Islam in China - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Throughout the history of Islam in China

History of Islam in China

The History of Islam in China began when four Sahabas- Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqas , Wahb Abu Kabcha, Jafar ibn Abu Talib and Jahsh preached in 616/17 and onwards in China after coming from Chittagong-Kamrup-Manipur route after sailing from Abyssinia in 615/16...

, Chinese Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s have influenced the course of Chinese history. Chinese Muslims have been in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

for the last 1,400 years of continuous interaction with Chinese society. Muslims live in every region in China

China

, as China is home to a large population of Muslims.

History

According to China Muslims' traditional legendary accounts, Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

was first brought to China

China

by Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqas. As reported by Al-Bayhaqi, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad pronounced: "Seek for knowledge even unto China". Chinese Muslims have been in China for the last 1,400 years of continuous interaction with Chinese society. "Islam expanded gradually across the maritime and inland silk routes from the 7th to the 10th centuries through trade and diplomatic exchanges."

Introduction of Islam in 616-18 AD

Islam in China has a rich heritage. Islam was first introduced in China in 616-18 AD by Sahaba

Sahaba

In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...

(companions) of Muhammad namely Waqqas (Sad ibn abi Waqqas), Sayid, Wahab ibn Abu Kabcha and another Sahaba. Wahab ibn abu Kabcha (Wahb abi Kabcha) might be a son of al-Harth ibn Abdul Uzza (known as Abu Kabsha). See the text: "The Prophet was entrusted to Halimah...Her husband was Al-Harith bin Abdul Uzza called Abi Kabshah, from the same tribe". It is noted in other accounts that Wahab Abu Kabcha reached Canton by sea in 629 CE.

Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas along with three Sahabas, namely Thabit ibn Qays, Uwais al-Qarni (594-657), and Hassan ibn Thabit (554-674), went to China from Persia in 637 for the second time and returned by the Yunan-Manipur-Chittagong route, then reached Arabia by sea. Some date the introduction of Islam in China to 650 AD which is the instance of third sojourn of Sad ibn abi Waqqas to China, Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas, was sent as an official envoy to Emperor Gaozong

Emperor Gaozong of Tang

Emperor Gaozong of Tang , personal name Li Zhi , was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty in China, ruling from 649 to 683...

which was his third sojourn during Caliph

Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...

Uthman's era in 651 AD. Throughout the history of Islam in China

History of Islam in China

, Chinese Muslim

Muslim

s have influenced the course of Chinese history.

Tang Dynasty

Earlier visits of Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas were noted in Arab accounts since it was a period of nascent Islam mixed with events of many hectic preaching and warfare. They (Sahabas) were more concerned with writings of verses of the Koran as revealed to Muhammad, and his sayings (hadiths) and ways of life (sunnah). According to China Muslims' traditional legendary accounts, Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

was first brought to China

China

by an embassy led by Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas that was sent by Uthman, the third Caliph

Caliph

, (that was in 651, less than twenty years after the death of Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

) which are confusions with Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas's earlier visits. The embassy was led by Sa`d ibn Abī Waqqās

Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas

Saad ibn Abī Waqqās was an early convert to Islam in 610-11 and one of the important companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sa'd was the seventeenth person to embrace Islam at the age of seventeen...

, the maternal uncle of Muhammad himself. Emperor Gaozong

Emperor Gaozong of Tang

Emperor Gaozong of Tang , personal name Li Zhi , was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty in China, ruling from 649 to 683...

, the Tang

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

emperor who received the envoy then ordered the construction of the Memorial mosque

Huaisheng Mosque

The Huaisheng Mosque, also known as the Lighthouse Mosque, is the main mosque of Guangzhou.Rebuilt many times over its history, it is traditionally thought to have been originally built over 1,300 years ago, which would make it one of the oldest mosques in the world. It was named in memory of...

in Canton

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, the first mosque in the country, in memory of Muhammad.

While modern secular historians tend to say that there is no evidence for Waqqās himself ever coming to China, they do believe that Muslim diplomats and merchants came to Tang China within a few decades from the beginning of the Muslim Era

Hijra (Islam)

The Hijra is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word are Hijrah, Hijrat or Hegira, the latter following the spelling rules of Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :In September 622, warned of a plot to...

. The Tang Dynasty's cosmopolitan culture, with its intensive contacts with Central Asia and its significant communities of (originally non-Muslim) Central and Western Asian merchants resident in Chinese cities,
which helped the introduction of Islam. The first major Muslim

Muslim

settlements in China consisted of Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

and Persian

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

merchants. During the Tang and especially the Song

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

eras, comparatively well-established, even if somewhat segregated, mercantile Muslim communities existed in the port cities of Guangzhou

Guangzhou

, Quanzhou

Quanzhou

Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two and faces the Taiwan Strait...

, and Hangzhou

Hangzhou

Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

on China's southeastern seaboard, as well as in the interior centers such as Chang'an

Xi'an

Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...

, Kaifeng

Kaifeng

Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

, and Yangzhou

Yangzhou

Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...

. After critical analysis, it is evident that Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas and the three other Sahabas who were preaching from 616-18 were noticed by Emperor Wu-De by 618 AD. Guangzhou is home to four mosques, including the famous Huaisheng Mosque believed to have been built by Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, the uncle of Muhammad. The city also has a grave believed to be that of ibn Abi Waqqas (father of Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas).

Song Dynasty

By the time of the Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

, Muslims had come to play a major role in the import/export industry. The office of Director General of Shipping was consistently held by a Muslim during this period. In 1070, the Song emperor Shenzong

Shenzong

Shenzong is the temple name of several Chinese, Korean or Vietnamese emperors. It may refer to:* Emperor Shenzong of Song China * Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty * Emperor Shenzong of Western Xia...

invited 5,300 Muslim men from Bukhara

Bukhara

Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...

, to settle in China in order to create a buffer zone between the Chinese and the Liao

Liao Dynasty

The Liao Dynasty , also known as the Khitan Empire was an empire in East Asia that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper between 9071125...

empire in the northeast. Later on these men were settled between the Sung capital of Kaifeng

Kaifeng

Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

and Yenching

Yenching

Yenching can refer to:* Beijing * Harvard-Yenching Institute* Yenching College* Yenching University* Yenching Restaurant in Harvard Square...

(modern day Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

). They were led by Prince Amir Sayyid "So-fei-er" (his Chinese name) who was reputed of being called the "father" of the Muslim community in China. Prior to him Islam was named by the Tang and Song Chinese as Dashi fa ("law of the Arabs"). He renamed it to Huihui Jiao ("the Religion of the Huihui").

Tombs of Imam Asim and Mazaar of Zafar Sadiq

"On the foothills of Mount Lingshan are the tombs of two of the four companions that Prophet Muhammad sent eastwards to preach Islam. Known as the "Holy Tombs," they house the companions Sa-Ke-Zu and Wu-Ko-Shun—their Chinese names, of course. The other two companions went to Guangzhou and Yangzhou."
"The Imam (Islamic Holy Man) Asim is said to have been one of the first Islamic missionaries in the region. His name is also spelled Imam Hashim (man of c.1000 CE in Hotan). The shrine site includes the reputed tomb of the Imam, a mosque, and several related tombs." There is also a mazaar of Imam Zafar Sadiq.

