Ma Dexin's Philosophy of Virtue

Home , Ma Zhu, The Four Books, Wang Daiyu

Ma Dexin’s Philosophy of Virtue

by Ziyan Liang

B.A. 2007 Nanjing University

A Thesis submitted to

The Faculty of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

January 31, 2010

Thesis directed by Eyal Aviv Assistant Professor of Religion and Honor and Kelly Pemberton Assistant Professor of Religion and Women’s Studies

Table of Contents

Table of Contents …………………………………………………………...ⅲ

Glossary of Terms …………………………………………………………..ⅳ

Chapter 1: Introduction ……………………………………………………..1

Chapter 2: Philosophy of Virtue from Cosmological Perspective ………….10

Chapter 3: Practices of Manifesting Virtue ………………………………....45

Chapter 4: The Theory of the Afterworld ………………………………...…64

Chapter 5: Conclusion ……………………………………………………….69

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………79

iii Glossary of Terms

Virtue: 德 personal characters, or inner strength. In this thesis, when it is adopted by

Zhu Xi, it equates illustrious virtue; while it is used by Ma Dexin, it contains

illustrious virtue and real virtue.

Illustrious virtue: 明德 equal to virtue in Zhu Xi’s texts. It is used to distinguish

Confucian virtue from real virtue, iman.

Real virtue: 真德 referring to iman in Ma Dexin’s theory.

Manifest virtue: 明德 removing covers from virtue. 明 (manifest) here is verb

while 明 (illustrious) in illustrious virtue is adj. Thus, 明明德 is to

manifest illustrious virtue.

Islamic virtue: including illustrious virtue and real virtue in Ma Dexin’s theory

Perfect virtue: 仁 in Chapter 3, referring to manifesting illustrious virtue without

self-desire.

The highest excellence or ultimate virtue: 至善, referring to the goal of manifesting

virtue. In Zhu Xi’s thought, it can be achieved by following principles,

removing desire, and renovating people; while in Ma Dexin’s theory, it only

can be achieved by obey iman, removing desire, following sages, and

experiencing the afterworld.

Ultimate Virtue: Allah.

Part 1

Introduction

Muslims in China are known as the Hui, Hui-hui, or Hui-min (people of the Hui ethnicity). There are currently more than twenty millions Muslims living in the northwestern and southwestern parts of China. During nearly 1400 years of history in

China, Chinese Muslims have well grounded themselves in both Chinese and Islamic cultures. From the 1630s to 1874, Chinese Muslim scholars have translated Persian and Arabic Islamic texts into Chinese and established Chinese Islamic philosophical systems.1 These scholars constituted the Chinese Muslim School, which is known as

Hui-hui li xue (Islamic Neo-Confucian School, 回回理学).2 This identity derives

from its fusion of both Islamic tradition and a “distinguished Chinese intellectual

tradition,” especially Neo-Confucianism (Lixue 理学), which is a form of

Confucianism that primarily developed during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), focusing on the ontology of virtue and self-cultivation as well as fusing certain basic elements

of Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist thought.3 Ma Dexin 马德新 (1794-1874) is one

of these famous scholars in this school.

This thesis introduces Ma Dexin’s philosophy of virtue, which was known for his

harmony of Islam with the Neo-Confucianism of the scholar Zhu Xi (1130-1200 朱

熹), one of the most influential Neo-Confucian scholars in China. The idea of

“harmony” (和) derives from the chapter in the Analects: “The gentleman is in harmony but does not follow the crowd (君子和而不同),” which states that the right attitude to treat other persons is to avoid conflicts and respect different ideas.4 This thesis uses harmony to value Ma Dexin’s attitude to Islam and Neo-Confucianism.

When a religion or culture enters a foreign country, it faces the issue of dealing with the mainstream culture and other local religions and cultures. The thought of harmony suggests ways to address such issue by avoiding conflicts, drawing equivalence between cultures, and retaining respective independent status, which is similar in functions of harmony to music, balancing and comforting simultaneous pitches or chords. Harmony brings an academic foundation to inter-cultural dialogue; thus, Ma

Dexin’s philosophy of virtue historically facilitated communication between Muslims and the Han ethnic people, promoted Chinese Muslims’ learning of both Islam and

Neo-Confucianism, and helped Chinese Islam involve into the Chinese cultural mainstream and retain its unique independence simultaneously.

Zhu Xi’s stress on virtue has a far reaching impact on the metaphysical and cosmological dimensions of Neo-Confucian thought and the way by which virtuous action informs all daily life. After the Yuan Dynasty (1271~1368), Zhu Xi’s virtue system became the orthodox interpretations of the Confucian tradition for most

Chinese intellectuals. Thus, although the term “Neo-Confucianism” refers to many scholar-created commentaries on the Four Books (四书) during the Ming and Qing

Dynasties, in this thesis, the term refers only to Zhu Xi’s thought, especially his thought in the Commentaries of the Four Books (Sishu zhangju jizhu 四书章句集

注).5 The influence of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism extends to the Chinese Islamic

School. Although famous Chinese Islamic scholars such as Wang Daiyu (1584-1670

王岱舆) and Liu Zhi (1655-1745 刘智) have discussed virtue, they only talked about virtue in daily life. Ma Dexin, on the other hand, accepted Zhu Xi’s metaphysical framework that gave virtue its ontological foundation. He, in turn, explored the interrelations and independence of both knowledge and practice in virtue system between two cultures, harmonized two distinct systems to create his own philosophy of virtue.

Ma Dexin, also known as Fuchu (复初), was born at Dali City (大理), Yunnan

Province, during the Qing Dynasty (1636-1911). As an influential and well-learned

Islamic Confucian scholar, Ma Dexin published many works. He expressed his philosophy in books of Dahua zonggui ( All Great Transformation Return to God 大

化总归), Sidian huiyao ( The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin 四典

会要), and Mingdao Jing (The Classics of Manifesting Virtue 明德经); these texts are the primary sources I use in this thesis to explore Ma Dexin’s virtue system. He also revised former scholars’ works and translated many Arabic and Persian books into

Chinese. In addition, he was the first scholar to partly translate Qur’an into Chinese in

Baoming zhenjing zhijie ( Exegesis on the True Revealed Scripture 宝命真经直解).

Finally, he was the first scholar in China to open dialogue with Christian fathers, through his work, Juli zhizheng (Examine According to Principle 据理质证). He is

one of most important intellectuals to emerge from the Chinese Islamic School.

Background

Ma Dexin’s academic work of harmonizing Islam and Neo-Confucian thoughts

was brought about through the agency of the Ming and Qing dynasties’ border policy,

a governmental forbiddance to cease most trade and cultural communication between

China and foreign countries, which as well as inspired the rise of the Chinese Islamic

School. From a period as early as that of the first four Caliphs (632-661), Islam spread

to China. The Old Book of Tang (旧唐书), an official historic recording, related that

the empire of Dashi (Arab Empire, Tazi, 大食) sent diplomats to China to

disseminate Islam in 651 AD.6 By way of the Silk Road and through the sea trade, the

population of Chinese Muslims grew quickly, with many Muslims migrating to live in

the North, South, and Southeast of China. During nearly 1000 years, Chinese Muslims

had close connections with the Arab world as they retained the tradition of praying in

Arabic or Persian, not Chinese.

In the middle Ming Dynasty (1368~1644), the government blocked the Silk Road

in the northwest. During the late Qing Dynasty, in turn, the court prohibited the sea

trade, which aggravated the problem of Chinese Muslim isolation.7 Chinese Muslims began to use the Chinese language instead of Arabic and Persian in everyday life. The language problems led to the misunderstandings of the Islamic faith by many Chinese

Muslims. Thus, the Chinese Muslim School was charged with the responsibility to

translate Arabic or Persian texts into Chinese and rectify these misunderstandings.

Additionally, the new school tried to creatively interact with the school of thought that

represented the cultural mainstream, Neo-Confucianism. Chinese Muslim Scholars

such as Ma Dexin accepted the Neo-Confucian teaching of virtue and draw upon it to

explain Islam. Done so, they help Chinese Islam to be accepted by mainstream

scholars. In this thesis I will argue that Ma Dexin played a crucial role in this

development. Unfortunately, both of western scholars and Chinese scholars have not

fond the right way to systemically introduce Ma Dexin’s philosophy of virtue.

