The workshop brings together experts working on Xinjiang to present and conduct a close reading of original sources from the region to each other. No limitation as for language or historical period is preset. Most of the participants are familiar with each other’s work and all are intimately familiar with the history of the region, but often we do not know each other’s sources nor have the detailed knowledge or language skill to engage deeply with them. This workshop is meant to provide each other insights into unfamiliar but highly relevant sources and to exchange methodology across disciplines in practice. Further, each participant holds a high degree of specialized knowledge that is likely to deepen the understanding of the source texts of the others. From the highly detailed mosaic pieces of Xinjiang’s history and presence emerges a complex and differentiated picture of the whole which shall be addressed in the discussion.