Yuan Dynasty

During the Mongol

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

-founded Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

(1271–1368), large numbers of Muslims settled in China. The Mongols, a minority in China, gave foreign immigrants, such as Muslims, Christians, and Jews from west Asia an elevated status over the native Han Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

as part of their governing strategy, thus giving Muslims a heavy influence. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims immigrants were recruited and forcibly relocated from Western and Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

by the Mongols to help them administer their rapidly expanding empire. The Mongols used Persian, Arab and Uyghur

Uyghur people

The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

administrators, generically known as semu
Semu
Semu is the name of a caste established in China under the Yuan Dynasty. Contrary to popular belief, the term "Semu" did not imply that caste members had "colored eyes" in contrast with black-eyed Mongol Yuan people...

[色目]("various eye color") to act as officers of taxation and finance

Finance

"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...

. Muslims headed many corporation

Corporation

A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

s in China in the early Yuan period. Muslim scholars were brought to work on calendar making and astronomy. The architect Yeheidie'erding

Yeheidie'erding

Yeheidie'erding , also known as Amir al-Din , was a Muslim architect who help designed and led the construction of the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, Khanbaliq, located in present-day Beijing, the current capital of the People's Republic of China.-Construction of Khanbaliq:Yeheidie'erding learned...

(Amir al-Din) learned from Han architecture

Chinese architecture

Chinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in East Asia over many centuries. The structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details...

and helped to design the construction of the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, Dadu

Khanbaliq

Khanbaliq or Dadu refers to a city which is now Beijing, the current capital of the People's Republic of China...

, otherwise known as Khanbaliq or Khanbaligh, the predecessor of present-day Beijing

Beijing

. The term Hui

Hui people

The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...

originated from the Mandarin "Huihui," a term first used in the Yuan Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

to describe Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

n, Persian and Arab residents in China.

Ming Dynasty

During the following Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

, Muslims continued to be influential around government circles. Six of Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang's most trusted generals were Muslim, including Lan Yu

Lan Yu (general)

Lan Yu was a Chinese general who contributed to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. His ancestral home was in present-day Dingyuan County, Anhui. In 1393 Lan was suspected and accused of plotting a rebellion and eventually put to death by the Hongwu Emperor...

who, in 1388, led a strong imperial Ming army out of the Great Wall and won a decisive victory over the Mongols in Mongolia, effectively ending the Mongol dream to re-conquer China. Zhu Yuanzhang also wrote a praise of Islam, the The Hundred-word Eulogy

The Hundred-word Eulogy

The Hundred-word Eulogy is a 100 character praise of Islam, Allah, and the prophet Muhammad written by the Hongwu Emperor of China. Copies of it are on display in several mosques in Nanjing, China.-Chinese:至聖百字讃乾坤?始天?注名傳教大聖降生西域授受天經三十部册普化衆生...

. Additionally, the Yongle Emperor

Yongle Emperor

The Yongle Emperor , born Zhu Di , was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".He was the Prince of Yan , possessing a heavy military base in Beiping...

hired Zheng He

Zheng He

Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...

, perhaps the most famous Chinese Muslim

Hui people

and China's foremost explorer, to lead seven expeditions to the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, from 1405 and 1433. However, during the Ming Dynasty, new immigration to China from Muslim countries was restricted in an increasingly isolationist nation. The Muslims in China who were descended from earlier immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

began to assimilate by speaking Chinese dialects

Spoken Chinese

Chinese comprises many regional language varieties sometimes grouped together as the Chinese dialects, the primary ones being Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, and Min. These are not mutually intelligible, and even many of the regional varieties are themselves composed of a number of...

and by adopting Chinese names and culture. Mosque architecture began to follow traditional Chinese architecture

Chinese architecture

. This era, sometimes considered the Golden Age

Golden Age

The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...

of Islam in China, also saw Nanjing

Nanjing

' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

become an important center of Islamic study.

Muslims in Ming dynasty Beijing

Beijing

were given relative freedom by the Chinese, with no restrictions placed on their religioius practices or freedom of worship, and being normal citizens in Beijing. In contrast to the freedom granted to muslims, followers of Tibetan Buddhism and Catholicism suffered from restrictions and censure in Beijing.

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

(1644–1911) witnessed multiple revolts. The Qing rulers belonged to the Manchu

Manchu

The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...

, a minority in China. The Muslim revolt in the northwest occurred due to violent and bloody infighting between Muslim sects, the Gedimu, Khafiya, and Jahriyya

Jahriyya

Jahriyya is a Sufi order in China that once existed in Persia and the Turkish World. Founded by Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani, it was brought to China in the 1760s by Ma Mingxin...

. The rebellion in Yunnan occurred because of repression by Qing officials, resulting in five bloody Hui

Hui people

rebellions, most notably the Panthay Rebellion, which occurred in Yunnan

Yunnan

Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

province from 1855 to 1873, and the Dungan revolt, which occurred mostly in Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

, Shensi and Gansu

Gansu

' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...

, from 1862 to 1877. The Manchu government ordered the execution of all rebels, killing a million people in the Panthay rebellion, several million in the Dungan revolt

The Hui

Hui people

muslim population of Beijing

Beijing

was unaffected by the Muslim rebels during the Dungan revolt.

Elisabeth Allès wrote that the relationship between Hui Muslim and Han peoples continued normally in the Henan

Henan

Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

area, with no ramifications or consequences from th Muslim rebellions of other areas. Allès wrote "The major Muslim revolts in the middle of the nineteenth century which involved the Hui in Shaanxi, Gansu and Yunnan, as well as the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, do not seem to have had any direct effect on this region of the central plain."

However, many Muslims like Ma Zhan'ao

Ma Zhan'ao

Ma Zhan’ao was a Chinese Muslim General who defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1872 during the Dungan revolt along with his General Ma Qianling and General Ma Haiyan who served under him during the revolt. He first sent Ma Chun to negotiate a surrender with General Zuo, but Zuo suspected a ruse. Ma...

, Ma Anliang

Ma Anliang

Ma Anliang , a Hui, was born in 1855, in Linxia, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China. His father was Ma Zhanao, and his younger brother was Ma Guoliang...

, Dong Fuxiang

Dong Fuxiang

Dong Fuxiang , a Chinese, was born Gansu, China. He commanded an army of Chinese Muslim soldiers, which included the later Ma clique generals Ma Anliang and Ma Fuxiang. According to the Western calendar, his birth date is in 1839.- Religion :Conflicting accounts are given about his religion and...

, Ma Qianling

Ma Qianling

Ma Qianling was a Dongxiang Muslim General who defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1872 during the Dungan revolt along with his superior General Ma Zhanao and General Ma Haiyan. He then assisted General Zuo Zongtang in crushing the rebel Muslims. His trading activities were a success...

