |first2=Michael |title=New corporate Uyghur entrepreneurs in Urumqi, China |journal=Central Asian Survey |date=June 2012 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=175–191 |doi=10.1080/02634937.2012.671993 |s2cid=143826394 }}</ref>

===Names===
Since the arrival of Islam, most Uyghurs have used "Arabic names", but traditional Uyghur names and names of other origin are still used by some.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 5">{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA113|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=113–|access-date=31 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109080823/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA113|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> After the establishment of the Soviet Union, many Uyghurs who studied in Soviet Central Asia added Russian suffixes to Russify their surnames.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 6">{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA115|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=115–|access-date=31 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822111347/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA115|archive-date=22 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Names from Russia and Europe are used in Qaramay and Ürümqi by part of the population of city-dwelling Uyghurs. Others use names with hard-to-understand etymologies, with the majority dating from the Islamic era and being of Arabic or Persian derivation.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 7">{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA117|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=117–|access-date=31 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822014537/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA117|archive-date=22 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Some pre-Islamic Uyghur names are preserved in [[Turpan]] and [[Qumul]].<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 5"/> The government has banned some two dozen Islamic names.<ref name=nyt2016 />