Cultural Changes Of The Young Han Immigrant At A Uighur Village Of Turpan

Cultures go through constant changes and because of this, it will naturally come upon the issues of cultural changes when we study culture. Cultural changes involve the innovation, development and changes of a specific cultural pattern, for, cultural change is one of the fundamental features of cultures. And it is also held that cultural changes are the natural result when two heterogeneous cultures come into contacts, which is believed as an inevitable process in the time or through time and as a complex process, too.In the 1950's and 1960's, a group of young Han immigrants of inland provinces of China came to Turpan, Xinjiang, to take part in the local socialist construction. And it is in a Turpan rural area that they have lived with the local Uighur people for almost half a century. During this time they have learned many cultural elements of the local Uighur community which proved to be great helpful for them to survive and settle down. It has been found that the Han culture of the group has changed while they have learned and absorbed many cultural elements from the local Uighur community. However, it is also held that this does not mean that there has been a total"break"or"change"in their own culture, rather, they have maintained their own culture and at the same time the cultural changes have enriched it, too.The present thesis, based the ethnographic data obtained by the author from the field work at Tursunkerez Village, Qartkhal Town, Turpan City, Xinjiang, discusses on the issues of how cultural changes occurred, in what aspects they were apt to occur and what happened to the culture of the group after their long-time contacts with and learning a culture different from theirs.