that rocks!

Landsberger's site is great, I use the images there for classes all the time and this particular image is absolutely priceless. Great find.

Michael,

Look for DVD or VCD for the old "Silk Road" that was made by Japan's NHK with China's CCTV back to around later 1970 or earlier 1980. One scene it recorded the militia Frontier Cavalry you described but not Uyghur but blue-eyes, blonde hairs of Tajik beauties doing real war fighting training--indeed Afghans were fighting the Soviet Red Army few miles away.

well are you really in xinjiang? obvously you know little about the people there. this girl is not a uyghur but a kazak, for your information.

Why do you think this girl is a Kazakh? I don't agree with you, but I'd like to hear your reason for questioning my presence in Xinjiang. Everything from her hair braids to her dress to her boots makes me thinks she's a Uyghur, although Kazakhs are fairly similar ethnically.

Sha is right.


As a Kazak myself, I can assure you that she is Kazak.



1) horse - Kazaks are known as the excellent horse riders due to their nomadic nature, whereas Uyghurs are sedentary people that usually don't ride horses.



2) hat - typical Kazak "taqiya" hat with the owl's feather ("uki"). Compare with these pictures:

Hasake 1

Hasake 2

Hasake 3

Hasake 4

2) scenery - resembles the nature of the Altay mountains, the north-western part of Xinjiang which is inhabited mainly by Kazaks.

Alright, you're making your case, but I'm still not 100% convinced. I think the scenery in the background is probably Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake) near Urumqi. As for the hat the woman is wearing, I also see Uyghur dancers in shows etc. wearing the same hat... although I don't think I've seen anyone wearing that get-up on the street. You do have a good point with the horses, though... maybe.

Do Kazakh men wear the hats in the background? They appear to be Uyghur hats to me.

My Uyghur friend tells me that this girl is definetly a Uyghur. Although Uyghurs don't ride horses very much at the present time, even 20 years ago they rode as part of everyday life. And while she may be wearing a traditionally Kazakh hat, Uyghurs also often use the same costume because the origin of all Central Asian people is the same. The clincher, though, are the men in the background... all of whom are wearing unmistakeably Uyghur skull caps.

Uyghurs were a sedentary non-horse riding nation for ages. Not 20, nor 100 years ago did Uyghurs ride horses in everyday life. Uyghurs are the nation of agriculture and farming - it is a well-known fact. The most common transportation they use is donkey.

On the other hand, Kazaks are a nomadic nation, and horse plays a major role in their lifestyle.

The girl's hat with an owl feather is typical to Kazak people only (maybe Kyrgyz, too). Anyone from Central Asia would tell you that.
I've never seen an Uyghur wearing that hat. Please, ask your Uyghur friend to show some photos.

I just noticed the ornamental design on the saddle. It is the traditional Kazak design called "qoshqar muyiz" (ram horn) that is typical only to nomadic Kazak and Kyrgyz people.

As for the skull caps in the background, they look like the typical Kazak taqiya hats. But most of the Central Asian hats look alike, and it's hard to determine the specific regional design from that far.

I don't think the presence of horses makes this painting automatically Kazak. You'll see in a lot of Uyghur paintings of generals/kings that they are atop a horse. After all, you've got to have a horse to command an army and to have any kind of leverage on your enemies.

she is uyghur.....and her name should be Nuzugum

Hmmm, i still think it looks more Kazak. Nice babes are always an interesting feature on these old propaganda posters.(to any Uyghur or Kazak out there, please don't be offended. I think shes hot). Anyway, i have a question to ask you, Michael, do you dislike the Chinese? I'm just asking,coz sometimes I feel that sort of feeling from some of your comments(still I think your blog is a good insight into one of the world's not sowell known places. It's just the side comments which I feel are bit hmmmm)

Have a good day!!

No, I don't dislike the Chinese... that is, I do like Chinese people. Very much so. There may be a lot of Uyghurs around here, but most of my friends and contacts are Han.

cool babe man! For Uyghurizle,for shizle my Michaelizle, hear from u soon homie!!

she is deffinately Uyghur, as u can see behind the men wear traditional uyghur outfit, nd the girl physically and judging by the outfit is deffinately Uyghur. one can also tell by the style of hair the girl has...
i say she is 100% uyghur.

wow, this debate is great. As a 3rd party, not knowing much about either ive observed that the people who supported the Kazak's as been the people in this propaganda poster have supplied a better argument and i think at this stage one would have to agree that she is kazak. However i am very interested in the debate continuing, try and convince me :D

The horse and the hat with feather do NOT turn this girl into Kazakh automatically. Uyghurs are not nomandic people now, but it doesn't mean they don't ride horse at all.
Uyghur girls do wear hats with feather. Watch these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvMznM_LC04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1W_YAkY_2o

And her hair, it's typical Uyghur hair style.

On the background, men wear Chapan (long jacket-like outfit) which are typically Uyghur. Well, we cann't tell what hat they are wearing since on the picture it's not clear.

And the girl has a red-flower on her right ear. No idea if the Kazakh girls have this habit, but Uyghurs they do.

The scenery is for sure "Heaven Lake".
check these pictures:

http://images.google.com/images?q=heaven+lake&ndsp=20&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&start=0&sa=N

btw, what is Baadasssss?

The term "baadasssss" is a transliteration of someone's heartfelt pronunciation of the slang term, "bad-ass".

A "bad-ass" is a tough guy (or girl) who doesn't take any shit from anyone! Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator movies is a perfect example of a bad-ass dude.

The spelling I used above, "baadasssss", comes from a 1971 blaxploitation film entitle Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, directed by Melvin Van Peebles. His son, Mario Van Peebles, directed a movie in 2003 titled BAADASSSSS! about the making of that earlier film.

So, that's where the word comes from. Respec' mon!

I like how you guys argue about the girl. From what I see, it's just a girl dressed in Uyghur/Kazak outfit and riding a horse. Back in 1970s, she was a girl who represented all those Turkic girls (Uyghur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tatar, Uzbek and Tajik) in the region. The Chinese don't really see Kazaks and Uyghur apart because we are so close in culture. It's definitely a portrait made by a Han Chinese man describing a Turkic girl who just happens to look both Uyghur and Kazak at the same time. Historically Kazaks are more horsemen than the Uyghur, but the back ground of that picture is full of Uyghur looking men in horses. Again, the north of Urumqi pretty much represents both Uyghur and Kazak culture a like, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Uyghur girl dressed in traditional Kazak outfit. To me the girl simply represents beauty and courage of both Kazak and a Uyghur girl.