Most western scholars did not pay attention to Ma Dexin at all. Some scholars focused more on policy, such as Professor Jonathan N. Lipman, in Familiar Strangers:

A History of Muslims in Northwest China. In his book, Lipman only mentions Ma

Dexin’s political activities during his negotiations with the Qing government, ignoring

Ma’s academic contributions.8 Other scholars only generally introduce his books, such as in Professor Leslie’s Islamic Literature in Chinese, rather than systemically researching Ma Dexin’s academic theory. In the Dao of Muhammad, Zvi Benite only

mentions that Ma Dexin was a descendant of Ma Zhu, and published a revised version

of Ma Zhu’s Qingzhen zhinan (清真指南), named the Zhinan yaoyan (Summary of

the Guide, 指南要言).9

Moreover, although Chinese scholars systematically introduced Ma Dexin’s ideas,

their approaches to the study of Ma Dexin are problematic in methodology. Sun

Zhenyu (孙振玉) and Yang Guiping (杨桂萍) are two leading Chinese scholars in the

research of Ma Dexin.10 Yet even in their work, they tend to isolate the notion of

virtue from its cosmological framework, separating the close ties between the ultimate

and virtue. This approach, however, is inappropriate and inadequate. Zhu Xi uses

philosophical and cosmologic concepts such as taiji (太极)，li (principle 理), qi (life breath, gas 气), and xing (nature 性) to analyze the origin of virtue and how to manifest virtue, and Ma Dexin does so as well. Ma Dexin thinks that Allah endows virtue to humans and commands humans to manifest virtue. Virtue, in this case, does not refer only to the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues (三纲五常) in everyday life.11 It is transcendent, permanent, and real nature for humans. Su Zhenyu and Yang Guiping inappropriately ignore the origin of virtue, and only involve virtue in daily life. There are some scholars, such as Li Rongkun (李荣昆) and Ding Rong

(丁蓉), who only generally introduce Ma Dexin and they do not contribute new information beyond these two major scholars’ works.12 Some other scholars, such as

Wang Jianping (王建平), discussed important concepts such as tian (heaven, 天) in

the articles that help readers to understand these important notions.13 Unfortunately, these scholars did not explore the concepts’ function in the philosophical system.

In this thesis, I will try to describe Ma Dexin’s virtue system and explore how Ma

Dexin harmonizes Neo-Confucianism with Islam in order to help cultural dialogue between Muslims and the Han ethic majority. I provide translations from important

original Chinese pieces into English. I present Ma Dexin’s virtue system from its

cosmologic and ontological framework to prove that these ideas are indispensable to

his philosophy of virtue. I then discuss Ma Dexin’s thoughts of manifesting virtue (明

德) and the function of the afterworld in virtuous cultivation. Ma Dexin skillfully

introduces Islamic faith into Confucian virtue, and uses afterworld to strengthen

virtue’s power and change virtue’s cultivation from self-control to commandment

from Allah.14 Additionally, I discuss in particular various key concepts, such as ming

(conference, command, and destiny 命), that Ma Dexin provides new explanations

and that are ignored by many Chinese scholars. From the study of the virtue system, I

will illustrate Ma Dexin’s harmonious attitudes toward Islam and Neo-Confucianism.

Why Study Ma Dexin?

Studying Ma Dexin has a great value. In our era of globalization, inter-cultural

dialogue and harmony are necessities that happen on daily life around the world.

Undoubtedly, Ma Dexin’s work exemplifies aspects of these concepts nearly two hundred years ago. He harmonized Islam with Neo-Confucianism, and drew equivalence between Chinese notions and Islamic ideas. By these Chinese Islamic works, Chinese Muslims mastered the essential aspects of Islamic faith without learning Arabic or Persian, as well as understood mainstream Chinese intellectual culture. The similar explanations of notions and philosophic systems seek to eliminate cultural obstacles and provide an opportunity for increased mutual understanding between Chinese Muslims and Chinese Confucian intellectuals. For example, in Ma

Dexin’s the Essential Points of the Four Classics, several famous Confucian

intellectuals wrote prefaces, such as Wu Chunyu who was the examiner of imperial examinations in Yunnan Province. They presented that Islam and Confucianism were compatible because they both guided humans to manifest virtue.15 Ma Dexin has

helped promote the Confucian-Islamic dialogue. Moreover, Ma Dexin supported

dialogues across cultures. In his works, he discussed in his works the advantages and

disadvantages not only of Confucianism, but also Daoism, Buddhism, and

Christianity.16

In addition, Ma Dexin retained Islam’s independent status. Cultural harmony facilitates cultural mutual understandings and promotes modestly fusions, with the inevitably precondition that cultures preserve respective uniqueness. Before Ma Dexin,

Chinese Muslim scholars such as Wang Daiyu and Liu Zhi also interpreted Islam by

Neo-Confucian concepts and theories, but they ostensibly believed that from the perspective of virtue system, Islam and Neo-Confucianism were identical, which obscured both cultures’ identities and placed Islam in a secondary status.17 Facing

with such mistakes, besides persistent agreement of similar characters in both cultures,

Ma Dexin further presented the different highlights in Islam and Neo-Confucianism,

because the former one stressed on faith, named Tian Dao (Dao of Heaven or Dao of

God, 天道), while the later one focused on humanitarianism, named Ren Dao (Dao of

Human, 人道). Faith is the watershed between Islam and Confucianism. Although it

is obvious that Confucians do not believe Allah, former scholars stressed too much in

the similarities between the two traditions and neglected Allah’s unique function in

virtue. Ma Dexin subtly introduced Islamic concepts into Confucian virtue system

under the translation theory of “equivalence” and transferred Confucian system into

Islamic system.18 Islam has equal status with Neo-Confucianism.

Organization of This Thesis

My discussion below is divided into three parts. The first part introduces Zhu Xi’s ontology of virtue, Ma Dexin’s key concepts and virtue system, and the significance of connecting cosmology with virtue system. Philosophy of virtue does not only contain the metaphysical theme in the academic field, but also has a close tie with everyday life. Without practice, no one can earn virtue. Thus, the second part, in turn, discusses Ma Dexin’s thought of the virtue manifestation inside the Islamic system, and contrasting and comparing with Zhu Xi’s thought. The third part would talk about

Ma Dexin’s concepts of the afterworld, which Ma Dexin believes that it only derives from Islam and can makes up for the inadequacies of Neo-Confucian virtue system.

This thought deserves the distinct sign in Ma Dexin’s philosophy of virtue, and it is seen as Ma Dexin’s important contribution to Chinese Islamic School by most

Chinese Islamic scholars, such as Yang Guiping.19

Part 2

Philosophy of Virtue from Cosmological Perspective

This part introduces Ma Dexin’s establishment of his philosophy of virtue. This is

significant to Chinese Islamic philosophy because virtue is a core theme in Chinese

intellectual history and it provides one of the best means of mutual dialogue between

Neo-Confucianism and Islam. I will first introduce Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian

metaphysical framework of virtue, in order to present the general background of Ma

Dexin’s work. I will then describe Ma Dexin’s creative Neo-Confucian-Islamic philosophy of virtue, with some important concepts, such as tian and ming, which has equivalent meaning in Islam. Before presenting Zhu Xi’s virtue, I have to define virtue. Virtue here is translated from Chinese word de (德), which is the one of the most significant concepts in Confucianism, especially in Neo-Confucianism. In this thesis, virtue is defined as “personal character” or “inner strength”, both of which advocate individual cultivation. In addition, because the thesis limits

Neo-Confucianism to Zhu Xi’s philosophy, in Zhu Xi’s texts, virtue is known as

“illustrious virtue” (明德).20 By contrast, Ma Dexin’s virtue contains both illustrious

virtue and real virtue, the latter being a creative notion by himself. I list various kinds

of virtue in a glossary at the beginning of the thesis. In addition, philosophy of virtue

or virtue system in this chapter only refers to virtue’s metaphysical or cosmological

perspectives, and I leave virtue system’s perspective on action or practice to Chapter 3,

although two perspectives are interacted and reciprocal.

Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian Virtue System

Zhu Xi equates taiji (great ultimate or Supreme Ultimate 太极) as the origin of

cosmology in his Sishu zhangju jizhu.21 Neo-Confucian scholars preferred to discuss

“the idea of the absolute, eternal, transcendental” in Confucianism, and they believed

that such ultimate transcendence dominates the world.22 This Metaphysical is taiji

(太极), “a single, [limitless, and infinite] first principle which transcends all ordinary

human distinctions and attributes.”23 Zhu Xi explains, saying that: “Everything has a

highest standard [above physical form], which is principle (li, 理). All principles in the world constitute taiji (事事物物，皆有个极，是道理极致。总天地万物之理，

便是太极).”24 Principle is every object’s distinguishing and essential law and comes

from taiji. The supreme status of the cosmological term taiji in this excerpt from Zhu

Xi is similar to that of “virtue” in Plato’s philosophy or “good” in Aristotle’s by the

famous Chinese intellectual Feng Youlan (冯友兰, 1895~1990).25 However, Zhu Xi’s

taiji is mysterious because it is not only the supreme principle in the world, but also

exists within every object.

