Psalm 119:81  "My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word."

The Salar of Northwest China

Psalm 46:10  "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

The Salar People Of Northwest China – Qinghai and Gansu Provinces

By Al and W

Last updated July 30, 2003

Introduction

The Salar people are one of the 55 officially recognized minorities of China.  Located in the northwestern/north central part of the country, these 106,000  (2000 adjusted census data) descendants of Uzbekistan still retain some of their Central Asian appearance and proudly cling to their cultural roots.  Their self-given name of “Salar” is believed to derive from the name of a Turkmen tribe called “Salor” (Schwarz).  The majority of these Muslim people live in mud-baked homes throughout the mountainous regions of the northeastern portion of Qinghai province.  The lives of the Salar people are centered around agriculture, extended family, and the mosque.

Location

The largest concentration of Salar are located in Xunhua Autonomous County of Qinghai province, approximately 200 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Xining.  Approximately 70% of the Salar people live in the villages of Xunhua County, mostly along the southern banks of the Yellow River (1990 census data).  Jishi is the county seat of Xunhua, while Jiezi, Qingshui, Mengda, and Baizhuang are other major villages (Olson).  60% of the county residents are Salar minority.  The next largest groups of Salar can be found in Gandu village of Hualong County, approximately 70 kilometers north of Xunhua, and also Linxia city of Jishishan county, Gansu province (Weiwan, 65).  There are many other small concentrations of Salar people scattered throughout other counties in Qinghai and Gansu provinces: Xining city; Gonghe, Guide and Qilian counties of Qinghai; Dahejia town of the Bonan-Dongxiang-Salar County of Gansu; and even a pocket of Salar in Yining County of Xinjiang province (AMO), (SIL Ethnologue).  It is rumored among the Salar that there still exists a remnant of about five thousand of their people living outside of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, but this is doubtful and unconfirmed by current Samarkand residents.

Apart from Yining, Xinjiang, most of these areas are located on the northeastern edge of the geographical region known as the Tibetan Plateau, an area comprised of somewhat rugged mountainous terrain that is rather desolate and devoid of precipitation throughout the majority of the year.  In English, Qinghai province means Blue Sea.  It is one of the least-populated and poorest provinces of China.  It has also served as China’s Siberia for the past 50 years, with many political and religious prisoners being sent to its many labor camps.  The capital is Xining, home to over 1,000 Salar people and many other Hui and Tibetan minorities.  There are officially over 6,000 Christians in Xining, but there are only 3 registered churches, with only 6 more in the rest of the province (China prayer calendar). 

Origin

The original Turkmen tribe of “Salor” were first mentioned in the eleventh century by Mahmud al Kashgari and later by Rashidu-‘d-din (fourteenth century) and Abu-‘l-Gazi (seventeenth century)(Schwarz, 39).  The people originally inhabited an area just outside Samarkand, Uzbekistan.  According to legend, they fled that country in the 11^th century as a result of persecution by a local king.  There are many different versions of the journey the Salar people took to get to Qinghai still told among their people.  The basic story is one of two brothers that follow the lead of a camel, while searching for a new homeland.  They carry a bag of their native soil, a bottle of native water, and a copy of the Koran with them.  They stopped only when the camel drank from a certain pool.  That place is now the village of Jiezi in Xunhua County.  There is a park at that spot now and a stone camel next to the famous pool.  The date of the arrival at Jiezi is said to be in 1370 during the Ming dynasty (Weiwan).  After arriving in the Xunhua area, the Salar were governed by their own hereditary tusi, or leader, of whom there were three levels: one in charge of 100 households, and two (a chief and an assistant) for each 1,000 households.  They had authority over the militia, taxation, and all legal matters (Schwarz, 40).

There are many other versions of this story, however.  In one, the two brothers are named Haraman and Ahman (Schwarz) and the king whom they are fleeing is named Galamang.  Following the lead of a white camel with a Koran strapped to its head for guidance, the two brothers led a group of Salar people and escaped eastward into China in search of “a land of happiness.” As they migrated across the mountains of central Asia and into what is currently Qinghai province China, one of the Islamic brothers asked Allah to guide them to the place where they should make their new home.  That night the brother had a vivid dream of a beautiful waterfall and the next day the camel-led expedition came to that same waterfall (AMO).  The camel stopped to drink the water there in Xunhua county and turned into a white stone at that very spot.

