6i8 APPENDIX 



The mention of the Chinese Moslems of Sin-Kiang, or the 

 New Dominion, called for these further details on the subject 

 of Islam in China. With regard to this region, the Dungans 

 — the general term for the Chinese Moslems of the far western 

 province — are concentrated in Southern Dzungaria, whereas 

 the remainder of Sin-Kiang is almost entirely peopled by Turki 

 Moslems, who were doubtless the progenitors of the half-bred 

 Turki-Chinese Dungans, with whom, however, they now possess 

 nothing in common beyond the religious point of view. 



It appears that the Dungans are mostly colonists from the 

 Moslem populations of Kansu and Shensi. The name has a 

 doubtful origin; Vambery suggests that it means "convert," 

 and that the Dungans of Dzungaria represent the Chinese 

 who were converted to Islam in the fifteenth century by an 

 Arab taken by Timor, or Tamerlane, from Damascus to Central 

 Asia. The colonists, transported thither by the Emperor Kien- 

 lung in the eighteenth century, also embraced Islam and added 

 to the number of Dungans. 



Vambery' s theory of the conversion of the pure Chinese to 

 the Mohammedan faith remains, however, without confirmation, 

 although several writers agree with his explanation of the term 

 Dungan. Amongst these is Abd-ul-Aziz, a Mullah of Kulja. 

 who wrote on the Moslems of China. The name Dungan, or 

 Tungan, according to him, is derived from the verb tunmck — 

 "to turn" — in the Turki language, as used in Central Asia. 

 The word has become familiar to Europe through the Russians 

 who have adopted it from their Turki subjects in Turkestan 

 Abd-ul-Aziz does not believe that the Arabs had anything to 

 do with the origin of the Dungans, as their physiognomy and 

 customs are Mongolian ; but he does not mention to what extent 

 he considers that the Turki people of Central Asia mingled with, 

 and married, Chinese women in the past. 



Other writers, again, affirm that all attempts to discover the 

 exact meaning of the word Dungan have proved unsatisfactory. 

 In China Proper the Moslems are always called " Hui-hui" ; the 

 most accepted translation of the word signified by the character 

 " Hui " is the phrase " to return," which may be the equivalent 

 of the Arabic " Islam" — " to return and to submit." 