Zhu Xi further mentions that: “For Heaven and Earth, the whole world has a taiji

inside; for everything, has a taiji inside (在天地言，则天地中有太极；在万物言，

则万物中各有太极).”26 In this regard, taiji is a common principle both within and

beyond the world. Thus, it has both transcendent and immanent qualities. When

beyond the world, taiji is the origin of the universe. Inside the world, taiji takes the

form of principles, and is in part endowed upon every object. Because the Chinese

language does not distinguish between the singular and the plural, Zhu Xi does not

clearly express where principle is singular and where it means plurality. Based on Zhu

Xi’s understanding, this thesis uses singular “principle” when it refers to the first

creation of the taiji and the distinguish law of one concrete object. I use “principles” as plurality when it means various principles in the world. To illustrate taiji’s characters, Zhu Xi compares it to the moon. There is only one moon in the sky at night, he states; however, there are many reflections of the moon in rivers and lakes.27

The moon, in this example, is the taiji. The moon in the sky represents the taiji that is beyond the universe, while the moon’s reflections in the waters are taiji’s embodiments in the world. Only the moon in the sky is the real moon, just as only taiji is real great ultimate, in that principle inside every object is part of taiji, not the whole taiji.

Because taiji is the ultimate transcendence of the universe and diffuses its principles so that it can in part present in everything, “principle” is possessed by every object, to identify what the object is only and distinguish from other objects. In

Neo-Confucianism, these diffused principles are known as li (理). In fact, Zhu Xi’s

taiji is similar to principles in their identically transcendent and absolute essence. But taiji and principle are different because taiji refers to the only unique “principle” beyond the universe while principle is as taiji’s diffusion inside and beyond every thing. Taiji is the origin that creates all principles.

According to Zhu Xi, principle, just as taiji, is both metaphysical and immaterial.28 Principle exists before the concrete world. Zhu Xi explains that “before

the existence of Heaven and Earth, there are only principles (未有天地之先，毕竟也

只有理).”29 He provides the example that the principle of a boat existed before the

first boat was built by people. People built boats, but they did not create them, instead

discovered the principle of a boat and then build it according to the principle. In

addition, Zhu Xi argues that humans have the ability to understand all the principles

of creation in the world.30

As the metaphysical principle, how does taiji create the concrete world? Zhu Xi

elaborates this process through the concept of qi (gas, vapor, or Matter).31 Feng

Youlan stated that there were three different senses in Zhu Xi’s notion of qi, while in

this thesis, qi means that “for matter as it existed in its undifferentiated gaseous form

during the state of chaos that preceded the formation of the present universe.”32

Evolvement of universe, in turn, comes with the division of undifferentiated gas, which “exists in fractions of different degrees of substantiality corresponding to various levels of” the universe; such as the heavier fraction of qi becomes earth while the lighter one becomes heaven.33 The lighter fraction formed human mental aspect

which most becomes human moral and evil, while the heavier one formed the human

physical aspect.34 Qi, however, cannot be separated from principles during the

process of creation.

“Between Heaven and Earth, there are principles and qi. Principles are the metaphysical dao and the essence of creating things; qi is the concrete physical instrument (器) and the embodiment (具) of the living. The creation of human beings and objects should be endowed with principles, and then they will have their nature; they should be endowed with qi, and they will have form (形) (天地之间，有理有气。理也者，形而上之道也，生物之本也；气也者，形而下之器，生物之具也。是以人、物之生，必禀此理，然后有性；必禀此气，然后有形).”35

Principles and qi combine to create the universe. The concrete shape of principles is nature (性) and the concrete shape of qi is form (形).

Zhu Xi continues to explain the relation between qi and principles in creation.

Zhu argues that qi can not form the present universe by itself, but can follow with

principle at any time. This is because principle has the ability to control the two states

of movement (动) and Quiescence (静), although it remains quiescence, flawless and

immaterial, wherever it exists. According to Zhu Xi’s philosophy, qi can not move by

itself, since it is not the first mover; rather, qi can only move by two principles of the

“yang (阳), representing activity, light, heat, dryness, etc.”, and “the yin (阴),

representing calm, darkness, cold, moisture, ect.”. 36 In addition, sometimes

Confucians replace principle with another concept of heaven (天), which is also

metaphysical and ultimate. Two principles act upon and coexist with qi to generate

positive qi (yang qi) and negative qi (yin qi). To explain these concepts further, Zhu

Xi compares this movement to a human rider. People ride the horses by controlling

horses’ actions through commands. However, it is not the person who is running or

standing during this progress but is simply controlling the horses with their commands.

Principle is similar to the people on the horse while qi is similar to horses. Principle controls qi to move or stay still, when it itself is unchanging. In turn, the yin qi and yang qi interact to create the physical world, which is called “Heaven and Earth”

(tiandi, 天地). This is the basic logic of Zhu Xi’s cosmology.

After the introduction of taiji, principle, and qi, there is another key concept that necessitates understanding the connection between Zhu Xi’s cosmology and the virtue system: xing (nature, 性). The introduction to the Doctrine of the Mean states that:

“What Heaven has conferred is called the Nature; acting in accordance with this nature is called the Path of duty; the cultivation of this path is called Instruction (天命

之谓性，率性之谓道，修道之谓教).”37 These ideas are central to Neo-Confucianism.

Zhu Xi elaborates, writing that:

“ ‘To confer’ (命) is defined as ‘to order’(令). ‘Nature’(性) is ‘principle’(理). Heaven uses Yin-Yang and Wu xing (the five movements 五行) to create everything. Qi makes everything with form, and principle is endowed inside at the same time. This progress is conferred by heaven. So the creating of human being and things must conform to respective endowed principles and conceive these principles as the five constant virtues [in a daily] ( 五常之德 which includes Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, Trust, 仁义礼智信 and they are the concrete contents of virtue). This is the Path of Duty (道). ‘Accordance’ (率) is defined by ‘following’ (循). ‘The Path of Duty’ (道) is ‘road’ (路). If human beings and every thing can follow respective nature’s essence, among everyday issue, every one all has its respective roads to follow. This calls the Path of Duty (命，犹令也。性，即理也。天以阴阳五行化生万物，气以成形，而理亦赋焉，犹命令也。于是人物之生，因各得其所赋之理，以为健顺五常之德，所谓道也。率，循也。道，犹路也。人物各循其性之自然，则其日用事物之间，莫不各有当行之路，是则所谓道也).”38

In this commentary, Zhu Xi expresses the connections among principle, human nature,

virtue, and the Path of Duty by three steps.

The first step, by the famous comment “nature is principle”, explains that taiji

endows human nature with permanent virtue through principle. Similar to the

cosmological process previously mentioned, principle is created from taiji and is endowed into human at humans’ creation. Once inside the human body, this unique principle is called human nature, just as Zhu Xi’s definition, saying that “[this principle] endowed inside human calls (human) nature [这理]在人则曰‘性’.”39 Since

principle acts as the agency of taiji’s transcendent and abstract characters, human

nature receives transcendent properties from taiji. In other words, through principle,

taiji endues human nature with permanence. Although nature is combined with the qi

inside the human body, human nature, is not affected by qi, and remains its absolute

integrity. It is important to note that human nature, being principle, does not equate

taiji but, as Zhu Xi’s moon and reflection metaphor, is derived from the universal principle and share taiji’s most significant components.

Zhu Xi believes these significant components to be virtue. He claims that “when the principle exists between Heaven and Earth, it is just virtue, and there is only virtue without others. The living things gain it and it is named as ‘nature’ (这个理在天地间

时，只是善，无有不善者。生物得来，方始名曰’性’).”40 In other words, the principle,

being virtue that exists between Heaven and Earth, is the first creation of taiji. Taiji

creates the primary principle, defined by Zhu Xi as virtue. This primary principle of

virtue diffuses principles which contain virtue to human beings; that is called human

nature. Principle as the intermediary transfers permanent virtue from taiji to humans and it stays inside human beings as human nature.

The second step is associated with the equal relationship between human nature and virtue. Although Zhu Xi uses the “five constant virtues”, the concrete contents of virtue, in his text his main idea is to prove the respective endowed principles (human nature) as virtue. From the analysis and the quotation above, we can establish that Zhu

Xi supports the idea that the real human nature is virtue. Additionally, in Chapter 26 of the Doctrine of the Mean, Zhu Xi includes another commentary which states that

“the nature of virtue is the real principle that I am endowed by heaven (德性者，吾所

受于天之正理).” 41 In other words, heaven, another name of the ultimate transcendent taiji, endows real principle, being virtue, into humans. From this we can infer that virtue is the most real and most important aspect of human nature.

