China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, at the heart of the Silk Road, has witnessed the historical convergence of various civilizations and religions. Down through history, different religions rose and fell, but the general landscape has been one of multiple religions coexisting. Indigenous primitive beliefs, shamanism, Taoism, and world religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity have all spread across the region, both north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, influencing Xinjiang culture to this day.

Ancient ancestors: Everything has a spirit

Islam is not the only religion that Xinjiang ethnic groups have adopted. In ancient times, they believed in animism, with widespread worship of animals, plants, celestial bodies, totems, fertility, and ancestors. Nomadic groups such as the Xiongnu, ancient Celestial Turks, and the Yenisei Kirgiz often revered animals, especially wolves, which they held as totems. The totems of Huihu (Uighur) people were lions, wolves, camels, and other animals. The Pamiris (ancestors of the Chinese Tajik people) took the sun as their totem and called themselves "Cina-deva-gotra" (the descendants of the Han people and the Sun God).

The Khotan people in ancient times worshipped rats, and when they rode past a rat hole, they would dismount from their horses and worship in front of it. According to The History of the Northern Dynasties (386–618), the king of Khotan "wore a brocade hat with a gold rat crown, and his wife wore golden flowers." The king's golden rat crown is a clear sign of the influence of the former rat worship, which persisted even after the widespread adoption of Buddhism by the Khotan. A wooden panel painting of a rat-headed deity unearthed in the early 20th century at the famous Dandan Oilik site is strong evidence for the ancient Khotanese custom of rat worship.

The legacy of shamanism and Zoroastrianism

Shamanism is a more advanced form of primitive religion. Historical sources show that shamanism was once the religion of many ancient tribes in Xinjiang, such as the Xiongnu, Rouran, Celestial Turks, Uighur, and Mongols, and up until the 17th century, was still practiced by the Mongol, Manchu, and other ethnic groups. The Xibe, Daur, and Kirgiz people have preserved their shamanistic cultural traditions in a relatively complete manner right up to modern times.

In the important Uygur epic Legend of Oğuzname, there are many descriptions of elaborate shamanistic activities. According to shamanistic ritual requirements, whenever Oghuz Khagan convened a tribal meeting, he had to erect wooden poles on both sides of the tent, with gold and silver roosters fastened to the top of the poles, and black and white sheep tied to the bottom. This ancient ritual practice evolved over time to include hanging sheep heads, ox tails, and strips of cloth as offerings.

Even today, Uygur Muslims will perform a shamanic dance when they make pilgrimages to the Mazar (a holy tomb), which is still surrounded by a circle of wooden poles hung with sheep heads, sheep skins, and strips of cloth.

Other ethnic groups in Xinjiang, especially the Kazak, have also retained their shamanistic customs to varying degrees.

Zoroastrianism is now virtually extinct in Xinjiang, but its influence has long been integrated into the culture of several ethnic groups. Nowruz, a Zoroastrian festival, is still an important traditional festival among the Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tajik and other ethnic groups who once practiced Zoroastrianism. It has become a folk festival to celebrate the arrival of spring. The Zoroastrian belief in fire worship has also been largely preserved and has become part of these ethnic cultures.

In addition to primitive religions, other religions were introduced into Xinjiang through the Central Plains of China, Central Asia, West Asia, and South Asia. After these foreign religions entered Xinjiang, they integrated with Chinese culture and formed a unique regional culture.

Buddhism in Xinjiang

From the 2nd century B.C., Buddhism began to influence the Western Regions as it was introduced through the passes of the Pamir Mountains and the Karakoram Mountains, and by the first century B.C. at the latest, it had spread to the Tarim Basin.

As Buddhism was widely welcomed both by the nobility and the ordinary people, it spread rapidly throughout the region and gradually replaced shamanism and Zoroastrianism as the main religion.

In Xinjiang, there were once several famous centers of Buddhist culture, including Khotan (Hetian), Shule, Kuche, Shanshan, and Gaochang. Due to geographical differences, the Buddhist culture in these different places shows some diversity.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (220–589), Buddhism in Xinjiang entered its heyday. Buddhist culture reached a high level in architecture, sculpture, dance, drama, music, and literature. Buddhist temples and monks could be found at every oasis. The extensive construction of Buddhist caves and temples is evidence of the widespread acceptance of Buddhist culture at the time.

Faxian (337–422), a prominent monk of the Jin Dynasty who traveled west to study Buddhism, wrote that "in front of every house in Khotan there was a small pagoda; the smallest one was about two zhang high (about 5 meters)." He also said that there were "countless" monasteries in Khotan. Historical documents record that during the peak of Buddhist culture, there were more than 4,000 temples built in the Khotan area. The temple where Faxian resided was spectacular in scale and could accommodate 3,000 monks. Another even larger temple, Wangxin Temple, took three generations of Khotan kings 80 years to build. The temple's main hall was 25 zhang high (about 60 meters), with a magnificent interior.

