Meshrep

Concentrated mainly in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and found among the Uygur people, Meshrep is the most significant traditional youth culture of the Uygur people.

It was first recorded in a socialist-realist play published in 1942 called Gulnissa where the play depicted the Meshrep as a secular, coeducational youth culture. The Meshrep in Yining (Ghulja) consisted of music performances and informal court hearings for community dissidents. In the 1990s, Yining was primarily secular and young Uyghur men would gather every week to drink baijiu, perform poetry and music, and socialize. These gatherings became key in political and economic life within Yining.

Over time, this tradition became central to Yining culture. In the beginning, both social reformers and the local government supported the Meshreps. This was done in order to provide a source of entertainment for young Uyghur men who were immersed in an environment with unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling.

Although Meshrep's popularity grew over time, meshrep groups became more assertive in their opposition to the government's goals. For this reason, Xinjiang authorities banned the Meshrep gatherings in July 1995. Although many Meshrep groups continued to operate in secret or delegated morals enforcement duties to legal neighborhood watch groups. Thereafter, authorities distinguished between "healthy, traditional" Meshrep and "illicit" political and religious Meshrep, encouraging the former and cracking down on the latter.

A complete Meshrep event includes a variety of traditions that include music, dance, drama, folk arts, acrobatics, foodways, games, and oral literature. The most comprehensive art form in the event is called Uygur muqam, which is a combination of song, dance, and entertainment. It functions like a court, where the host mediates conflicts and ensures moral standards are upheld. Groups of men usually gather in courtyards and play traditional music. They also hold a type of moral court, reviewing and criticizing the behavior of male members of the community, usually in a humorous way through mockery, jokes, and non-violent imitation of physical punishment.

There are a variety of factors that threaten the viability of Meshrep. These factors include social changes resulting from urbanization and industrialization, the influence of national and foreign cultures, and the migration of young Uygurs to cities for work. Meshrep is predominantly transmitted and inherited by hosts who understand its customs and cultural connotations, by the virtuoso performers who participate, and by all of the Uygurs who attend.

Due to the Chinese government's crackdown on Uyghurs since 2016, it has become increasingly difficult for local Uyghur communities to organize their Meshrep, other than government-organized performances aimed at tourists. The frequency of occurrence and the number of participants are progressively diminishing. The number of transmitters who understand the traditional rules and content of the event has sharply diminished from hundreds to tens.