Xinjiang

[Luther Ma]

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 16:11, Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E]
<olsona at dc37a.nci.nih.gov> wrote:
> Here are questions to be answered prior to setting up zones in the  
> "asia" file:
>
> 1. What's the English translation of the Han name of the city with  
> the largest Han population in Asia/Urumqi?
> 2. What's the English translation of the Han name of the city with  
> the largest Han population in Asia/Kashgar?
> 3. What's the English translation of the Uyghur name of the city  
> with the largest Uyghur population in Asia/Urumqi?
> 4. What's the English translation of the Uyghur name of the city  
> with the largest Uyghur population in Asia/Urumqi?
> 5. When exactly did the Asia/Urumqi Uyghurs start using their own  
> distinct time?
> 6. When exactly did the Asia/Kashgar Uyghurs start using their own  
> distinct time?
>
> The path forward depends on the answers to the above questions.

With the risk of being redundant to previous answers these are the  
most common English "transliterations" (w/o using non-English symbols):

1. Wulumuqi from 乌鲁木齐 / wūlǔmùqí
2. Kashi from 喀什 / kāshí
3. Urumqi from ئۈرۈمچى / Ürümqi
4. Kashgar from قەشقەر / Ķəxķər

  [Chinese, in simplified characters and pinyin; Uyghur, in the  
currently used modified Arabic script and Latin script, (yengi yazik)  
used primarily during the cultural revolution. The character "Ķ",  
"Latin K with cedilla" should  really be "Latin K with right  
descender" which doesn't exist in unicode]

The English "translations" of the cities follow the Uyghur  
transliterations, perhaps because Xinjiang is the Uyghur Autonomous  
Region. Of the two, the spelling of Kashgar has the widest variation.  
I have no problem with Kaxkar or Kaxgar. (I don't know why the "q" in  
Urumqi stuck  but not the "x" in Kaxgar, both from pinyin.)

Urumqi is the largest city and the capital of Xinjiang, Kashgar is the  
chief city of the southern part of Xinjiang (which is split in half by  
the Tianshan Mountains). It has the largest Uyghur population in the  
south and is also considered by many to be the Uyghur cultural center.  
There may however be more Han in Korla than Kashgar (also in the south  
of the XJ).

5. It seems that Uyghurs in Urumqi has been using Xinjiang since at  
least the 1960's. I know of one Han, now over 50, who grew up in the  
surrounding countryside and used Xinjiang time as a child.

6. Likewise for Kashgar and the rest of south Xinjiang I don't know of  
any start date for Xinjiang time.

Without having access to local historical records, nor the ability to  
legally publish them, I would go with October 1, 1949, when Xinjiang  
became the Uyghur Autonomous Region under the PRC. (Before that  
Uyghurs, of course, would also not be using Beijing time, but some  
local time.)

Lude (Luther) Ma