The Cultural Revolution likely altered the lives of Uyghurs more than any periods of modern Chinese rule that predate it

  • [ s ] It destroyed many Uyghur cultural and religious institutions.
  • [ s ] Temporarily reduced usage of Uyghur language in official documents.
  • [ s ] Broke up communities and social capital
  • [ s ] Facilitated a major demographic shift.
    • [e_c] From 1953-1967, Han population increased from 300,000 to 1,791,000. By 1982, it was 5,287,000.
      • [ q ] This almost equaled the amount of Uyghurs in the region.