Zhang Weiwan’s version of the story has Galamang as one of the brothers fleeing Samarkand because he was framed for killing another tribe’s livestock.  Joined by eighteen people of his tribe, he sets off eastward with another group of forty-five friends and neighbors following behind.  Galamang and his group went north of the Tianshan Mountains while the group following went south of them, but both groups met at Ganjiatan in Gansu Province.  They continued following the camel over Mengda Mountain until they reached Tangfangzhuang in Xunhua.  That night the camel went missing and when they found it the next day it had been turned to stone next to the pool just east of Jiezi (Weiwan).

Minority Status

Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, with its county seat of Jishi, was established in 1954 (Schwarz).  The Chinese policy of regional autonomy defined by territory and nationality has been in place since the Fifties.  In 1989 there existed 141 areas with regional autonomy, including five provinces, 31 prefectures, and 105 counties (Heberer, 40).  The title of an autonomous region gives these areas certain rights, including the right to use a national language, have their own laws, and administer their own finances and police force.  The autonomy law of 1984 also gives autonomous areas the right to enact laws to protect minorities’ customs, traditions, education, language, and marriage (Heberer, 43).  However, all of this autonomy is ultimately subject to the power of the Communist Party.  For example, the Communist Party decides which customs are labeled healthy and acceptable, and which are unhealthy and need to be abolished. 

During the Cultural Revolution in China, Muslim and other religious organizations were shut down and their publications ceased.  In 1963 the government banned the hajj and tried to cut off all contact with the greater worldwide Muslim society (DeAngelis).  Mao’s Red Guards formed the Revolutionary Study Group for the Abolition of Islam, which called for Muslim intermarriage with Han, the closing of mosques, prohibiting reading from the Koran, and the cancellation of Muslim holidays among other things.  The bitterness between cultures that was developed during that period of time will take many years to soften.  However, in the past decade the Chinese Communist Party has taken many efforts and granted many concessions to the Muslim populations designed to try to win their loyalty, to the point that DeAngelis states, “The Muslims of China presently have the greatest amount of freedom they have experienced in recent centuries.”

Language

The Salar people have their own unwritten language that belongs to the Oguz branch of the Turkic group of the Altaic language family (Schwarz).  It is closely related to Uighur and Uzbek and typically spoken only in Salar homes and businesses.  There is some debate among linguists as to whether Salar is a distinct language or rather just a dialect of Uighur, but most of them favor listing Salar as a distinct language.  There is relatively little written about the Salar language in English and it remains one of the least investigated Turkic languages. 

The language contains mostly Turkic words, but approximately 20% of the lexicon is Chinese, another 7% Arab-Persian, 10% Tibetan, and even some Mongolian (Dwyer).  According to Dwyer, the Turkic component of Salar “preserves many important Old Turkic features no longer found in the other Turkic languages of the region.”  SIL’s Ethnologue gives two recognized dialects of the Salar language: Jiezi and Mengda, and lists the typology as being SOL (Subject, Object, Verb) (Ethnologue).  The major Jiezi dialect is spoken in Jiezi, Qingshui, Baizhuang, Gandu, Dahejia, and Yining, while the Mengda dialect is spoken in Mengda, Muchang, and Tashapo (Schwarz, 42).  Dwyer lists the dialects as being Eastern (the main Salar dialect spoken in Xunhua, Hualong, and Gansu) and Western (in the Ili region of Xinjiang).  She states that the Western dialect is mostly unintelligible to Eastern dialect speakers.  Within the Eastern dialect, the Xunhua region exhibits more Mandarin Chinese influences, while Hualong county exhibits more Tibetan contact variation. 

While Salar is their official language, only a fraction of Salar people can still speak it.  Dwyer gives a figure as low as 30% in some Salar regions.  Haddaway, however has a rate of 80% of the Salar being able to speak their heart language.  Much of the difference between these figures would depend on the observer’s definition of “fluency.”  From personal observation, we would say that at least half of the Salar have a passable command of the Salar language.  Ma Wei, a Salar professor in Xining, believes that if the Salar language does not develop a written script, it will have disappeared within 150-200 years (W).  It appears to be slowly dying out, mainly as a result of intermarriage with other ethnic groups.  It also is not currently being taught in the public schools per government order, so it is mainly the older, uneducated generations that continue to speak Salar.  This being said however, we have noticed in many families a stressing of the cultural importance of passing down the Salar language.  It happens that the areas where the Salar language is best being preserved are characterized by remoteness, extreme poverty, and lack of education. 

