The Construction of Chinese Muslim Identities in Transnational Spaces
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
review of religion and chinese society 5 (2018) 156-182 brill.com/rrcs The Construction of Chinese Muslim Identities in Transnational Spaces Yuting Wang American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates [email protected] Abstract Since the beginning of the reform and opening up in China nearly four decades ago, China’s Muslim minorities have restored connections with the global Muslim ummah (community) through religious pilgrimages, business activities, and educational and cultural exchanges. Whether attracted by better economic prospects or for religious purposes, an increasing number of Chinese Muslims have found ways out of China, taking sojourns or eventually settling down in diverse locations across the globe. Draw- ing on the author’s field research in China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, combined with a review of key studies on Chinese Muslims in Southeast Asia, this paper traces the shape of Chinese Muslim transnational networks and ex- amines the construction of “Chinese Muslim” identity in the diaspora. By locating the study of contemporary Chinese Muslims within the broader scholarship on transna- tional religion, this paper deepens our understanding of the impact of globalization on ethnoreligious minorities. Keywords Chinese Muslims – transnational migration – diasporic identity – transnational Islam – globalization © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/22143955-00502003Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 08:38:16AM via free access <UN> The Construction of Chinese Muslim Identities 157 跨国空间里的华人穆斯林身份建构 摘要 改革开放近四十年以来,中国的穆斯林少数民族通过宗教朝觐,商业活 动,以及教育文化交流与世界各地的穆斯林社区恢复了联络。不论是基于 经济考虑或宗教目的,越来越多的中国穆斯林离开中国到海外各地暂居或 者定居。使用作者在中国,美国,阿联酋的田野资料,并结合其他学者对 东南亚华人穆斯林的研究,本文勾勒出华人穆斯林跨国网络的轮廓,并考 察移民社区中“华人穆斯林”身份的构建。将当代华人穆斯林置于跨国宗 教的研究领域之中,本文将加深我们对全球化进程中少数宗教族群的认 知。 关键词 华人穆斯林,跨国移民,流散身份,跨国伊斯兰,全球化 Introduction Chinese Muslims, or more precisely, Chinese-speaking Muslims, have in many ways become a transnational phenomenon in recent decades. More than sim- ply the result of cross-border population movement, the growing visibility of Chinese Muslim communities in Western academia1 and public discourses2 is also the byproduct of the escalating conflict between Islam and the West and the deeply rooted sectarian tensions within the Muslim ummah (community). The legitimacy of the very existence of Chinese Muslims is, on the one hand, threatened by the the invasion of modern and postmodern cultural influences 1 A rich and growing body of literature on Chinese Muslims and Islam in China has developed since the topic was first introduced to Western academia through the work of Jesuit mission- aries in the early twentieth century. James Frankel (2011) provided a review of key publica- tions in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Recent conferences and workshops held in the uk (International Conference on Ethnographies of Islam in China, held at the soas, University of London, in March 2017), the uae (Workshop on Islam in China and Chinese Muslims, held at the American University of Sharjah in January 2018), and Hong Kong (Inter- national Conference on Islam in the China Seas, held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in March 2018) suggest that the field remains relevant in different areas of academic research. 2 Major media outlets in the West, for example Foreign Affairs and the New York Times, fre- quently report on the affairs of Muslim minorities in China. review of religion and chinese society 5 (2018) 156-182Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 08:38:16AM via free access <UN> 158 Wang that confront those desiring to preserve an ancient tradition, and on the other hand celebrated as a sign of the universality of Islam and of the possibility of cross-cultural dialogues and cooperation. Therefore, the vitality of Chinese Muslims in transnational spaces presents a fascinating case study for both theologians (e.g., Abd-Allah 2004, 2006) and academics. Recently, there has been a renewed scholarly interest in the growing ties between Chinese Muslims in mainland China and the diasporic communities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and beyond (Ho 2010, 2013; Wang 2016; Cieciura 2018 [in this issue]). A complex Chinese Muslim transnational network, as shown in these studies, links closely knit communities in remote corners of Northwest China to individuals scattered in large metropolises from the Middle East to North America, and is sustained by powerful social media. The historical ties between China and Southeast Asia and the prevailing Islamic culture in the re- gion make it attractive to potential Chinese Muslim migrants. The Middle East and North Africa is another desirable destination, for both religious and eco- nomic reasons. A