Dungan in Kyrgyzstan

Introduction / History

The Dungan originated in the Kansu and Shensi provinces of northwestern China, but today there are people from Kansu living in the mountains and valleys of Kyrgyzstan. Culturally, the Dungan are like the Han Chinese, but their language is greatly influenced by Arabic, Persian and Turkish.

What Are Their Lives Like?

They are a proud, hospitable, nationalistic and conservative people who refer to themselves as “Chinese Muslims” despite having cut ties with China. The Dungan are famous for their hospitality.

They love to keep flower gardens and greenhouses and take great pride in doing so. Their settlements are concentrated in river valleys. A Dungan farm village may have a population of thousands. Each village has a council that manages the farm. Farms, which are basically small cities, have electricity, running water and gas for cooking. In each farm village, there are one or two schools. Each village has day nurseries, general stores, a hospital, and a post office. Some also have tobacco factories, evening schools, dairies, bathhouses, and machine repair shops.

The Dungan tend to be endogamous, meaning they marry within a certain specified group. The Dungan in Kazakhstan are more conservative than those in Kyrgyzstan and do not permit their girls to marry Dungan from any other place.

What Are Their Beliefs?

At present, they remain nominally Muslim, both in China and in Kyrgyzstan. We know of no Dungans who have put their faith in Christ except in Mongolia.

What Are Their Needs?

There are very few if any efforts to take the only savior to the Dungan people. Who will go to them?

Prayer Points

Pray for an abundant blessing of Dungan families and communities as they embrace Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords.
Pray for a movement to Christ that will enrich the Dungan community.
Pray for spiritual openness to Jesus Christ that will not be hindered by the false belief in religious institutions rather than the person, Jesus Christ.

Text Source:   Joshua Project