The Urumqi Provincial Museum could also be known as the Museum of Ethnic Unity. Like most museums, the main attractions and points of interest are the historic cultural artifacts. However, unlike most other museums I have visited, the supporting historical information is not so notable for what it says, but for what it doesn't say. As you might expect, there are plenty of dates and mentions of this dynasty and that dynasty (which can get a little brain-tangling if, like me, you're not well versed on your Chinese history), while each ethnicity is given ample exhibition space for a wide variety of items from bowls to clothes and from jewelry to weapons. There are also written descriptions of the unique characteristics, habits, festivals, lifestyle etc and each ethnic presents an account of the time(s) it united with the rest of the nation.
It was this repeating theme of coming together in harmony that really caught my attention and made me think of a Chinese saying, brought to my attention by Rob Gifford in his book China Road, that goes “The nation long divided must unite, the nation long united must divide”. With so much joining together and unifying going on in Chinese ethnic history, the various ethnicities must have been separate at some time before, right? And those ethnicities that came together more than once must have been appart at some point in between.
So the question is, where was all the history on the period of separation?
Maybe in another, secret, Museum of Ethnic War/Chaos/Disunity?
Once I'd spotten the first 'hole' of missing information, it quickly felt like all I could see were holes as I went from exhibit to exhibit, reading only of dates, dynasties and unity.
Of course I could only comprehend the English translation of the history, but I'd be surprised if such a controlled delivery of information would be significantly mistranslated.
The happiness of China's ethnic past obviously extended to this happy trio:
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