A meshrep ( ug,
مەشرەپ, мәшрәп, pin=mäxräp; , lit. "harvest festival") is a traditional male
Uyghur gathering that typically includes "poetry, music, dance, and conversation within a structural context".
Meshreps typically include music of the
muqam
A Muqam ( ug, ئۇيغۇر مۇقامى, ucy=Муқам; zh, s=木卡姆, p=Mùkǎmǔ) is the melody type used in the music of the Uyghurs, that is, a musical mode and set of melodic formulas used to guide improvisation and composition.
Twelve ...
variety and ad-hoc
tribunals on moral questions.
Traditional structure
The practice of meshrep is diverse among Uyghur communities, but there are some commonalities. Meshrep are usually held in the courtyard of one of the members' family home. Traditionally, meshrep were only held on the
harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
, and on
wedding
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...
s,
circumcision
Circumcision is a surgical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin ...
s, and girls'
comings of age.
Each meshrep consists of a leader (''yigit bashi'', an older man), a disciplinarian (''passip begi''), and 30 younger men (''ottuz oghul''), who sit on a carpet according to seniority.
As the meshreps were primarily
male bonding events,
the women and children of the host's family were to stay inside the house and only interact with the men to bring them food or to otherwise serve them.
Music is an essential component of the meshrep, and during the meshrep, men play progressively faster
muqam
A Muqam ( ug, ئۇيغۇر مۇقامى, ucy=Муқам; zh, s=木卡姆, p=Mùkǎmǔ) is the melody type used in the music of the Uyghurs, that is, a musical mode and set of melodic formulas used to guide improvisation and composition.
Twelve ...
melodies on the
dutar
The ''dutar'' (also ''Dotara, dotar''; fa, دوتار, dutâr; russian: Дутар; tg, дутор; ug, دۇتار, ucy=Дутар, Dutar; uz, dutor; ; dng, Дутар) is a traditional Iranian long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran and ...
while others compete to see who could perform whirling circle dances for the longest period of time. Some meshrep also feature songs, skits, and lectures from religious leaders.
Aside from the entertainment value of the meshrep, these groups also formed part of the informal governance structure of Uyghur communities, and still do outside of China.
Inside the meshrep, the moral transgressions of the men, such as
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
, are publicly scolded and the men humiliated by slapping
or
caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or ha ...
.
There is no limit on the length or attendance of the meshrep, and the
Dolan Uyghurs were famed for hosting meshrep "attended by hundreds of people, and often last
ngthe whole night".
Ili Youth Meshrep
The meshrep is attested to in modern Chinese literature as early as 1942, in the
socialist realist play ''Gulnissa'', where the meshrep is portrayed as a secular,
coeducational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
youth culture.
During that time, the meshrep in
Yining
YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh A ...
(Ghulja) consisted of musical performances and "informal court hearings" for community dissidents.
Uyghurs in Kazakhstan began practicing the meshrep as early as the 1970s.
After China's
economic reforms
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
in the 1980s, a middle class began to develop in China, and ordinary Chinese had more leisure time and discretionary income.
At the same time, political and religious controls were loosening, and Chinese officials encouraged the building of
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s and the
veiling of women.
Contemporary developments in the region, including the global
Islamic revival
Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''.
Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...
and the independence of the
Soviet Central Asian states in 1992, inspired
Uyghur independence
The East Turkestan independence movement ( ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان مۇستەقىللىق ھەرىكىتى; zh, s=东突厥斯坦独立运动) is a political movement that seeks the independence of East Turkestan, a large and spa ...
feeling and the establishment of militant groups like the
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...
(ETIM).
Still, in the 1990s, the social and political life in the city of
Yining
YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh A ...
(Ghulja) was predominantly secular. In Yining, young Uyghur men would informally gather, usually once a week, to drink
baijiu, perform poetry and music, and otherwise socialize. These gatherings, called ''olturax'', grew to perform important political and economic functions in Yining life.
Islamic
youth groups organized in the evenings grew in opposition to and eventually eclipsed the olturax, also serving "the foci for Uyghur resistance to Chinese rule".
Calling themselves "meshreps", the clubs criticized the secular nature of the olturax
and the alcohol consumption within
as un-Islamic.
These meshreps, which have been compared to the Catholic
Knights of Columbus,
were more formal than the olturax: tasked with providing "moral guidance", they kept strict membership lists and organized regular meetings, wherein members would read passages from the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
.
Meshrep practitioners were held to a strict code of Islamic conduct in their daily lives, including abstinence from alcohol and
hashish
Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...
. Initiation into the meshrep involved
hazing
Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...
rituals,
and once admitted, men who did not continue to meet the group's standards of Muslim piety were given
corporal punishment, such as
caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or ha ...
,
or petty fines by the group.
These practices diverged significantly from the meshrep's secular tradition,
and thus revived the meshrep in Yining with "new religious and nationalist meanings".
Initially, both social reformers and the local government supported the meshreps, as they provided an outlet for young Uyghur men in an environment rife with unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling.
But as the popularity of meshrep grew, meshrep groups became more assertive in their opposition to the government's goals.
In the spring and summer of 1995, meshreps started a campaign of boycotts and intimidation against shops that sold
liquor
Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...
in Yining and the surrounding villages.
Fearing the meshrep's political potential, Xinjiang authorities banned the gatherings in July 1995.
However, most meshrep groups continued to operate in secret, or delegated their morals enforcement duties to legal
neighborhood watch
A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood.
The aim of neig ...
groups.
When a
football game organized by underground meshrep teams was canceled by authorities, the meshrep mobilized several hundred Uyghur men to march across government offices and to gather in Yining's main plaza, although there was no violence and the crowd dispersed after a few days. Authorities then drew a distinction between "healthy, traditional" meshrep and an "illicit" political and religious meshrep, encouraging the former but cracking down on the latter.
In 1997, a national anticrime campaign resulted in the arrests of meshrep leaders and
talibe
A talibé (also spelled ''talibe'', plural ''talibés''; ar, طالب, ṭālib, seeker, 'student'; pl. ) is a boy, usually from Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Mali or Mauritania, who studies the Quran at a daara (West African ...
s in Yining, leading to mass riots called the
Ghulja Incident.
Modern meshrep
After the
Ghulja Incident, local antigovernment Uyghurs migrated to
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...
in Kazakhstan, where they continued to practice the meshrep as they had in Ili. In November 2010,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
approved China' nomination of the meshrep to the
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. Due to Chinese government’s crackdown on Uyghurs since 2016, it was increasingly difficult for local Uyghur communities to organize their own meshrep, other than government-organized meshrep performance aimed at tourists.
Notes
{{Xinjiang topics
Islam in China
Uyghur culture
Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding