Essays on Writing and Language in Honor - Sino-Platonic Papers

kh?7ftf&chrifr: <strong>Essays</strong> in Honor of John DeFrancis
(10) Although Hui settlement has historically been (and still is)
scattered throughout China, the most concentrated Hui population
continues to be in what Barnett refers to as the "Muslim Beltn of
Gansu, ~ingxia, and Qinghai (Barnett 1963:182). In addition to
these northern provinces, there is also a considerable Hui
population in the southwestern province of Yunnan. Most of the
Yunnan Hui are descendants of troops that the Mongols had brought
with them into that province. The Mongols conquered Yunnan in
the 12501s, as part of their military strategy to outflank the
Song Dynasty in southeastern China. During the Yuan Dynasty,
rule of Yunnan was handed over to a Muslim from Central Asia,
under which large numbers of Muslim troops were brought to and
settled in Yunnan. Hui revolts in northern China in the 19th
century strongly influenced Hui movements within Yunnan, and
several Hui perished after an attempt was made in the 1860's to
create a Muslim Kingdom within Yunnan (Fitzgerald 1972:64-95).
Although the Hui population of Yunnan dropped considerably in the
wake of these 19th century uprisings, according to 1982 census
figures, there are over 438,000 Hui living in Yunnan today,
making them the 8th largest ethnic minority of that province
(YNSM 1980: 625) .
(11) Zuo Zongtang was the first ethnic Han general to take
command in Xinjiang; his predecessors had all been Manchus
(Eberhard 1982:61). Zuols earlier post had been as governor of
the Shaanxi-Gansu region. A by-product of his western campaign
was the creation of a major road beyond Yumen Guan (the Jade Gate
Pass), along the northwest passage. The road is said to be over
3,700 \lit (a Chinese unit of measurement, =1/2 kilometer) in
length, with willows planted along its sides. Yang Changxun
( G g t$ ) , who succeeded Zuo in the governorship, celebrated
Zuo9s accomplishments with the following poem:
DA JIANG XI ZHENG REN WE1 HUAN
the general has not yet returned from his western campaign
HU XIANG ZI DI MAN TIAN SHAN
Tian Shan range is full of soldiers from Hunan and Hubei
XIN ZAI YANG LIU SAN QIAN LI
newly-planted willows stretch for 3,000 li
YING DE CHUN FENG DU YU GUAN
win the spring wind crossing Yumen Pass
(We would like to thank Ovid Tzeng for bringing to our attention
this historic poem).
(12) Bai Yanhu was a Moslem chieftain. According to the Zhongguo
Renmin Dacidian (1964:209), during the last years of the reign of
Xianfeng (1851-1860), he controlled portions of Xinjiang. During
the Guangxu reign (1875-1908), he allied with Yacob Beg, and
fought against the Qing. Bai was finally defeated by Liu Jintang