, and Ma Julung defected to the Qing dynasty side, and helped the Qing general Zuo Zongtang exterminate the Muslim rebels. These Muslim generals belonged to the Khafiya sect, and they helped Qing massacre Jahariyya rebels. General Zuo moved the Han around Hezhou out of the area and relocated them as a reward for the Muslims there helping Qing kill other Muslim rebels.

In 1895, another Dungan Revolt (1895)

Dungan Revolt (1895)

The Dungan Revolt was a rebellion of various Muslim ethnic groups in Qinghai and Gansu against the Qing Dynasty.-Revolt:Rival Sufi Naqshbandi orders fought against each other. They accused each other of various misdeeds, and filed a lawsuit against each other through the office of the Xining prefect...

broke out, and loyalist Muslims like Dong Fuxiang

Dong Fuxiang

, Ma Anliang

Ma Anliang

, Ma Guoliang, Ma Fulu

Ma Fulu

Ma Fulu , a Hui, was the son of General Ma Qianling, and the brother of Ma Fucai, Ma Fushou, and Ma Fuxiang. He joined the martial arts hall and attended military school. In 1895, he served under general Dong Fuxiang, leading loyalist Chinese Muslims to crush a revolt by rebel Chinese Muslims and...

, and Ma Fuxiang

Ma Fuxiang

Ma Fuxiang . Ma, a Dongxiang muslim leader, had a military and political career which spanned the Qing dynasty through the early Republic of China and illustrated the power of family, the role of religious affiliations, and the interaction of Inner Asian China and the national government of...

suppressed and massacred the rebel Muslims led by Ma Dahan

Ma Dahan

Ma Dahan was a Dongxiang muslim who formed a pact with the fellow Dongxiang Ma Wanfu when rebelling against the Qing dynasty in 1895. They led their followers in Hezhou, Didao, and Xunhua to revolt...

, Ma Yonglin

Ma Yonglin

Ma Yonglin was a Chinese Muslim leader of the Multicoloured Mosque who participated in the Dungan revolt and the Muslim revolt of 1895 against the Qing dynasty. He antagonized mobs of Hui, Dongxiang, Baoan, and Salars to overthrow the Qing dynasty in Xunhua, Qinghai. Brigadier General Tang Yanhe...

, and Ma Wanfu

Ma Wanfu

Ma Wanfu was a Dongxiang-Imam of the village Guoyuan in Hezhou...

. A Muslim army called the Kansu Braves led by General Dong Fuxiang

Dong Fuxiang

fought for the Qing dynasty against the foreigners during the Boxer Rebellion

Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...

. They included well known generals like Ma Anliang

Ma Anliang

, Ma Fulu

Ma Fulu

, and Ma Fuxiang

Ma Fuxiang

.

In Yunnan

Yunnan

, the Qing armies only massacred the Muslims who had rebelled, and spared Muslims who took no part in the uprising.

Republic of China

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Sun Yat Sen, who established the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

, immediately proclaimed that the country belonged equally to the Han

Han Chinese

, Man

Manchu

(Manchu), Meng (Mongol), Hui

Hui people

(Muslim),currently, "Hui" in Chinese means both Islam and ethnic Hui Chinese, but back then, Hui meant Islam and all Chinese Muslims, particularly both ethnic Hui and Uyghurs Tsang (Tibetan), and Miao

Miao people

The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...

peoples.

During the rule of the Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

party, the Kuomintang appointed the Muslim warlords of the family known as the Ma clique

Ma clique

The Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Muslim warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia from the 1910s until 1949. There were 3 families in the Ma clique , each of them respectively controlled 3 areas, Gansu,...

as the Military Governors of the provinces of Qinghai

Qinghai

Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...

, Gansu

Gansu

and Ningxia

Ningxia

Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...

. Bai Chongxi

Bai Chongxi

Bai Chongxi , , also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and a prominent Chinese Nationalist Muslim leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith...

was a Muslim General and Defence Minister of China during this time.

People's Republic of China

During the Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

, mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

s along with other religious buildings were often defaced, destroyed or closed and copies of the Quran were destroyed along with temples, churches, Buddhist and Daoist monasteries, and cemeteries by the Red Guards

Red Guards (China)

Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...

. During that time, the government also constantly accused Muslims and other religious groups of holding "superstitious beliefs" and promoting "anti-socialist trends". The government began to relax its policies towards Muslims in 1978. Today, Islam is experiencing a modest revival and there are now many mosques in China. There has been an upsurge in Islamic expression and many nation-wide Islamic associations have been organized to co-ordinate inter-ethnic activities among Muslims.

People

Ethnic groups

Muslims live in every region in China

China

. The highest concentrations are found in the northwest provinces of Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

, Gansu

Gansu

, and Ningxia

Ningxia

, with significant populations also found throughout Yunnan

Yunnan

province in southwest China

China

and Henan

Henan

province in central China

China

. Of China

China

’s 55 officially recognized minority peoples, ten groups are predominantly Muslim

Muslim

. The largest groups in descending order are Hui

Hui people

(9.8 million in year 2000 census, or 48% of the officially tabulated number of Muslims), Uyghur

Uyghur people

The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

(8.4 million, 41%), Kazakh

Kazakhs

The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....

(1.25 million, 6.1%), Dongxiang

Dongxiang people

The Dongxiang people are one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...

(514,000, 2.5%), Kyrgyz (161,000), Salar (105,000), Tajik (41,000), Uzbeks

Uzbeks

The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...

, Bonan

Bonan

The Bonan people are an ethnic group living in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in northwestern China...

(17,000), and Tatar

Chinese Tatars

The Chinese Tatars form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.Their ancestors are Volga Tatar tradesmen who settled mostly in Xinjiang....

(5,000). However, individual members of traditionally Muslim ethnic groups may profess other religions or none at all. Additionally, Tibetan Muslims

Tibetan Muslims

The Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Kachee , form a small minority in Tibet. Despite being Muslim, they are classified as Tibetans, unlike the Hui Muslims, who are also known as the Kyangsha or Gya Kachee...

are officially classified along with the Tibetan people

Tibetan people

The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...

. Muslims live predominantly in the areas that border Central Asia, Tibet and Mongolia, i.e. Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

, Ningxia

Ningxia

, Gansu

Gansu

and Qinghai

Qinghai

Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...

, which is known as the "Quran Belt".

Number of Muslims in China

China is home to a large population of adherents of Islam. According to the CIA World Factbook, about 1%-2% of the total population in China are Muslims, while the US Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report shows that Muslims constitute about 1.5% of the Chinese population. Recent census counts imply that there may be up to 20 million Muslim

Muslim

s in China. A 2009 study done by the Pew Research Center, based on China's census, concluded there are 21,667,000 Muslims in China, accounting for 1.6% of the total population.

Historical estimates

An early estimate of the Muslim population of the then Qing Empire belongs to the Christian missionary Marshall Broomhall

Marshall Broomhall

Marshall B. Broomhall , was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. He also authored many books on the subject of Chinese missionary work. He was the most famous son of the anti-opium trade activist and General Secretary of the C.I.M...

