THE CHINESE POPULATION OF SINKIANG

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210003-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 1, 2013
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: November 24, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part-Sanitized CopjAggred,fRoLiRe1=110-Yr2013/05/01 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210003-2
JJJ
CiifiRAFWEIGYRIGIRCY REPORT
INFORMATION REPORT CD NO.
COUNTRY China (Sinkiang Province)
SUBJECT The Chinese Population of Sinkiang
PLACE
50X1 ACQUIRED
DATE
50X1 ACQUIRED BY SOURCE
DATE OF INFORMATION
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED ST ttttt WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE IS, SECTIONS FRD
AND 704, or THE U.N. CODE, Al AMSNO111. Iii AAAAAA ISKION OR RIVE.
LOTION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR iscsirT ST AN UNAUTWORISKO P111011 IS
FRONIOITIO SY LAW, THE RSPROOUCTION OF TWIN FORM IS PRONISITED.
50X1
DATE DISTR. a..4 Nov 52
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. lbalmE.U.Algalgags The abl.nese population of Sinkiang, according to a 1941 survey,
numbered 202,239, or a little over 504% of the total population. To d:50X1-HUM the
Chinese from the Moslem Chinese, the Tureens? the Chinese in Sinkiang are called Ban
and the Tungans
2. g The first record of Chinese penetration into the
area which is now caited 3inkie.ng (New Frontier) was accomplished by a ,Chineee noble,
Chang Chien, more than a century before Chriet. He was sent to spy out the secrets
of Hmieiu (Western Territory) by Emperor Wu-ti of the Han Dynasty. Oat of the one
hundred men that accompanied Chang on this mission only two men returned. From that
time on, however, contact with Hsleyu was never entirely ceased. The Chinese in
Sinkiang have intermittently figured among the important population groups of that
area,, but not as colonisers vho displaced the native population. In between the
period. of their asoendancy they remained an alien minority, made up of traders,
-professional soldiers and criminal exiles. The first two categories, in most oases,
could not long beer the alien surroundings of Sinkiang and returned to their homeland
or disappeared in savage Moslem massacres. Those that could not return to their
homelands, the exiles, built welled cities and were in time joined by their countrymen
who were driven from the central province, because of a shortage of agricultural land.
As these exiles increamed in number others found it easier to remain in Sinlriang and,
in the course of time, the Chinese population increased. From the time of the first
Chinese penetration, and especially during the Manchu rule, Sinkiang was used as a
land to which both political and criminal exiles were banished.
In ther8inkiang war of 1862 to 1874 the great &names' general Teo Chung-ttang led
his forces across the deserts to suppress the revolt of the Moslems, led by Takub Beg.
The troops of General Tso were composed mainly of men from Hunan and some from #upeh.
Since land in these provinces was scares, some of his troops remained in Sinkiang
after the completion of the campaign. Some became landowners and officials in the
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provincial :governments, in which they exercised such dominating influence that
SinkiangObecameknnwn as a "Hunanese colony". General Teols expeditionary
force was accompanied by large numbers of Tientsin merchants who sold to the
army en route 'end then settled down in Sinkiang. Often they perished by the
way, sometimes they were robbed and murdered, but the instinct of trace
triumphed over every difficulty. They were later joined by their families,
so that Tientsin traders soon appeared throughout the urban centers of Sinkiang.
Once the traders had opened up the country, migration on a larger scale began.
Kane% Shensi, Shansi, Szechwan were overcrowded and the surplus population
slowly flowed to the west.
During the ruleof Governor Yang Teeng-hsin (1911 to 7 Jul 28) many of his fellow
proiinciale from Yunnan came to Sinkiang to get aboard the "gravy train. Despite
this fact, his seventeen years of reign were referred to in Sinkiang as "The Period
of Golden Rule". During this period Sinkiang became known, in other parts of China,
as nThe Earthly Paradise". After the assassination of Governor Yang, Chin Shur-jen
became Governor of Sinkiang (7 Jul 28 to 12 Apr 33) and was followed by mem from
Kansu. Later some 10,000 Chinese troops from Manchuria, interned in Siberia
when they had retreated after fighting against the Japanese were repatriated
by the Soviet Union to Sinkiang after General Sheng Shih?-tsli, a native of Manchuria,
became' Governor (12 Apr 33 to 2 Sep 44). Governor Shengls reign of terror and
oppression ended when he was replaced by Wu Chung-hsin (2 Sep 44 to July 1946).
In this, year refugees from the Honan famine were transported into Sinkiang and
settled on land that was expropriated from the Kazakbs. Governor Wu was replaced
by General Chang Chihrchupg (Jay 1946 to 31 MAY 47). The next Governor of
Sinkiang was Messud Sabri (31 May 47 to December 1948), the first "native Governor
of Sinkiang, He Was a Uighur leader whose Chinese name is Masu Wu-teh. Messud
Sabri was replaced in December /948 by Burkhan Shahidi, a Russian Tatar who had
been amen' of inflnenoe in Sinkiang since Tsarist times.- He was Governor OA
29 Sep 49 when Sinkiang made a formal declaration of adherence to the Communiat
ragimeo. Anthe last years of the Kunmingtang rule in Sinkiang there were over
100 thousand Nationalist troops stationed there.
" .