Combined with the first step, transcendent taiji and principles comprise the philosophic origins of virtue, and cosmological principle completes the process of endowing virtue, which takes place from taiji to human beings. Virtue is the most significantly permanent and real aspect of human nature in the human body. In everyday life, virtue is associated with Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety,

Wisdom, and Trust, all of which are the standards of manifesting illustrious virtue, which each person must cultivate in him or her self.

The third step states that following virtue is the main human duty in which all human beings must engage. In ordinary life, humans must comply with their respective natures with respect to virtue in order to achieve their Path of Duty (Tao,

道). Path of Duty here refers to an abstract and absolute metaphysical principle of

virtue. Because Tao is the same word “Dao” (道) in Daoism, in this thesis, Tao is

translated to Path of Duty or Path to distinguish two concepts and stress that achieving

virtue is human intrinsic duty. I will compare this aspect of Zhu Xi’s concept with that

of Ma Dexin below. From these three steps, Zhu Xi explains virtue’s ontological

origin, virtue’s cosmological process, virtue as real human nature, and the human duty to follow virtue. But one problem remains: if virtue is transcendent, why does evil exist in the world? And why do different people have different senses of morality?

In his commentary, Zhu Xi explains: “Although human beings and objects share the same universal principle, they possess different qi (性道虽同，而气禀或异).”42

Zhu uses this difference to explain the distinctions between sages and ordinary people.

The concept of “Sage” (圣人) is a reverent appellation to Confucian who possesses excellent morality, outstanding spiritual cultivation, and ideal rulers, such as

Confucius, named “the Greatest Sage”. Since human beings are formed from different qi, each person has unique morality in daily life. The amount of qi possessed determines the level of virtue in human beings. Using this concept, Zhu Xi details the cause of evil in his commentary of the Great Learning.

The Great Learning begins with the following: “What the Great Learning teaches, is to illustrate (or manifest) illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence (至善 lit. ultimate virtue) (大学之道，在明明德，在亲民，在止

于至善).”43 Zhu Xi, in his commentary, explains that

“Illustrious virtue is given to humans by heaven. It is void, bright, and

indestructible. It exists inside numerous principles and is endowed into everything. But due to restriction of qi and cover of human desire, sometimes illustrious virtue becomes to dull. The essence of virtue, however, has remained illustrious. Thus, learned people should avoid virtue’s cover and manifest it, to restore virtue’s original nature (明德者，人之所得乎天，而虚灵不昧，以具众理而应万事者也。但为气禀所拘，人欲所蔽，则有时而昏；然其本体之明，则有未尝息者。故学者当因其所发而遂明之，以复其初也).”44

From the above passage, we can discern that Zhu Xi believes virtue to be transcendent and eternal. However, because of qi and human desire, virtue is obscured and humans are born with both virtue and evil. Zhu Xi then continues to state how it is the duty of humans to learn how to remove evil that exists inside qi and let virtue emerge, to regain its original and permanent nature.

Zhu Xi’s virtue is not a single and isolated concept. Virtue derives from the great ultimate taiji, and by principle, it is infused into the human body. Because virtue is the real and eternal nature for humans, humans should manifest it, to achieve sagacity. So it is wrong to isolate virtue from the ontological system out of which it emerges, thereby cutting off its philosophic origin and nature, and characterizing virtue as only involving acts inside everyday life, which was done by the former Chinese Muslim scholars, such as Wang Daiyu. Ma Dexin corrected this mistake and established the intact philosophy of virtue. I will discuss the problems with this approach to virtue below.

Ma Dexin’s Philosophy of Virtue

Equivalent Concepts from Neo-Confucianism

Virtue system in Ma Dexin’s though is similar to that of Zhu Xi. Unlike Zhu Xi

who discusses virtue at length in his texts, Ma Dexin weaves elements of virtue in

with his discussion of God and the afterworld. In addition, although Ma Dexin draws on the original content inside Neo-Confucian concepts such as principle and illustrious virtue, he deliberately alters the meanings of other notions by incorporating with Islamic ideas, such as heaven and ming (order, fate) in his All Great

Transformation Return to God. In fact, Ma Dexin attempts to draw equivalence between Confucian notions and Islam. In so doing, Ma Dexin creates his own

Confucian-Islamic system of virtue.

In Zhu Xi’s cosmology, taiji is the ultimate. Ma Dexin uses zhenyi (the Real One

真一) as the ultimate transcendent. He says that

“All principles in the Principled World (理世) and all images in the World of Images ( 象世) are come out from the Real One’s transformative creating. Various schools equate [the definition of the Ultimate, being] ‘from wuji to taiji’ as shuyi (the Numerical One 数一). The Numerical One is the seed of the Heaven, Earth and the Myriad Things, while the Real One is the origin of the world. My people’s faith in the Real God (Allah) is the only, single, and sole Real One (理世所有之理，象世所有之象，一皆出于真一之化生。诸家所谓无极而太极，乃数之一也。数一乃天地万物之种，真一乃天地万物之主也。吾人所定认为真主者，乃单另独一之真一也).”45

In this excerpt, the “Principled World” refers to the world which is filled with

principles and without any images or forms. In Chinese Islam, Allah first creates

principles during the process of creation. Thus, the Principled World exists before this

physical world. The “World of Images” refers to the world which combines principles

and images, also known as this worldly world. The Concepts of the Real One and the

Numerical One do not come from Ma Dexin. Ma Dexin adopts them from the former

scholar Wang Daiyu (王岱舆, 1584~1670). Replacing taiji with the Real One enables

Ma Dexin to find an effective way to express the idea of an omnipotent God in the

Chinese language. In Islam, God is the One who creates the whole world. In

Neo-Confucian system, although taiji is the ultimate, taiji cooperates with qi to create

the world. Ma Dexin sought a way to include taiji and qi in a single concept. In the classical form of the Chinese language, “one” carries the meaning “origin”. Wang

Daiyu uses “Real” to stress that God is the only true One in the world. Wang Daiyu believes that the Real One is “Eternal Being without beginning and end”, and contains the “movement and quietude” which is similar to the notions of “active” and

“receptive” in Islamic texts. In addition, the Real One is the formless Unique One whose diffusions create the whole world.46 Ma Dexin follows the lead of the Chinese

Muslim School to draw equivalences between the Real One and God, in whom all principles and images are contained.

In Ma Dexin’s though, the Real One replaces taiji as the Ultimate Transcendent, and taiji becomes the first creation of God, named as another concept of the

Numerical One. The principle inside the Numerical One creates the world’s principles, just as the number one creates all the numbers.47 As previous discussion, the concrete world contains both principles and qi. Ma Dexin draws on the term “image” to replace qi, stressing the fictitious nature of the physical world of images. Image is identical to qi. Just as principles and qi’s cooperation to create the world, the Numerical One and images work together to create the universe.

Drawing upon Zhu Xi’s cosmologic concepts and Islamic notions, Ma Dexin

believes that only the Real One, or God, is the true Ultimate Transcendent. Why and

how does Ma Dexin change Zhu Xi’s definition of the ultimate transcendent? To

understand this we need to look next at the proof he derives from Confucian texts.

Ma Dexin starts his discussion on the basis of the Doctrine of the Mean’s “What

Heaven has conferred is called Nature” (天命之谓性) and Zhu Xi’s comment of “ ‘To

confer’ is defined by ‘to order’” (命,犹令也). He writes: “Who orders the humans?

God orders them. If some one talks about the verb “order” [in cosmology] but misses

the subject, how do humans know that who ‘orders’ the universe? Only humans know

that order is coming from God, and then they can know ming (order, destiny 命) and

that ming derives from God (谁令之？主令人也。若言令而不言主，则何以谓之为

令？知令为主与之令，则知命为主与之命).”48 And he also says that: “Since ancient

times, there has been no name to call God. Later, Confucians name God as heaven (古

来无名称上帝，后儒又以天字名).”49 Just as the Emperor orders ministers and the father orders his sons, there is one majesty who orders the world. Ma Dexin thinks that Confucian texts already convey the idea of heaven. Heaven is similar to God, which implies that Confucianism and Islam share the same understanding of the

Ultimate Transcendent, and Chinese intellectuals already believed in God a long time ago but it was neglected later. Yet an investigation of the meanings of heaven in

Confucian tradition strongly suggests that these two notions are different.

