Islam in China

Abstract

The recent events in the Xinjiang region of China – the construction of camps, terrible human rights violations, torture and sterilizations – at the domestic level and the re-establishment of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan at the global level have focused attention on Islamic studies in China. Scholars in both Chinese and Western academics are becoming increasingly interested in China’s treatment of Islam. James D. Frankel’s Islam in China provides both an historical and a present viewpoint on the subject. This book is an empathic and very informative study for people seeking to grasp the Islam–China link and the Xinjiang humanitarian situation. Also discussed is how Islam entered the Chinese psyche and area of influence nearly as soon as it erupted from the sands of the Middle East in the seventh century CE.

The book begins with the Tang Emperor having an unusual vision of a mysterious figure clothed in green with his head covered in a turban who had the power to slay the monster and avoid the coming disaster. Islam began to spread in China via the overland and maritime Silk Roads during the Tang and Song eras. Arabian and Persian traders constructed tombs and mosques (fusing traditional Arab and Chinese architecture), intermarried with local Chinese, and raised the first generation of Chinese-speaking Muslims. This book goes on to discuss in detail Islam’s rich contributions to Chinese society, including social, political, economic and cultural aspects. Without bias, the book speaks in facts and attempts to demonstrate how intricately Islam is intertwined into Chinese history.