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 : 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 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 , 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 , 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 (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. The “Study of Compiled Documents” is apocryphal. not only is the attribution of the ode to the emperor problematic, but the date and the title of the alleged original compiler are suspicious in detail. Dated to the year 1519, it contains an edict by the Shizong emperor, whose reign era began soon thereafter. and while Chen Dace, the document’s purported compiler, is careful to supply some details, he fails to mention the name of the nanjing mosque where the inscrip- tion was first placed. If such an inscription had existed since 1368—as he claims—why was it first recorded only in 1519? and why did it ap- pear in print only in the 1650s? Ming Taizu’s alleged proclamation seems deliberately crafted to echo one of Zhu Yuanzhang’s Grand Pronouncements (Da Gao)—not in form, but in its implied audience and its purpose. edward Farmer comments that the Grand Pronouncements, penned by Zhu Yuanzhang himself during the latter half of his reign, “were directed at the broad spectrum of the population from high officialdom to village leaders and heads of families.”20 The pronouncements were a moral/politi- cal/legal educational tool through which Zhu Yuanzhang voiced his own thoughts concerning good and evil, right and wrong, and proper conduct of government. They encouraged commoners both to learn their duties and know their “rights.” This was a highly personalized tool: in the pronouncements Zhu Yuanzhang appealed directly to the people, encouraging them to report grievances directly to him in cases of official abuse. They were to be proclaimed “throughout his realm;” later he even demanded that “every household” possess a copy of them.21

14 chap13 muslims.indd 279 8/7/2007 9:30:05 AM 280 zvi ben-dor benite

The decree cited in the “Study of Compiled Documents” is in keeping with the Ming founder’s well-known desire to publicize his personal views. The decree seeks at once to educate both Muslim and non-Muslim Chinese about their equal status, and to remind officials of their obligation to treat Muslims fairly. even the bizarre juxtapo- sition of a requirement of proper registration (which seems beneath lofty imperial concerns) with a moral dictum on equality and fairness resonates with the tone of the Grand pronouncements,22 in which Zhu Yuanzhang dealt with both lofty ideals and bureaucratic mat- ters.23 We know that he was particularly keen on monitoring the status of the non-“han” (—lit. “colored eyes”) residents, many of them Muslim, whom he had “inherited” from the previous .24 The decree, then, sounds like something Zhu Yuanzhang might plausibly have issued. The decree’s specific subject matter—permanent legal residence in China—was a sensitive issue for Muslims throughout most of the Ming. Briefly put, the fall of the Yuan Khanate and the consolidation of Ming control as far northwestas Jiayuguan, “the traditional last outpost of Chinese civilization in the region,”25 erected new borders in Central asia between what was now “China” and the oases, nota- bly hami and Turfan. Far from being passive, early Ming rulers’ poli- cies towards the regions shifted, following changing circumstances, between military campaigns aimed at establishing direct rule, and control over the movements of people and trade across the border.26 on the local level, most affected were the Muslim communities in the northwest. These had close ties with the Muslims who now lived across the borders, as it were. Morris rossabi describes how the ques- tion of migration and permission to stay in China was a recurrent fea- ture of the convoluted relationships, with their many ups and downs, between the Ming court (mainly after Ming Taizu’s time) and Cen- tral asian Muslims.27 Ming China tried hard to regulate and limit Central asian Muslim migration, while for their part Central asian Muslims tried hard to get “in.” at the outset, Zhu Yuanzhang’s own policy of “conciliate and control,” designed to keep Muslims at arm’s length, was very effective; only small numbers of Muslims moved to China during his time.28 Conversely, relations and exchanges inten- sified under Taizu’s son, the , whose designs on the regions were far more ambitious.29

