Intermarriage Scope

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The intermarriage of the ethnic minorities in Xinjiang is mainly carried out within one ethnic. Because of strict endogamy rules of the Islam, intermarriage usually is not carried out between the Islam followers and non-followers of Islam, and the limit is especially strict to the female.A female Islamist is unable to be intermarried with a male who is not an Islamist, but a male Islamist can be married with a female who is not the Islamist. If a person who is not the Islamist will be married with the Islamist, he must be converted to Islam and fulfill certain initiation rites. And the Islamist is allowed to be married with the Islamist who is from other groups. In addition, among the ethnic groups suchas Uygur, Kazak and Hui, the intermarriage is limited among the brothers and sisters having the same father or the same mother and limited among the brothers and sisters bred by the same breast milk regardless of the kindred or genetic relationship. However, among the ethnic groups such as the Uygur and the Hui in the past, the intermarriage among close relatives frequently occurred. Among the minorities such as the Kazak, the Khalkhas and the Mongolian who are residues of the clan system, marriage is forbidden between the members from the same clan. If a young man will be married to a girl from the same clan, the same ancestor must be dated from over seven generations and the two families must be separated by seven rivers, which practicallybecomes the conventional marriage custom of the Kazak. In the view of the Kazak, the members within seven generations have the blood relationship and are unable to be married to each other. The population of the Tatar is small, so the Tatar lives together with other groups, and the intermarriage is allowed among the groups believing in the Islam, but the intermarriage is forbidden among the brothers and sisters of uncles; and the intermarriage among the cross-cousin brothers and sisters is also uncommon. The marriage among the minorities such as the Xibe and the Daur is particular about the seniority, andthe members from different seniorities are unable to be married to each other.

Each ethnic minority in Xinjiang commonly complies with the ethnic endogamy, but Xinjiang is an area containing a plurality of ethnic minorities, so the ethnic endogamy is hardly realized among the scattered groups which have a small population, and the marriage is carried more or less with other groups. Usually, among the groups having the same faith and similar customs, the intermarriage phenomenon is more common. Living together with other groups for a long time, the Khalkhas has an exogamy custom with other groups. In the South Xinjiang, the Khalkhas mainly performs the intermarriage with the Uygur and the Tajik, and in the North Xinjiang, the Khalkhas mainly perform the intermarriage with the Kazak believing in the Islam. Living together with the Uygur, the Kazak and the Tatar for a long time, the customs of the Ozbek have many similarities with the mentioned minorities, so the intermarriage among the mentioned minorities is usual, and the young man usually marries the girl from other clans, while the girl seldom transfers to other clans. In the Hui group, the female is forbidden to marry the male who is not an Islamist or the male Islamist who is from other groups. However, the male in the Hui group can marry the female who is not an Islamist or the female Islamist who is from other groups. In the Russian group, the members having the blood relationship are forbidden to marry each other, and the close relatives such as cross-cousin maternal cousins are also forbidden to marry each other, but the intermarriage with other groups is not limited. The Russians in Xinjiang usually intermarries the Han group and other groups.

Most of the Russians living in Xinjiang nowadays have the blood of the yellow race such as the Han group. In the past, the intermarriage of the Xibe was mainly carried out within the own group, and the people of the same surname are unable to be married to each other, and the marriage pays great attention to the equal social rank. After the People’s Republic of China was founded, the marriage view of the Xibe has undergone tremendous changes, and the intermarriage scope has been expanded, and both the female and the male can be married with other groups, and the rule that the people of the samesurname are unable to be married to each other has become less strict. The culture of the Xibe is close to that of the Han group, so the intermarriage between the Xibe and the Han group is much more common. According to a statistic analysis based on 100 blended families in Jiefang road community of Yining(Ghulja) City in the early 2oth century, Xibe-Han blended families(31families) were the most, followed by Manchu-Han blended families(21 families); and in terms of religious belief, there were 70 families with all the family members from non-Islam ethnic groups,17 families composed of people from Islamic ethnic groups and the non-Islam ethnic groups, and 13 families with all the family members from the Islamic ethnic groups. In Xinjiang, most families are the blended families composed of the Han and other ethnic groups, involving a variety of ethnic groups. But the blended families are mainlycomposed of the Han and the non-Islam ethnic groups such as the Xibe and Russian. The blended families composed of the Han and the Islamic ethnic groups mainly are Han-Hui families. The intermarriage is prevailing among the Islamic ethnic groups, and the intermarriage between Uyqur and other ethnic groups such as the Kazak, Uzbek, Hui, Tatar, Salar and Xibe is the most. The intermarriage between the Uygur and the Kazak is the most, followed by the intermarriage between the Hui and the Uzbek. Uygur people have a settled life and are widely distributed in rural areas and towns, and they live together with many ethnic minorities, thereby creating intermarriage conditions. Accordingto the 4th and 5th national censuses, there were 54,487 blended families in 1990 and 83,640 blended families in 2000 in Xinjiang. Both the number and the proportion were in growth, but the population was still at low level in comparison with the national level. Several ethnic groups with the lowest ethnic intermarriage rate among 55 ethnic minorities were basically in Xinjiang. For instance, the ethnic intermarriage rates of the Uygur, Kazak and Kirgiz were 1.05%,2.21% and 5.15% respectively.

In the past, the family status concept among each ethnic group in Xinjiangwas also important. The Uygur who called themselves the descendants of the Mohammed and the children of the Camon were unable to be married with civilians. The noble in Kazak (White Bone) was not allowed to be married to the civilian(Black Bone), and particularly, the daughter of the noble was not allowed to be married to the son of the civilian. The Mongolian noble was not allowed to be married to the civilian or servants, but they were allowed to possess the daughters of the civilian. Nowadays, the family status concept is eliminated, but people still choose a person having the same social background when mating a partner so as to have common interests, hobbies and habits.