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Past
Socio-economic Conditions
There have been different theories
put forward on the origin of the Salars. The prevalent view held
at the moment is that the ancestors of the Salars came from the
region of Samarkand in Central Asia during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
Xunhua County, which the largest group
of the Salars live, is a mountainous area situated along the banks
of the Yellow River in southeastern Qinghai Province. Although it
has a mild climate and fertile land crisscrossed by canals, it is
handicapped by insufficient rainfall. Before China??s national liberation
in 1949, farmers here did not have the capability of harnessing
the Yellow River, and the county was often referred to as "arid
Xunhua." The Salars are mainly farmers, going in for such crops
as wheat, Tibetan barley, buckwheat and potatoes. As sideline occupations,
they engage in stock breeding, lumbering, salt-producing and wool-weaving.
During the Yuan Dynasty, a Salar headman
bearing the surname of Han was made hereditary chief of this ethnic
minority. With the rise of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), he submitted
to the new rulers and continued to hold his position. He had under
him a basic bureaucracy which looked after such things as military
affairs, punishments, revenue and provisions. Following the development
of the economy and the expansion of the population, the region inhabited
by the Salars was divided into two administrative areas, i.e. the
"inner eight gongs" of Xunhua and the "outer five
gongs" of Hualong, during the early period of the Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911). A "gong" included a number of villages, equivalent
to the later administrative unit of "xiang" (township).
New organizational setups were introduced
during the following years of the Qian Dynasty to step up the control
and exploitation of the Salars. During both the Ming and Qing periods
Salar men were constantly subjected to conscription, which was an
extremely heavy burden on the Salar people.
As the Salars were devout Muslims,
the villages were dominated by the mosques and the Muslim clergy.
Along with the development of the feudal economy, land became concentrated
in the hands of the ruling minority -- the headman, community chiefs
and imams.
Prior to the founding of the People??s
Republic of China in 1949, the landlord economy was dominant. Relying
on their political power, and feudal and religious privileges, the
Salar landlords maintained ownership over most of the land and farm
animals, as well as water sources and oil mills. Most of the Salar
farmers, on the other hand, were either landless or owned only a
very insignificant portion of barren land. They were subjected to
crippling land rents and usury, in addition to all kinds of heavy
unpaid labor services including building houses, felling trees and
doing transportation work for the landlords. As a result, at times
there were large-scale exoduses of Salars from their villages, leaving
the farmlands lying waste and production at a standstill.
Culture
The language of the Salars, which belongs
to the Tujue (Turkic) branch of the Altaic language family, is almost
identical with the languages of the Uygurs and Ozbeks, with whom
they share the same religion. It contains quite a number of words
taken from the Chinese and Tibetan languages as a result of long
years of mutual contacts. Nowadays, most young and middle-aged Salars
know how to speak Chinese, which is also accepted as the written
language of the Salar ethnic group.
The Salar people have a rich and colorful
tradition of folklore. Many of the legends, stories and fairy tales
sing the praises of the courage and wisdom of the laboring people,
and lament the hard lives of the Salar women in the past, as well
as their struggle against feudal oppression. The typical folk tune
genre is the "Hua'er (flower)," a kind of folksong sung
sonorously and unrestrainedly in the Chinese language. However,
in most cases it is presented with a sweet, trilling tone due to
the influence of Tibetan folk songs. The singers are all able to
fill in impromptu words according to whatever happens to strike
a chord in their hearts. Significant reforms have been introduced
to this form of art since 1949. The Salars now sing to express their
rejoicing over their new life. Amateur theatrical troupes, and song
and dance groups are flourishing among the Salar people.
Customs
Deeply influenced by Islam, the customs
and habits as practiced among the Salars are roughly the same as
those of the Huis that live nearby. Women like to wear kerchiefs
on their heads and black sleeveless jackets over clothes in striking
red colors. They are good at embroidery and often stitch flowers
in five different colors onto their pillowcases, shoes and socks.
Men wear flat-topped brimless hats of either black or white colors,
and wear sheepskin coats without linings and woolen clothing in
winter. Young men living along the banks of the Yellow River love
to swim. Some of the customs and habits of the Salars have changed
over the years as a result of social and economic development. Polygamy,
for instance, has been abolished, and cases of child marriage have
been greatly reduced. The extravagant practice of slaughtering cattle
in large numbers for weddings, funerals and festivals has been changed.
Women of the Salar ethnic minority
in the past suffered tremendously under religious strictures and
feudal ethics. Unmarried girls were not allowed to appear in public,
while married women had to hide their faces in front of strange
men. They had to turn their faces sideways when answering an inquiry
and make a detour should they meet a strange man coming their way.
But, in recent decades, Salar women have broken away from such practices
and the traditional concept of men being superior to women is slowly
disappearing. Salar women are now taking an active part in all local
production endeavors.
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