In Confucianism, the idea of heaven has three main components, involving a supernatural being, the ultimate transcendence, and physical attribute. The first one refers to a powerful, human-like, supernatural being, who oversees the universe.50

For example, Dong Zhongshu (董仲舒,179BC-104BC), a famous Confucian in Han

Dynasty (202BC-9AD), characterized it, in terms of the “interaction between heaven

and man” (天人感应), as a just Judge who has the power to control the world.51

Dong Zhongshu believed that heaven can judge humans’ actions, including the emperor’s policies. If the emperor implements bad policies and causes social instability, heaven would warn the emperor by phenomena such as a solar eclipse, and would punish him by bringing disasters upon him and his people. If the emperor implements good policies, heaven would reward him by bringing favorable weather, whose significance in an agriculturally-based economy, such as ancient China’s, can not be underestimated. Although China has a tradition of polytheism, heaven is seen as being the strongest power among all supernatural beings. Thus, the Chinese emperor’s another name of tianzi (son of the heaven) stresses that the emperor’s power is endowed by the highest status of supernatural being and as such, the emperor is seen as the deputy of heaven. Ma Dexin then uses this notion to express the similarity of opinions between the overseer of the universe in Islam and Confucianism, noting that “because Allah dominates all creations, Muslims call him the Owner (主)

(以其主宰万有，故称主).”52

The second meaning of heaven refers to the supernatural creator as the Origin, an

idea that is derived from Neo-Confucianism. In Neo-Confucianism, heaven is the

underlying essence, the origin, and the ultimate of the universe. In Islam, Allah is the

creator of the world, the Origin, and the Ultimate. Ma Dexin sees in Confucianism

and Islam a kind of equivalence in the idea of a supernatural creator. The third main

meaning of heaven is its physical attribute, known as sky. Ma Dexin does not agree

that heaven refers to physical sky. He insists that there is an unseen power which

controls the physical heaven.53

From the three perspectives, Ma Dexin’s notion of heaven combines heaven as

the overseer of the universe and the origin. Through this notion, Ma Dexin established

the communication between Chinese tradition and Islam, because two cultures share

the similar understanding of the ultimate transcendent. Ma Dexin further stresses that

two cultures of transcendence are “similar”, not identical, because Allah is more

supreme than heaven and He creates heaven. Before the discussion of Ma Dexin’s

further explanation, I first investigate Chinese tradition.

It is obvious that Ma Dexin deliberately changes Heaven’s meaning in Chinese tradition. Ma Dexin’s God is the only One, in keeping with the belief in Islam that there are no other gods. In Chinese tradition, by contrast, heaven has the highest status among all supernatural beings. When Ma Dexin equates heaven as God, he deliberately ignores Chinese polytheism. In other words, Ma Dexin endows heaven the unique status of the only God, which heaven does not have in Chinese tradition.

Neo-Confucians equate heaven with taiji. As discussed above, heaven needs qi to

create the universe, which implies that unlike Allah who creates the world by Himself,

heaven requires help from qi. In Ma Dexin’s perspective, only Allah controls the

world. He states that “heaven … circulates without stop, because some one controls it

(天如此运行不息，必有为之主宰者).”54 That is, there is an absolute creator and

owner to control the world, including heaven. This Owner is Allah. Thus, Ma Dexin’s

discussion of heaven and Allah demonstrates a kind of ambivalence.

Ma Dexin first borrows the notion of heaven and raises it to the highest status, so that it appears to be similar to Allah in Islam. He continues to insist that Allah is beyond heaven and only Allah has absolute power in the universe. This ambivalence may be seen as a consequence of Ma Dexin’s desire to both synthesize Islam with

Confucianism and distinguish a separate Islamic identity for Chinese Muslims. Ma

Dexin continues to state that although ancient Confucians respected heaven and accorded it the highest status, Confucians did not realize that behind heaven, there is another Owner, Allah. For Ma Dexin, only Allah can be the real Origin, Ultimate, and

Transcendent. As an orthodox scholar, Ma Dexin insists that Islam is the only religion to truly recognize and understand the Ultimate. His stress on Allah’s Oneness, Origin, and Ultimate draws, further, upon the Islamic idea tawhid, the unity of Allah.

In Islam, the idea of tawhid is the first commandment which has to be obeyed.

Tawhid requires a belief in Allah as the One and the Unique. It is first among the six components of iman (faith). All Muslim theologians insist that God is the One and all creations derive from God. Likewise, Ma Dexin sees in the Neo-Confucian concept of taiji a kind of equivalence with the Islamic concept of God. Just as taiji contains principles and virtue, virtue is, too, derived from God. In Ma Dexin’s opinion, God has principles both of the Ultimate Virtue and Ultimate Good (至善至美). Principle of the Ultimate Virtue diffuses permanent virtue and endows this divine and obligatory nature to human beings.

Ma Dexin’s Chinese Islamic Cosmology of Virtue

How does God, as Ultimate Virtue, create the world? The Qur’an says that God

first creates animals and then creates human beings. But the Qur’an does not discuss the process of creation in detail. This lack of detail in the Qur’anic account of creation

leaves room for Ma Dexin to explain that:

“At the beginning of creation, there are principles and qi. Principles stick to qi, which creates ‘qi of principles’. Principles can not exist without qi, such as qi can not exist without principles. When human beings are created by God, they are formed by ‘qi of principles’; when human beings return back to God, they are dissolved from form of the human body to ‘qi of principles’, and then from ‘qi of principles’ to principles (造化之初，有理有气，理付于气，理气所以成形也。理不可无气，亦犹气不可无理。人之来时，由理之气以成行；及其归也，由形还气，由气而达理).”55

Thus, Ma Dexin accepts the basic outlines of Neo-Confucian cosmology and believes that God diffuses principles and qi at the beginning of the process of creation. These principles and qi serve to create human beings, who are endowed with both permanent principles and a transient physical form. In addition, because qi brings evil into humans, in Ma Dexin’s theory, human evil exists before a person’s actual birth.

Muslim theologians have presented many diverse theories of cosmology, which

reflect a range of their philosophical inclinations. Al-Farabi (874~950), for example, who was influenced by Aristotle and neo-Platonism, suggested that God is the First

Cause and God emanates the second intellect. The second intellect emanates the third intellect and this continues up to the level of the tenth intellect, which continues to

emanate physical materials.56 Al-Farabi’s cosmology reflects neo-Platonism’s theory of “overflow”, which explains that creation results from the fullness of the One. He draws on these ideas to prove that the world is eternal and that the principle which

guides it is movement. Similar to al-Farabi, Ma Dexin’s conflation of Neo-Confucian cosmology and Islam represents an attempt to prove the relationship between human virtue and Allah. For Ma Dexin, virtue works to reflect Allah’s Ultimate Virtue as it is manifest within the universe, proves Allah’s power to create humans, and exposes

Allah’s judgment in the afterlife. Here, Allah creates virtue from Ultimate Virtue, endows it inside the human body, and draws on it to indicate the path to return back to the Origin. In addition, in the afterlife, Allah would make judgment by virtue; the humans with manifestation of virtue are rewarded in heaven, while the humans with evil are punished into the hell. Ma Dexin expresses these ideas in three steps, as explained in further detail below. By these steps, Ma Dexin introduces Allah into

Chinese philosophy of virtue and associates with the relationship between two cultures of virtue system.

First, only principle is eternal for human beings, and this principle comes from

God. God gives His virtue as principle and endows for human beings. Human possesses virtue before their actual birth. Because human virtue emanates from

Ultimate Virtue, virtue acts as a bridge between humans and Allah. Thus, human beings are responsible for protecting and manifesting virtue when they pursue the path to heaven.

Second, although humans possess both principle and virtue, evil also exists before

their birth, which is decided by God. Qur’an says that: “if some good befalls them,

they say, ‘This is from Allah’; but if evil, they say, ‘This is from thee’ (O Prophet).

Say: ‘All things are from Allah’” (Qur’an, 4:78). This excerpt implies that Allah

creates all things, including evils. Similar to the idea of evil in Neo-Confucianism, in

Ma Dexin’s thought, Allah creates evil inside qi, and from there it enters into the

human body. I will discuss this idea within the context of ming later.

Third, Ma Dexin adds the idea of the afterworld into his theory of principles. He

believes that after human beings die, principles leave the body and wait for Allah’s

judgment. As the only eternal nature inside the human body, principles would be

judged by God. Virtue is the most significant principle that would be the basis for

God’s judgment, which implies that human should manifest virtue in this life and get rewards in heaven after the Day of Judgment. I will introduce this theory in Part 4 of this paper in greater detail.

The Concept of Ming

After Ma Dexin’s treatment of cosmology, he creatively explains Zhu Xi’s

commentary of “nature is principle” (性即理) in “What Heaven has conferred is

called the Nature”. Ma Dexin believes that principles are the roots of the world and

“Principles inside everything are called nature while principles inside human beings

are called ming (理乃物之所以然也。在物谓之性，在人谓之命).”57 Ma Dexin agrees with Zhu Xi’s theory of “principle is nature”, but he separates the contents of

nature into two parts by the different means of principles’ embodiments; principle inside living things is still called nature, while principle inside the human body is named ming (命). Ming is a old Confucian concept, which is translated from 命, the same word in “What Heaven has conferred (ming) is called the Nature”, but ming in

Ma Dexin’s theory has more complex meanings than that of Neo-Confucianism. So I decide to leave it as pinyin (phoneticize), to maintain its all contents.

