In China there are up to 25 million Muslims living in the country, representing over 1200 years of Chinese-Islamic relations. However, little is known about the historical and contemporary geopolitical relations between China and the Muslim world, or the situation for the diverse groups of Muslims living in China today. In this book, James Frankel studies the rich and dynamic history of Muslims in China from the Tang dynasty (618-907) to the present day. He shows that Muslims in China remain an internally diverse population separated geographically, ethnically, linguistically, economically, educationally, and along sectarian and kinship lines. But despite having its own local flavours and accents, Islam in China is recognisable as the same religious tradition practiced by approximately 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide and Muslims in China are inextricably part of society, living alongside other minorities and amongst the great Han Chinese majority. Tracing 1200 years of history, this book shows that Muslim communities in China have undergone tremendous change, touched by the forces of Chinese history, the development of Islamic traditions outside China, and geopolitics. In highlighting the paradoxical situation in which Chinese Muslims have found themselves - living as both insiders and outsiders to Chinese society and state - the book examines why after so many centuries of habitation and naturalisation, Muslims in China are still stigmatized by their perceived alien origins. The book follows the ‘yin and yang’ of compatibility and difference and the connections and ruptures between two great civilisations.
By:
James Frankel
Imprint: I B TAURIS
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 334g
ISBN: 9781784539818
ISBN 10: 1784539813
Series: Islam in Series
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 09 September 2021
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements Preface Introduction 1. Muslim Origins inChina 2. Muslim Transplantation in EarlyChina 3. Muslim Entrenchment in MedievalChina 4. Muslim Renaissance and Resistance in Late ImperialChina 5. Muslim Nation-Building in Post-ImperialChina 6. Muslims and the State inCommunist China 7. Muslim Diversity in ContemporaryChina 8. Chinese Muslims, Global Islam, and the Global Power ofChina Notes Bibliography
James D. Frankel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies and Director of the Centre for the Study of Islamic Culture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Reviews for Islam in China
This concise, highly readable account of Muslim communities in China begins with a succinct but sufficient historical narrative and ends with a balanced and well-informed discussion of today's Uyghur controversy. It's the one book on Chinese Islam that everyone should read. * Richard W. Bulliet, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, USA * An excellent and much needed survey of the long history of Islam in China. -- Sachiko Murata, Stony Brook University, USA
