Yugurs
Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu, China | |
| Languages | |
|---|---|
| Western Yugur, Eastern Yugur | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
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The Yugurs, Yughurs, Yugu (Chinese: 裕固族; pinyin: Yùgùzú; Western Yugur: Sarïg Yogïr; Eastern Yugur: Šera Yogor), traditionally known as Yellow Uyghurs,[1] are a Turkic-Mongolic ethnic group and one of China's 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, consisting of 16,719 persons, according to the 2000 census.[2] The Yugur live primarily in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County in Gansu. They are mostly Tibetan Buddhists.[3][4] The majority of Yugurs speak a Turkic language, while Mongolic and Chinese are also used in eastern provinces.
History
The Turkic-speaking Yugurs are considered to be the descendants of a group of Old Uyghurs who fled from
In 1037, the Yugur came under
in China proper. These became the ancestors of the modern Yellow Uyghurs, who have remained Buddhists to the present day.[7]In 1893, Russian explorer Grigory Potanin, the first Western scientist to study the Yugur, published a small glossary of Yugur words, along with notes on their administration and geographical situation.[8]
Language
About 4,600 Yugurs speak Western Yugur (a Turkic language) and about 2,800 Eastern Yugur (a Mongolic language). Western Yugur has preserved many archaisms of
Both Yugur languages are now unwritten, although the Old Uyghur alphabet was in use in some Yugur communities until end of 19th century.[11]
References
- ISBN 978-0-231-10786-0.
- ISBN 978-0-08-087774-7. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
- ISBN 0-231-10786-2. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
- New York Times.
- ISBN 0-8223-1521-1.
- ISBN 978-0-203-16664-2.
- ^ The Great Dispossession. p. 39.
- ISBN 978-1-58243-876-4.
- ISBN 978-3447042932.
- ISBN 0-415-08200-5. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
- ISBN 1-85065-324-0. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
External links
- Slide shows, maps and other material on the Yugur from author Eric Enno Tamm
- Original Western Yugur texts with English translation plus PDF grammar of Sarig Yugur [1]