| The Tajik ethnic group has a population of 45,000, of which
60% live in Tashi Ku'ergan Tajik Autonomous County, while others
live in South Xinjiang.
Language
The Tajik language belongs to the Iranian Austronesian, Indo-European
languages Phylum. Most of the people in China speak the Sekule language
whereas a few of them speak the Waihan language. The Uigur and Kirgiz
languages are used universally among them.
Religion
The Tajik people believe in the Shiah of Islam universally. They
also worship eagles, the sun and fire in a small way. The ancestors
of their nationality might have originated from clans who speak
East Iranian, living in Pamirs prior to AD.
Diet
Tajiks daily meal consists of tea and nang, a large pancake popular
in Xinjiang. On some special occasions, they also eat whole sheep
which have been stewed, but their typical meals are simple. To Tajiks,
the best and most impressive present for festivals is always pure
white wheat flour.
Costumes and Customs
For clothing, men wear shirt, long collarless jackets with buttons
down the front as well as wide and long colored waistbands. Their
trousers are very loose and they wear a small knife at the right
side of the trousers waist. They don a round cap made of budge.
Women wear one-piece dresses, knickerbockers and round embroidered
caps. When going out, women cover the cap with a long, large veil,
which covers the head, shoulders and waist, so just their eyes,
noses and mouths are exposed. All men and women wear felt socks,
high soft boots made of wild goat hide whose are soles made of yak
hide.
The Tajik people pay great attention to etiquette. Juniors must
greet seniors and, when relatives and friends meet, they will shake
hands and men will pat each other's beards. For saluting, men will
bow with the right hand on the chest and women will bow with both
hands on the bosom.
The Tajik Spring Festival, which falls in March and marks the beginning
of a new year, is the most important annual occasion for the Tajik
people. Every family will clean up their home and paint beautiful
patterns on the walls as a symbol of good luck for both people and
herds. On that day, Tajik people will send greetings to each other
and wish for a bumper harvest.
The beginning of Ramadan marks the end of the year. On this day,
every family will make torches coated with butter. At dusk, the
family members will get together, have role call and each person
will light a torch. The whole family will sit around the torches
and enjoy their festive dinner after saying their prayers. At night,
every household will light a big torch tied to a long pole and plant
it on the roof. Men and women, young and old, will dance and sing
through the night under the bright light of the torches.
The Islamic Corban Festival, Almsgiving Festival and Kaizhai Festival
are also important occasions for the Tajik people.
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