. In his book, published in 1910, he produced estimates for each province, based on the reports of missionaries working there, who had counted mosques, talked to mullah

Mullah

Mullah is generally used to refer to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word مَوْلَى mawlā , meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...

s, etc. Broomhall admits the inadequacy of the data for Xinjiang, estimating the Muslim population of Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

(i.e., virtually the entire population of the province at the time) in the range from 1,000,000 (based on the total population number of 1,200,000 in the contemporary Statesman's Yearbook) to 2,400,000 (2 million "Turki", 200,000 "Hasak

Kazakhs

The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....

", and 200,000 "Tungan", as per George Hunter

George W. Hunter (missionary)

George W. Hunter was a Scottish Protestant Christian missionary in China and Turkestan. He served with the China Inland Mission.-Early life:...

). He uses the estimates of 2,000,000 to 3,500,000 for Gansu

Gansu

(which then also included today's Ningxia

Ningxia

and parts of Qinghai

Qinghai

Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...

), 500,000 to 1,000,000 for Zhili

Zhili

Zhílì was a northern province in China from the Ming Dynasty until the province was dissolved in 1928 during the Republic of China era.-History:...

(i.e., Beijing

Beijing

, Tianjin

Tianjin

' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

, and Hebei

Hebei

' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...

), 300,000 to 1,000,000 for Yunnan

Yunnan

, and smaller numbers for other provinces, down to 1,000 in Fujian

Fujian

' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

. For Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

(then, part of the Qing Empire) he takes an arbitrary range of 50,000 to 100,000. Summing up, he
arrives to the grand total of 4,727,000 to 9,821,000 Muslims throughout the Qing Empire of its last years, i.e. just over 1-2% of the entire country's estimated population of 426,045,305.

Islamic education in China

Over the last twenty years a wide range of Islamic educational opportunities have been developed to meet the needs of China’s Muslim population. In addition to mosque schools, government Islamic colleges, and independent Islamic colleges, a growing number of students have gone overseas to continue their studies at international Islamic universities in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, and Malaysia. Qīngzhēn (清真) is the Chinese term for certain Islamic institutions. Its literal meaning is "pure truth."

Muslim groups

The vast majority of China

China

's Muslim

Muslim

s are Sunni Muslims. A notable feature of some Muslim communities in China is the presence of female imams

Women as imams

There is a current controversy among Muslims regarding the circumstances in which women may act as imams—that is, lead a congregation in salah...

. Islamic scholar Ma Tong recorded that the 6,781,500 Hui in China predominately followed the Orthodox form of Islam (58.2 % were Gedimu a non-sufi mainstream tradition that opposed unorthodoxy and religious innovation) mainly adhering to the Hanafi

Hanafi

The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...

Madh'hab. However a large minority of Hui are members of Sufi groups. According to Tong, 21% Yihewani, 10.9% Jahriyya, 7.2 % Khuffiya, 1.4% Qadariyya, and 0.7 % Kubrawiyya. Shia Chinese Muslims are mostly Ismailis including Tajiks

Tajiks

Tajik is a general designation for a wide range of Persian-speaking people of Iranic origin, with traditional homelands in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...

of the Tashkurgan

Tashkurgan

- Karakoram Highway :Today Tashkurgan is on the Karakoram Highway which follows the old Silk Road route from China to Pakistan. Accommodation is available and it is a recommended overnight stop for road travellers from China to Pakistan in order to have the best chance of crossing the snow-prone...

and Sarikul areas of Xingjian.

Chinese Muslims and the Hajj

It is known that Admiral Zheng He (1371–1435) and his Muslim crews had made the journey to Mecca and performed the Hajj during one of the former's voyages to the western ocean between 1401-1433. Other Chinese Muslims may have made the Hajj

Hajj

The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...

pilgrimage to Mecca

Mecca

Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

in the centuries followed; however, there is little information on this. The General Ma Lin (warlord)

Ma Lin (warlord)

Ma Lin, , chairman of the government of Qinghai ; brother of Ma Qi. A Muslim born in 1873, Linxia, Gansu, China, he mainly succeeded to the posts of his brother, being general of southeastern Gansu province, as well as councillor of the Qinghai provincial government and acting head of the...

, made a Hajj to Mecca. General Ma Fuxiang

Ma Fuxiang

along with Ma Linyi

Ma Linyi

Ma Linyi was a Chinese Muslim born in Hunan province during the Qing Dynasty.In 1912 he became Minister of Education of Gansu province, appointed by the Republic of China Kuomintang government....

sponsored Imam Wang Jingzhai when he went on hajj to Mecca in 1921.Yihewani Imam Hu Songshan

Hu Songshan

Hu Songshan , a Hui, was born in 1880, in Tongxin County, Ningxia, China. His father was a Gansu ahong belonging to the Khafiya menhuan, a Chinese-style Sufi order. When he was 18 he joined Wang Naibi of Haicheng. At age 21, he became imam of the Yihewani sect, which was founded by Ma Wanfu...

went on Hajj in 1925. Briefly during the Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

, Chinese Muslims were not allowed to attend the Hajj, and only did so through Pakistan, but this policy was reversed in 1979. Chinese Muslims now attend the Hajj in large numbers, typically in organized groups, with a record 10,700 Chinese Muslim pilgrims from all over the country making the Hajj in 2007.

Attitudes toward Non-Muslims

In their early history, Muslims residing in China had closer interactions with adherents of other various faiths. Muslims treated the works of Confucius

Confucius

Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....

with considerable respect, pointing out the harmony between the two doctrines. Muslims saw their numbers increase in the 17th century with a large number of Chinese Jews

Chinese Jews

Chinese Jews may refer to:*History of the Jews in China*Kaifeng Jews...

converting to Islam. Muslim General Ma Bufang

Ma Bufang

Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...

allowed polytheists to openly worship, and Christian missionaries to station themselves in Qinghai. General Ma and other high ranking Muslim generals even attended the Kokonuur Lake Ceremony where the God of the Lake was worshipped, and during the ritual, the Chinese national anthem was sung, all participants bowed to a portrait of Kuomintang

Kuomintang

party founder Dr. Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yat Sen), and the God of the Lake was also bowed to, and offerings were given to him by the participants, which included the Muslims. Ma Bufang invited Kazakh Muslims to attend the ceremony honoring the God. Ma Bufang received audiences of Christian missionaries, who sometimes gave him the Gospel

Gospel

A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...

. His son Ma Jiyuan received a silver cup from Christian missionaries.

Islamic Association of China

The Islamic Association of China claims to represent Chinese Muslims nationwide. At its inaugural meeting on May 11, 1953, in Beijing, representatives from 10 nationalities of the People's Republic of China were in attendance.

China Islamic Association

In April 2001, the government set up the China Islamic Association, which was described as aiming to "help the spread of the Qur'an in China and oppose religious extremism". The association is to be run by 16 Islamic religious leaders who are charged with making "a correct and authoritative interpretation" of Islamic creed and canon.

It will compile and spread inspirational speeches and help imams improve themselves, and vet sermons made by clerics around the country. This latter function is probably the key job as far as the central government is concerned. It is worried that some clerics are using their sermons to spread sedition.

