Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship

01 · Historical Records

The history of naan in Xinjiang can be traced back very early. A great many archaeological finds prove that the embryonic form of naan already existed more than 3,000 years ago at Wubao, Hami, Xinjiang; more than 1,300 years ago, naan was already fairly common as a food in Xinjiang. In ancient times the Central Plains called naan "hubing"; the method of making hubing is recorded in "Qimin Yaoshu · Bingfa 82nd" by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei, showing that its introduction into the Central Plains is also traceable. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region lies in the heart of the Eurasian continent, on the northwestern border of the motherland, with a typical temperate continental arid climate, scant precipitation, and high evaporation. Animal husbandry and crop cultivation coexist here, and raw materials such as flour, corn flour, milk, mutton, onion, and flax are all available, which is why naan could become an everyday staple rather than a festival pastry.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The naan-making craft is a traditional pasta-making craft widely spread across the 14 prefectures (prefecture-level cities) of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and radiating outward. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region lies in the heart of the Eurasian continent, on the northwestern border of the motherland, with a typical temperate continental arid climate, scant precipitation, and high evaporation; its agriculture and animal husbandry are developed and its products abundant, providing fine raw materials for naan making. Naan is a round cake made mainly from wheat flour or corn flour, mostly leavened and baked with various seasonings, an extremely characteristic yet extremely common food in Xinjiang. The types of naan are roughly oil naan, sugar naan, meat naan, sesame naan, etc., with many varieties and differing flavors. Naan is mostly baked in a naan pit (tandoor); different kinds of naan have different making methods, but all go through a series of procedures: mixing dough, resting dough, pinching dough pieces, making the naan blank, stamping patterns, heating the naan pit, adjusting the pit temperature, and pasting the blank into the pit to bake. The naan-making technique demands high skill, mainly manifested in the naan maker's precise control of baking temperature and time, which complement and constrain each other. The heat has an important effect on naan quality, mainly consisting of top fire and bottom fire. Top fire determines the naan's shape and color; bottom fire determines its expansion and crispness. Baking time is controlled according to the blank's size, thickness, and baking temperature. When making naan, salt is used but not alkali and soda. Besides flour, oil, sugar, egg, mutton, milk, onion, sesame, black cumin seed, and salt are respectively chosen as seasonings. The naan-making craft has a very long history in Xinjiang. A great many archaeological finds prove that the embryonic form of naan already existed more than 3,000 years ago at Wubao, Hami, Xinjiang. More than 1,300 years ago, naan was already fairly common as a food in Xinjiang. In ancient times the Central Plains called naan "hubing"; "Qimin Yaoshu · Bingfa 82nd" by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei records the method of making hubing. The naan-making craft provides important material for further studying the dietary structure and customs of the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang's history, as well as the formation of a regionally characteristic culinary culture. Naan occupies a very important place in the daily life of the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang, especially the Uygur, playing an important role in various life ceremonies from newborn naming and cradle ceremonies to weddings and funerals; its making craft and eating customs hold important social and cultural value.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The naan-making craft is widely spread across the 14 prefectures (prefecture-level cities) of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and radiates outward; the breadth of its spread is rarely seen among other pasta crafts. Though practices everywhere belong to one lineage, the division of oil naan, sugar naan, meat naan, and sesame naan is not uniform: meat and oil naan are common in the grassland pastoral areas, while in the Gobi oases wheat-flour sugar naan predominates, with finer methods and more seasonings. The shape of the naan pit varies by locality: river valleys and oases mostly use fixed brick-built pits, while suburbs and markets see movable iron-sheet stoves; the actions of opening the fire, pasting naan, and taking naan out are done at the pit mouth—one batch pasted, one batch lifted—the rhythm set by the strength of the fire, which differs from the Central Plains' hanging-oven baking and griddle cooking. Naan occupies an important place in the daily life of the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang, especially the Uygur, playing an important role in various life ceremonies from newborn naming and cradle ceremonies to weddings and funerals. Naan serves as a gift for hosting guests, giving presents, and keeping mementos; thus the spread of this craft often travels with marriages and visiting relatives and friends rather than relying solely on shops. This spread route differs from ordinary culinary crafts: its transmission venues are the corners of weddings, naming ceremonies, and markets, not a single workshop.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The protection of this craft centers on living transmission. The naan pit, fuel, and the mud sealing the pit are all bound to local Gobi and forest-belt conditions; move to another place and it is another set of heat control: the dryness of the firewood, the thickness of the pit wall, and the timing of pasting the blank must all be relearned. Therefore its transmission mostly continues among local craftsmen through master-apprentice oral teaching; though outsiders can learn the dough-mixing and resting methods, they cannot easily learn the fire-mastering part. Daily exchanges among the ethnic groups also drive each other's naan methods. The meat naan baked in yurts, the sugar naan baked in oasis homes, and the sesame naan baked and sold on the spot in markets differ in form but share the process; often different ethnic hands sit before the same naan pit. In recent decades, naan has also gone beyond Xinjiang to become a fixed category in the mainland's ethnic-flavor dining, and its making craft has thereby been recognized over a wider scope.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Wang Qingai 04-1907
• Li Huizhong 05-2858
• Li Jiangang 05-2859
• Jia Zhiliang
• Rexiti Yimiti
• Hatamusha Nuer
• Yu Zhenling

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship (Xinjiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