China’s use of archeology to justify coercive control of Xinjiang (IANS Analysis)

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The fields of history and archaeology, while fundamentally objective in their pursuit of knowledge about the past, are frequently co-opted to serve nationalist narratives that legitimize coercive territorial claims. This is evident in China’s strategic use of archeology to assert ancient ownership over regions like Xinjiang and Tibet, which are currently seeking greater autonomy.

Such tactics are not novel for the Chinese state, as they parallel its aggressive cartographic practices, including the use of misleading ancient maps to support territorial revisionism and psychologically undermine its rivals and smaller nations.

A recent instance of this archaeological manipulation is the discovery of an ancient Buddhist stupa near Kashgar, an oasis city in Xinjiang, which the government has promoted as evidence of the region’s historical ties to China.

Excavation of this site commenced in 2019, leading to the recovery of two earthen pillars, fragments of a Buddha statue, stone tools, and copper coins. The structure’s conical shape has earned it the local Uyghur designation ‘Mo’er’, which translates to ‘chimney’.

Estimated to have been constructed approximately 1,700 years ago, the stupa and its accompanying temple are being appropriated by Chinese authorities to claim the region’s unique historical narrative.

In June of this year, an international conference on Xinjiang’s history was convened in Kashgar, where Pan Yue, the Minister of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, stated: “While Xinjiang’s culture is diverse, it exists in unity, with Chinese culture as the central unifying element.”

According to Chinese historians, the ‘Mo’er’ was commissioned by Wu Zetian, a 7th-century Empress of the Tang dynasty known for her promotion of Buddhism. Furthermore, Chinese officials and state media assert that artifacts discovered at this site resemble those found in predominantly Han areas of eastern China.

They also contend that portions of the temple exhibit ‘Han-Buddhist’ architectural styles and that it was visited by the 7th-century monk Xuanzang from central China, who is credited with disseminating Buddhism throughout the Chinese empire.

Despite Pan Yue presenting these archaeological sites as a rebuttal to what he terms ‘baseless Western narratives’ rooted in ‘historical ignorance’, numerous scholars have challenged China’s manipulative tactics.

James Millward, a Professor of Inter-Societal History at Georgetown University, argues that China’s ancient dynasties maintained only sporadic military presence in modern-day Xinjiang, and that their influence was severely limited from the 8th to the early 18th centuries.

It was not until 1759 that the Qing dynasty fully conquered and colonized the area, a status quo that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has perpetuated since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949.

Conversely, Kahar Barat, a Uyghur-American historian specializing in Buddhism and Islam in Xinjiang, entirely refutes the notion of Chinese cultural influence on the Buddhism that emerged in regions like Kashgar and Kucha.

He instead situates these developments within the context of the Hindu-Greek Gandhara Buddhist culture that flourished in present-day northern India and Pakistan from the 3rd century BCE to the 12th century CE. Johan Elverskog, a history professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, questions the claim that the Tang empress was involved in constructing the ‘Mo’er’, noting its distance from her administrative centres.

He and Barat further suggest that even during the Tang dynasty, Buddhist temples were designed with architectural styles, artwork, and iconography heavily influenced by Indian Buddhism, which served as the primary inspiration for Buddhist culture in neighboring regions up to that point.

This type of excavation, aimed at promoting a specific state narrative to validate territorial claims, is part of a broader initiative in China referred to as ‘frontier archaeology’.

Under this framework, approximately 80 archaeological projects were conducted in Xinjiang from 2019 to 2023. Similarly, in February of this year, an archaeological exhibition showcasing 108 artifacts unearthed from Xinjiang was held at the Capital Museum in Beijing, highlighting what was described as ‘Chinese ‘cultural unity in diversity’.

Chinese human rights abuses in Xinjiang have garnered significant international scrutiny in recent years.

In August 2022, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released a report indicating that China’s treatment of the Uyghurs may amount to “crimes against humanity”.

This assessment highlighted large-scale arbitrary detentions, torture methods such as hunger strikes and coerced medical interventions, as well as elements of forced labour. The ‘re-education’ camps, which first appeared in 2014 and expanded significantly in 2017, have been utilized for mass indoctrination and surveillance under the guise of combating terrorism, extremism, and separatism.

Beyond these administrative measures aimed at suppressing the Uyghur population, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also engaged in a broader narrative campaign, disseminating myths to justify its claims over Xinjiang.

This has included the destruction of mosques, renaming Uyghur villages, and distorting archaeological findings and historical narratives to erase the distinct identity of the Uyghur people.

-IANS

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