Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T20:01:47.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 4 - The Advent of Islam in China

from Part I - Cultural Contact in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2015

Get access

Summary

This chapter aims to examine the process of cultural contact between the Chinese and Islamic civilizations, in particular, between Arab and Chinese cultures. The Arab culture is basically an Islamic culture. In China, most of the Muslims are descendants of Arabs, Persians and Turks from Central and Western Asia. More specifically, this chapter will focus on two aspects of cultural contact between these two great ancient civilizations: the spread of Islam to China in the Tang and Song dynasties (mid-seventh century to 1279) as a result of diplomacy and religious activities, and the emergence of the Hui communities in Yuan China (1271–1368).

ISLAM AND ISLAMIC TEACHINGS

The rapid expansion of Islam can be attributed to a combination of factors, namely, the geography of Arabia, the personality of Prophet Muhammad and his Islamic teachings. Except for the coastal plains by the Red Sea, almost all of the land in Arabia is desert. During the sixth and seventh centuries, most of the Arabs led a nomadic life. They formed tribes and roamed from region to region seeking new land for their livestock. Along the coast of the Red Sea there were a few cities and trade centres such as Yemen and Mecca, where the people made their living on trade and industry. Arabia was caught between two great political and religious powers in the seventh century, the Christian Byzantine Empire in the West and the Zoroastrian Sassanid Empire of Persia in the East. The trade route in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf was disrupted by frequent wars between the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. As a result, a new sea route to the East through the Red Sea was developed. Arab merchant ships plied from Yemen to India, Africa, China and the Malay Archipelago, while Mecca became an important centre for finance and grew into a powerful settlement. Essentially, the coastal plain of Arabia became a melting pot of cultures and a cross-road for merchants and trade. The prestige of Kaaba in Mecca also drew many Arabs leaving the desert for a more stable life in the cities and so it created a conducive environment for social, cultural, economic and political developments including spiritual and commercial pursuits.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×