THE MARRANO EMPEROR 275 chapter thirteen “THE MARRANO EMPEROR”: The Mysterious, Intimate, Bond between Zhu Yuanzhang and his Muslims zvi ben-dor benite INTRODUCTION: THE EMPEROR’S GOLDEN FOOT story from Gansu accounts for the name of a certain mosque in Nanjing: A No one could tell when Islam came to the city of Nanjing, or when the number of Muslims [in the city] began to increase. Be- fore long a mosque was built at Nanjing city. …[O]ne day Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor, brought with him several of his Hui generals to the region where Hui people lived. He was accompanied by the two ministers, Chang Yuchun and Hu Dahai. Before the gate of the mosque, the emperor got off his sedan chair and entered the yard, walking straight toward the great hall. One of his feet had stepped into the hall before Chang Yuchun was able to stop him and say, “Your Majesty, according to the rules of Islam, everyone should take off his shoes before enter- ing.” Zhu Yuanzhang looked as if awakening from a dream, and he said, “Ayah—I did not know the custom.” Then he drew back his foot and ordered, “Come! Dig out the footprint I have just made on the floor!” After he went back to his palace he sent his men to have the footprint inlaid with gold. Therefore, this mosque became known as “Golden Foot Mosque.”1 The tale encapsulates Zhu Yuanzhang’s image as it emerges from Chinese Muslim memory and historiography. The last Chinese em- 14 chap13 muslims.indd 275 8/7/2007 9:30:04 AM 276 ZVI BEN-DOR BENITE peror to boast the wu (war) character in his reign name appears as gentle, considerate, and thoughtful.2 Above all, he respects Islam- ic customs and laws. Ming Taizu, fully human, dismounts his sedan chair to enter the mosque on foot and uses the colloquial exclamation “ayah.” The ostensible purpose of the story is to explain the geneal- ogy of the mosque’s name. In fact, it describes a profound connection between Ming Taizu and Islam. The gold-inlaid footprint is at once the commemorative marker of his visit to the mosque and a reminder of his respect for Islam. Chinese Islam, as the story conveys, is inti- mately linked to the image of Zhu Yuanzhang.3 The bond between the Ming founder and Chinese Muslims is part of a rich Chinese Muslim tradition, embroidered over the cen- turies, surrounding the image of Ming Taizu. This tradition presents Zhu Yuanzhang as devoted to the betterment and safety of Islamic life in China, the source of all subsequent measures and decrees favor- able to Islam that were promulgated during the Ming. A Yunnanese folk tale, for example, claims that Chinese Islam’s greatest hero—the eunuch globetrotter Zheng He, who served under the Yongle emper- or decades after Ming Taizu’s death—was first brought to the court as a boy by the Ming founder who “recognized his wisdom.”4 Another marked feature of Zhu Yuanzhang as he appears in Chi- nese Islamic sources is his many Muslim friends and associates. His original war band, made up of men like Hu Dahai and Chang Yu- chun, is described as heavily Muslim. Remarkably, so too is his very family; according to Chinese Muslim tradition Zhu Yuanzhang’s first wife, Empress Ma (Ma Hou), was a Muslim; he also had an adoptive Muslim son, Mu Ying; brother; and father-in-law, Guo Zixing.5 These received traditions, both written and oral, remain a key issue in modern Chinese Muslim historiography.6 During the first half of the twentieth century, the Ming period was inscribed as a “golden age” in comprehensive histories of what came to be known as the “Hui minority nationality history” (Huihui shaoshu minzu shi).7 The earliest comprehensive history of the Chinese Muslims (1935) defines the Ming as “the zenith of prosperity” (shengji yishi), fram- ing it around the figure of Zhu Yuanzhang.8 The history provides the first written allusion to the claim that Zhu Yuanzhang himself was a Muslim. Jin Jitang, the history’s author, articulates several “proofs” (zheng) in support of the claim: adoptive Muslim relatives, the Mus- 14 chap13 muslims.indd 276 8/7/2007 9:30:04 AM THE MARRANO EMPEROR 277 lim empress, favorable policies towards Islam, and Zheng He’s ex- pedition to Mecca. These factors attest to the emperor’s “intimate relationship” (miqie guanxi) with the Chinese Muslims.9 Another historian, Fu Tongxian, is more explicit: “The attitude of the Ming emperors was partial towards Islam and they held it in the highest esteem. It is probable that Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was a follower of the Islamic teaching…”10 Such perceptions persist. The contemporary leading Hui histori- an Yu Zhen’gui describes a very close link between the Ming regime and Islam from the very start. During the course of Zhu Yuanzhang overthrowing the Yuan dy- nasty regime, Huihui military