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HISTORY The Dungan are thought to be Hui who fled China during the Hui Minorities' War in the 19th century. The name ''Dungan'' is of obscure origin, but is probably from Turkic ''döñän'' ("one who turns"). The Hui people, distributed across much of western and central China , are also referred to as "Dungans" by Turkic and Tajik peoples. It may refer to the eastern part of Gansu Province . LANGUAGE The Dungan Language is essentially a Shaanxi dialect of Mandarin Chinese but uses the Cyrillic Script and has only three Tones instead of four. Dungani is influenced by Arabic , Persian , and Turkish . Many Dungan also speak Kyrgyz and/or Russian . CULTURE The Dungan are primarily farmers, growing rice and vegetables such as sugar beets. Many also raise dairy cattle. In addition, some are involved in Opium production. The Dungan tend to be Endogamous . The Dungan are famous for their hospitality and hold many ceremonies and banquets to preserve their culture. They have elaborate and colorful observances of birthdays, weddings, and funerals. In addition, schools have museums to preserve other parts of their culture, such as embroidery, traditional clothing, silver jewelry, paper cuts of animals and flowers and tools. RELIGION The large majority of Dungan are Hanafite Muslim. Many Dungan villages contain a mosque run by village elders. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |