Islam and Chinese Culture

Author: Yang Huaizhong, Yu Zengui (editors)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1995-01-01
Features: The historical facts revealed in this book fully demonstrate that the Hui people initially possessed a high cultural level and served as carriers of Islamic culture. History entrusted them with the mission of spreading Islamic culture to the East, and it was they who introduced advanced Islamic culture to China. In Chinese history, it was also them who introduced Western culture to China in a relatively systematic and comprehensive way for the second time. However, on the winding and arduous path of history, they gradually declined from their cultural height. Especially during the late Qing Dynasty, the suppression of the Hui uprisings led to severe destruction of the agricultural economic foundation of the Hui people in southwestern and northwestern China, and the centuries-old commercial advantages of the Hui were also lost. After the disaster, most Hui people became tenant farmers in poor rural areas or urban poor, struggling to make a living by selling labor while engaging in small-scale trade. The economic hardship further accelerated the decline of their culture. Hui astronomy and Hui medicine, these unique Hui disciplines, were no longer studied by anyone. Even Islamic scholars like those who wrote poems for Ma Zhu’s Qingzheng Zhinan in the early Qing Dynasty, who were proficient in Arabic and skilled in classical five-and-seven-character poetry, became rare. Looking back at history and admiring our ancestors, we should recognize, speak for, respect, and strengthen ourselves, following the tradition of our predecessors who regarded knowledge as wealth. In the great cause of modernizing our motherland, we should revitalize the economic and cultural heritage of our nation to achieve national prosperity and glory.