Approximately 80% of the Salar speak and understand the local dialect of Mandarin Chinese, while a significant percentage are able to speak Amdo Tibetan as a result of living and working among the Han Chinese and Tibetans for many years.  Before 1949 it is said that the Salar language had an Arabic script, however, today nearly all traces of the script have been lost (W).  Even then the overall literacy rate was as low as 3% (Schwarz).  Since today the Salar language is not based on any written script, the educated younger generation has learned to read Chinese.  This curriculum is quite new, however, and the overall literacy rate of Chinese for the Salar people is still only 27% (Hattaway).  There have been a few attempts to give the Salar language a written script using the International Phonetic Alphabet, but with little success of adoption by the people.

Religious Beliefs

Ninety Nine percent (99%) of the Salar people are Sunni Muslim and follow the five pillars of Islam:  Witness, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage.  These Salar believe that there is no other God but Allah and hold dearly to the teachings set forth in the Koran by Allah’s last and greatest prophet, Muhammad.  At the Great Mosque in Jiezi there is a copy of the Koran that is said to be one of the three oldest copies in existence (Feng, 28).  This mosque was built early during the Ming dynasty and is the second most important mosque in Qinghai province, behind the Xining mosque (Schwarz, 46).  The Salar beliefs and rituals are almost identical to any other Muslim group with the exception that the economic situation of most Salar families usually prevents taking the Pilgrimage to Mecca.  Personal observation indicates that there are not many folk-Islamic practices carried out by the Salar, unlike with most of the other Muslim groups of Central Asia.

Being a minority in the overwhelmingly Confucian society of China, the Salar, like other Chinese Muslims, have turned to their faith as a basis of their identity.  While in practice, the Salar might not follow the writings of the Koran perfectly; Islam retains a heavy influence over the Salar people and is ingrained in their culture.  It is difficult, however, to get a grasp on just how much Islam affects the Salar’s everyday life.  Being a Muslim is everything to them and at the same time means nothing.  They would never easily give up their Muslim heritage and identity, but practically, the Salar profession of faith has watered down to ‘I believe in Allah and I do not eat pork’ (DeAngelis).  Outside of this, their Muslim culture is most evident through their dress, food, and for most, an abstinence from drinking.

In the early 80’s there was in excess of 74 mosques in Xunhua County, and that number would be considerably higher today (Schwarz, 46).  Thus many Muslims can be visibly observed praying to Allah throughout the day.  Life in each Salar community is centered around the local mosque and follows the instructions of the ahong, who is the religious leader and teacher in the mosque and community.  In the Xunhua region, outside of the Salar language, there is not much differentiation culturally between the Salar and the Hui minority groups.  There is quite a lot of intermarriage between them and the two groups worship together in the same mosques.  In fact, the Muslims in this region in terms of religious culture can be split into two groups: Old Teaching and New Teaching.  The Old Teaching mosques and Muslims are more traditional, while the New Teaching Muslims have been influenced by the Naqshbandi Sufi order that became popular in the region under the teachings of Ma Mingxin and Ma Hualong in the mid-19^th century (DeAngelis, Lipman).  This categorization more accurately describes the cultural division among the Xunhua and Qinghai/Gansu Muslims than by differentiation along ethnic group lines.

There is some debate concerning the Islamic history of the Salar people.  According to the legends about their migration to China, the Salar people were already Muslim when they arrived in China, with Allah having led the Salar to their current homeland.  However, some writers suggest that the Salar did not convert to Islam until much later, possibly even as late as 1750 (Schwarz, 46).  In this scenario the Salar migrated into China via the northern branch of the Silk Road in the late 13^th century, possibly as a contingent of the Mongol army which would overthrow the Han rulers of China and establish the Yuan dynasty (Dwyer, DeAngelis).

Identity and Perception

The Salar have been historically viewed as militaristic and confrontational by most other peoples in the region.  This image comes as a result of their often brutal militaristic history that involved several clashes with Genghis Khan’s troops, as well as frequent battles with the Han Chinese over territorial rights.  They are proud to say that they have participated in every Muslim uprising that has taken place in China since the seventeenth century (Schwarz).  During these uprisings, which occurred in 1781, 1861, 1862, and 1895, the Salar were sometimes temporarily successful in resisting Chinese rule and influence, but the end result was always numerous towns being destroyed and thousands of Salar killed (Hattaway, 464 & 652).  Muslim violence in the region has not just been demonstrated against the perceived Chinese oppressors.  There have often been violent encounters between the Salar and other minority groups in the region, including the Hui and Tibetans, even in recent years.  Today the Salar and Hui still have a very negative reputation among the Han majority and other minorities as being cheats, thieves, and in general - lower class.  This perception, however, might be a byproduct and adverse reaction to their other reputation of being shrewd businessmen.