14 chap13 muslims.indd 280 8/7/2007 9:30:05 AM the marrano emperor 281

In the 1470s the court complained about too many tribute em- bassies, with too many envoys who stayed in China for too long; and accused Chinese Muslims of helping Central asian Muslims defy regulations. Merchants from Turfan were repeatedly accused of forging credentials in order to gain entrance to China.30 In contrast, during the sixteenth century, Central asian Muslim refugees were al- lowed to resettle in China, and some were invited to reside in Beijing where they served as translators and interpreters.31 This history helps explain why a Chinese Muslim document in- vokes the registration of households in its very first line. Muslims during the Ming would have seen rapid registration as ideal. In the mouth of the Ming emperor himself the directive carries enhanced authority and prestige. The highly personalized nature of the “pro- nouncement” also plays a role: Ming Taizu wants every Muslim in his domain to know that he, the emperor, demands that officials treat Muslims like all other subjects. While the decree is most probably a forgery and may not reflect “fact,” it accurately responds to the his- torical concerns of Chinese Muslims. Wang Daiyu, first publisher of the “Study of Compiled Docu- ments,” was most familiar with the issue of Muslim migration to China during Ming times. In his autobiographical preface to the book we learn that Wang was born in nanjing to a family whose ancestors had come to China “300 hundred years ago” from “ara- bia” (Tianfang) to bring tribute to Ming Taizu. The family settled in nanjing and was invited to stay, holding positions in the largely Muslim bureau of astronomy for several generations. Wang’s ances- tors “corrected the subtleties of astronomy, [and] altered the mistakes in the calendar,” he proudly notes. The grateful emperor, recognizing the shortage of good astronomers in China, granted the Wangs the right to remain, tax exemptions, and other privileges. Ming Taizu’s respect for the Wang family was something they took great pride in for generations; Wang returns to this issue once again in his conclud- ing paragraph;32 all together, he mentions this specific detail three times in his piece. The Wang family history of migration to China included the protection of Ming Taizu as an important part of the family’s iden- tity and status, and was invoked with the inclusion of Ming Taizu’s “pronouncement.” In this respect, the forged imperial decree both

14 chap13 muslims.indd 281 8/7/2007 9:30:05 AM 282 zvi ben-dor benite

depicted an idealized Chinese Muslim condition and resonated with many Chinese Muslim families who proudly “remembered” the con- crete circumstances of their arrival and residence in China. at least during Taizu’s times, naturalization of foreigners in Ming China was evidently an unusual event, and recalled with pride. In 1477, a non- Muslim astronomer, Bei Lin, who compiled the On the Motions of the Seven Planets (Qizheng tuibu, an Islamic astronomy book), indicates in his postscript that naturalization was often linked to having a spe- cial skill: “[I]n the eighteenth year of hongwu, when the foreigners coming from afar became naturalized (guihua), they offered to trans- late [this foreign] calendar.”33 a striking example of how these various accounts and stories be- came lodged in family memory is given by the Wen Family Genealogy (Wenshi zongpu). First compiled in 1655, it is a genealogy of the Wen family, which came to nanjing from Samarqand. The preface purports to be by none other than the emperor Ming Taizu himself. “During the early years of hongwu,” Ming Taizu explains, “when the gener- als entered the Mongol Capital [hudu] they found a cache of several tens of hundreds of books by the early sages of Islam [shu shi bai ce nai Tianfang xiansheng zhishu]. no one in China could read them.”34 The emperor consequently ordered some “foreigners,” Sheikh Ma (Ma sha yi hei) and Mahamu (Ma ha mu), to translate them. after months of labor, the two had made the “principle of measuring the sky” (ce tian zhi li) accessible. The grateful emperor appointed them heads of the bureau of astronomy, with Wen erli, the earliest ancestor in the genealogy, being made “Deputy Director of the observatory office” (Qin Tianjian jian fu).35 Stories of Muslim astronomers in Ming Taizu’s court have a ker- nel of truth in them. In the “Islamic calendar method” (Huihui lifa) section of the Official History of the Ming Dynasty, we learn that an Islamic book about calendar making was found in the court during “the early years of Ming Taizu.” This makes sense, since in Yuan times the Bureau of astronomy had been dominated by Muslims.36 The “Islamic calendar method” also indicates that in 1383 Zhu Yuanzhang ordered two hanlin members (Li Chong and Wu Bozong) to work with two Muslims summoned from the “Western regions” (xiyu, i.e. Central asia), Mahamu and the “great Muslim teacher Sheikh Ma” (Huihui da shi Ma sha yi hei), to translate the book into Chinese.37

