Interethnic marriages are a common occurrence in the development process of a pluralistic society. They exist between almost all ethnic groups and, to a certain extent, are conducive to social stability and progress.

Interethnic marriages indicate the normalization of ethnic relations

Anthropologists who specialize in human marriage, family and kinship systems have come to a primary conclusion: Marriage is a social phenomenon that refers to the union and co-habitation of a man and a woman. It is also an exchange and integration of different cultures and psychological states across genders, families, social classes and even ethnicities.

Interethnic marriages represent a more complex gender union in patterns of marriage. They reflect not only the communication and interaction between individuals as well as between individuals and society, but also the degree of communication and integration between different ethnic groups.

In any human society, marriage is not just a matter between a man and a woman. It is more about the relationship between two families, involving their respective backgrounds and social cultures. Therefore, interethnic marriages can best reflect the deep-seated problems in ethnic relations.

In a multi-ethnic world, there are many factors affecting interethnic interactions, which could be cultural, psychological, religious, political, and economic, but the emotional connection between people, especially between two individuals, is undoubtedly a very important condition. Marriage indicates mutual recognition between two different groups and their normal relationship, which help to eliminate barriers and promote integration.

Interethnic marriage has a very long existence in China

"Heqin" (和亲, literally meaning "marriage for peace") is an important form of interethnic marriages in ancient China. There are at least 360 cases of Heqin clearly recorded in historic documents. The two typical examples familiar to Chinese people were Wang Zhaojun who was sent by Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty (he reigned from 48 BC to 33 BC) to marry Huhanye Chanyu of Xiongnu, a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples in northwestern regions, and Princess Wencheng who was sent by Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty (he reigned from 626 to 649) to marry King Songtsen Gampo of the Tubo kingdom in Xizang in 641. Both the women of Han ethnic group played an important role in easing conflicts and improving relations between different ethnic peoples.

Today's Xinjiang boasts a profound and rich culture of such interethnic marriages, with diversified forms and richest heritage.

The period from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) witnessed frequently occurred intermarriages between different tribes such as the Turks, Ouigours, Tubo, Gaochang, Tuyuhun, Xueyantuo, and Khitans. During the reign of Tang Emperor Gaozong (649-683), the Tang Code stipulated that "Ordinary people of different ethnic groups may intermarry, but women shall not be taken away from the territory of the Tang Dynasty," which legally protected the development and consolidation of interethnic marriages.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the introduction of reform and opening-up policies, Chinese ethnic groups have had more frequent and extensive exchanges in various fields of economic and social life. The breadth and depth of connections are unprecedented, featuring large-scale population mobility with various ethnic peoples choosing to live among each other.

The 7th national population census conducted in 2020 showed that there were nearly 20 million intermarriages between ethnic minorities and the Han people, at a rate of over 20%. Seven ethnic groups saw over 70 percent of their married couples married to someone of a different ethnicity, while in 15 ethnic groups such a rate exceeded 50 percent.

Almost all the 16 autonomous prefectures and 76 autonomous counties in Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing and some other regions are structurally a mosaic of ethnic groups with people of various ethnicities living together in various communities. Given that they share the same geographical location, climatic conditions and natural resources, peoples of different ethnicity engage in the same economic activities, share similar architectural styles and eating habits, and celebrate harvests and festivals together. Such a residence pattern and lifestyle inevitably leads to a higher rate of interethnic marriages.

The same goes for the evolution of Uygur-Han relationship, with many Hans and Uygurs blending in with each other over the passage of time. This process of interethnic interaction is still going on today.

Uygur-Han intermarriages are by no means to assimilate Uygurs

Uygur-Han intermarriages are a normal phenomenon of interethnic communication and interaction. It therefore needs to correct as soon as possible the misconception that equates Uygur-Han intermarriages with ethnic assimilation.

We know that a couple may choose to live in the husband's home or the wife's home, and the same is true for Uygur-Han families. There are "Hanized" Uygur people and "Uygurized" Han people, which has nothing to do with marriage; it neither means that women are the ones to be assimilated. In addition, the so called "Hanized""Uygurized" here is only about which life style being dominant in a family.

A cultural system exists to satisfy human needs. As the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." The purpose of learning the culture of a place or an ethnic group is to manage the relationship with others and to lead a better life.

China has succeeded in dramatically improving the rights of ethnic minorities and introduced relevant preferential policies for them. Therefore, it is very common for Uygur-Han families to choose a Uygur identity for their newborns, or in the case of initially choosing a Han identity, to change their ethnic identity back to Uygur before their children begin formal schooling.

Similarly, a Uygur-Han intermarried couple often show "Uygurized" when they live in an area where Uygur people live in compact communities while "Hanized" when living in an area inhabited mostly by the Han people. A Uygur-Han intermarriage and the couple's changes of lifestyle are often the choices of the couple themselves, reflecting their adaptation to the environment.