IfingaingAR' .The majority of Chinese' in 'Sinkiang speak the Mandarin dialeot of the
Chinese language. Apart from the official class, the Chinese in Sinkiang appear
to be no less illiterate than those in the rest of China.
.410tiagaw The Chinese in Sinkiang have remained Buddhists and in that respect
have:three-other minority "races" as their allies', the Manchusp,Siiilps and ScIons,
These four peoples are all Confuoian-Buddhist-Taoist in religion and number
gmiba 'people, or 5.7% of the total population. The Mot-404o who are Lama
Buddhists, total 63,018, or 1.5% of the population. The White Russians, who are
Irma Orthodoi, total 13,408 people and comprise only .36% of the population.
The :Mohammedans, on the other hand total 39439,024, or 92.22% of the total
population of Sinkiang.
.The Chinese in Sinkiang have retained their oustomarrmanner of dress
and, do not,drees there any differently than they do in the large coastal cities.
,,Ctirimentrationem Since the Chinese are a very small minority in. Sinkiang they
do not constitute a majority population in any given area of the province. The
Chinese culture in Sinkiang, however, centers around Urumohi (Tihwa)o the oapital.
There are also large numbers of Chinese in most northern oitiee, especially Hami
(pmu1),,,Euchengtze (Eitel), Kuldja (Ining) and Chuguchak (Tahoheng). South of
the Tien Sham range there are very few Chinese, only a handful residing in each
of the major cities. An accurate method by which to determine if there are
Chinese residing in any Sinkiang city, or village, is to learn whether there is
a:brewery or pork butcherls shop there.
Agslajjages The Chinese live either in farmsteads scattered in the fields or .
in apartments which range along the narrow streets of oasis towns and cities.
Their houses are constructed of mud and brick and are very much like those of
the Uighurs, with the exception that the roof is flat and projects beyond the
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? walls and they do not 'have chimneys'. The Ghineaeln.,Sinkiang 480 ooke'in
- their in-door, 'Shallow, Open. pits which are used for coking amkal3o4n the
likangThe kang is:alarge? low, flat, brick furnace which is eovetie41:with
niud-andatraw matting and used by all the members of the tamily.to aleiP'upon.
There is usually no furniture in the single-room house, the floors being covered
Withstraw'matting.,
.HEating-Hatatss The Chinese ire considered, by the other 'peOpleSef'Sinkiang?
,-40xeqtriMely light :eaters. Their diet consists-of.80%.dereal,14meat'and
10% vegetables. The foods that they eat are identical to those eaten by Chinese
, in other provinces.
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?llgagikilaajo All the Chinese who came to Sirariang were industrious to begin .
with, however?.with'increasing prosperity Some of the exiles fell Viotti, of '
the opium habit. Those from Shensi,. Shansi and Kansu-areSaid to be MOO addict
to opium' and mAny:of them allowed' 'the to obtain-so terrible a held that'H
they-ceaaed:to labor and are content to sink into. poverty.'. The :emigrants from
?:Tien:tali became the wealthy and influential classes in the 'communities .,'.. They
;':Wereboth,indueitriouwand honest to that in tine all local-bnainess Centered
'S,rolindthem..-lheirs was prinaipaILT a commerce in'tea, silk 'arid spices and
-the coMModities for which these 'things were exchanged were biro', ikins, jade
'and,tarametalit. The Han Chinese became mainly the administrators, woIdiers,
traders, businessmen and shopkeepers. The Chinese who reside there now divide
'Sharply along provincial lines as to their occupations. ainanese and Men from
'the 'lower Yangtze Valley have long formed the bureaucratic elitevTientsin men
hold the strongest position in tradei'Shansi men control the caiel:caravati
carrying goods between Sinkiang and North China and are particularly knoWn as
Money-lenders, Rnnan'and-Hopenmen-are'dealers in briak tea and Kanialiciince
has, been the principal source of farming ocilonists.
10. Idagarbiaaagar The position of the'Chineee in Sinkiang has been a cUrious
one. The Chinese have alWays.beeno small minorityp only 5.4% of the total
'population in 1.941. During Moslem religious uprisings the Chinese and their
? -Ileualallitais,::the White Missions? Mongolia,' Menchua, Sibod,and Solons, still
only eiStprieed 7.70'of-the-total'population of Sinkiang.e.. Yeti insteid'ef
'ftllowing.a program of attempting to minimise the differences between the
various peoples of Sinkiang and uniting them under a democratic form of govern-
. ment,'.they,have ignored the wishes of-the majority and have' ruled' by oppression,
persecution, trickery, and fraud.- The reallocation of laud belonging 'to Sinkiang
-Phativesr for the purpose. of including Chinese "outlanderen has long been a
touchy' subject. The result haw been that.the'Moslem peoples of Sinkiang, with
? each passing year, have-learned.to ever increasingly resent the OhineseMihority
? 4,a:eyelid-have-become more nationalistic and desirous of autonomy from China. -
-The:Ohineee'rule in Sinkiang has been especially poor and corrupt because the
,provincial adminietrators have considered the non-Chinese as aimple "natives
and also because of Sinkiangis remoteness from the capital of Chins and thus
higherauthority. The Chinese officials stationed there,hivelmot engaged in
-the'defense,Of old vested interests, but in the acquisition anew personal
interests, wealth and power. This attitude, on the part of the officials,
haa:-caused*rest-and Cost many innocent Chinese lives during the frequent
.bloody Moslem massacres. .
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