During the early modern period, Muslims in China began to embrace the Chinese characteristics of their heritage. Several scholar-teachers began to incorporate tenets from traditional Chinese education into their promotion of Islamic knowledge. As a result, some Sino-Muslims established an
educational network, the scripture hall educational system (jingtang jiaoyu), which utilized an Islamic curriculum made up of Arabic, Persian, and Chinese works. The corpus of Chinese Islamic texts written in this system is collectively labeled the Han Kitab.
Interpreting Islam in China
explores the Sino-Islamic intellectual tradition through the works of some its brightest luminaries, in order to identify and explicate pivotal transitions in their engagement with the Islamic tradition. Three prominent Sino-Muslim authors are used to illustrate transformations within this
tradition, Wang Daiyu (1590-1658), Liu Zhi (1670-1724), and Ma Dexin (1794-1874).Kristian Petersen puts these scholars in dialogue and demonstrates the continuities and departures within this tradition. Through an analysis of their writings on the subjects of pilgrimage, scripture, and language, he
considers several questions: How malleable are religious categories and why are they variously interpreted across time? How do changing historical circumstances affect the interpretation of religious beliefs and practices? How do individuals navigate multiple sources of authority? How do practices
inform belief? Overall, he shows, these authors presented an increasingly universalistic portrait of Islam through which Sino-Muslims were encouraged to participate within the global community of Muslims in both theological and experiential spaces. The growing emphasis on performing the pilgrimage
to Mecca, comprehensive knowledge of the Qur'an, and personal knowledge of Arabic further stimulated communal engagement. Petersen demonstrates that the integration of Sino-Muslims within a growing global environment, where international travel and communication was increasingly possible, was
accompanied by the rising self-awareness of a universally engaged Muslim community.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. History in the Development of the Sino-Muslim Community: The Roles of Language, Authority, and Locality
2. Tradition and the Shaping of Sino-Muslim Intellectuals
3. Routes of the Hajj Pilgrimage: Belief, Practice, and Performance
4. The
Treasure of the Heavenly Scripture: Engaging the Qur'an in China
5. Arabic Discourse, Linguistic Authority, and Islamic Knowledge
Epilogue
References
Index
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Kristian Petersen is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and co-director of Islamic Studies at the University of Nebraska Omaha. His research engages theory and methodology in the study of religion, Islamic Studies, Chinese religions, and Media Studies.
Making Sense - Margot Northey and Joan McKibbin
Islamic Thought in China - Edited by Jonathan Lipman
China's Early Mosques - Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt
