A Brief Narrative of Chinese Style Islamic Relics

CHAPTER 4 A Brief Narrative of Chinese Style Islamic Relics

Feng Zenglie

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Islamic relics in China such as mosque architecture, holy relics for the use of reciting the Quran, stone inscriptions, engravings and paintings, and compares them with others in China. The comparisons, based on objective findings, show that the styles of Chinese and Islamic relics have been mixed and that some relics were made using Chinese techniques but with Islamic features. The author argues that Islamic relics made in Chinese styles further our understanding of the evolution of Islam in China.

Keywords

Chinese ornamentation – Islam – Relics

In medieval times, Arabs traded with China and brought along with them Arabic culture and religion, influencing Chinese astronomy, herbal medicine, art, language and, to a certain extent cultural and ethnic customs. Relevant to the spread of Arabic cultures in China is that such influences are epitomized by some Chinese characteristics as found in Chinese Islam in terms of scope, character, degree of influence and representational forms, all which are to be considered in depth. This chapter, focuses upon Chinese-style Islamic relics to further the discussion on the intersection of Islamic relics and Chinese ornamentation. Historically, Islam was and is the principle religion in China’s Hui communities. These communities have been influenced by Han Chinese culture such that it has become a crucial factor shaping their social characteristics.

* This article was originally published in Studies in the World Religions (Shijie Zongjiao Yanjiu 世界宗教研究) 1 (1982).

Such characteristics were brought about by the “Sinicization” of Islam,1 together with some “Islamized” aspects of Chinese culture, for instance, the introduction of Islamic theological thought, rituals and mosque architecture into the Chinese context. Additionally, Chinese relics, such as memorial gateways (paifang 牌坊), couplets, seals, and stone inscriptions, underwent Islamization that created culturally-mixed artifacts with both Chinese and Islamic characteristics. Focusing on artifacts with dual characteristics, this chapter will not investigate relics that are classified as purely Islamic, purely Arabic or Hui, as they are out the scope of this investigation. First, we will discuss mosques, where Muslims worship and which are often found in Muslim settlements around the world. Mosques, rectangular struc- tures developed based on basilica architecture from the Byzantine Empire, were built by Arabs in the 7th century AD. The prayer hall faces the Ka’ba2 in Mecca, being adjacent to a minaret and ablution rooms. Yet, while mosques were diffused around the world, Islamic architecture has gradually changed as it integrated local and national elements. As a result, Chinese mosques have distinctive characteristics compared to those found elsewhere. In general, Chinese mosques are categorized into two stylistic types: one is Central Asian, which is represented by the mosques of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang; the other is Chinese, with these mosques serving the Hui, Salar, and Dongxiang ethnic groups. Before the Yuan Dynasty, Muslim Arabs, Persians and Indians built mosques on the southeast coast, including the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangdong and the Shengyou Mosque in Quanzhou. These mosques feature granite columns, cusped gates and windows, stone engravings in “Kufic” and “Naskh” styles, ornaments in emerald green and lofty minarets. By the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, mosques further developed as the Hui population, which

1 There are ten nationalities believing in Islam, which, to more or less extent, exhibit some national characteristics in each nationality. Putting these characteristics in place will show a whole picture what the Chinese characteristics of Islam are meant to be. But “Hui-ization” of Islam, in terms of strict scientific inquiries, was a consequence of a thorough cultural penetration of Han Chinese cultures into Islam believed by Hui communities, which were also “sinicized” as being understood in objective reality. This chapter refers only to the latter of Hui being deeply influenced by Chinese cultures. 2 Ka’ba is the cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, the center of the Heaven and Earth in Islam and the place of Allah “with the perpetual peace and tranquility, not linked to the zenith and the nadir, not set for creation, and only the sole originator of the world.” See: Liu Zhi (劉智), “Fundamental Doctrines yuan jiao pian 原教篇),” in The Rites of Islam: A Summary (Tianfang Dianli 天方典禮擇要解) (Tianjin: Tianjin guji chubanshe, 2006), role 1. As instructed in the Quran, Muslims should face the Ka’ba when prostrating. Mecca is due west to China, thus the posterior walls of qiblah face west.