52. Chinese Nationalities Xibe Minority (Sibe) (Xibo) -- Minorities by Alphabetic Sequence |
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Xibe Couple | Xibe lady | Xibe lady | Xibe lady |
Xibe Minority (Sibe) (Xibo) The Silk Road threading through Xinjiang's deserts and mountains carried China's trade westward and eventually opened the way for Islam's expansion eastward. Seven of the 12 minorities here are Muslim, most speak Turkic languages and for centuries used Arabic script. They traditionally lived in the northeast in Liaoning and Jilin Provinces with the Manchus.
In 1764 they were
moved to the west as border guards on the Russian frontier where most of the
Xibe still live in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. They are the largest single
group of Manchu speakers in the country. They are part of the Altaic
Tungus-Manchu ethno linguistic group. Most of the Xibe live in the fertile
areas in northwestern Xinjiang, especially in the Ili Kazak autonomous
prefecture's Qapqal Xibe autonomous county and the Huocheng and Gongliu
counties. The rest are scattered over such areas as Shenyang, Kaiyuan and
Yixian in northeastern China.
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