Impaired Aqsaqal

This paper is based on a 3-month fieldwork among the aqsaqal people in Yar town,Turpan city,Xinjiang UAR,using participant observation,depth interview and document search as the main research methods.This paper aims to figure out the changing role of aqsaqal in contemporary rural community and village governance.It includes two parts as follows.Firstly,clarifying who is aqsaqal from the cultural,economical and status perspectives.Secondly,describing the functions of aqsaqal in the maintenance of rural social order by oral history method.In brief,aqsaqal is neither a member of government,nor an ordinary villager;in fact,he has always been the bridge between the government and villagers.Moreover,as the spokesman for culture in rural community,aqsaqal does contribute a lot to the transmission of cultural knowledge among villagers.However,with the development and modernization of Xinjiang society,the traditional role of aqsaqal is being further weakened,resulting in a series of social problems,e.g.deconstruction of some social orders,lost of traditional culture,weakening of rural collective consciousness.Aqsaqal in nowadays,has come to simply mean a symbolic and cultural sign,rather than an authoritative role as it was in the past.The conclusion of this paper suggests,we should pay more attention and make use of the positive role of aqsaqal in contemporary rural community;what's more,collaborate with aqsaqal together to build a more harmonious society in a rural area by bringing people together,solving petty things within the community itself,balancing internal interest relationships and regaining the confidence of villagers on justice,ethics and morals.