encroached upon by increasing inland Chinese migrations. Throughout this period, the Monguor maintained a high degree of political autonomy and self governance under the local chiefdom system of Tusi. The Monguor troops led by their Tusi defended not only their own homeland but also joined the national army to participate in wars that took place as far as in eastern Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Yunnan, Mongolia, and Dunhuang, which progressively weakened their military power. Their political power came to the ultimate decline when the Tusi system was abolished in 1931, which exacerbated more Monguor to lose their language. By the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, only about fifty thousand of the Monguor have maintained to speak their language, primarily in Qinghai and Gansu. During the Chinese classificatory campaigns carried out in the 1950s, those who could no longer speak their language were classified into "Han", those who could not speak their language but adopted the Islamic religion were classified into "Hui", those who followed the Mongols into the northern grassland were classified into "Mongols", and those who spoke their language and adopted the Islamic religion were classified into "Dongxiang", "Bonan" and "Yugur", the last of which represented the intermixture of the Xianbei and Sari Uyghurs. Culture Most Monguor in rapidly changing rural settlements today practice sedentary agriculture, supplemented by minimum animal husbandry, and seasonal work in towns and cities. Those who have succeeded in the Chinese educational system take up government jobs in a wide range of academic, medical, and business fields. Traditional Monguor culture and language have become endangered. Traditional events like weddings, Nadun, funerals, and New Year rituals are increasingly abbreviated and traditional songs, riddles, folktales, and proverbs are vanishing. Religion In most villages, a Buddhist temple and a Taoist shrine coexist. Almost all the temples and shrines seen today have been rebuilt in the last three decades, since they were invariably destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). While Buddhist monks are common in most villages, Taoist priests and shamans have become very few and serve the whole area. The Taoist priests take charge of diverse functions that include weddings, funerals, and looking after the shrines, whereas the shaman's primary function is to serve as a trance medium during the Nadun celebration and sometimes illness management. Local accounts indicated that there have been multiple Catholic churches constructed in the Monguor areas in the past. They