A Study Of The Development Of Uyghur Historiography In The 16^th-19^th Centuries

Uyghur historiography is an important part of Chinese historiography. The 16th to 19th centuries was a boom period in the development of Uyghur historiography. This study takes historical documents as objects of study, and analyzes the origin and progress of Uyghur historiography. Firstly, different versions of these historical books are selected for discussion according to content, historical sources, historical value, and the historical data they contain, and then theoretical analysis for Uyghur historiography is carried out. The main body of this article is divided into eight chapters. Each chapter contains the following major elements:In chapter 1 the status of Uyghur historiography within Chinese historiography is discussed along with its content, historical scope, research methods and so on.Chapter 2, based on the features of Uyghur historiography, is divided into four stages with short descriptions respectively. Then the types or forms of Uyghur literature are classified and the characteristics of each period are discussed and analyzed. The chapter ends with a brief introduction to historiography in the periods of the Uyghur, the Qarakhanid and the Yarkand Khanates respectively.In chapter 3 the main historians and historical works from the 16th to 19th centuries are introduced. Additionally, private historical writing activities, the geographically dispersion condition of the history writers, motivations for writing history, and the achievements of these writing activities in the period of interest are analyzed.In Chapters 4,5, and 6 respectively the different versions of the Tarikh-i-Rashidi, Tarikh, Tarikh-i Kashghar, the state of research at home and abroad, author and book titles, sources of historical data, historical value, and the authors'methods of dealing with historical data are explored and analyzed. In the course of inquiry into sources of historical data not only the works that are referenced, but also, most importantly, the content of the reference and the manner of citation are pointed out.In chapter 7 the different versions of the Tarikh-i amniyya and Tarikh-i hamidi, the state of research at home and abroad, author and book titles, sources of historical data, historical value, and the authors'methods of dealing with historical data are discussed. The historical ideology of the author Sayram is discussed in more depth. Finally, taking the handwritten manuscript of the Tarikh-i hamidi as a basis, the author's view of the Qing Dynasty's policy on borderland ethnic minorities is analyzed.In chapter 8 the general characteristics of Uyghur historiography are analyzed. First, the structure of historical works, including the preface, main body, postcript, style, handling of quotations and annotations, author, language, field of the work, the date of copying, place of copying, the script, and name of the calligrapher, is analyzed. Then the narrative style and content of the historical books are summarized. Finally, there is a discussion of the historical conceptions of these Uyghur historians.This paper is the first dissertation concerning Uyghur historiography. There being no precedents or works to consult, the workload was quite heavy. Moreover, since the author has much to learn it is difficult avoid omissions and errors and the author looks to specialist and scholars for corrections. This paper is only a first attempt at presenting a simple outline and description of Uyghur historiography. More detailed and comprehensive studies are expected.