All of this being said, personal interaction and casual contact with the Salar people seem to indicate that apart from their religious zeal, they, like many other Chinese Muslims, are quite warm and friendly once one has an opportunity to get to know them on a personal level.

Livelihood

The majority of the Salar people earn their living through agricultural means with horticulture as the sideline (Weiwan).  Xunhua County is widely known as “the land of fruit” and each Salar family owns a limited amount of land that affords them an opportunity to grow apricots, apples, walnuts, and hot peppers (Weiwan).  The apples in Xunhua are very well known throughout northwest China, but as a result of this area being somewhat isolated these apples are often undervalued.  One Salar man claimed that apples in Xining sell for about ten times the amount that one can get for them in Xunhua!  The red hot peppers and resulting spice from Xunhua are also very famous.

Another popular means of income is derived from restaurant ownership.  Muslim meals are quite popular in China and have become a common way for Salar families to make a living.  Most restaurants are small family owned businesses that serve spicy noodles, beef noodles, steamed dumplings, eight treasures tea, and a host of other Muslim dishes. 

Other means of income among the Salar people include sheep herding for mutton and wool, lumberjacking, and bus and taxi driving.  In fact, the transportation industry provides numerous jobs throughout the region, and the Salar are very territorial about their shipping routes.  There are also still many Salar traders that use the Yellow River as a thoroughfare for their trade.  This developed from their use of sheepskin and oxhide rafts to cross back and forth across the river before bridges were built across it in their area in 1949 (Weiwan).  Industry is very underdeveloped; only electric generators and building materials are presently manufactured (Schwarz, 46).

Education

Historically, education in Xunhua has been quite poor.  An overwhelming majority of the current Salar population has not attained any level of education above primary school.  The elderly population predominantly speaks only Salar and seems to have very limited understanding of Mandarin Chinese.  The education level among older women is the poorest of all segments, while the education level of the younger generation appears to be on the rise.

Recently the PRC passed a mandate that all primary school students in China must study Mandarin Chinese and English throughout their primary and middle school education.  In addition, the PRC has a law in place that requires school attendance by all school aged children (ages 6 – 17), but all too often kids in Xunhua are prevented from attending school by their parents in order to help out with agricultural work at home.  Typically, there are no ramifications from the government when these incidents occur.

Nevertheless, the next generation of Salar students is acquiring a good understanding of the Chinese language (both written and spoken) as well as a very basic understanding of English, and seems to be integrating into Han culture quite easily.  All students attend school five days a week for eight hours each day.  In addition to Chinese and English, they are taught basic classes in math, science, history, and communication.

Living Conditions

Salar villages are traditionally comprised of a group of square, clay houses, which are each enclosed within a clay wall approximately three to four meters high (Weiwan).  Intricately carved eaves, pillars, and doorframes, as well as flat roofs characterize these homes.  In addition, fruit trees, flowers, and vegetables are often planted inside the clay-walled courtyard.  The plain, dusty outside walls are not indicative of the clean, well-kept, and beautiful courtyard found within.  This tradition is a survival of the Salars’ Central Asian roots, where they still have courtyard homes.

Since most Salar live with their extended families, a home usually contains separate rooms for the parents, grandparents, and children, as well as a sitting room and a kitchen.  Most of the bedrooms contain a kang, a stone bed that uses heated bricks placed underneath for warmth in the winter.  In addition there are usually coffee tables and chairs for any guests that happen to drop by for a visit.

Contrary to what one might assume, modern communication mediums are easily accessible in most Salar homes.  As a rough estimate, it appears that around 50% of the Salar homes contain television sets, approximately 75% have radios (some of which are short-wave accessible), and around 25% of the Salar homes include telephones.  Although these figures are only an estimate, they do present an idea about the communication possibilities in Xunhua.  In addition, cellular phones and Video Compact Discs (VCD) are abundant in the Xunhua county seat, although few rural citizens own them.

