自古以来，由于地理差异和区域发展不平衡，中华文化呈现丰富的多元状态，存在南北、东西差异。春秋战国时期，各具特色的区域文化已大体形成。秦汉以后，历经各代，在中国辽阔的疆土上，通过迁徙、聚合、战争、和亲、互市等，各民族文化不断进行交流交融，最终形成气象恢宏的中华文化。

　　Since ancient times, due to geographic variations and the unbalanced development of different regions, Chinese culture has grown diverse between the south and the north and between the east and the west. As early as the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods, basic regional cultures with their own distinctive features had already formed. From the Qin and Han dynasties, on through all the dynasties that followed, across the vast territory of China, cultures of all ethnic groups engaged in constant exchange and integration through migration, convergence, wars, marriage, and trade, and finally formed a splendid overall Chinese culture.

　　早在2000多年前，新疆地区就是中华文明向西开放的门户，是东西方文明交流传播的重地，这里多元文化荟萃、多种文化并存。中原文化和西域文化长期交流交融，既推动了新疆各民族文化的发展，也促进了多元一体的中华文化发展。新疆各民族文化从一开始就打上了中华文化的印记。中华文化始终是新疆各民族的情感依托、心灵归宿和精神家园，也是新疆各民族文化发展的动力源泉。

　　More than 2,000 years ago and beyond, Xinjiang was a gateway for China’s civilization to open to the West and an important base for cultural exchange and communication between the East and the West. The region experienced a wealth of cultural diversity and coexistence. Long periods of exchange and integration between the culture of the Central Plains and those of the Western Regions drove not only the development of various ethnic cultures in Xinjiang, but also the diversified and integrated Chinese culture as a whole. From the very beginning, ethnic cultures in Xinjiang have reflected elements of Chinese culture, which has always been the emotional attachment and spiritual home for all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, as well as a dynamic source of development for the ethnic cultures in the region.

　　中原与西域的经济文化交流始于先秦时期。到汉代，汉语已成为西域官府文书中的通用语之一，琵琶、羌笛等乐器由西域或通过西域传入中原，中原农业生产技术、礼仪制度、汉语书籍、音乐舞蹈等在西域广泛传播。高昌回鹘使用唐代历书，一直延续到10世纪下半期。唐代诗人岑参的诗句“花门将军善胡歌，叶河蕃王能汉语”，是当时新疆地区民汉语言并用、文化繁荣景象的写照。宋代，天山南麓的佛教艺术依然兴盛，至今仍留有大量遗迹。西辽时期，契丹人征服喀喇汗王朝，控制新疆地区和中亚，典章礼制多沿袭中原旧制。元代，大批畏兀儿等少数民族移居内地生活，学习使用汉语，有的参加科举考试并被录用为各级官员，涌现了一批政治家、文学家、艺术家、史学家、农学家、翻译家等，有力推动了新疆各民族文化的发展。明清时期，受伊斯兰文化的影响，新疆各民族文化在同域外文化既吸收又冲突的过程中徘徊发展。近现代以来，在辛亥革命、俄国十月革命、五四运动、新民主主义革命斗争影响下，新疆各民族文化向现代转型，各民族的国家认同和中华文化认同达到新的高度。新中国成立后，新疆各民族文化进入史无前例的大繁荣大发展时期。历史证明，新疆地区凡是多语并用、交流频繁的时期，也是各民族文化勃兴、社会进步的时期。学习使用国家通用语言文字，是繁荣发展新疆各民族文化的重要历史经验。

　　Economic and cultural exchange between the Central Plains and the Western Regions began in the pre-Qin period. In the Han Dynasty, the Chinese language became one of the official languages used in government documents of that region. Pipa (the four-stringed Chinese lute), the Qiang flute, and other musical instruments were introduced to the Central Plains from or via the region. Agricultural production techniques, the system of etiquette, books in Chinese, and music and dances of the Central Plains spread widely in the region.

　　Later, the Uighur Kingdom of Gaochang adopted the calendar of the Tang Dynasty, and this practice continued until the latter half of the 10th century. “The governor’s generals are skilled in the songs of ethnic minorities, and local chiefs are able to speak Chinese.” This verse by the Tang poet Cen Shen reflects the equal status of Chinese and other ethnic languages commonly used at that time. It also demonstrates the cultural prosperity of that period.

　　Late in the Song Dynasty, Buddhist arts were still flourishing in the south of the Tianshan Mountains and a large number of relics remain till today. In the Western Liao period (1124-1218), the Khitan people, who destroyed the Kara-Khanid Khanate, controlled the Xinjiang region and Central Asia and realized regional unification, extensively inheriting and adopting the laws and regulations and etiquette of the Central Plains.

　　In the Yuan Dynasty, large numbers of Uighurs and people of other ethnic groups migrated into the inland areas. They settled there and learned and used the Chinese language. Some of them even sat for the imperial examinations and were recruited as officials at various levels. From these groups emerged statesmen, writers, artists, historians, agronomists, translators and specialists of other types, who vigorously promoted the development of ethnic cultures in Xinjiang.

　　During the Ming and Qing dynasties, under the influence of Islamic culture, ethnic cultures in Xinjiang developed slowly in integration and conflict with cultures from outside the region. In modern China, under the influence of the Revolution of 1911, the October Revolution in Russia, the May 4th Movement, and the New Democratic Revolution, ethnic cultures in Xinjiang began to modernize, and the Chinese national and cultural identity of all ethnic groups in the region reached a new height. After the founding of the PRC in 1949, ethnic cultures in Xinjiang entered a period of unprecedented prosperity and development.

　　The historical record indicates that when multiple languages were used as official languages and when exchanges were frequent in Xinjiang, it witnessed a boom in ethnic cultures and social progress. Long years of experience shows that learning and using standard Chinese as a spoken and written language has helped Xinjiang’s ethnic cultures to flourish.