The history of the formation of the Hui people in Xinjiang has been 700 years. In the 13th century, Genghis Khan (han) went west to Central Asia, brought the soldiers recruited there back to China, organized them into the "horse Exploration Red Army", which was stationed in the western region of Xinjiang, including 15,000 Hui soldiers. In 1290 AD, the Yuan government ordered the Red Army to resettle land on the spot and settle in "Tengeier", which is now the area of Fukang City in Xinjiang, becoming the earliest Hui residents in Xinjiang.
A large number of Hui people moved into Xinjiang around the 18th century. The Qing government carried out the policy of "garrison troops" and "emigration for border defense", and many times transferred troops and emigrated from Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai, encouraged soldiers to bring their families with them, and encouraged Hui residents to move to Xinjiang to engage in agricultural production. Since then, from the period of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty to the period of the Republic of China, due to uprisings, wars, natural disasters and other reasons, a large number of Hui people from Shaanxi-Gansu-Ning-Qing area moved to Xinjiang one after another to settle down, forming the present Xinjiang Hui people.
In the past, most of the Hui people in Xinjiang were engaged in commerce and agriculture. After the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang, the Hui people attached great importance to education, and a large number of cadres, scholars, teachers, workers, professional and technical personnel, scientific and technological workers, and cultural workers emerged.
The Hui people of Xinjiang use the Chinese script, and the language retains the characteristics of the dialects of the northwestern provinces and regions, but also incorporates some Uygur, Kazakh and religious words. Due to their long history of contacts with various ethnic groups, many Hui people speak the Uygur, Kazakh and other ethnic languages.
Nowadays, the Hui people living in Xinjiang's cities and towns wear basically the same clothes as the Han people, especially the majority of young men and women wear fashion, but the elderly and some rural women still maintain some traditional characteristics of Hui clothing: middle-aged men wear small white hats, white shirts and black vests, and women wear white or blue cloth hats.
The Hui people in Xinjiang believe in Islam and follow the commandments of Islam in their diet. They refrain from eating meat from pigs, dogs, donkeys, mules and wild animals. Abstain from the blood of animals and animals that have not been killed by the Mohammedans. Meat is eaten only by ruminant herbivores, such as cows, sheep, camels, and chickens, ducks, and fish.
Hui people's flavor snacks is stretched noodles, fried noodles, stewed noodles, mutton soaked bread, oil cake, cold powder of patatoes , brewed noodle, yellow noodles, sugar crisp bread, sesame, etc., unique flavor, deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups. Family daily meals, generally stretched noodles, soup noodles, minced noodles, dumplings, steamed buns, steamed bread, sweet bean flower rolls,they like to eat pastries, drink covered bowl tea.
On festivals and banquets, Hui people in Xinjiang usually fry some fried food such as SAN zi, fragrant cakes and fried noodles, and make nine bowls of steamed vegetables and meat arranged in three rows. Or make "mutton powder soup" : make soup with mutton, mutton soup, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, red pepper, black fungus, etc., and then add some pieces of powder which is made of bean powder.
The main traditional festivals of the Hui people are the same as the festivals of Islam, there are two main festivals, namely, the Meat Festival and the Eid al-Adha Festival, but the Hui people are used to calling the festivals "Erdi", the meat festival is "big Erdi" and the Eid Festival is "small Erdi". Before the festival, every family must clean the room and environment, make food, and prepare for the festival to entertain guests. On the morning of the festival, male parishioners go to the mosque to do "rites" and then visit the graves of deceased relatives, while women prepare meals at home. During the festival, visit relatives and friends, and congratulate each other.
The Hui gave birth to a child, the same as the Han is to give the child a name with the father's name, called "scientific name", the difference is, but also ask the imam to give an Islamic name. Boys must be circumcised before the age of seven, and girls must have their ears pierced.
Hui people pay attention to cleanliness and hygiene, pay special attention to the cleanliness of water. They are also fond of growing flowers, whether in cities or rural areas, all Hui families have flowers in their courtyards, and they also keep potted flowers indoors
