‘The systemic destruction of Kashgar’s iconic buildings in the Xinjian region, and the much-publicized assault on the Muslim Uighur culture’ are just some examples of how China wages a grand campaign of cultural assimilation that it deems it badly needs for the creation of a ‘more stable’ China.
This is ‘a state that can only be achieved, according to a government increasingly paranoid about instability, by having one Chinese identity.’ Included, or even railroaded, in this grand campaign are citizens of Inner Mongolia and some of the many and various Chinese dialects spoken across the country.
Inner Mongolians are neither completely ethnic Mongolian nor Chinese enough. Ethnic Mongolians have, in fact, become a minority in their own land since the Chinese Communist Party took over 62 years ago turning the province into an ‘inseparable part of China.’
Some of the dialects used in China are now considered endangered by UNESCO. These dialects ‘have less than 1,000 surviving users.’ Once used to preserve the unique differences between provinces, as well as the country’s cultural diversity, these spoken forms are now ‘quickly dwindling.’
Because the vast country was in need of a standardized form of communication, Chairman Mao Zedong radically reduced ‘the number of strokes some of the ornate traditional characters included. Critics have continually complained that much of the essence and history of the language was removed during this process of orthography reformation.’
Recently, the State Language Department announced that ‘new modifications to further standardize characters will be released this year.’
Via Far Eastern Economic Review
