The Name
In ancient China, the area was known as "Xiyu" or "Western Regions", a name that became prevalent in Chinese records after the Han Dynasty took control of the region. For the Uyghurs, the region is "Sharqi Turkistan" (literally "Eastern Land of the Turks" in English). The region was referred to as part of "Turkistan" by the 13th century Venetian traveler Marco Polo. After the Qing Dynasty reconquered this region, the area was designated Xinjiang, which was used to refer to any area of former a Chinese empire that had been previously lost but was regained by the Qing, but eventually meant this northwestern Xinjiang alone. In the Uyghur language, Xinjiang is considered more center than northwestern in orientation.
Read more about this topic: History Of Xinjiang
Famous quotes containing the words the and/or name:
“Behind every individual closes organization; before him opens liberty,—the Better, the Best. The first and worse races are dead. The second and imperfect races are dying out, or remain for the maturing of the higher. In the latest race, in man, every generosity, every new perception, the love and praise he extorts from his fellows, are certificates of advance out of fate into freedom.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“What is it? a learned man
Could give it a clumsy name.
Let him name it who can,
The beauty would be the same.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)