Introduction
China is a nation renowned for its rich cultural diversity worldwide. After more than 5,000 years of civilization, China’s diverse peoples have developed a rich and illustrious heritage and way of life. The many ethnic cultures of Xinjiang may trace their ancestry back to the rich soil of Chinese civilization, where they have both flourished and contributed to the growth and development of Chinese culture.
Xinjiang, a province in China’s far northwest, is home to a diverse array of ethnic groups. The Chinese government has recently implemented several measures aimed at altering the worldview of younger people in Xinjiang. These measures aim to promote national unity, stimulate economic growth, and enhance the living standards of the region’s youth. These communist programs aim, among other things, to help younger people integrate into China’s broader culture. This entails facilitating their access to better resources, including education, healthcare, and jobs. China is focused on educating Xinjiang’s youth about socialism directed toward the country, thereby bringing about a cultural transformation.
State-Led Cultural Transformation in Xinjiang
The cultural transformation strategies of adolescents in Xinjiang have been significantly influenced by China’s socialist ideology, which has had a profound impact. The Chinese government has implemented several policies and projects since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to transform Xinjiang’s social, economic, and cultural landscape (Alsancak et al., 2022). As a direct consequence, the adolescents of Xinjiang have been subjected to various cultural transformation strategies, all of which have attempted to shape their cultural identity and values.
Religion, Identity, and Cultural Assimilation
The most significant effect these rules have had is to increase the religious affiliation of the youth in Xinjiang. It urges students to embrace the socialist philosophy of the Chinese government (Yuan et al., 2022). Across the area, the government has established a system of schools dedicated to teaching students about contemporary China and the Chinese language and culture (Klimeš & Finley, 2020). They have fostered the growth of media that celebrates traditional Chinese culture and ideals (Harris, 2018). In recent years, the Chinese government has worked to restrict the practice of several religions in Xinjiang, including Islam.
The Chinese government’s implementation of stringent religious practices has resulted in several difficulties for the adolescents of Xinjiang, a factor that has, to a certain degree, contributed to the disintegration of the adolescents’ way of life. According to Klime and Finley (2020), if religion is introduced to adolescents in Xinjiang, the pupils will be denied the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to choose which religion is superior to the others to follow. Due to the cultural transition, teenagers from the Xinjiang community will have more difficulty participating in certain social programs (Meijun, 2022). To achieve this goal, certain religious practices, such as fasting during Ramadan, have been prohibited, and the number of mosques in the area has been limited (Szyszlak, 2021). The government has promoted the Chinese culture and language as an alternative to the Uyghur culture and language to facilitate cultural assimilation.
Consequently, many young people in Xinjiang have been forced into giving up their traditional religious beliefs and rituals. The Chinese government has limited the Uyghur people’s ability to speak their language and participate in their culture. In Xinjiang, the Chinese government tried to encourage Mandarin Chinese as a language and culture while simultaneously working to discourage the use of Uyghur languages and cultures (Pizzi & Tang, 2021). Students in Xinjiang are prevented from expressing themselves in the community through various languages due to stringent rules implemented by the Chinese government.
The government has attempted to restrict access to various Uyghur cultural products, including, but not limited to, literature, movies, music, and television. Many adolescents in Xinjiang have had their cultural identities significantly altered due to exposure to mostly Chinese society (Yuan et al., 2022). Most adolescents in Xinjiang were coerced into adopting languages that run against their beliefs and comprehension of the world.
According to Ponka et al. (2019), most of the adolescents in Xinjiang have been influenced by the language policy norms imposed by the government. In this regard, most adolescents gradually lose their cultural roots and adopt local traditions (Grose, 2019). The following policy is hazardous since it hurts the development of teenagers’ personalities and well-being in Xinjiang society.
Education and Patriotic Socialization
Additionally, the Chinese government has made efforts to exert control over the education of adolescents living in Xinjiang. The government has made efforts to implement a patriotic education system that promotes the ideals of the Chinese Communist Party and inspires citizens to be loyal to the state (Barrett, 2019). Teenagers in Xinjiang have reported developing a significantly altered perspective of the world and their role in it (Pàmies & D’Angelo, 2020). Within the institution, students from Xinjiang will be required to study numerous cultures and topics that extend beyond their current knowledge base.
Sing and Yee (2022) state that educational policies have a significant impact on students’ health and well-being. As a result, adolescents in Xinjiang will be exposed to new social and cultural ideas due to the implementation of this program by the government (Barrett, 2019). This shift in how patriotic education is delivered will help Xinjiang’s youth cultivate a sense of identity and belonging, another way the new system will benefit these young people (Pàmies & D’Angelo, 2020). Teenagers in Xinjiang can develop a more comprehensive and all-encompassing perspective of the community if they actively participate in and embrace the patriotic culture.
The development of a patriotic culture plays a significant part in defining the maturity of Xinjiang adolescents as members of society. As a result, it has the potential to be both advantageous and harmful to the student’s health.
Information Control and Social Development
The Chinese government has attempted to restrict people’s access to information and resources, which may threaten the current social order. Consequently, a significant number of adolescents in Xinjiang have been compelled to construct their knowledge of the world due to the limited amount of information and resources available to them (Meijun, 2022). As a result of this transformation, many adolescents in Xinjiang no longer have access to information pertinent to their education and the world around them. Information and tools are essential for enabling students to exhibit their culture in a particular and outstanding way (Ollerhead, 2019). The knowledge and resources available to Xinjiang’s adolescents are critical to the overall health and prosperity of the region’s population.
