Paper long abstract:

The paper will share with the Conference participants the results of the work on the manuscript of the Diary of Sergei Oldenburg of his expedition to Southern Xinjiang in 1909-1910. This was the second trip to Xinjiang also known as Eastern/ Chinese Turkistan of the Russian scholar within the frame of exploration of Central Asia by the Russian scholars in the early XX c. Despite Oldenburg's works on ancient India and Eastern Turkistan are widely known in Central Asian studies, his Diaries of the 1909-1910 expedition to Eastern Turkistan has never been published before.

The S.F. Oldenburgs Diary entitled 'Diary of the Turkistan expedition prepared on the Highest order by the Russian Committee on the study of Middle and Eastern Asia' consists of 86 double-sided pages filled up with small handwriting. Oldenburg's records cover the entire trip of the expedition, which went though the following oases of Xinjiang: Karashar, Turfan, Korla, Bai, Aksu, Uch-Turfan, Kalpin, Maralbashi and Kashgar.

While the main object and results of the expedition were connected with ancient history of Eastern Turkistan, Oldenburg's travelogue contains unique information on the Uyghur society of the XX century. Recording travel and work of the group of Russian scholars on ancient historical sites, Oldenburg at the same time collected and recorded ethnographic information and accounts related to intellectual and religious life of the Uyghur society of that time. Generally information recorded in the Oldenburg's Diary can be grouped in the following way: 1) description of ancient sites and monuments of pre-Islamic period, 2) description of custom and traditions of the Uyghur population of Xinjiang; 3) records on intellectual life of the local society; 4) intellectual life of Uyghur Muslim society. Of great important are accounts on Muslim shrines (mazars). Some of shrines described by Oldenburg no longer exist and this makes the accounts on them quite unique. The paper will compare those accounts with description of contemporary shrines given by Rahile Daut and other Xinjiang scholars. Of linguistic and literary significance are Uyghur folk songs qoshaq recorded by Sergei Oldenburg, most of which do not have analogues in modern publications of folk songs.

Generally, the paper will characterize Oldenburg's contribution to the study of the Uyghur society of the early XX century and put his materials on Uyghurs and Xinjiang into the context of existing academic literature outlining perspectives of how they can be used in the research.

Paper long abstract:

In the PRC, the state controls the narrative on the history of the Cultural Revolution. This sanctioned history in many ways whitewashes this period by mostly focusing on the political history and by blaming the chaos of the CR on the "Gang of Four" and not on the myriad of teenagers and young men and women who participated in two years of turmoil. The history of the Cultural Revolution in Xinjiang has for the most part been muted, if not completely silenced, in the People's Republic of China. There have been very few avenues for Uyghurs, Tatars, and other non-Chinese inhabitants of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to discuss publicly in any format the period of the Cultural Revolution. This is even truer now than it was ten years ago as Uyghurs, but also other Muslim minority nationalities are facing increasing repressive policies. The Cultural Revolution holds a particular place in the historical memory of Xinjiang and of the PRC. This paper analyzes the ways in which memoirs published in the diaspora, in particular the memoirs by Haji Abdurräshid Kerimi, The Battle of Qaranjul, by Rebiya Kadeer, Dragon Fighter, and by Söyüngül Chanisheff, The Land Drenched in Tears, use the past as a tool for political activism in the present. These memoirs challenge the official narrative, while in many ways relying on it. Memoirs offer the illusion of authenticity, of the eyewitness, of the person who lived through a certain event and wants to share his or her story. All three of the memoirists discuss the urgency of telling "history" for future generation, and discuss their memoirs as a fulfillment of their duty and responsibility to the youth. The vast majority of the sources available for the Maoist period in China, and for the Cultural Revolution in Xinjiang, were written by men. Memoirs offer a gendered and politicized understanding of the Xinjiang and Uyghur past—only possible outside of the boundaries of the PRC.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on locating the origins of present day discourses pertaining to the significance of agriculture in state-led economic development efforts in Xinjiang. I argue that the precursors to these discourses emerged from the provincial government's political leaders in the first half of the twentieth century. Consequently, the People's Republic of China's policies in the region must be understood at least in part as a product of these precedents. Following the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, a series of Han governors oversaw a bureaucracy that claimed to rule over an ethnically diverse region that conformed to previous imperial administrative boundaries. Two governors, Yang Zengxin and Sheng Shicai, developed long term economic visions that could serve as reference points for altering economic activity within Xinjiang's boundaries. Both visions relied on transformation of Xinjiang's agricultural base in order to put provincial finances and security on a stable footing, so they could more effectively exercise their authority. These leaders imagined state-led efforts that would introduce and spread initiatives throughout the province. Although Yang and Sheng both embraced a basic commitment to the introduction of new techniques, technologies, and expertise to alter what farmers in Xinjiang produced and how they produced it, the ultimate goals of their visions differed dramatically. Whereas Yang envisioned a self-sufficient provincial economic system that included the production and processing of agricultural crops, Sheng worked to implement a model that would employ new technology to increase export-oriented production. These visions were a partial outgrowth of each governor's perception of and relationship with Russia/the Soviet Union and reflected pragmatic responses to challenges raised by actors and resources within Xinjiang. This paper is based on work with materials from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region archives, periodicals, provincial government publications, and the published collection of Yang Zengxin's writings.

Paper long abstract:

When challenging historical narratives in the bourgeoning field of frontier studies, finding new sources for historical reference has been of increasing importance. This is especially true for the Mongol empire because scholars have already thoroughly examined most primary sources of that era. However, by moving beyond mainstream sources, there is a wealth of information in more unorthodox documents that can reinvigorate the field by contributing a fresh perspective.

In my own research of the periphery of the Mongol Empire, I have been primarily concerned with the Armenian experience. My approach has been to examine Armenian historiography by tracing developments of the Mongol era solely through colophons of Armenian manuscripts from the 13th century. A unique feature of these colophons was that, in addition to providing basic information about the books' scribes, they contained unusually detailed material regarding current events. This additional information reflected the medieval Middle Eastern trope of self-deprecation as a disclaimer for any blemishes in the manuscripts' craftsmanship. But in doing so, the scribes revealed a surprising amount regarding sociopolitical developments of their time. The events they discussed, in addition to any opinions they shared, build a profile of this particular area of Armenian historiography.

In a further effort to engage with these sources, I have catalogued the colophons and organized them chronologically, geographically, as well as thematically. Then, by placing them in a visual context with the use of historical maps, I will attempt to answer how the circumstances behind the colophons' production has influenced their content.