The story of my family root started in ancient China during the tail end of the Song [宋] Dynasty. At that time, the people of China comprised of five major ethnic groups (Han [汉]: the largest ethnic group in the world today, Man [满] : the Manchus, Meng [蒙] : the Mongols, Hui [回) : the Islamic people of Arabic/Persian/Turkic descends; and Zhang [藏] : the Tibetan), seven minor ethnic groups and some 40~50 rather small minority groups (which today numbers between a few hundreds to under 100,000). Specifically we, the Hui, descended from Arab/Persian traders who came to China through the Silk Road during the early Tang [唐] Dynasty. When trade declined in late Tang, some chose to settle and became traders/sea-farers in east coast of China. Other stayed in the north western China and became fruit farmers and nomadic herders (due in no small part to the influence of the Mongols). In fact, the Hui got along just fine with the Mongols, because while the Song Court tried to shut the Mongols out with the Great wall, the Hui never stop trading with them.


My ancestors hail from a group of Hui referred to as Kha-li-ba-mu-ha’an [喀里巴穆哈安] or Kha-li-ba-mu-han [喀里巴穆汗]. I am not sure if that is the name of a place, a tribe or my surname. In fact, I don’t even know if the Han-ified pronunciation bears any resemblance to the original Arabic/Turkic sound. They were nomadic goat herders located some three hundred twenty Li [里] (that’s about one hundred and sixty kilometers) south of Urumqi [乌鲁木齐] and north of Turpan [吐鲁番]. They would have merrily remained as herdsmen but for one momentous event: the fall of Song in the hands of the Mongols, and the founding of the Yuan [元] Dynasty. All at once, the same guys were in control on both sides of the Great Wall, and movements in and out of the Middle Kingdom became unimpeded. That was when they reverted to their original occupation and were once again running caravans along the Silk Road to as far west as Baghdad [巴格达].

This time, however, they were determined not to be caught out when the trade along the Silk Road declined. Thus it was decided that as a group (of 11 families) they would migrate to the area around Nanping [南平] and the port city Fuzhou [福州], and if things didn’t work out, on to Yunnan [云南] (the cloud south) or even Yuenan [越南] (beyond south, present day Vietnam). While some of them hoped to join the large population of Arabs there as sea-farers, this aspiration quickly evaporated when they came face to face with the sea. After all, the largest body of water they had ever contemplated was probably a puddle of camel piss. (No! No! I jest. They had been to Baghdad and must had seen the great Tigris and Euphrates. I grew up along the Perak River and at my hometown the river was a half-mile wide. Yet when I faced the sea for the very first time, my knees went weak.) Suffice it to say, everyone stayed with what they were doing: running trade caravans between the local cities and town. By and by most settled down and tended shops. One wes even appointed as trade officials.

Through the Yuan Dynasty, the Hui were treated well with little discrimination, and our ancestors prospered. There were no impetus to assimilate, so they continue to practice the Muslim faith and diet, refrained from shaving and kept to the white cap and pajama-striped long robe. Life was good, but this state of affair did not last. After just one century, the Mongols were expelled with the founding of the Ming [明] Dynasty.

.. continue in part2