The Chinese government’s cultural reform policies have had a significant impact on the social connections of young people living in the Xinjiang region. In Xinjiang, the central government has strived to promote the establishment of what it refers to as a “harmonious society,” which has reduced inter-ethnic animosity in the province (Caskey & Murtazashvili, 2022, p. 219). Many adolescents in Xinjiang have benefited from being immersed in a cultural setting that is more accepting and tolerant of differences. In the long term, the psychological and cultural development of students from Xinjiang is impacted when they are presented with this kind of atmosphere (Klimeš & Finley, 2020). Teenagers in this kind of setting do not have the best track record when selecting the kind of food that is appropriate for them to eat.
Socioeconomic Modernization and Youth Experience
The Chinese central government has made efforts to foster economic growth in Xinjiang. In addition to offering financial incentives to firms seeking to establish themselves in the area, the government has made significant investments in the region’s numerous infrastructural projects (Klimeš & Finley, 2020). Teenagers in Xinjiang have benefited from expanded work opportunities and improved access to resources, directly resulting from this development, which has a favorable impact on the region’s economic prospects. The vast majority of Xinjiang students have been able to enhance their contacts with members of the community.
Furthermore, the Chinese government has implemented several programs in the Xinjiang area that have led to the development of what is sometimes referred to as re-education camps. These camps aim to assimilate the Uyghur population into a more “Chinese” identity while simultaneously erasing the Uyghur people’s cultural heritage (Meijun, 2022). Many students from the region of Xinjiang have been detained in these camps, where they have been exposed to various brainwashing and “reeducation” techniques (Hasmath, 2019, p. 55).
The adaptation of these techniques has significantly impacted the cultural and economic standards of teenagers in Xinjiang. The transformation of activities by the authorities has dramatically impacted the cultural behavior among Xinjiang teenagers in the country (Meijun, 2022). This significantly affects the education of kids in Xinjiang since it makes it more challenging for them to access the education necessary to succeed in their studies.
The Chinese government has enacted several regulations that restrict the religious liberties of Uyghur students. This policy has had the impact of limiting religious freedoms. This policy has included restrictions on religious practices, such as prohibiting particular religious activities and books and implementing surveillance measures to monitor students’ religious activities (Caskey & Murtazashvili, 2022). In addition, these policies have mandated that students must wear a uniform when participating in religious activities.
The government has aided farmers by providing subsidies, leading to increased agricultural output and new employment opportunities. In addition, the government has initiated measures to improve the country’s infrastructure and raise the overall quality of life (Klimeš & Finley, 2020). Students in Xinjiang have been particularly affected by the cultural reform programs implemented by the Chinese government. The difficulty of getting the instruction required to excel in school has greatly influenced children’s education in Xinjiang. They felt they were being kept an eye on and partly in check.
Results of Cultural and Economic Reforms in Numbers
During the years of New China and modern progress, all social spheres in Xinjiang have changed. In 2001, there were 6,221 elementary schools in the autonomous region; in 1949, there were only 1,335 (Zhang & Adamson, 2020). Secondary schools increased from 9 to 1,929, vocational schools from 11 to 99, and regular high schools from 1 to 21. High school students increased from 400 to 110,000 (Muratkhan et al., 2021). Over these years, there were 185,000 graduates of high schools. The number of students in vocational schools increased from 2,000 to 97,300; fundamental education is steadily gaining strength, 65 counties (cities and districts) have already introduced nine-year compulsory education, and various types of adult education continue to develop (Lee & Khor, 2019). The number of illiterate youth and mature people has decreased significantly.
The townspeople, including young people, have greatly strengthened their overall capacity in science and technology. They have established research and development systems, technology popularization systems, scientific management, and service systems that are relatively fully staffed, rationally located, and specific to Xinjiang (Chen & Zhao, 2022). During this time, progress has been made in building a top-class team of scientific and technological experts and establishing a multinational scientific and technological team with relatively high research, development, experimentation, popularization, and management capacity.
Several important experimental centers and bases were built, reflecting Xinjiang’s scientific and technological advantages. The rapid introduction of scientific and technological advances into industry and markets changed traditional forms of production and management in agriculture. Remarkable results have been achieved in plant protection, irrigation, and breeding technologies. Technical reconstruction of industrial enterprises has increased their economic efficiency and market competitiveness, and science and technology reveal an essential role in developing the national economy and social progress.
Before the formation of the New China, Xinjiang had a few professional art groups, no art research body, and no art school. In 2001, there were 89 art collectives, 107 research and creative units, and several art schools in the autonomous region (Zhang & Adamson, 2020). Uighurs, Kazakhs, Hui, Kyrgyz, Mongols, Tajiks, and Sibotians had professional art collectives, and a galaxy of outstanding national artists emerged. Eighty-one public libraries and 23 museums help young people learn their history better (Zhang & Adamson, 2020). Thus, modern progress has dramatically affected the youth of Xinjiang and their cultural transformation.
Conclusion
The cultural reform programs enforced by the Chinese officials have made a massive difference in Xinjiang youths’ lives. These measures have attempted to mold the teens’ cultural identity and values by limiting their access to Uyghur culture and language and pushing them to embrace Chinese culture. This is done to shape the teenagers’ cultural identity and values. The policies that have affected teenagers affect the teens’ economic possibilities, as well as their schooling and social interactions. In the end, the policies of the Chinese government regarding cultural reform have significantly contributed to the lives of adolescents living in Xinjiang.
These policies have attempted to foster economic growth across the area as one of their primary goals. This involves supporting the development of cooperatives and introducing financial stimuli to firms and people so that they will make investments. These measures eradicate the Uyghur language and culture and restrict religious liberties and educational opportunities. On the other hand, Chinese cultural reform programs have several challenges among Xinjiang students. Challenges include resistance to change, lack of proper communication, and rigid organizational structures.
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