Some examples of the religious concessions granted to Muslims are:

In areas where Muslims are a majority, the breeding of pigs is not allowed, in deference to Muslim sensitivities
Muslim communities are allowed separate cemeteries
Muslim couples may have their marriage consecrated by an Imam
Muslim workers are permitted holidays during major religious festivals
Chinese Muslims are also allowed to make the Hajj to Mecca, and more than 45,000 Chinese Muslims have done so in recent years.

Culture and heritage

Although contacts and previous conquests have occurred before, the Mongol conquest of the greater part of Eurasia in the 13th century permanently brought the extensive cultural traditions of China, central Asia and western Asia into a single empire, albeit one of separate khanates, for the first time in history. The intimate interaction that resulted is evident in the legacy of both traditions. In China, Islam influenced technology, sciences, philosophy and the arts. In terms of material culture, one finds decorative motifs from central Asian Islamic architecture and calligraphy and the marked halal impact on northern Chinese cuisine.

Taking the Mongol Eurasian empire as a point of departure, the ethnogenesis of the Hui, or Sinophone Muslims, can also be charted through the emergence of distinctly Chinese Muslim traditions in architecture, food, epigraphy and Islamic written culture. This multifaceted cultural heritage continues to the present day.

Military

Muslims have often filled distinguished military positions, and many Muslims have joined the Chinese army. Muslims served extensively in the Chinese military, as both officials and soldiers. It was said that the Muslim Dongxiang

Dongxiang people

The Dongxiang people are one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...

and Salar were given to "eating rations", a reference to military service.

Islamic architecture

In Chinese, a mosque is called qīngzhēn sì (清真寺) or "pure truth temple." The Great Mosque of Xi'an (first established during the Tang era) and the Great Southern Mosque in Jinan, whose current buildings date from the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

, do not replicate many of the features often associated with traditional mosques. Instead, they follow traditional Chinese architecture

Chinese architecture

. Mosques in western China incorporate more of the elements seen in mosques in other parts of the world. Western Chinese mosques were more likely to incorporate minarets and domes while eastern Chinese mosques were more likely to look like pagoda

Pagoda

A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...

s.

An important feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis on symmetry

Symmetry

Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...

, which connotes a sense of grandeur; this applies to everything from palace

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

s to mosque

Mosque

s. One notable exception is in the design of garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

s, which tends to be as asymmetrical as possible. Like Chinese scroll paintings, the principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow; to let the patron wander and enjoy the garden without prescription, as in nature herself.

On the foothills of Mount Lingshan are the tombs of two of the four companions that Muhammad sent eastwards to preach Islam. Known as the "Holy Tombs," they house the companions Sa-Ke-Zu and Wu-Ko-Shun—their Chinese names, of course. The other two companions went to Guangzhou and Yangzhou.

Chinese buildings may be built with bricks, but wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

en structures are the most common; these are more capable of withstanding earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

s, but are vulnerable to fire

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....

. The roof of a typical Chinese building is curved; there are strict classifications of gable types, comparable with the classical orders of European columns.

As in all regions the Chinese Islamic architecture reflects the local architecture in its style. China is renowned for its beautiful mosques, which resemble temples. However, in western China the mosques resemble those of the middle east, with tall, slender minarets, curvy arches and dome shaped roofs. In northwest China where the Chinese Hui

Hui people

have built their mosques, there is a combination of east and west. The mosques have flared Chinese-style roofs set in walled courtyards entered through archways with miniature domes and minaret

Minaret

A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....

s. The first mosque was the Great Mosque of Xian, or the Xian Mosque, which was created in the Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

in the 7th century.

Halal food in China

Due to the large Muslim

Muslim

population in western China

China

, many Chinese restaurants cater to Muslims or cater to the general public but are run by Muslims. In most major cities in China, there are small Islamic restaurants or food stalls typically run by migrants from Western China (e.g., Uyghurs

Uyghur people

The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

), which offer inexpensive noodle soup. Lamb and mutton dishes are more commonly available than in other Chinese restaurants, due to the greater prevalence of these meats in the cuisine of western Chinese regions. Commercially prepared food can be certified Halal

Halal

Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

by approved agencies.
In Chinese, halal

Halal

is called qīngzhēn cài (清真菜) or "pure truth food."

Islamic Finance

China and Chinese Muslim economists have a long tradition with Islamic finance. The latest official attempt is Bank of Ningxia; while Hong Kong as financial center is discussing intensively its role.

Sini

Sini is a Chinese

China

Islamic calligraphic form

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...

for the Arabic script. It can refer to any type of Chinese Islamic calligraphy, but is commonly used to refer to one with thick and tapered effects, much like Chinese calligraphy. It is used extensively in mosque

Mosque

s in eastern China, and to a lesser extent in Gansu

Gansu

, Ningxia

Ningxia

, and Shaanxi

Shaanxi

' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...

. A famous Sini calligrapher is Hajji

Hajji

Hajji or El-Hajj, is an honorific title given to a Muslim person who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca, and is often used to refer to an elder, since it can take time to accumulate the wealth to fund the travel. The title is placed before a person's name...

Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang

Hajji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang is an expert in Islamic calligraphy, specializing in the Sini style which originated from the Chinese Muslim tradition. Born in the province of Shandong, he is a lecturer at the Islamic College at Zhengzhou in the province of Henan, and is also a researcher of...

Xiao'erjing

Xiao'erjing (also Xiao'erjin or Xiaojing) is the practice of writing Sinitic languages

Sinitic languages

The Sinitic languages, often called the Chinese languages or the Chinese language, are a language family frequently postulated as one of two primary branches of Sino-Tibetan...

such as Mandarin (especially the Lanyin, Zhongyuan

Zhongyuan Mandarin

Central Plains or Zhongyuan Mandarin is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese spoken in the central part of Shaanxi, Henan, and southern part of Shandong.The archaic dialect of Peking opera is a form of Zhongyuan Mandarin....

, and Northeastern

Northeastern Mandarin

Northeastern Mandarin is the dialect of Mandarin Chinese spoken in what historically was Manchuria. It is very similar to the Beijing dialect upon which Standard Chinese is based.-Geographical spread:...

dialects) or the Dungan language

Dungan language

The Dungan language is a Sinitic language spoken by the Dungan of Central Asia, an ethnic group related to the Hui people of China.-History:...

in the Arabic script. It is used on occasion by many ethnic minorities

Ethnic minorities in China

Ethnic minorities in China are the non-Han Chinese population in the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China officially recognizes 55 ethnic minority groups within China in addition to the Han majority. As of 2010, the combined population of officially recognised minority...

who adhere to the Islamic faith in China

China

(mostly the Hui

Hui people

, but also the Dongxiang

Dongxiang people

The Dongxiang people are one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...

, and the Salar), and formerly by their Dungan

Dungan

Dungans , called by Chinese and translated in Chinese language as Hui , are an ethnic group of Persian origin. The Dungans are dispersive people, comprising the majority population of Ningxia Autonomous Region, and scatter in other parts of China...

descendants in Central Asia.