In addition to Khotan, another Buddhist cultural center is Kuche, with more than 1,000 temples in the city. Other forms of Buddhist culture with regional characteristics include caves and temples. There are about 600 extant Buddhist caves and temples in the area, of which more than 200 caves contain traces of murals.

During this period, Buddhist culture was flourishing in the Western regions, and there were tens of thousands of monks in Khotan alone, accounting for about a third of the local population at that time. In other regions as well, the monk populations reached into the thousands. Even Yecheng, the area with the fewest monks, had over a thousand. With such a large number of monks, large-scale Buddhist activities became common place. For example, historical records show that Khotan often held a fourteen-day grand Buddhist event called "Buddhist Float Parades." At the beginning of the event, the whole city would "sweep and purify the roads, and decorate the streets and lanes;" the 14 great temples of Khotan took turns hosting the big event.

The integration of Buddhism with the cultures of various ethnic groups in ancient Xinjiang has formed a distinctive "Buddhism of the Western Regions," which can be seen in the translation of the classics, the transformation of Buddhist rituals, and Buddhist sculpture, painting, dancing and so on.

Once Buddhism had been introduced into Xinjiang, Taoism, Nestorianism and Manichaeism followed one after the other, further developing the multi-religious landscape.

The introduction and development of Islam

From the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 10th century, the acceptance of Islam by Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan of the Kara-Khanid Khanate and the establishment of the Artush Mosque marked the introduction of Islam into Xinjiang. Islamic culture began to spread to the Chinese civilization system, thereby impacting the religious environment in Xinjiang.

Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan heavily promoted Islam and made it the Khanate's state religion in 960 AD. The ensuing rivalry between Buddhism and Islam in Khotan, Kuche and other places brought instability to the region.

From the 10th century, Islam expanded rapidly across the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, causing a decline in the original Buddhist culture there. Meanwhile, the Buddhist culture in the Kingdom of Qocho (Gaochang), centered in the Turpan Basin, was flourishing. However, by the early 16th century, Islam, through religious wars and coercion by the ruling class, eventually forced Buddhism out of Turpan, Hami, and other places in eastern Xinjiang.

By the end of the Ming and early Qing Dynasties (1628–1700), the Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, and Tajik ethnic groups in Xinjiang had basically adopted Islam, which continued to spread widely throughout the Tarim Basin and parts of northern and eastern Xinjiang. Mosques and madrasas were built in Kashi, Yarkand, Khotan, Kuqa, Turpan and Hami in large numbers. However, this did not change the landscape of religious and cultural diversity in Xinjiang.

As the rulers of Xinjiang, the Kara-Khanid Khanate never broke off contact with the culture of the Central Plains, nor did it eliminate the influence of Buddhism, Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and shamanism. An important cultural feature of the Kara-Khanid Khanate was its secularity and openness. This has been confirmed by the Kutadgu Bilig, the Compendium of the Languages of the Turks, the Atebetu'l Hakayik, and many other literary works.

As Islam spread in the Kara-Khanid Khanate, Arabic, Persian, and Chinese culture interacted, and knowledge of mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and geography was widely disseminated. In terms of culture and entertainment, the Uygur performing art of meshrep became very popular.

The coexistence of diverse religions in Xinjiang has led to Islamic culture being influenced by other religious cultures.

In southern Xinjiang, the Sufi sect incorporated concepts of animism, ancestor worship, animal and plant worship, the fire worship of Zoroastrianism, some shamanistic customs, Mazar worship and other religious and cultural forms, forming an Islamic culture with distinct regional characteristics.

The murals and carvings found in some mosques in southern Xinjiang bear a distinct legacy of the Buddhist culture and art of the Western regions. At the Jaman Mosque in Shache County, lotus flowers, auspicious clouds, and golden halo patterns from Buddhist culture can be seen on the roof beams.

Religious architecture also has local cultural characteristics. The famous mausoleums of Kuqa and Mawlana Arsidin Mazar are ancient buildings with flat roofs, cornices, and panes, rather than the typical Arabic "square base with a round dome."

Another influence can be observed in the Sufi Ashiq. This is a man with disheveled appearance who begs for food to make a living and does not get married or have children. This practice is closely related to the ancient tradition of wandering monks in Buddhism. Priests such as the "Bahesi" and "Dahan," active among the Uygur, Kazak and other ethnic groups, can trace their origins back to the historical shamans.

The author is Peng Wuqing, professor at Xinjiang Normal University.

Liu Xian /Editor    Xue Wensi /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Ren Qiang /Coordinator

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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