Ma Dexin’s use of ming to replace human nature has two main reasons. When we discuss Ma Dexin’s theory of “order” or Zhu Xi’s commentary of “‘to refer’ is to ‘to order’”, ming bears the meaning of order or command. Commandments are given by

God, which must be obeyed by believers. Human nature is commandments, which implies human nature is decided by God. In Zhu Xi’s theory, human nature, which derives from principles, is permanent for human beings. Human beings have to retain this permanent nature and manifest it. In Islam, God’s commandments are paramount.

Muslims are obliged to obey God’s commandments in order to avoid the punishments of the grave and the Afterlife. In Ma Dexin’s thought, then, when humans manifest their nature, they should comply with God’s commands. Ma Dexin, in turn, stresses that Muslims’ compliance with Allah’s commands should first submit to the belief in

Allah. If Muslims are not obliged to the faith in Allah, they would break Allah’s commands. Iman is the precondition of manifesting nature and complying with God’s commands. Ma Dexin changes the name and meanings of nature, to prove God’s control over the universe and human’s obligations to commandments.

The other reason is that ming refers to destiny.58 Here, Ma Dexin deliberately

replaces the common definition of destiny in Chinese tradition, which refers to a

predetermined future, with Islamic understanding of destiny, which refers to unfolding

life through the exertion of human will. In Islam, God has foreknowledge of

everything in his creation. But this does not imply that human beings do not possess

the freedom of action. The foreknowledge of Allah is different from predestination,

because Alllah's knowledge is a living creative activity, which implies that the future

of human beings would be conceived as an open possibility, also decided by human's

free will.59 Although Allah puts evil inside qi to create the human beings, Allah does

not deprive human's free will and determine which one is good or evil. In other words,

destiny in Chinese Islam refers to two levels meanings: all things’ future is decided by

Allah, but human beings have limited freedom to choice the possibility of results. Ma

Dexin explains that “the misfortune and good fortune in this life is decided by destiny,

which comes with the inborn (尘世之祸福乃命之所定，由先天而来也).”60 That is,

Allah infuses both of good and evil inside the human body before human actual birth.

Ma Dexin further explains, sayings that “although virtue and evil potentially exist

inside the human body, the reason of endowments is decided by Allah; although

rewards and punishments [on the Day of Judgment] are decided by Allah, the bases of judgments are caused by [virtue and evil] of humans [which are manifested and done

in this life] (善恶在人机在天，赏罚在天缘在人).”61 That is, although Allah endows

humans with virtue and evil, if humans make right choices to manifest virtue, Allah

would reward them; while if they do not, Allah would punish them. Combining with

former discussions of ming, in which Allah infuses commandments as principle to the

human body, it is obvious that Allah endows good and evil as well as commandments to guide human manifesting virtue at the same time.

Ming has complex meanings in Ma Dexin’s theory. It refers not only to commandment or order, but also to destiny. This is caused by God’s absolute control over the universe, including human destiny, this life, and the afterworld. God also commands humans in such a way as to enable them to enter heaven. Ma Dexin combines God’s absolute will and commandments with human’s free will. Thus, Ma

Dexin says that “heart connects with the Principled World, nature joins with heaven principles, and ming links with the Real One (心与理世相通，性与天理相接，命与

真宰相贯).”62 Ming determines apparent and potential relationships between the human beings and God. Unfortunately, modern Chinese scholars, such as Sun Zhenyu, do not explore the complex meanings of such important concept.

Illustrious Virtue and Real Virtue

Ma Dexin’s theory of God or the Real One stresses that God is the only One in the world. The cosmology explains how God creates the human beings and human nature. The notion of ming explains God’s commandments inside human and God’s absolute control of the human beings. What are the concrete contents of God’s commandments? Ma Dexin explains them by two kinds of virtue: illustrious virtue and real virtue.

First, Ma Dexin argues that God’s commandment is to manifest illustrious virtue.

He states that “although nature is inside respective individual, it actually comprises of great ming (Great ming equates ming, and Ma Dexin replaces ming with great ming to

stress the significance of ming in human nature). Thus this nature is called human

nature or virtue nature (且夫本性为各具之性，而实公共之大命所包涵而有者也，

故又名曰人性、曰德性).”63 Just as Zhu Xi’s commentary of “[human] nature is

principle”, Ma Dexin insists that human nature includes ming, Allah’s commands.

Human nature is identical to virtue nature, which implies that virtue is one of Allah’s

commands. He continues to stress virtue’s close connections with God. He says that

“embodiment appears according to nature; nature appears according to illustrious

virtue; illustrious virtue appears according to Allah (体从性显，性从明德显，明德以

真主显).”64 Through Allah’s word alone, humans can manifest illustrious virtue.

Ma Dexin continues to definite illustrious virtue that

“Illustrious virtue is not felt in the sensual world of sound and hearing, …, [it is] without form and characteristics. It is also without beginning and ending. It is the bright reflection of light to eliminate dark. It is the candle of wisdom which has long brightness. If the person gains illustrious virtue, this person earns it forever; if the person loses it, this person loses it forever. So the classic book says that only Muslims can gain this illustrious virtue; and only people who can maintain and protect illustrious virtue are called Muslims”(所谓明德者, 不落声闻，…无色相。无始终、回光不夜，慧烛长明，得则永得，失则永失；故经谓穆民方能有此明德，能保守称明德者方称穆民).65

In this quote, Ma Dexin draws on many notions which derive from Chinese Buddhism

to explain the character of illustrious virtue, one being that it is “without form and characteristics” (无色相). “Form and characteristics” comes from the Sanskrit of rūpa

and lakṣana, which refers to material objects, especially their appearance. By contrast,

Confucianism does not use this term in its text, so where does it come from? Ma

Dexin’s command of Buddhism may provide some explanation. Ma Dexin draws upon Buddhist ideas to demonstrate that illustrious virtue is invisible, eternal, and equals wisdom. Illustrious virtue is beyond human earthly life, which can not be felt by human sense. Illustrious virtue derives from God’s Ultimate Virtue, which means that illustrious virtue shares in the eternal nature of God. In addition, like a candle in the night, illustrious virtue guides human beings to find the right way to eternal life.

Finally, Ma Dexin quotes the idea of the classic book (but he does not mention that whether it is Qur’an or another classic book he is referring to) and believes that only Muslims can gain true illustrious virtue. Why does Ma Dexin argue this?

Confucians have discussed virtue, established their own virtue system, and advocated manifesting virtue long before Ma Dexin. Yet for Ma Dexin, it is only Islam that can carry the true word of God. In other words, only Muslims can correctly understand the real meanings of God’s word. God has commanded human beings to cultivate illustrious virtue, but only Muslims have the ability to understand its real meaning.

This argument echoes similar views of Muslim theologians in regard to Judaism and

Christianity. Muslims believe that God sends many prophets to disseminate his word, but the prophets of Judaism and Christianity altered the true word of God, which implies that Judaism and Christianity can not correctly understand God’s word. For

Muslims, protecting and maintaining God’s commandments are their first important task. Ma Dexin concludes that only believers who safeguard illustrious virtue are the real Muslims. Here, Ma Dexin believes that Islamic virtue has a much stronger power

than Confucian virtue. In Neo-Confucianism, manifesting illustrious virtue is an

action that is focused on the self and its capacity for action. In Islam, God orders

(ming) believers to manifest illustrious virtue. Illustrious virtue is conceived by divine

command, and thus becomes an imperative task for all believers. It does not depend,

therefore, solely on fallible human endeavor, but on infallible Divine Guidance.

Is illustrious virtue identical to the whole content of God’s commandments? No,

after Ma Dexin explains illustrious virtue, he advocates the precondition of

manifesting illustrious virtue. He says that “from beginning to ending, God’s wholly

unique favor of faith only pertains to Muslims, and God endows Muslims alone with

the way to manifest illustrious virtue (真主自止一之特恩，独予穆民之信任，而后

明德明).”66 From here, Ma Dexin thinks that before Muslims obey the command to cultivate illustrious virtue, they should be faithful to God and God alone, as a precondition of iman, which refers to Muslims’ absolute submission to Allah. Iman constitutes six articles of Islam: belief in God (tawhid), belief in the Angles, belief in the Book, belief in all the Prophets, belief in the Day of Judgment, and belief in

Destiny. Here, tawhid is the first commandment in Islamic faith. Only when humans are faithful to Allah, can they become Muslims. Faith in Allah is most significant judgment of Muslim identity. Only Muslims can understand illustrious virtue, which implies that believers should become Muslims first, to obey Allah. In fact, Ma Dexin, in his other book the Classic of Manifesting Virtue, draws upon a new notion of “real virtue” into philosophy of virtue to make equivalence with the term iman.