Martial arts

Muslim development and participation at the highest level of Chinese wushu has a long history. Many of its roots lie in the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

persecution of Muslims. The Hui

Hui people

started and adapted many of the styles of wushu such as bajiquan, piguazhang, and liuhequan. There were specific areas that were known to be centers of Muslim

Muslim

wushu, such as Cang County in Hebei Province

Hebei

. These traditional Hui martial arts were very distinct from the Turkic styles practiced in Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

Literature

The Han Kitab

Han Kitab

The Han Kitab was a collection of Chinese Islamic texts, written by Chinese Muslims, which synthesized Islam and Confucianism. It was written in the early 18th century during the Qing dynasty. Its name is similarly synthesised: 'Han' is the Chinese word for Chinese, and 'kitab' means book in...

was a collection of Chinese Islamic texts written by Chinese Muslim

Hui people

which synthesized Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

and Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

. It was written in the early 18th century during the Qing dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

. Han is Chinese for Chinese, and kitab (ketabu in Chinese) is Arabic for book. Liu Zhi wrote his Han Kitab in Nanjing

Nanjing

' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

in the early 18th century. The works of Wu Sunqie, Zhang Zhong, and Wang Daiyu were also uncluded in the Han Kitab.

The Han Kitab was widely read and approved of by later Chinese Muslims such as Ma Qixi

Ma Qixi

Ma Qixi , a Hui from Gansu, was the founder of the Xidaotang, a Chinese-Islamic school of thought.-Education and teaching:Ma was born into the family of a Taozhou ahong of the Beizhuang menhuan, a Sufi order. At 11 years of age, he studied with a non-Muslim who was an examination graduate at the...

, Ma Fuxiang

Ma Fuxiang

, and Hu Songshan

Hu Songshan

. They believed that Islam could be understood through Confucianism.

Education

For some Muslim groups in China, such as Hui

Hui people

and Salars minorities, coeducation

Coeducation

Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...

is frown upon; for some groups such as Uyghur

Uyghur people

The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

s, its not.

Explorers

Zheng He
Zheng He
Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...

, mariner and explorer
Fei Xin
Fei Xin
Fei Xin was a member of the military personnel of the fleet of the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He, known as the author of a book about the countries visited by Chinese ships.-Biography:...

, Zheng He's translator
Ma Huan, a companion of Zheng He

Military

Founding generals of the Ming dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

: Hu Dahai
Hu Dahai
Hu Dahai 胡大海 , styled Tongfu 通甫, was a noted Chinese general of the 14th century who helped Zhu Yuanzhang establish the Ming Dynasty...

, Lan Yu
Lan Yu (general)
Lan Yu was a Chinese general who contributed to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. His ancestral home was in present-day Dingyuan County, Anhui. In 1393 Lan was suspected and accused of plotting a rebellion and eventually put to death by the Hongwu Emperor...

, Mu Ying
Mu Ying
Mu Ying was a general during the Ming Dynasty, and an adopted son of its founder, the Hongwu Emperor . Mu Ying was a Chinese Muslim. Mu Ying was one of the few capable generals who survived the massacre of the Hongwu Emperor....
The leaders of the Panthay Rebellion in Yunnan and the Muslim Rebellion in Northwestern China: Du Wenxiu, Ma Hualong
Ma Hualong
Ma Hualong , was the fifth leader of the Jahriyya, a Dungan Sufi order in northwestern China. From the beginning of the Dungan Revolt in 1862, until his surrender and death in 1871, he was one of the main leaders of the revolt.-Biography:Ma Hualong became the leader of the Jahriyya ca...

, Ma Zhan'ao
Ma Zhan'ao
Ma Zhan’ao was a Chinese Muslim General who defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1872 during the Dungan revolt along with his General Ma Qianling and General Ma Haiyan who served under him during the revolt. He first sent Ma Chun to negotiate a surrender with General Zuo, but Zuo suspected a ruse. Ma...
Chang Yuchun
Chang Yuchun
Chang Yuchun , style name Boren and pseudonym Yanheng , was a Chinese Muslim military general. He was a follower of the Ming Dynasty's founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, and contributed greatly to the founding of the dynasty...

Ming Dynasty General
Dong Fuxiang
Dong Fuxiang
Dong Fuxiang , a Chinese, was born Gansu, China. He commanded an army of Chinese Muslim soldiers, which included the later Ma clique generals Ma Anliang and Ma Fuxiang. According to the Western calendar, his birth date is in 1839.- Religion :Conflicting accounts are given about his religion and...

Qing Dynasty General
Liu Bin Di was a Hui Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

officer who died while fighting against Uyghur rebels in the Ili Rebellion.
Ma Julung Qing Dynasty General
The Ma clique
Ma clique
The Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Muslim warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia from the 1910s until 1949. There were 3 families in the Ma clique , each of them respectively controlled 3 areas, Gansu,...

of warlords during the Republic of China era: Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...

, Ma Chung-ying, Ma Fuxiang
Ma Fuxiang
Ma Fuxiang . Ma, a Dongxiang muslim leader, had a military and political career which spanned the Qing dynasty through the early Republic of China and illustrated the power of family, the role of religious affiliations, and the interaction of Inner Asian China and the national government of...

, Ma Hongkui
Ma Hongkui
Ma Hongkui , was a prominent warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Ningxia. His rank was Lieutenant-general. His courtesy name was Shao-yun .- Life :...

, Ma Dunjing (1910-2003), Ma Hongbin
Ma Hongbin
Ma Hongbin , was a prominent muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era. He was the acting Chairman of Gansu and Ningxia Provinces for a short period.- Life :...

, Ma Dunjing (1906-1972), Ma Lin
Ma Lin (warlord)
Ma Lin, , chairman of the government of Qinghai ; brother of Ma Qi. A Muslim born in 1873, Linxia, Gansu, China, he mainly succeeded to the posts of his brother, being general of southeastern Gansu province, as well as councillor of the Qinghai provincial government and acting head of the...

, Ma Qi
Ma Qi
Ma Qi was a Chinese Muslim warlord in early 20th century China.-Early life:His grandfather Sa-la Ma , is a Salar. He was born in 1869 in Daohe, now part of Linxia, Gansu, China. His father was Ma Haiyan...

, Ma Hu-shan, Ma Zhan'ao
Ma Zhan'ao
Ma Zhan’ao was a Chinese Muslim General who defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1872 during the Dungan revolt along with his General Ma Qianling and General Ma Haiyan who served under him during the revolt. He first sent Ma Chun to negotiate a surrender with General Zuo, but Zuo suspected a ruse. Ma...

, Ma Qianling
Ma Qianling
Ma Qianling was a Dongxiang Muslim General who defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1872 during the Dungan revolt along with his superior General Ma Zhanao and General Ma Haiyan. He then assisted General Zuo Zongtang in crushing the rebel Muslims. His trading activities were a success...

, Ma Fushou
Ma Fushou
Ma Fushou , a Hui, was the son of General Ma Qianling, and the brother of Ma Fucai, Ma Fulu, and Ma Fuxiang. He joined the martial arts hall and attended military school after three years of training in 1892....

