Security matters in marriage: Uyghurs’ perceptions of security in Xinjiang, China

ABSTRACT

Based on anthropological fieldwork conducted in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China in 2016 and 2017, this article addresses the meanings of security from subjective perspectives by investigating Uyghur perceptions of marriage, which offer crucial insight into the meanings of security. The Uyghurs, as the major indigenous population in Xinjiang, have encountered securitization, particularly since the 2009 Ürümchi riots, deemed the worst ethnic conflict in the region since 1949. While official security practices based on stability have won the support of most Han Chinese citizens in and outside Xinjiang, these same security practices have penetrated to and influenced intimate Uyghur life, such as marriage. Uyghur participants in this research indicate that marriage is a social field in which the official counter-extremism campaign, individuals’ happiness (bext), and the security (bixeterlik) of the Uyghur collective identity encounter and negotiate with each other.

KEYWORDS:

• Security
• marriage
• bixeterlik
• bext
• Muslims
• Uyghurs

Acknowledgements

I thank all the participants in this research for their friendship and support during my fieldwork in Xinjiang. I’d like to thank my friend Tursunjan, who has been extremely patient with my inquiries about Uyghur culture and language. My fieldwork could not have taken place without the support of three host families, and I am grateful for their kindness and generosity during my stay. I also thank Edward Lemon for providing feedback, Pauline for checking the syntax of language for me, and three anonymous reviewers for their extensive and insightful comments on the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Minzu can loosely be translated as ‘ethnicity’ or ‘ethnic groups’ in English; however, it is not directly equivalent to them. Minzu is the concept deployed by the Chinese government; however, it is also a concept deployed by people in their everyday language in conjunction with their own categories. In the case of Uyghur there are concepts such as ulus (people of the same root or origin) and millet (people and ethnic groups). Minzu involves the agency of people and conveys their version of identity, history and meanings. The concept of minzu is a field of strategic negotiation between the state and people, and it involves both cooperation and conflicts between the two sides. For detailed discussion of translation problems and theoretical comparison between ethnic minorities and groups and minzu see Lin (1985), Bilik (1990, 2015a, 2015b), and Li (2009); for more discussion of conceptual differences between minzu and indigenous people, see Elliott (2015). For discussion of the concept of minzu and what it means for people who bear such an identity, in particular the Uyghur, see Mei Ding’s (2015) PhD dissertation.

2 The July 2009 riots in Ürümchi were considered the most serious ethnic clashes in the region since 1949. According to English and Chinese reports, the clashes were triggered by a brawl between Uyghur and Han workers that erupted in Guangdong Province on the night of 25 June 2009. The brawl took place in a toy factory and left two Uyghur dead and 118 people injured. The brawl was ignited by a rumour that six Uyghur men had raped two Han women at a work site. As a reaction to the brawl, the subsequent riots in Ürümchi resulted in hundreds of deaths and 1700 injuries.

3 The Special Police Units were recently formed by bringing in police from 31 other provinces to Xinjiang in July 2009. ‘While SPUs existed in Xinjiang prior to 2009, their numbers were insufficient to deal with largescale security threats. SPU officers are heavily equipped with sub-machine guns and bulletproof vests. Physical requirements for admission are also very demanding, with new recruits subject to intense mental and physical training’ (Zenz and Leibold 2017).

4 There are two terms in Uyghur frequently used to express the concept of security: bixeterlik and amanliq.

5 Wechat is a popular mobile application in China and among Chinese-speakers. It is similar to WhatsApp.

6 In some weddings, sanduq ëchish (to open the chest) starts first and proceeds to dastixan qoyush, or the latter is omitted. Sanduq ëchish often refers to displaying the gifts given by the groom’s family, whereas dastixan qoyush is a general term for the ritual and can refer to gifts presented following the sanduq ëchish.

7 Adlet Tayir (2008) briefly documented current changes in Uyghur marriage customs in Ürümchi.

8 Bilingual education policy was introduced in 2002 in Xinjiang. Bilingual education emphasizes the importance of using Mandarin in school and class (Finley and Zang 2015, 13).

9 A good ethnographic example of the revival of Islam in the 1990s in the Uyghur community in Xinjiang can be found in Jay Dautcher’s (2009) book, where he recorded the renovation of mosques in the neighbourhood of Ghulja with money donated by successful cross-border Uyghur merchants, and the popularity of men’s meshrep (traditional Uyghur male-dominant gatherings), which promoted moral rules guided by Islam.

10 These boarding schools (neidi xinjiangban) generally include a middle school (neichuban and a high school (neigaoban). Education at each type of boarding school lasts three to four years, which includes one year of training in Mandarin. For more detail on the neidi xinjiangban, see Grose (2016) and Chen (2008).

11 For details of Uyghur marriage practices in contemporary Kashgar, see Steenberg (2013, 91).

12 The final step before the wedding is the meslihet chay (discussion tea), which has been reinvented in Ürümchi compared to Kashgar. The bride and groom have their meslihet chay separately, on different days. In Ürümchi, the participants in the meslihet chay are the close friends of the bride or groom who are of similar age. Meslihet chay involves treating friends for dinner and giving all of them small gifts, as most of them will attend the coming wedding; after dinner, there is a short discussion of the roles of friends who will offer help on the wedding day; and finally, there is the dancing session, which is named after and resembles singlehood farewell parties in the West. For the introduction of meslihet chay in the past, see Bellér-Han (2008).

13 In Ürümchi, the qizbëshi is the manager of the wedding on the bride’s side; she is in charge of helping the bride with all the detailed issues on the day of the wedding, including arranging the seats, entertaining the guests, and accompanying the bride when putting on her makeup.