Islam in China (the Chinese name is “Huihui Jiao”) has a history of more than a thousand years. Religion had been penetrating into the country in two ways - by land to the northwest and by sea to the south of China. The formation of the Muslim community began in the 7th century. A major role in its development were played by not only Arab missionaries, but also Persians, Turks, Indians and representatives of other nations who converted to Islam. This diversity, including the interaction of Muslims with the Han Chinese population, has imbued Islam in that country with a unique flavor.
The majority of Chinese Muslims profess Sunnism. Among them, the most widespread are Hanafi and Shafi'i madhhabs. Followers of Abu Hanifa's teachings are found in almost all ethnic groups of Chinese Muslims: Hui, Uyghurs, Salars and others. Some communities in northwestern China (Uyghurs, Salars, Turkmen and Hui) follow the teachings of Imam Shafi. Several unique Chinese schools have emerged within the Hanafi and Shafi'i madhhabs, and they are still active today.
Gedimu (Gedem) school (the way of writing looks like the arabic word “qadim” - “old”) is the oldest in Chinese Islam. Its followers believe that the school was founded by the Arabs in the Tang Empire (618-907 years). The movement received its name “gedimu” from later Islamic movements due to its somewhat archaic nature. Gedimu adherents lived in separate villages and urban enclaves. The communities were isolated from the Han population and were connected to each other through trade and a sense of common belonging to the ummah .
The end of the Qing dynasty (early 20th century) marked a period of active interaction between China and the outside world. Many Muslims began to travel abroad, in particular to the Middle East. Pilgrimage and education in major centers of Islamic learning led Chinese Muslims to rethink some aspects of their religious traditions. So, inspired by Wahhabism pilgrims, brought to China the ideas of Yihewani, calling for the purification of Islam from Chinese influence and returning to the origins of the religion.
Currently, Yihewani is an influential Muslim movement in China. Its differences from Gedimu lie in ritual practices and the desire to modernize education. Yihewani (derived from “Al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn”, that means, “Muslim Brotherhood”) can’t be considered a religious movement borrowed from the Middle East, because in China it acquired unique specifics and became the first to declare the reform of local Islam. The ideas of the Yihewani are supported by the Chinese authorities.
The Communist government of China considers Sufism, which appeared in this territory in the 17th century, to be a feudal and reactionary movement. An important contribution of the mystical movement to the social organization of Chinese Islam was the opening of schools (called "menhuan"). Three main Sufi schools formed in the northwest of the country: Qadariyya, Khuffiya, Jahriyya. Sheikhs at the head of schools became spiritual teachers for their followers. This distinguished them from the gedimu imams , who were often uneducated.
Xidaotang, also called the Hanxue pai, is another Islamic movement common in the northwestern provinces of China. It is based on Hanafi Sunnism and the work of the famous Hui scholar Liu Zhi. According to this teaching, only the combination of Islam with Chinese culture can contribute to its development in the Tianxia (literally meaning "(all) under Heaven", is a Chinese term for a historical Chinese cultural concept.) Adherents of Xidaotang are both individual Muslims and closed collective farms. Followers of the movement especially honor the Eid-e-Milad an-Nabi.
Liu Zhi is a Muslim writer of the 18th century, author of “The Metaphysics of Islam or The Philosophy of Arabia”. Describing the structure of the Universe, Liu Zhi uses the Buddhist terms " wuji " (limitless), " wú shǐ " (beginningless), Taoist categories such as "yin" and "yang", for example. Many concepts from Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese folk beliefs have become widespread in the works of ideologists of Chinese Islam. Liu Zhi is also co-author of “Han kitab”, explaining Islam through Confucianism.
Theological work "Han kitab" (can be translated as "Chinese book") from the late 17th and early 18th centuries were written for Chinese Muslims who spoke exclusively their native language. Its authors were well-educated and respected Sharia experts - the already mentioned Liu Zhi, as well as Wang Daiyu and Ma Zhu. For example, in this work, the Islamic concept of “Al-Insān al-Kāmil” (which means “the person who has reached perfection”) is identified with the Confucian concept of the same name. The Prophet ﷺ on the pages of the work is called “Shen” - sage and saint.
The author of the first complete translation of the Holy Quran into Chinese, produced directly by a Muslim, was a graduate of Al-Azhar University, Wang Jingzhai. The activity of the scientist Muhammad Ma Jian deserves special attention. The full version of his work was published in 1981, after the reform to introduce a simplified hieroglyphic system was carried out. For this reason, the work still remains understandable and popular for most Chinese, and not only Muslims.
Muhammad Ma Jian conveys the meanings of the titles of the original text quite closely. In addition to discrepancies due to the difference between the Chinese and Arabic languages, there are also non-critical semantic differences. For example, the title of the fifth sura of the Quran “Al- Maida” (“Table” or “Meal”) is translated as “Mat”, which may indicate a certain desire of the author to use an equivalent that would correlate with the national identity and culture of Chinese Muslims.
The concept of One God, inherent in the Abrahamic religions, was alien to the inhabitants of China. Therefore, at the dawn of the penetration of Islam into the Tianxia, there were no suitable terms in the Chinese language to describe monotheistic concepts. This is how the lexeme “Zhēnzhǔ” emerged, where the first hieroglyph means “nature”, or as an adjective – “true”. The second grapheme “zhǔ” is translated as "one who controls". We can conclude that the Chinese sought to convey as accurately as possible the essence of the concept of “Allah” precisely as the Supreme Ruler of the worlds.
The Chinese nation are considered to have a huge ability to assimilate representatives of other nationalities who find themselves in the Chinese environ. This also affected the ancestors of modern Hui, who adopted the Chinese language, clothing, and everyday habits. A striking symbol is that their mosques are difficult to distinguish from traditional Chinese temples. While the Uyghurs, for example, continue to struggle to preserve their national identity. But following the precepts of Islam helps Chinese Muslims to preserve their own identity.
A popular legend among them is how the Emperor Taizong of Tang saw the Prophet ﷺ in a dream in 628 and, after consulting with astrologers, sent diplomats to the west to Muhammad ﷺ. It was talked also about the embassy, which supposedly was sent by the founder of Islam to the Chinese emperor. But in fact, the relationship between the Arabs and the Chinese was established by the third Rashidun caliph Uthman ibn Affan. Chinese historian Sima Qian called the Arab Caliphate "Tàishǐgōng", which means "great" and "gigantic".
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