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The Chinese word "馕" (náng) is a direct translation of the Uyghur word for "bread", which is actually loaned from Persian (نان, nān‎).

Around the 10th century AD, due to their convert to Islam, Arabic and Persian languages had a significant impact on the languages and vocabularies used by the local Muslims in China.

The Compendium of the Turkic Dialects (Dīwān lughat al-Turk), written in the 11th century AD by Maḥmūd al-Kāshgarī, named nan as “ətmək” (loaned from Arabic), i.e. 'etbayk'. The book was the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages. Before this document, however, it is not known how did the local people call the naan.

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2_ Книга открытая страница

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Nan has existed in Xinjiang for a long time. Since the 1980s, Xinjiang archaeologists have found various forms of nan in tombs in Hami Wubao, Zha Rollluk, and in Subeihi. These nans, although different from the nans today, all suggest that nans had a very long history in Xinjiang — even longer than 3000 years. These archaeological excavations reveal it was clearly the primal forms of nan were already in place.

In 1972, some archaeologists excavated an ocher-yellow circular naan from a Tang dynasty (c. 640 AD) tomb in Astana, Turpan. This naan shares the similar shape comparaing to the nan we are having today. It was made of wheat flour and decorated with a decorative pattern.

In 1999, the Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology carried out another archaeological excavation at the site of the Yingpan Cemetery in Yuli County, located on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin. Among those tombs, a thin naan folded in four layers was found in a tomb numbered M8, dating about in the Wei-Jin period (about 1500 years ago).

These findings also suggest that naan was common consumed in the Tarim Basin of southern Xinjiang from as late as the Eastern Han and Wei-Jin periods.

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How Naan is remembered and documented in Chinese History

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How Naan is remembered and documented in Chinese History

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The ancient Chinese people called naan as 'hu cakes’ (hubing). The word 'hu' was added before 'cakes' to emphasis its non-Chinese origin. It can be assumed that naan was introduced to China from the West no later than the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since its introduction to China, naan has become one of the favourite food during that time.

The Official Records of the Eastern Han Dynasty records that one of the Emperor Lingdi from the Eastern Han dynasty was fond of all things from the West like hu clothing, hu tents, hu beds, hu sitting, hu rice. Because the emperor quite favored the hu cakes, all the nobles in the capital followed him and ate the hu cakes.

In the Northern Wei Dynasty, Jia Sixie's Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People (Qimin Yao shu), a work that documented the lives of commom people, recorded how to make the hu cakes: one dou of flour, two jin of mutton, and a box of white onions. Put the meat and onions together and boiled them, then add some liquid made from fermented soya beans and salt. After that, put the meat into the flour and bake them.

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Naan as a traditional Islamic cuisine beyond Xinjiang

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Naan as a traditional Islamic cuisine beyond Xinjiang

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Although Naan can be found in the cuisines of Western Asia, Indian subcontinent, China and South-eastern Asia. The Naan ate by Uyghur Muslims shares more similar characteristics with their Central Asian neighbours.

A standard Uzbek formula to invite neighbours to a meal at one’s home is “(Come) to us for eating bread/food!” (Bizdikige nan jegene!).

At any market in southern Kazakhstan, we can find piles of big round breads, called nan. In those restaurants in Kazakhstan, customers might be served smaller and highly decorated versions of these bread, damdy nan.

From a video of How To Make Tajik Naan or Non, you can even find such viewpoints: "In Tajikistan meals are almost always served with non, flatbread found throughout Central Asia. If a Tajik has food but not non, he will say he is out of food. If non is dropped on the ground, people will put it up on a high ledge for beggars or birds."