APPENDIX A 



THE DUNGANS 



In the brief sketch, given in Chapter XIII, of the inhabitants 

 of Dzungaria only slight mention was made of the Dungans, 

 or Tungans, as the Mohammedan Chinese of the north-western 

 parts of the Empire are called. 



These people, however, claim much attention, and a more 

 detailed description of them is required, not only on account of 

 the peculiar position they hold in the Chinese Empire, but on 

 account of the disturbances they caused in past times and the 

 danger they threaten to become in the future. Moreover, in a 

 book dealing with countries forming the frontiers of Islam and 

 Buddhism, the fact of a considerable and increasing population 

 of Mohammedan Chinese calls for further information on the 

 subject. 



The Dungans of Dzungaria are located on the outskirts both 

 of the Chinese Empire and of the Islamic world. They are in an 

 entirely different position to the Mohammedan Chinese of the 

 central provinces, for, instead of being isolated, they are in 

 close proximity to the great Mohammedan centres of Central 

 Asia, and the vicinity of this great Mohammedan population 

 — both in Chinese and in Russian Turkestan — grants them an 

 increased prestige. 



It is not surprising to find a strong Mohammedan element 

 in China when we realize the fact that, not only had the power 

 of Islam spread from the Atlantic to Central Asia within a cen- 

 tury of the death of Mohammed, but that the Arabs themselves 

 had been in communication with China for nearly two centuries 

 before the birth of Islam. We have to remember that, when 

 the first waves of the Arab conquest spread across Central Asia, 

 China was in closer communication with, and more influenced 



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