14 chap13 muslims.indd 282 8/7/2007 9:30:05 AM the marrano emperor 283

Since no Wen erli is mentioned in the official text,and given that all other Muslims to whom it refers appear with their original Islamic names, it is clear that the genealogy’s version of how Wen came to nanjing is fictitious. The truth to which it points, however, is that by the second half of the seventeenth century, many Muslim families found personal meaning in the general accounts, widely circulated, that earlier Muslims had come to China at the express invitation of Ming Taizu. The Wen’s giving the emperor “authorship” of a portion of their genealogy is but an extreme example of a strategy deployed by countless Muslim families. Michael Szonyi has shown that in the late Ming/early Qing pe- riod, manipulating, falsifying, or “strategizing,” to use his own word, family histories and genealogies was a common practice that served to bolster families’ local status or bring them imperial recognition.38 The cases of the Wangs and Wens of nanjing show thatMuslim fam- ilies were no different in this regard. In fact, they extended the strat- egy to valorize and naturalize Muslim migration to China. The topos of immigrating Muslims’ serving at the imperial court is a sort of a Chinese Muslim version of american “Mayflower origins” stories. It elevated claimants’ status vis-à-vis other Muslim or “han” Chi- nese families, particularly since few Muslims were allowed to enter China during Ming Taizu’s reign. It also legitimized the claimants’ residence in China by removing suspicions both of “illegal” migration (common during the Ming) and of possible descent from Muslims who had served the during the Yuan. This also explains why some families of foreign origin carried a han name (such as the com- mon Wang, or the less common, but no less “Chinese,” Wen). Many elite Muslim families specifically mention a personal con- nection to Ming Taizu.39 The nanjing poet Jin Dache (1491–1536), au- thor of several books of poetry, wrote: “[o]ur family originates from Mecca; after coming to the east [i.e. China] we lived in Yongping [in ], [and] Ming Taizu granted us the surname Jin…”40 Similarly, the contemporary Chinese Muslim scholar Wu Yiye recently related how the Wu family arrived in China from Samarqand in the four- teenth century to serve as astronomers in Ming Taizu’s court.41 The aforementioned folk tradition regarding Zheng he likewise claims that the eunuch received the surname Zheng from Ming Taizu him- self.42 Such stories consistently placed Ming Taizu at the center of

14 chap13 muslims.indd 283 8/7/2007 9:30:05 AM 284 zvi ben-dor benite

personal family histories, which in turn bolstered a general impres- sion of his particular benevolence towards Muslims. Ironically, Zhu Yuanzhang was actually opposed to the “ha- nization” of foreign names. In 1370 he issued an edict “prohibiting Mongol and Semu people to Change Surnames” (jin Mangu semu gengyi xingshi): semu families were not to carry Chinese names and “han” Chinese could not carry hu (foreign) names.43 The Veritable Records reports that in 1376 Zhu Yuanzhang noted that “recently, all Mongol and semu people are changing [their names] to han sur- names and there is no difference [between them and] the hua [Chi- nese] people” (jinlai mangu, semu zhi ren, duo gai wei Han xing, yu Hua ren wuyi).44 The very words of the forged decree—“no difference with Chinese people” (yu Hua ren wuyi)—are used with quite the op- posite meaning. Whether or not the tales of family connections with Zhu Yuan- zhang were true, for Wang Daiyu’s and many other families the no- tion of a personal link to the emperor had deep resonance. When Wang’s book was published in 1657, this linkage became fixed in the permanent record, and set the tone for later Chinese Muslim depic- tions of Ming Taizu. The “hundred Character praise” for Islam attributed to Ming Taizu does not discuss Muslim articles of faith per se. It focuses in- stead on the image of Muhammad and his protecting “kings and kingdoms.” This provides a template for Ming Taizu’s care of the Muslims in his domain, framing it as an act of gratitude to Muham- mad, the protector of rulers. Finally, the moment and place of publication further clarify the meaning of the True Commentary on the Correct Teaching. having moved from nanjing to Beijing during the turbulent decades of the 1640s and 1650s, Wang Daiyu had first-hand experience of the Ming- Qing dynastic transition. a new dynasty was being founded as he wrote about the fortunes of Islam in China; his book project and par- ticularly the references to Ming Taizu can be read as an expression of his desire that Muslims enjoy continued favorable conditions under the new regime (or perhaps anxiety that they will not). The book in- tends to present Islam and Muslims to the new rulers, and “remind” them of the precedents set by Ming Taizu.

14 chap13 muslims.indd 284 8/7/2007 9:30:05 AM