, Ma Fulu
Ma Fulu
Ma Fulu , a Hui, was the son of General Ma Qianling, and the brother of Ma Fucai, Ma Fushou, and Ma Fuxiang. He joined the martial arts hall and attended military school. In 1895, he served under general Dong Fuxiang, leading loyalist Chinese Muslims to crush a revolt by rebel Chinese Muslims and...

, Ma Anliang
Ma Anliang
Ma Anliang , a Hui, was born in 1855, in Linxia, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China. His father was Ma Zhanao, and his younger brother was Ma Guoliang...

, Ma Guoliang, Ma Buqing
Ma Buqing
Ma Buqing was a prominent Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, controlling armies in the northwestern province of Qinghai.-Life:...

, Ma Bukang, Ma Jiyuan
Ma Jiyuan
Ma Jiyuan , was a Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. He was the son and only child of general Ma Bufang and commanded nationalist forces against the communists at the Heshui Campaign, Meridian Ridge Campaign, and the Lanzhou...

, Ma Chengxiang
Ma Chengxiang
Ma Chengxiang was a Chinese Muslim general in the National Revolutionary Army. He was the son of general Ma Buqing, and nephew of general Ma Bufang. He commanded Hui cavalry in Xinjiang, the 5th cavalry army. Ma was a member of the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang party and a hardliner...

, Ma Haiyan
Ma Haiyan
Ma Haiyan was a muslim General of the Qing Dynasty. Originally a Salar rebel, he defected to Qing government during the Dungan revolt and helped crush revolt Dungans.He was the father of Ma Qi and Ma Lin...

Ma Zhancang
Ma Zhancang
Ma Zhancang was a Chinese muslim general of the 36th Division , who served under Generals Ma Zhongying and Ma Hushan. At the Battle of Kashgar , he repulsed an attack of Uighurs led by the Syrian Arab Tawfiq Bay, wounding Tawfiq...

, general in the Republic of China army
Ma Zhanshan
Ma Zhanshan
Ma Zhanshan or Ma Chan-san , was a Chinese Muslim general who initially opposed the Imperial Japanese Army in the invasion of Manchuria, briefly defected to Manchukuo, and then rebelled, and fought against the Japanese in Manchuria and in other parts of China.-Early life:Ma was born...

, guerilla warrior against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
Ma Fuyuan, general in the Republic of China army
Ma Ju-lung Republic of China general
Ma Sheng-kuei, a general of the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
The 36th Division was a cavalry division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1932 by the Kuomintang for General Ma Zhongying, who was also its first commander. It was made almost entirely out of Hui Muslim troops, all of its officers were Hui, with a few thousand Uighurs forced...
Ma Xiao
Ma Xiao
Ma Xiao was a Chinese muslim brigade commander in Liu Wenhui's army. He fought against the Tibetan army in the Sino-Tibetan War.-References:...

, Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

general in Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui was one of the warlords of Sichuan province during China's Warlord era. Liu who rose to prominence in Sichuan in the 1920s and 1930s, came from a peasant family. At the beginning of his career, he was aligned with the Kuomintang , commanding the Sichuan-Xikang Defence Force from 1927 to...

's army
Ma Xinyi
Ma Xinyi
Ma Xinyi ; was an eminent Hui muslim official and a military general of the late Qing Dynasty in China....

, official and a military general of the late Qing Dynasty in China.
Ma Zhanhai
Ma Zhanhai
Ma Zhanhai was a Chinese Muslim Battalion Commander who was killed in action during the Qinghai Tibet War which was part of the Sino-Tibetan War. He served in Ma Bufang's Qinghai army.-References:...

Republic of China general
Su Chin-shou
Su Chin-shou
Su Chin-shou was a Chinese muslim general of the 36th Division , who served under Generals Ma Zhongying and Ma Hushan. He was the Chief of Staff of General Ma Zhancang and was appointed as one of the two tao-yins of Kashgar in May, 1933...

,a general of the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
The 36th Division was a cavalry division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1932 by the Kuomintang for General Ma Zhongying, who was also its first commander. It was made almost entirely out of Hui Muslim troops, all of its officers were Hui, with a few thousand Uighurs forced...
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi , , also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and a prominent Chinese Nationalist Muslim leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith...

, general in the Republic of China army
Pai Tzu-li
Pai Tzu-li
Pai Tzu-li was a Chinese Muslim general of the 36th Division , who served under Generals Ma Zhongying and Ma Hushan. He was the secretary to Ma Zhongying, and his age was estimated to be about 40...

, a general of the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
The 36th Division was a cavalry division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1932 by the Kuomintang for General Ma Zhongying, who was also its first commander. It was made almost entirely out of Hui Muslim troops, all of its officers were Hui, with a few thousand Uighurs forced...
Ma Ching-chiang
Ma Ching-chiang
Ma Ching-chiang was a Chinese Muslim general of the Republic of China Army, who served in the 1970s. He served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Service Forces and an advisor of President Chiang Kai-shek.- External links :*...

, Lt. General of the Republic of China Army
Republic of China Army
The ROC Army's current operational strength includes 3 armies, 5 corps. As of 2005, the Army's 35 brigades include 25 infantry brigades, 5 armoured brigades and 3 mechanized infantry brigades...
Ma Shenglin
Ma Shenglin
Ma Shenglin was a Hui Jahriyya Sufi rebel who fought against the Qing dynasty in the Panthay Rebellion.In the late 1860s, when Qing loyalist Muslim General Ma Rulong led the reconquest western Yunnan, Ma Shenglin defended town of Greater Donggou against Ma Rulong’s army in a battle of in central...

, rebel during the Panthay Rebellion, great uncle of Ma Shaowu
Ma Shaowu
Ma Shaowu was a Hui born in Yunnan, in Qing dynasty China. He was a member of the Xinjiang clique during the Republic of China.- Family history :...
Zuo Baogui (左寶貴) (1837–1894), Qing Muslim general from Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

province, was martyred in Pingyang
Pingyang
Pingyang may refer to:*Linfen, formerly known as Pingyang, county-level city of Shanxi*Princess Pingyang , Chinese princess of the Tang Dynasty*Pingyang County , of Wenzhou, Zhejiang*Towns named Pingyang...

in Korea by Japanese cannonfire in 1894 while defending the city. A memorial to him was built.

Religious

Liu Zhi
Liu Zhi (scholar)
Liu Zhi was a Chinese Muslim scholar of the Qing period from Nanjing.- Biography :In his childhood, he received instruction from his father, Liu Sanjie . At the age of 12, he studied scriptures with Yuan Ruqi at the Garden of Military Studies Mosque in Nanjing, . At the age of 15, he began a...

(ca. 1660 - ca. 1739), Qing Dynasty Islamic author
Qi Jingyi
Qi Jingyi
Qi Jingyi , also known as Hilal al-Din, was a Chinese Sufi master, instrumental in the spread of the Qadiriyyah school among Chinese Muslims. He was known among his followers as Qi Daozu , i.e...