Many Chinese scholars, such as Yang Guiping and Sun Zhenyu, equate the notion

“real virtue” with “illustrious virtue”.67 It is inappropriate to make such connections.

Inside Ma Dexin’s three influential books, he only mentions real virtue twice in the

Essential Points of the Four Classics, both of which can be understood either as iman

or illustrious virtue.68 In the All Great Transformation Return to God, Ma Dexin only

uses real virtue in the first chapter, which explains that real virtue exists inside human

beings and virtue is a “real being” for everything.69 But Ma Dexin does not make any

definition there. Only in the Classic of Manifesting Virtue does Ma Dexin define real

virtue as iman and describe the ways to achieve real virtue.70 Thus, it is problematic

to define real virtue as illustrious virtue.

In addition, although no history recording proves that the Classic of Manifesting

Virtue was published after the Essential Points of the Four Classics, from gradually

clearer definitions, the notion of real virtue acts as an additional idea to supplement

Ma Dexin’s philosophy of virtue. When Ma Dexin discusses two main contents of ming in the Essential Points of the Four Classics, he already sets iman on a higher status than illustrious virtue, the explicit and equivalent Chinese notion of iman, however, is not drawn on at that time. Until the Classic of Manifesting Virtue, Ma

Dexin draws on real virtue, in order to distinguish it from illustrious virtue of

Neo-Confucianism. As previous discussion, “real” (真) is broadly adopted in the

Chinese Islam to highlight the relations with Allah. Ma Dexin’s creative use of “real virtue” carries the emphasis on Islamic character.

Ma Dexin introduces real virtue, saying that: “real virtue is the real light inside the human heart. Humans gain it from heaven, and real virtue is void, bright, and

indestructible, known as iman (真德者，心之真光，人所得于天而虚灵不昧者也，

方云以玛尼).”71 Ma Dexin, in this excerpt, presents the meanings of real virtue, or iman, from two aspects. Ma Dexin first agrees with Zhu Xi’s description of virtue’s attribute, such as permanence and transcendence. Thus, he draws upon the origin texts of “gain it from heaven” and “void, bright, and indestructible”, which derive from

Sishu zhangju jizhu. The quotation shows Ma Dexin’s respect to Neo-Confucianism and his attempt to bridge Islam and Neo-Confucianism, such as he did before.

Second, the concept of “light” implies Islamic equivalent notion and the possibility that Sufism has impacted on Ms Dexin’s theory. My highlight of “light” here is because many Chinese Islamic scholars see it as the proof of Sufi influence on

Ma Dexin.72 Light does not come from Neo-Confucianism, but derives from Islam, especially Sufism. Sufis prefer to draw on light in their works. Al-Suhrawardi

(1153～1191), for example, described Allah as the pure immaterial light in his The

Temple of Light.73 Another famous Sufi poet Rumi (1207~1273) also compared Allah

to light. Since the ending of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese Islamic scholars have begun

to expose to Sufism.74 Sufism has impacted on the establishment of the Chinese

Islamic School, which, in turn, influenced Ma Dexin. Although Ma Dexin insisted his

orthodoxy belief, most Chinese scholars conceive Sufism as one of ideal sources

inside Ma Dexin’s Islamic theory.75 However, it is problematic to make sure that light here proves Sufi’s influence on Ma Dexin, because it is not a good direct proof. In the

Qur’an, Chapter 25 is known as “the Light”, stating that “Allah is the lights of the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an, 25:35). Like a light that guides humans to walk in the

darkness, Allah guides His believers with “His light” to His mercy and His heaven.

Thus, the term of “light” may derive from Islamic tradition.

To sum up, besides illustrious virtue, Ma Dexin brings real virtue, being Islamic

faith, into philosophy of virtue, and in his system, real virtue exceeds illustrious virtue

and takes up the first place among Allah’s commands. Thus, Zhu Xi equates virtue

with illustrious virtue; while Ma Dexin’s virtue contains both real virtue and

illustrious virtue.

The Goal of Manifesting Virtue

For Zhu Xi’s theory, the final goal of manifesting illustrious virtue is expressed in

the saying, “their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their

families being regulated, their states were rightly governed. Their states being rightly

governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy (修身齐家治国平天

下).”76 By contrast, Ma Dexin believes that “achieving the goal of virtue of heaven

means turning back to the Real (夫达天德者，即归真之谓).”77 Because virtue is

endowed by God, it is called “virtue of heaven”. The concept of “Real” (zhen 真) is another complex notion in Ma Dexin’s philosophy. In Chinese language, zhen acts as a noun or an adjective. When it acts as an adjective, Chinese Muslim scholars draw upon it to express something referring to Allah or Islam. For instant, Allah is called the Real One, and Islamic virtue is called real virtue. When it acts as a noun, it has

four main meanings: 1) Allah, 2) the real religion, Islam, 3) the real world, equating

heaven that is rewarded in the afterworld in Ma Dexin’s discussion, 4) Chinese

Islamic virtue.78 Here, the concept of “real” is conceived by two meanings that Ma

Dexin first accentuates that “virtue of heaven” is true virtue, and he, in turn, presents

that virtue serves to guide Muslims to heaven.

In addition, there are two possible explanations of the notion of “returning back

to the Real” in this quote. One, supported by Islamic tradition, is the previous

discussion that if Muslims obey Allah’s commands to manifest virtue, they can

achieve heaven on the Day of Judgment. The other, on the other hand, is explained by

Sufism in which through the mean of manifesting virtue, disciples can get close to

Allah by some Chinese scholars.79 This thesis draws on the first explanation because

Ma Dexin usually connects the concept of “retuning back to the Real” with that of

“resurrection”, which is the belief of reliving on the Day of Judgment. The religious

functions which Muslim are obliged to perform make up the most significant part of

the Chinese Islamic system of virtue. I will discuss this idea in the following chapter

in detailed.

The Graph below summarizes the relations among the Ultimate Transcendent,

human beings, and virtue in Ma Dexin’s theory and Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism.

Zhu Xi Ma Dexin

Allah

taiji Image taiji

li qi li qi

yinyang yinyang

humans humans

ming nature

Virtue Virtue

Real virtue Illustrious Illustrious (iman) virtue virtue

Self- Allah Realization

Note: Zhu Xi’s notions Ma Dexin’s creative notions

Rendao and Tiandao

After Ma Dexin discusses virtue system through an explanation of Islamic

cosmology, he discusses the idea of return to God. Using the Neo-Confucian concept

of “Path of Duty” (道), he says that “in the book [of The Essential Points of the Four

Classics], I usually used the concept of ‘Path of Duty’, which shares the same meaning as that in the Doctrine of the Mean, [especially] in the sentence of ‘an

accordance with this nature is called the Path of Duty’ (篇中重提道字，即《中庸》

率性之道).”80 In this thesis, I draw on the term of “Path” to abbreviate the concept of

“Path of Duty”.

Zhu Xi explains further, saying that “the Path can not be left [from humans] for

an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the Path (道也者，不可须臾离也，可离

非道也).”81 Regarding the Doctrine of the Mean, he explains that

“The Path is principle inside every object and affair in daily life. The Path is the nature of virtue, which is endowed inside the attribute of every thing. All things possess it in anytime. Thus, human beings can not live without the Path in a very short time. If the Path can leave everything and exist independently, it belongs to a self-existent substance and it can not be the Path anymore. … So humans should manifest the essence of principle, and do not forget manifestation in instantly (道者，日用事物当行之理，皆性之德而具于心，无物不有，无时不然，所以不可须臾离也。若其可离，则为外物而非道矣。…所以存天理之本然，而不使离于须臾之顷也).”82

Zhu Xi believes that the Path can not leave human beings, because the Path is human

nature and virtue. Why does Zhu Xi use the Path to express the same content meaning

of principles? The previous section has mentioned that principle is the eternal being

which derives from taiji; it is endowed within humans, and becomes the way to guide

a person’s cultivation of virtue. Human nature and the Path share the same meaning as

principles, but Zhu Xi uses these two concepts to express two different perspectives

on principles. Human nature stresses that principles are the only eternal and true

nature for human, from human essence; while the Path reveals that only principles can

lead humans to achieve the stage of sages, from human actions. To sum up, Zhu Xi’s

notions of principles, human nature, and the Path share the identical meanings,

although three notions stay in the different human stages.

