tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813702045456690661.post8395829804520693416..comments2023-06-28T05:16:54.842-04:00Comments on anthropologies: Biocultural Bodies and the Anatomy of ControversyRyan Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18008425994341539639noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813702045456690661.post-26317833689914157222012-05-27T07:53:37.002-04:002012-05-27T07:53:37.002-04:00The ancient Uighurs are different from modern Uygh...The ancient Uighurs are different from modern Uyghurs. Michael Dillon in his book Xinjiang-China's Muslim far northwest agreed that there is no clear and direct link between the two. Hence, he use different spelling to distinguish them. According to anthropology report in the Journal of Xinjiang Normal University July 1999, Vol. 20 No. 3. A research report on a dozen of skulls of modern Uyghur people. Among 14 classical anthrological characteristics, 3 of them up to 21.4 % fall into White European and Mongols. 8 characteristics of up to 57% fall into Mongols. There are also other ethnic groups like the white Russian. There are up to 47 different ethnic groups in Xinjiang. No all of them are Uyghurs. Uyghurs accounts for aroung 47%. As for the language. The Uyghurs language has both the Altaic and Turkic characteristics. However, right from the Russian Far East down Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Central Asia to Turkey, language have Turkic and Altaic characteristics. Uyghurs are closer to Mongols rather then the Turkish people. I have a Turkish friend she just met a Uyghur couple. She cannot understand these Uyghurs' language. Uyghurs of Xinjiang said they like to do business in Central Asia. There are markets doing border trading between Xinjiang and Kazakhstan and Krygyzstan. Because they understand each others language more easily. After the ancient Uighur empire (tribe) was destroyed during the Tang Dynasty, one group of them went to China and requested for protection. These Eastern Uighurs assimilated with the Han Chinese. These Uighurs are Buddhist not Muslims. One of their prince was sent to study Buddhism in India and became a great scholar. The other group of these ancient Uighurs went to Central Asia, where they assimilated to Central Asian people. During the Tang Dynasty, west of Xinjiang should be Persian land, Iran people now. It was also the time the Arab people had built them a great empire across the Middle East and Europe. Xinjiang was a land of all different came int transition there to do trading, mainly the Arab merchants and normade people shifting around. The modern Uyghur ethnic group is an artifically created ethnic group which claim the name of the ancient Uighurs when the new china promised to give favourable treatment to ethnic minorities. There are too many groups in Xinjiang. So, the government allowed them to group together and call themselves Uyghurs. They are mainly people speaking from Central Asia. The modern Uyghur is not a monolithic group. Many of them just call themselves Hui rather than Uyghur because Uyghur tell them nothing. However, they share the same faith Islam. I have no knowledge on anthropoligy but I happen to have found these during my research.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15205557028900812946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813702045456690661.post-37298200767965867392011-08-10T22:07:48.538-04:002011-08-10T22:07:48.538-04:00Thanks for your kind words, sm! Sometimes we as b...Thanks for your kind words, sm! Sometimes we as biological anthropologists are a little afraid of the world of cultural anthropology. After all, studying dead Romans takes very different techniques than studying living, breathing, modern people. And sometimes we fall behind our cultural brethren in applying theory and humanistic ideas to our often science-heavy corner of the discipline. But there are productive collaborations going on around the world - most notably in the growing field of medical anthropology, which combines biology and culture to understand a group of people and the health challenges they face. Taking a biocultural approach in all anthropologies is a good place to start, but sometimes it's hard not to privilege one data set over another!Kristina Killgrovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14716385901419193577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813702045456690661.post-10961842960890460812011-08-10T19:39:15.231-04:002011-08-10T19:39:15.231-04:00Great piece Kristina. I really enjoyed the way you...Great piece Kristina. I really enjoyed the way your two examples highlight the links between biological anthro and the cultural politics of race and identity, and thus to both cultural/political anthropology and "real world" issues. I can only hope that there are productive collaborations going on between biological and cultural anthropologists (and anthropologies!) in these and other cases.Scott Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01888644437390458100noreply@blogger.com