Sanitation standards in most Salar areas are quite good, as is typical in most Islamic cultures.  Salar homes are clean, food has its proper place, and the outhouse is distinctly separate from the rest of the home.  In addition, transportation is quite modern in and around Xunhua.  Buses, cars, and mopeds are all an integral part of the transit within the town.  Getting to Xunhua, however, is not the easiest thing to do.  Even with a new highway, the trip to Xining, the provincial capital and gateway to Xunhua, can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours - winding through steep gorges and over high mountain passes.  Dirt roads connect all of the communes and production brigades, and a there are two bridges crossing the Yellow River to link the two parts of the county (Encyclopedia).

Culture

Hospitality

Contrary to the impression that most Western people might have of Muslims, the Salar people are quite warm, friendly, and hospitable.  Casual contact with the Salar indicates that it is quite common to offer a stranger tea or perhaps even a complete meal (even if the guest is stopping by in the middle of the afternoon).  Most Salar seem to have a genuine interest and concern for one’s well being, as well as a significant desire to establish relationships and accommodate a visitor in the best way possible.  Salar people are quite approachable and typically are seen smiling, which creates plenty of opportunities to educate oneself on the intricacies of their culture through the establishment of friendships.

Festivals

One of the most well known festivals of the Salar people is called the Corban Festival, which is celebrated on the 10^th day of the 12^th Islamic Month (Feng, 28).  The Salar name for this celebration is the same as the Arabic, “Id al Kurban” which means “Animal Sacrifice.”  As the legend goes, this festival is held in order to celebrate God’s deliverance of Abraham from the sacrifice of his son.  God tested Abraham’s faith by telling him to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, on Mt. Moriah.  As Abraham was about to kill him, God provided a lamb for Abraham to sacrifice instead.  The celebration commemorates Abraham’s deliverance from this rigorous test.  On the first morning, men purify themselves and then go to the mosque for public prayer, while the women pray and recite the Koran at home.  After prayers, the people meet outside the city at the foot of a hill for a message from the Imam, who reminds the people of the origins of the Corban Festival.  Then participants divide into groups of seven and each group slaughters an ox or a sheep.  The groups then take part in an extravagant banquet and enjoy the fresh mutton, pancakes and dumplings together (Feng, 28).

Sports

Many Salar enjoy playing basketball and soccer, as well as a game similar to cricket called “ma ja.”  Other Salar hobbies include archery, horse racing, and martial arts.  One of the greatest pastimes of these people is swimming in the Yellow River.

Clothing

The Salar dress rather conservatively and have a similar appearance to the Hui and other Islamic groups in this part of China.  The men keep their hair cropped short and the majority of the older men wear long beards with no hair across the upper lip.  Every Muslim man wears a white skullcap with a dark colored coat and vest (Weiwan).  Older men wear a several foot long white headband wrapped around their head and trailing behind them (Tu).   The most distinctive aspect of the women’s appearance is a colored headdress, which is evidence of their Islamic tradition.  Most women wear a dark veil that covers their head, neck, and ears, but leaves the face exposed.  The color of the veil depends on the wearer’s age and marital status.  Married women wear black, unmarried women wear green, and women over the age of fifty wear white (Weiwan).  Young women, however, usually do not succumb to this custom, opting instead for a stylish nylon kerchief.

Music

Many Salar women play an instrument called the “kouxuan,” which is a plucking music player performed by using the mouth and fingers.

There is a particular form of folk song popular among the Salar and other minorities of the area called Huaer or “Flowers”.  These songs have to do with love and courting and are frequently sung at weddings.  The themes range from cherishing the memory of ancestors to an expression of Salar ideals and love for life (Nationalities, 58)(Weiwen, 59).

Schwarz identifies another kind of folk literature that he calls the Salar song that is a long lyric poem sung with Salar words and melodies.  Again, the common theme is usually love (Schwarz, 42).  The camel dance is a famous dance that apparently is often performed at weddings, but which we have yet to see.

Food

The Salar diet consists primarily of steamed buns along with a large variety of noodles made of wheat, barley, and buckwheat.  One of the most popular dishes of this area is called mian pier  which is a bowl of beef noodles.  Other popular foods in this area include vegetable soup, Mongolian-style mutton served cold and in large chunks, and meat dumplings.  The beverage of choice for the Salar is eight treasures tea, which is a sweet version of the traditional hot tea of China.  Since the Salar are Muslim, they do not drink alcoholic beverages nor do they eat pork.

