Iasyr Shivaza: The Life and Works of a Soviet Dungan Poet

The Dungans are Chinese Muslims, living mainly in the Kirghiz and Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republics, whose ancestors migrated to Russia more than a hundred years ago. They speak the Kansu and Shensi dialects, but write their Chinese speech with the Cyrillic alphabet. Iàsyr Shivaza (1906-1988) is the most celebrated poet of the Dungans. He wrote numerous poems and many novels, he translated works from Russian and Kirghiz into Dungan, he compiled school textbooks for Dungan children and he helped in the creation of the present Dungan alphabet. Iàsyr Shivaza worked in the Kirghiz State Publishing House, edited a Dungan newspaper, and served in the Second World War as a war correspondent. The present work discusses his life and achievements.