Anth230: Anthropology of East Asia

Aspirations for independence or satisfaction with autonomy in Sinkiang, Inner Mongolia, and Guangxi autonomous regions of China

Over the past few days I’ve discovered more into the conflicts in these peripheral areas of China. In general, I have found that Guangxi does not seem to have as much resentment and drive to assert more national rights as Inner Mongolia and Sinkiang. Both of these latter two are culturally very different from Han, or most other, Chinese groups. Linguistically, they are in separate families (being more closely to Turkish and other Cyrillic scripts than the characters of many cultures farther to the east). Inhabitants also have a much longer common histories and identify with groups in Central Asia (Sinkiang) and Mongolia (inner Mongolia) more closely. Over the next few weeks I will explore more into the historical (and prehistoric) reasons that both sides use to justify their closeness to or distance from each other and the manifestations that this creates in contemporary Sinkiang and Inner Mongolia.