Weddings

There are a couple of unusual customs surrounding Salar wedding celebrations.  One involves the groom waiting with his male friends and family as the wedding ceremony takes place with the bride listening from inside.  When the party arrives back at the groom’s home, his family splashes cow’s milk onto the hooves of her horse (a custom borrowed from the Tibetans) and gives a piece of mutton to everyone in the party.  The best part of mutton goes to the bride’s uncles, the most important guests at the celebration (Tu).

Another custom requires the bride, when leaving for the groom’s home, to walk backwards crying and singing.  The explanations of this custom vary: one states that the bride is unhappy with the marriage, while another is that she does not want to leave her parents’ home out of thankfulness to them for all they have done for her (Weiwan).

Status Of The Gospel

“Before 1949 few missionaries reached out to the Salar.  In the 1920’s an appeal was made for workers to give their whole time to the Salar.  Ralph Covell laments that missionaries talked about the Salar … but the rigors of a harsh climate, and a demanding geographical environment meant only a few were prepared for the necessary long-term commitment and sacrifices” (Hattaway, 464).

For security reasons, we do not here discuss specific efforts currently in place to reach the Salar.  Suffice to say the workers are few and limited in language and cultural awareness.  The work is very much in the beginning stages and what is needed is a long-term commitment from numerous God-called individuals and churches characterized by sacrifice and boldness to share the love of God.

Many efforts on a macro level need to be put into place if every one of these people is to have an opportunity to hear of the freedom and abundant life offered by Jesus Christ.  The Salar currently have no scripture, Jesus Film, or Christian broadcasts in their mother tongue.  People of all ethnicities must go, witness to, and pray for the Salar, that they might hear the gospel and be miraculously saved into the family of God.  There are quite a few bridges between the Islamic and Christian traditions.  Hopefully these bridges will create opportunities to share about the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.  In addition, the younger generation of Salar seems to be taking a more skeptical view of Islam and are quite possibly searching for the Truth.  This viewpoint, combined with a sufficient knowledge of Mandarin Chinese would probably make the younger generation most accessible to hearing the Gospel first (the older generation still needing gospel translation into their mother tongue in order to hear).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Salar people are unreached, overlooked, and basically cut off from the one thing in their lives that offers freedom and forgiveness of sin.  “How can they know if they don’t hear?  And how will they hear without someone to share?  And how will someone share if they don’t go?”  The Salar people will be saved in God’s perfect timing, but we know that He wants to use his church to do the work of spreading the gospel.  In obedience to his calling, more efforts need to be put in place to allow God’s spirit to move throughout these people’s lives and result in an indigenous church planting movement.

Salar Bibliography

(English language sources only)

Barnett, A. Doak.  China’s Far West: Four Decades of Change.  Boulder: Westview Press, 1993.

Ø      No specific information on the Salar, but an overview of Qinghai and Xining and the change of them from 1948 to 1988, including govt. organization, military, education, modernization, economy, and other areas.

China’s Minority Nationalities.  Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1989.

Ø      Sketches of people groups with five pages on the Salar, mostly from a communist propaganda point of view.  ISBN: 0835119521

Chinese Nationalities.  Beijing: China Nationality Photography and Art Press, 1989.

Ø      Single page of info plus pictures.

DeAngelis, Richard C.  “Muslims and Chinese Political Culture.”  Muslim World.  Hartford, Conn., v. 87 (Apr. ’97), p. 151-168.

Ø      Interesting article covering the basics of the history of Islam in China, mainly concerning the Muslims’ relationship historically with the ruling government.  

Dillon, Michael.  China’s Muslim Hui Community: Migration, Settlement, and ­­Sects.  Surrey, England: Curzon, 1999.

Ø      Very good, with a lot of information, especially concerning the different Chinese Islamic sects and sufi orders.  ISBN: 0700710264

_____.  China’s Muslims.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Ø      A good overview of Muslim people groups in China, but only a few pages specific to the Salar.  Good sections on Chinese Islam and daily life in Muslim China.  ISBN: 0195875044

Dwyer, Arienne M.  “The Texture of Tongues: Languages and Power in China.”  Nationalism and Ethnoregional Identities in China, ed. By William Safran.  London: Frank Cass Publishers, 1998.

Ø      In this chapter on minority languages, Dwyer uses her field research on the Salar language in many examples.

Encyclopedia of the World Muslims, Tribes, Castes, and Communities, Vol. 4.  Delhi: Global Vision Publishing House, 2001.