Religious extremism is a main obstacle to Uygur-Han intermarriages

The Uygur people and the Han people are the two most populous ethnic groups in Xinjiang. They live in mixed neighborhoods in many places, especially in towns, and therefore have many opportunities to interact and communicate with each other both in everyday life and in workplaces. So they are very likely to intermarry under normal circumstances.

However, the results of the two national censuses in 2000 and 2010 revealed that the rate of mixed marriages between different ethnic peoples was lowest in Xinjiang. Compared with other interethnic marriages, much less Uygur and Han people have entered into marriage and they face more formidable barriers to get married. What are the reasons behind this?

Since 2015, I had lived in southern Xinjiang doing field research for a few years. I had studied social changes in Xinjiang over the previous six decades and found that religious belief is not the main factor hindering Uygur-Han intermarriages. The root cause lies in the infiltration and spread of religious extremism that has changed the social environment, and the "three forces" (referring to terrorism, separatism and extremism) that has gravely damaged interethnic relations.

Theoretically, a Muslim man in Xinjiang can marry a woman who has a different religious belief, and it is natural for a woman to convert to her husband's belief or to follow his religious habits. For a Muslim woman to marry a man of a different ethnicity, the man must first undergo aninitiation ceremony for his conversion to Islam. It is stated in the Qur'an: "You shall not wed pagan women, unless they embrace the Faith. A believing slave-girl is better than an idolatress, although she may please you."

However, my research based on the results of the two national censuses finds that it is generally more common for a Uygur Muslim woman to marry a Han man, and that the man does not have to convert to Islam, which reflects the localization of Islam in Xinjiang and shows that religious belief is not an insurmountable gap for Uygur-Han intermarriages.

The "three forces" trumpet mono ethnicity, claiming "We are still a colony" and "Resources flow eastward while population moves westward." They have rejected pagans, caused estrangement and incited hatred between different ethnic peoples, destroying interethnic relations. A typical example of the religious extremism in present Xinjiang is that Muslims are forbidden to marry "infidels." These extremists abused, isolated, threatened and even killed members of Uygur-Han family as "infidels,""traitors" and "scum."

As Uygur people have realized that most violent terrorists come from the Uygur ethnic group, some of them have tried every means to change their ethnic identity to Han. This phenomenon is interesting but quite normal.

The "three forces" are the main culprits responsible for social isolation, conservative thinking and widespread poverty in southern Xinjiang. Only by eradicating the "three forces" can Xinjiang have a sound and healthy social environment for development.

I lived in Hetian for a few years, and noticed some oddities in the relationships between young Uygur and Han men and women. Some of our Uygur volunteers were from northern Xinjiang. They were repeatedly told by their parents not to associate alone with Han people of the opposite sex. Sometimes, men and women from different ethnic groups could chat happily indoors, but they would keep their distance outdoors and did not even walk together. And the Uygurs hailing from other regions often rigidly "do as the Hetian people do" in all aspects of life. All these show what an impression Hetian has left on Uygurs in other places of Xinjiang. They illustrate that in a place seriously corroded by the "three forces", people became conservative and had no choice but to follow the general trend.

In recent years, with violent terrorist acts put under effective control, young Uygur people in love may not have to worry too much about being threatened and intimidated. However, the social atmosphere and traumas left by the "three forces" are still lingering. If young people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang cannot interact with each other normally, or if their interactions are just superficial with clear boundaries, for instance, at workplaces, but not deeply entwined in life, there is still a long way to go.

According to many Uygurs, there was quite a number of Uygur-Han intermarriages in the 1960s, but the number has gradually decreased since the 1980s, and those intermarried couples have come under increasing social pressure. This explains a strong correlation between the Uygur-Han intermarriage rate and the sabotage activities of the "three forces." Since the 1980s, religious extremists have intensified their interference in the secular life of the Uygur people, making it much more difficult for a Uygur-Han couple to get married. Some people superficially attribute this to Islamic teachings, without realizing that it is religious extremism that has changed the social environment.

Some experts and scholars on Western ethnicity theories arbitrarily attribute it to the rising Uygur ethnic consciousness, without conducting in-depth investigations in Xinjiang. In fact, the so-called ethnic or religious factors are nothing but tools used by the "three forces" to commit crimes, a cover-up to deceive the world, and an excuse to gain sympathy from the international community.

The struggle against the "three forces" is neither an ethnic nor a religious issue. It is a battle against attempts to split China, provoke ethnic hatred, and foment unrest for safeguarding national unity, ethnic solidarity and social stability.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of DeepChina.

The author is Mou Tao, graduated from Sun Yat-sen University with a master's in anthropology, and once worked in Pishan County, Hetian as a volunteer of China's "Serving the Western Region" students volunteer program.