Salar people 撒拉族
Salar
people 撒拉族, numbered about 120,000, are one of the official recognized ethnic group of China. They live mostly in the Qinghai-Gansu border region, on both sides of the Yellow River, namely in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County 循化 and Hualong Hui Autonomous County 化隆 of Qinghai and the adjacent Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County 积石山 of Gansu. There are also Salars in Xinjiang (in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture). The Salars' ancestors were migrating Oghuz Turks who intermarried with Han Chinese, Tibetans, and Hui. The Salar are only found in China and they are one of the 10 ethnicities who are Muslim: Hui, Uyghurs, Tartar, Kirgiz, Kazak, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Dongxiang, Bonan and Salar.
The Salars are predominately Muslims (black cap) and speak Salar in the Oghus language family. The Salars were the favorites of the Ming courts, however, they had sporadic flareups with the Qing Dynasty. During the war with Japan the Salars fought bravely and brutally.
The Salar had their own unique kinship clanships. They are patrilineal, and exogamous, encouraging clan members to marry out, with marriage amongst clan members being banned. They are an entrepreneurial people, going into multiple businesses and industries. Salar men dress like another Chinese Muslims except they wear black skullcaps while the young single women are accustomed to dressing in Chinese dress of bright colors. The married women utilize the traditional veil in white or black colors. The Salars speak Salar in the Oghuz language family and the literate ones are usually bilingual with the Chinese language. The Salar's written script is in danger of extinction and there are calls for revivals.
Official picture of a Salar family
The Salar are one of the ten ethnic Muslim people officially recognized by China. The others are: Hui, Uyghurs, Tartar, Kirgiz, Kazak, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Dongxiang, and Bonan. They discourage marriages within the same tribe and encourage marriages to outsiders
The Salar live in this region for more than 1 thousand years
Koran brought by Salars from Samarkand in 1371. Vol. I on left in Russian leather binding. Vol. II in ordinary cowhide. This is the oldest Koran in China
A statue of Oghuz Khan, the forefather of the Salar, in Xunhua
The tomb of 阿合莽 in the yard of Jiezi Mosque (also where the Koran is kept)
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