(1656–1719), a Sufi master who introduced the Qadiriyyah school into China
Ma Laichi
Ma Laichi
Ma Laichi , also known as Abu 'l-Futūh Ma Laichi, was a Sufi master, who brought the Khufiyya movement to China and created the Huasi menhuan - the earliest and most important Naqshbandi order in the history of Islam in China.-Afaq Khoja's blessing:Ma Laichi is a hybrid of Hui and Han Chinese...

(1681?-1766?), a Sufi master, who brought the Khufiyya Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...

movement to China
Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin was a Dungan Sufi master, the establisher of the Jahriyya Sufi order in China.-Names:Ma Mingxin's religious name was Ibrāhīm. After returning to China from Arabia he started calling himself 'Azīz.He was also called Muhammad Emin.-Life:A Persian-speaking Muslim from Gansu, Ma Mingxin...

(1719–1781), the founder of the Jahriyya
Jahriyya
Jahriyya is a Sufi order in China that once existed in Persia and the Turkish World. Founded by Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani, it was brought to China in the 1760s by Ma Mingxin...

Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...

movement
Ma Wanfu
Ma Wanfu
Ma Wanfu was a Dongxiang-Imam of the village Guoyuan in Hezhou...

, founder of the Yihewani
Ma Qixi
Ma Qixi
Ma Qixi , a Hui from Gansu, was the founder of the Xidaotang, a Chinese-Islamic school of thought.-Education and teaching:Ma was born into the family of a Taozhou ahong of the Beizhuang menhuan, a Sufi order. At 11 years of age, he studied with a non-Muslim who was an examination graduate at the...

(1857–1914), founder of the Xidaotang
Xidaotang
Xidaotang is a Chinese-Islamic school of thought. It was founded by Ma Qixi , a Chinese Muslim from Lintan in Gansu, at the beginning of the 20th Century...
Ma Yuanzhang, Jahriyya
Jahriyya
Jahriyya is a Sufi order in China that once existed in Persia and the Turkish World. Founded by Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani, it was brought to China in the 1760s by Ma Mingxin...

Sufi leader
Hu Songshan
Hu Songshan
Hu Songshan , a Hui, was born in 1880, in Tongxin County, Ningxia, China. His father was a Gansu ahong belonging to the Khafiya menhuan, a Chinese-style Sufi order. When he was 18 he joined Wang Naibi of Haicheng. At age 21, he became imam of the Yihewani sect, which was founded by Ma Wanfu...

(1880–1956), Yihewani reformer, and Chinese nationalist

Scholars and writers

Bai Shouyi
Bai Shouyi
Bai Shouyi , also known as Djamal al-Din Bai Shouyi, was a prominent Chinese Muslim historian, thinker, social activist and ethnologist who revolutionized recent Chinese historiography and pioneered in relying heavily on scientific excavations and reports...

, historian
Tohti Tunyaz
Tohti Tunyaz
Tohti Tuniyaz is an ethnic Uyghur historian and writer. Tohti graduated from the history department of the Central Institute of Nationalities, Beijing, in 1984 and was assigned to work for the China National Standing Committee...

, historian
Yusuf Ma Dexin
Yusuf Ma Dexin
Yusuf Ma Dexin was a Hui Chinese scholar of Islam from Yunnan, known for his fluency and proficiency in both Arabic and Persian, and for his knowledge of Islam.- Hajj :...

, first translator of the Qur'an into Chinese
Muhammad Ma Jian
Muhammad Ma Jian
Muhammad Ma Jian was a Chinese Islamic scholar and translator.Born in Shadian village, Gejiu, Yunnan, Ma Jian went to Shanghai to pursue his studies in 1928. In 1931, he left China for Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt as a member of the first group of government-sponsored Chinese students to...

, author of the most popular Chinese translation of the Qur'an
Wang Daiyu, Master Supervisor of the Imperial Observatory during the Ming Dynasty. He was called ‘Master of the Four Religions’ because of his complete knowledge of China’s four religions: Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

and Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

.
Zhang Chengzhi
Zhang Chengzhi
Zhang Chengzhi is a contemporary Hui Chinese author. Often named as the most influential Muslim writer in China, his historical narrative History of the Soul, about the rise of the Jahriyya Sufi order , was the second-most popular book in China in 1994.-Biography:Zhang was born in Beijing in 1948...

, contemporary author
Ma Linyi
Ma Linyi
Ma Linyi was a Chinese Muslim born in Hunan province during the Qing Dynasty.In 1912 he became Minister of Education of Gansu province, appointed by the Republic of China Kuomintang government....

Gansu Minister of Education
Pai Hsien-yung
Pai Hsien-yung
Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai , born July 11, 1937) is a writer who has been described as a "melancholy pioneer." He was born in Guilin, Guangxi, China at the cusp of both the Second Sino-Japanese War and subsequent Chinese Civil War...

, contemporary author, son of Bai Chongxi

Martial arts

Ma Xianda
Ma Xianda
Ma Xianda was born in 1932 to a Muslim Hui family in Hebei whose association with martial arts goes back six generations. Ma Xianba was taught by his father Ma Fengtu and uncle Ma Yintu...

, martial artist.
Wang Zi-Ping
Wang Zi-Ping
Wang Zi-Ping was a Chinese-Muslim practitioner of Chinese Martial Arts and traditional medicine from Changzhou, Cangxian county, Mengcun, Hebei Province. He served as the leader of the Shaolin Kung Fu division of the Martial Arts Institute in 1928 and was also the vice chairman of the Chinese...

, member of an underground revolutionary group known as "The Righteous and Harmonious Fists" during the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...

.
Chang Tung Sheng
Chang Tung Sheng
Chang Tung Sheng was a Hui martial artist. He was one of the best-known Chinese wrestling practitioners and teachers....

, martial artist and Shuai jiao
Shuai jiao
Shuai jiao is the general Mandarin Chinese term for wrestling. As a generic name, it may be used to cover various styles of wrestling practised in China in the form of a martial arts system or a sport. The narrower term pertains to wrestling styles of the North China Plain...

teacher.

In politics

Highest ranking Muslim official in the People's Republic of China

Hui Liangyu, vice premier in charge of agriculture in the People's Republic of China

External links

Asia Times Online: China News - Islam with Chinese characteristics
Islam in China
Islam in China
Photos of "Islam in China" by Photojournalist Sean Gallagher
The New York times
islamawareness.net
www.islamcn.net
Islamic Chinese Art (Dru C. Gladney's photo album on Flickr.com)
Islamic Architecture in China with lots of photographs
International Imam Organization

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Introduction of Islam in 616-18 AD

Tang Dynasty

Song Dynasty

Tombs of Imam Asim and Mazaar of Zafar Sadiq

Yuan Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

Republic of China

People's Republic of China

People

Ethnic groups

Number of Muslims in China

Historical estimates

Islamic education in China

Muslim groups

Chinese Muslims and the Hajj

Attitudes toward Non-Muslims

Islamic Association of China

China Islamic Association

Culture and heritage

Military

Islamic architecture

Halal food in China

Islamic Finance

Sini

Xiao'erjing

Martial arts

Literature

Education

Explorers

Military

Religious

Scholars and writers

Martial arts

In politics

See also

External links