commanders excelled and achieved meritorious status. Many assumed leading positions.11 Yu explains that the presence of such men in the Ming court shaped its favorable attitude towards Islam and he describes in detail Zhu Yuanzhang’s relationships with his various Muslim companions.12 This is also the general approach of theHistory of China’s Hui Nation- ality (Zhongguo Huizushi), a monumental two-volume history of Hui nationality on which Hui and non-Hui historians collaborated.13 More straightforward is Yusuf Chang, a Taiwanese Muslim his- torian, who wrote in 1987 that one important factor that points to the Islamic identity of the Ming ruler was that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang’s queen, Ma Hou, was a Muslim and the some of their sons and daughters married Muslims. Under this favorable political [sic] climate, the Hui mi- nority lived in peace, prosperity and happiness for a period of 276 years.14 This felicitous picture stands in sharp contrast to official Ming histories and non-Muslim sources. Conventional histories such as the Official History of the Ming Dynasty (Mingshi) or the Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty (Ming shilu) lend little support to such claims.15 While there is the occasional mention of friendly inter- actions between Muslim individuals and Ming rulers, no general picture emerges from them. As for Ming Taizu himself, there is no evidence that he favored Islam, let alone surrounded himself with Muslims. In short, Zhu Yuanzhang’s “body Islamique”—so colorfully portrayed in Chinese Muslim tradition—left no traces in non-Mus- 14 chap13 muslims.indd 277 8/7/2007 9:30:04 AM 278 ZVI BEN-DOR BENITE lim sources.16 It is as if the two bodies of material are oblivious to one another’s existence. Why is Ming Taizu so important to Chinese Muslim tradition? When did its perception of Ming Taizu emerge and how did it de- velop and persist for centuries in Chinese Muslim memory? Given that it was not promoted by an imperial center and was not part of the official histories, how did this image of the Ming founder become a perception collectively shared by Chinese Muslims living in separate communities all over China? This essay offers a historically grounded outline of Zhu Yuan- zhang’s image according to Chinese Muslim sources, suggesting rea- sons behind its emergence. While it is impossible to know exactly when and how specific oral traditions were born, the context and the circumstances of their first documentation are revealing. Rather than list every single source relating to Ming Taizu, this essay presents critical milestones in the development of his Islamic image. MING TAIZU AS A PERSONAL PATRON OF MUSLIMS The True Commentary on the Correct Teaching (Zhengjiao zhenquan), by Wang Daiyu (1580–1660), was the first major original Chinese Is- lamic work. It also included the first document attesting to Ming Taizu’s care for Muslims. Wang Daiyu was a native of Nanjing who came to Beijing shortly before the end of Ming.17 TheTrue Commen- tary’s publication was probably delayed by the wars of the Manchu conquest; its first preface (by an associate of the author) is dated 1642 and its latest 1657, when the book was actually printed.18 Included at the front of the first volume is a short text entitled “A Study of Compiled Documents” (Qunshu jikao), which lists documents relat- ing to Islam attributed to three distant Ming emperors beginning with Zhu Yuanzhang. Under the subtitle “Imperial High Praise for Islam” (Shengchao baochong Qingzhenjiao), is an ostensible quote from Zhu Yuanzhang: Emperor Ming Taizu [Taizu Gao Huangdi] decreed: “[Once the] Muslims enter the register [of permanent residence], they are enti- tled to enjoy just the same nurture as the people of China. Respect this. (… “Huihui ru hu, yu Zhongxia zhi ren funong wuyi.”). The text proceeds: “In the first year [of his reign] the Hungwu emperor ordered the establishment of a mosque in Jingling [Nanjing] 14 chap13 muslims.indd 278 8/7/2007 9:30:04 AM THE MARRANO EMPEROR 279 and wrote the ‘Hundred Character Praise,’ praising Islam.” Known to Chinese Muslims as the “Baizi zan,” this is an ode of twenty-five sentences, with four characters in each sentence. In it, Zhu Yuan- zhang describes the appearance of the “Great Sage of the west,” “ap- pointed” by Heaven to teach and lead through his “virtue, love and kindness,” and to “protect kings and kingdoms” (baobi guo wang). This sage, Muhammad, is the implied protector of the Chinese emper- or. Ming Taizu, the alleged author, concludes: “the teaching [jiao] is called Qingzhen [“Pure and True,” i.e., Islam] and Muhammad [is] the most esteemed sage [Mu han mo de, zhi gui sheng ren].19 Odes with similar content made by the sixteenth-century Ming emperors Shizong and Wuzong follow.