Ø      Two page people profile with bibliography.

Feng, Yun and Yi Zuo.  “Three Festivals of Qinghai.”  China Tourism.  No. 106.

Ø      One page plus pictures on the Corban Festival.

Gill, Lunda H.  Portraits of China.  Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990.

Ø      Mostly pictures.  Two pages on courtship and marriage that mention the Salar.

Gladney, Dru C.  Ethnic Identity in China: the Making of a Muslim Minority Nationality.  Orlando: Harcourt Brace, 1998.

_____.  Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People’s Republic.  Cambridge, Mass.: Council on East Asian Studies, 1991.

Ø      Some of the analysis is getting out-of-date, but still a very good description of what it means to be a Hui in China.  One chapter is devoted to the northwestern Hui who in many aspects of their culture and religious practice are similar to the Salar.

Haji Yusuf Liu Bao Jun.  A Glance at Chinese Muslims.  Kuala Lampur: Malaysian Encyclopedia Research Center Berhad, 1998.

Ø      Interesting introduction to Chinese Muslims with many good pictures and charts written by a Muslim scholar from Gansu province.

Hattaway, Paul.  Operation China.  Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2002.

Ø      Good one page people profile with picture and graphics.  However, the listed number of Christians among the Salar can not be confirmed.

_____.  The 50 Most Unreached People Groups of China.  Chiang Mai: Asian Minorities Outreach, 1996.

Ø      Two page people profile.

Heberer, Thomas.  China and its National Minorities: Autonomy or Assimilation.  Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1989.

Ø      Very good book on minorities, including the effects of the cultural revolution on minority groups.  Covers issues of autonomy, religion, population policies, and others.

Israeli, Raphael.  “Muslims in China: Islam’s Incompatibility with the Chinese Order.”  Islam in Asia, Vol. II: Southeast and East Asia.  Boulder: Westview Press, 1984.

Ø      Article concerning the compatibility of Islamic belief and Chinese traditions.

Li, Shujiang.  Mythology and Folklore of the Hui, a Muslim Chinese ­­­People.  Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.

Lipman, Jonathan N.  Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China.  Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.

Ø         Excellent book specifically covering the religious history of the Muslim peoples scattered throughout the Xining area, Gansu, and Shaanxi.  Very good synopsis of important Muslim leaders, sects, and uprisings.   ISBN: 0295976446

Ma, Quanlin.  “Salar Language Materials.”  Sino-Platonic Papers.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Number 43, December 1993.

Ø         A dictionary containing useful Salar-English sentences as well as Salar-English and English-Salar word lists.

Ma, Wei, Jianzhong Ma, and Kevin Stuart.  “The Xunhua Salar Wedding.”  Asian Folklore Studies.  Vol 58, 1999: 31-76.

_____.  The Folklore of China’s Islamic Salar Nationality.  Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen Press, 2001.

Ø         Recently released book including current general information and pictures as well as Salar folklore, covering stories about their origin, characters, family values, myths, and songs.  ISBN: 077347675X

Mackerras, Colin.  China’s Minority Cultures: Identity and Integration.  New York: St. Martins Press, 1995.

Ø         Not specific to the Salar, but covers areas of religion, education, and others pertaining to minorities.

Olson, James S.  An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China.  Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Ø      A two-page reference entry.

Schwarz, Henry G.  The Minorities of Northern China: A Survey.  Bellingham: Western Washington University Press, 1984.

_____.  “Salars.”  Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey.  Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1984.

Ø      A two-page synopsis.  ISBN: 0313233926

Taylor, Mrs. Howard.  The Call of China’s Great North West: Kansu and Beyond.  London: The China Inland Mission, 1921?

Ø      By the daughter of Hudson Taylor and the writer of Borden of Yale, a wonderful biography of William Borden who had dedicated his life to ministry among the Muslims of the Gansu region.  This book contains a chapter on the Salar, including the story of their migration from Samarkand and an appeal for workers to labor among them almost a century ago.

Tu, Jo-fu.  Ethnic Groups in China.  New York: Science Press, 1993.

Ø      Two page summaries of minority groups, including the Salar, followed by four pages of pictures.

Weiwen, Zhang and Zeng Qingnan.  In Search of China’s Minorities.  Beijing: New World Press, 1993.

Ø      Good synopsis of minority groups including five pages on the Salar.

Wong, How Man.  Islamic Frontiers of China: Silk Road Images.  Essex, England: Scorpion, 1990.