constant flow of Chinese Muslims has traveled to countries like Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, either through official channels or by private means, in order to study in some of the most reputable religious universities or madrasas in the Islamic world. Some of these students, who initially aspired to become imams after completing their studies, took ad- vantage of the growing appetite for Chinese products in the region to build their own trading companies. The rapid economic growth in the Arabian Gulf countries over the last two decades has also drawn a large number of Chinese Muslims, especially from the less developed region of Northwest China. The global North remains an ideal destination for Chinese migrants, including a stream of Chinese Muslims with strong academic credentials and rich pro- fessional experience. Nevertheless, the implications of the increasing cross- border mobility of Chinese Muslims and of the expanding Chinese Muslim transnational networks, both tangible and virtual, on the identities of Chinese Muslims have not been adequately addressed in the existing scholarship. Stud- ies of Chinese Muslim migrants remain outside the mainstream scholarship on Muslim immigrants and on the Chinese diaspora. This paper seeks to bridge these fields by examining the divergent approaches to being and becoming “Chinese Muslims” within a multilayered and expansive Chinese Muslim transnational network. Drawing on my field research in China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, combined with a review of key studies on Chinese Muslims in Southeast Asia, this paper traces the shape of the Chinese Muslim trans- national network and the construction of a “Chinese Muslim” identity in varied contexts. To deepen our understanding of the impact of globalization on ethnoreligious minorities and align the study of Chinese Muslims more review of religion and chineseDownloaded society from 5 Brill.com10/01/2021 (2018) 156-182 08:38:16AM via free access <UN> The Construction of Chinese Muslim Identities 159 closely with the agenda of mainstream scholarship, this paper begins by locat- ing the study of contemporary Chinese Muslims within the broad scholarship on transnational religion, specifically transnational Islam.3 It proposes that Chinese Islam, although a local development, is increasingly a transnational religious phenomenon. The identity of contemporary Chinese Muslims is a product of transnational migration and exchanges. It is neither static nor uni- form, but arises from individually conceived ideas responding to a sense of homelessness and anomie that combine to form a strategy to aid the search for a “third space” (Fischer 2004) and a new home in a fragmented world. The role of Islam in this process is important, but not always essential; indeed, the very concept of “Chinese Muslims” reveals the complex relationship between culture and religion. Chinese Islam: The Dialectic between Local and Global Spanning some fourteen hundred years, the history of Islam in China has been greatly shaped by continuous negotiations over spatial boundaries between Muslim minorities and non-Muslim majorities, and by the relationship be- tween local context and global forces. Islam, a monotheistic faith that arose in the Arabian Peninsula, is widely believed to have first arrived in China dur- ing the second half of the seventh century with Arab and Persian caravaneers and voyagers. Some of these pioneers settled down in coastal cities such as Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Changzhou, while others put down roots in the capital city of Chang’an (former name of Xi’an). By the eighth century, Muslim communities had been established in major urban areas (Israeli 2002:291–294). The Chinese imperial court welcomed the arrival of the “foreign guests” (fanke 蕃客), granting extraterritorial privileges within their residential areas, which were known as fanfang 蕃坊 (foreigners’ corners). The emperors ordered the building of mosques for their Muslim guests, some of which still stand today in Guangzhou and Xi’an.4 In the following millennia, these “foreign guests” weathered a turbulent his- tory in the Middle Kingdom and eventually put down roots in a largely Confu- cian society despite their distinctive beliefs and lifestyles. Islam evidently went through a process of Sinicization as it struggled to survive in the midst of an 3 For discussions of transnational Islam and global Islam, see Bowen 2004; Roy 2004; Cesari 2009; Leonard 2009. 4 The Huaisheng Mosque (怀圣寺) in Guangzhou is believed to be one of the oldest mosques ever built in China. The grand mosque in Xi’an was built in the fourteenth century. review of religion and chinese society 5 (2018) 156-182Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 08:38:16AM via free access <UN> 160 Wang overwhelmingly polytheistic majority. Throughout a long period characterized