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Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition

Even though China is nowhere near the heartland of Islam, the country is not a stranger to the religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In fact, Islam had reached China as early as 7th century ce and achieved its zenith during the era of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 ce), also known as the “Golden...

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Main Author: Fathil, Fauziah
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Universiti Sains Malaysia 2019
Subjects:
BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions
BP173.6 Islam and the state
BP52.5 Muslim in non-Muslim countries
HT Communities. Classes. Races
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/1/kajh26s12019_09.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/7/74290_Islam%20in%20imperial%20China-%20Sinicization%20of%20minority%20muslims%20and%20synthesis%20of%20Chinese%20philosophy%20and%20islamic%20tradition_Scopus.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/
http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol26_s1_2019/kajh26s12019_09.pdf
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spelling my.iium.irep.742902020-02-27T04:32:37Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/ Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition Fathil, Fauziah BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions BP173.6 Islam and the state BP52.5 Muslim in non-Muslim countries HT Communities. Classes. Races Even though China is nowhere near the heartland of Islam, the country is not a stranger to the religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In fact, Islam had reached China as early as 7th century ce and achieved its zenith during the era of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 ce), also known as the “Golden Age of Islam” in China. Not only were Muslims during the Ming era generally accepted by majority Chinese whose affiliations were predominantly Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, Islam was legally recognised by the imperial government. The number of Islamic institutions such as mosques and learning centres increased, and so did the number of Muslim population in the country. In administration and politics, the Muslims equally received their share while Muslim intellectuals and scholars found themselves appreciated and acknowledged by Chinese rulers for their contributions. Nevertheless, as with minorities of other countries, the Muslims in China were subject to assimilation or integration into the culture of the majority, i.e., Han Chinese. This policy known as “sinicization” consequently affected Muslims in many ways, leading to changes in their lifestyle, custom and tradition. Using qualitative approach and library research method, this paper aims to assess the underlying reasons for the sinicization of Chinese Muslims apart from the obvious political necessity of the Chinese imperial government, and the effects of the process on the Muslim community. On the latter, focus will be given to Muslims’ attempt to synthesise Chinese philosophy and Islam during the imperial era (618–1912 ce) as it served to project the peaceable nature of Islam hence enabled Muslims to preserve their distinctive Islamic identity and tradition amidst the predominant non-Islamic cultural setting. In other words, the synthesis which was pioneered by Chinese Muslim scholars, particularly of the Ming until the Qing era, not only prevented full assimilation of Muslims into local Chinese culture but also ensured the survival of Islam and its tradition in China until the modern period. Universiti Sains Malaysia 2019 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/1/kajh26s12019_09.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/7/74290_Islam%20in%20imperial%20China-%20Sinicization%20of%20minority%20muslims%20and%20synthesis%20of%20Chinese%20philosophy%20and%20islamic%20tradition_Scopus.pdf Fathil, Fauziah (2019) Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition. Kemanusiaan The Asian Journal of Humanities, 26 (Supp. 1). pp. 167-187. ISSN 1394-9330 E-ISSN 2180-4257 http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol26_s1_2019/kajh26s12019_09.pdf 10.21315/kajh2019.26.s1.9
institution Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia
building IIUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider International Islamic University Malaysia
content_source IIUM Repository (IREP)
url_provider http://irep.iium.edu.my/
language English
English
topic BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions
BP173.6 Islam and the state
BP52.5 Muslim in non-Muslim countries
HT Communities. Classes. Races
spellingShingle BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions
BP173.6 Islam and the state
BP52.5 Muslim in non-Muslim countries
HT Communities. Classes. Races
Fathil, Fauziah
Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition
description Even though China is nowhere near the heartland of Islam, the country is not a stranger to the religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In fact, Islam had reached China as early as 7th century ce and achieved its zenith during the era of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 ce), also known as the “Golden Age of Islam” in China. Not only were Muslims during the Ming era generally accepted by majority Chinese whose affiliations were predominantly Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, Islam was legally recognised by the imperial government. The number of Islamic institutions such as mosques and learning centres increased, and so did the number of Muslim population in the country. In administration and politics, the Muslims equally received their share while Muslim intellectuals and scholars found themselves appreciated and acknowledged by Chinese rulers for their contributions. Nevertheless, as with minorities of other countries, the Muslims in China were subject to assimilation or integration into the culture of the majority, i.e., Han Chinese. This policy known as “sinicization” consequently affected Muslims in many ways, leading to changes in their lifestyle, custom and tradition. Using qualitative approach and library research method, this paper aims to assess the underlying reasons for the sinicization of Chinese Muslims apart from the obvious political necessity of the Chinese imperial government, and the effects of the process on the Muslim community. On the latter, focus will be given to Muslims’ attempt to synthesise Chinese philosophy and Islam during the imperial era (618–1912 ce) as it served to project the peaceable nature of Islam hence enabled Muslims to preserve their distinctive Islamic identity and tradition amidst the predominant non-Islamic cultural setting. In other words, the synthesis which was pioneered by Chinese Muslim scholars, particularly of the Ming until the Qing era, not only prevented full assimilation of Muslims into local Chinese culture but also ensured the survival of Islam and its tradition in China until the modern period.
format Article
author Fathil, Fauziah
author_facet Fathil, Fauziah
author_sort Fathil, Fauziah
title Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition
title_short Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition
title_full Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition
title_fullStr Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition
title_full_unstemmed Islam in Imperial China: sinicization of minority Muslims and synthesis of Chinese philosophy and Islamic tradition
title_sort islam in imperial china: sinicization of minority muslims and synthesis of chinese philosophy and islamic tradition
publisher Universiti Sains Malaysia
publishDate 2019
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/1/kajh26s12019_09.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/7/74290_Islam%20in%20imperial%20China-%20Sinicization%20of%20minority%20muslims%20and%20synthesis%20of%20Chinese%20philosophy%20and%20islamic%20tradition_Scopus.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/74290/
http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol26_s1_2019/kajh26s12019_09.pdf
_version_ 1662753739967037440
score 13.211869

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