Ma Dexin strongly agrees with Zhu Xi’s theory which equates the Path with

principles. He quotes the sentence from the Miaoyu Jing (妙喻经, for this book, he

did not explain what book it was and who wrote this book. He just told readers the

name of book.), saying that “human beings are the apparent image of the Path (人也

者，道之显像也).”83 In other words, the Path is invisible while humans are visible.

The Path appears by way of human actions. He explains that “body is with great

prevailing Path, nature is of great prevailing Path, and heart is with great prevailing

Path. All appearances and the inner being of people are formed by the infusing Path

(身为大道流行之身，性为大道流行之性，心为大道流行之心，为表为里，皆道

之所贯注而成者也).”84 As with the idea of the Path in Zhu Xi’s philosophy, the Path

in Chinese Islam is also the way that the human body, nature, and heart should follow.

This Path is decided by ming, Allah’s commandments to human beings.

Is Ma Dexin’s Path is identical to Zhu Xi’s? The answer, I believe, is no. As we

know, Ma Dexin’s notion of ming contains both illustrious virtue and iman, which means that Ma Dexin’s Path prioritizes God. Ma Dexin draws on the term of “Sages” to replace the concept of “prophets”, because sages share the similar important status in Neo-Confucianism with that of prophets in Islam. Ma Dexin says that “sages in our religion are assigned to disseminate tiandao (the Path of heaven, 天道), while sages in other religions (here it refers to Confucianism) are assigned to disseminate rendao

(the Path of humans 人道) (我教圣人所任者天道，他教圣人所任者人道).”85 He further explains that “the Path of humans refers to principles of daily life, which involves the five ethics. The Path of heaven refers to human divine practice to God, known as the five laws (人道者，处世之理，乃人与人所当行之事也，是谓五伦。

天道者，乃人与真宰所当尽之功，是谓五典也).” 86 Ma Dexin believes that

Confucianism focuses on ethics, while Islam focuses on God. Thus, the Path set by human actions refers to ethics, stresses the centrality of human principles, and implies that the most significant principle are the five constant virtues, which includes

Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Trust (仁义礼智信). By contrast, the Path of heaven stresses that God is at the center of the world and everyday life, and implies that the most significant principle are obedience to God and the belief in God’s Oneness.

This does not mean that, for Ma Dexin, the two Paths are incompatible. Islam advocates that Muslims must not only obey God, but also actively involve themselves in everyday life. The role of the Qur’an is important in this regard: the Qur’an teaches

Muslims both how to understand God’s word, and how to conduct themselves as

members of a family, society, and state. Ma Dexin says that sages should “carry the

responsibility of spreading the Path of heaven, and teach [Muslims] the Path to God,

which includes the Path of humans (兼以天道为任者，言人与真宰相近之道，而人

道亦在其中).”87 In other words, Islam includes the Confucian Path of human and

goes beyond it with its ideas on the Path of heaven. This latter Path can not be

achieved within Confucianism. Thus, in practice, Ma Dexin argues that Muslims

should harmonize two cultures, while rhetorically, he subsumes Confucianism to

Islam. This also reveals Ma Dexin’s attitude towards God and virtue: he stresses

virtue just as Zhu Xi does, but for Ma Dexin, God is of primary importance. Because

he is a believing Muslim, God is the prerequisite of illustrious virtue in Ma Dexin’s

thought.

Although Neo-Confucianism does not equate heaven with God, Confucian

tradition imbues heaven with religious meanings. In addition, Neo-Confucianism

seeks the Ultimate. Ma Dexin believes that if Confucians had continued their

exploration of heaven and the Ultimate, they would have welcomed Islamic Path of

heaven, and their philosophy would have been ameliorated to a wider range with the

belief in Allah. In other words, Confucianism and Islam essentially share the same

goals, but unfortunately, Confucianism deviates its original way.

As the Chinese Islamic scholar, Ma Dexin mixes Zhu Xi’s cosmology and virtue

system with Islamic notions of virtue and obedience to God to create his own Islamic system of virtue. Islamic virtue derives from God and is passed on- along with real virtue and illustrious virtue -- into human beings. Yet another question remains – how

do Muslims manifest virtue? The next chapter will investigate this topic in some detail.

Part 3

Practices of Manifesting Virtue

In the previous chapter, I discussed Zhu Xi and Ma Dexin’s philosophy of virtue,

which are characterized as “knowledge” (知) in Chinese Neo-Confucianism.88 From

Confucian texts, the discussion of “knowledge” can not be separated from the

category of “action” (行), because knowledge is a category of understanding, which is acquired through practice.89 Zhu Xi asserted that one should “make diligence both to acquire knowledge and act it [in daily life] without prejudiced (致知力行，用功不可

偏废).”90 Zhu Xi discussed that action is of significance in virtue system, as with

knowledge. Thus, he introduced the term of Path, to stress that after humans

understand what virtue is and why it is important to manifest virtue, they, in turn, should follow the Path to practice virtue in everyday life.91 Zhu Xi continued to state

that “knowledge and action are reciprocal (知行互发).”92 Thus, in this chapter, I will

discuss Zhu Xi and Ma Dexin’s thoughts of action, which refers to the manifestation

of virtue.

Unlike Zhu Xi’s emphasis on action from the perspective of Confucian tradition,

Ma Dexin’s stress on action was impacted by Islam. Islam obligates the five duties of

Muslims as the Five Pillars. Ma Dexin particularly discussed the centrality of Islamic

duties in daily life. In the Essential Points of the Four Classics, which constitutes of

four books with respect to four themes, including Allah, Islamic duties, the afterworld,

and other religions, Ma Dexin described how to obey Islamic duties and the relations

between Islamic and Neo-Confucian duties. Finally, in the preface of another book

Classics of Manifesting Virtue, Ma Dexin reemphasized his main idea that the goal of writing this book was to help Muslims manifest virtue on the right Path. Ma Dexin,

thus, patiently introduced various Islamic duties and guided believers to practice

them.

Organization

In this part, I will introduce the practice of manifesting virtue from three

perspectives: obeying iman, removing desire, and following sages, which derive from

similar contents of the Path in the Great Learning, an introductory book about

Confucian system of virtue.

The Great Learning begins with the theme of manifesting illustrious virtue.93 It states that “the Path of Great Learning is to illustrate (or manifest) illustrious virtue, to renovate the people, and to rest in the highest excellence (《大学》之道，在明明德，

在亲民，在止于至善).”94 Zhu Xi explains that:

“after humans manifest their illustrious virtue, they should treat others

as they would themselves (推以及人), to help others remove their stains from virtue … Both tasks of manifesting illustrious virtue and renovating the people should be achieved to the highest excellence (至善, lit. ultimate virtue) and retain such excellence. The highest excellence is gained through following the principles of heaven and removing any self-desire inside the human body. All three aspects of manifesting illustrious virtue, [including following principles, renovating the people, and removing desire], are the leading rules among the great learning (既自明其明德，又当推以及人，使之亦有以去其旧染之污也...言明明德、新民，皆当至于至善之地而不迁。盖必其有以尽夫天理之极，而无一毫人欲之私也。此三者，大学之纲领也).”95

Zhu Xi, in this excerpt, exhibits the Confucian tradition of “internal sages and external kings” (内圣外王), which conveys the idea that Confucians should first cultivate virtue within himself or herself, and then teach the Path of manifesting illustrious virtue to ordinary people. That is, humans should become sages through actions of manifesting illustrious virtue; meanwhile, these sages are like kings in the kingdom of virtue, who have the obligation and ability to guide and teach humans, as with Plato’s philosophy king. Humans, who accomplish both requirements, can achieve the highest excellent status of virtue (至善, lit. ultimate virtue). In addition,

Zhu Xi explains the means of self-cultivation, by both duties of following the principles and removing desire. To sum up, Zhu Xi insists that humans have duties to follow the Path and remove desire; meanwhile, they should instruct humans on manifesting virtue.

As with Zhu Xi’s thoughts, Ma Dexin describes the means of manifesting Islamic virtue in similar terms, such as obeying the Path, removing desire, and following sages. By contrast, the concrete contents of Ma Dexin’s descriptions distinguish that from Zhu Xi’s. In the previous discussion, Ma Dexin’s Path refers to the term of “the

Path of heaven”, which broadly concludes both iman and the Path of human. In this

chapter, I narrow the contents of “the Path of heaven” to humans’ obedience to Allah,

in order to avoid obscuring the comparisons between Ma Dexin and Zhu Xi. Ma

Dexin believes that the first and most significant practice for Muslims is iman.

Muslims, in turn, can follow the Path of humans, of which Ma Dexin shares the same

as Zhu Xi. Finally, because the responsibility of sages in Neo-Confucianism is similar

to that of prophets in Islam, both obligated to guide people on the right respective

Paths, Ma Dexin agrees with Zhu Xi that Muslims should follow sages. However, it is

tiny different perspectives on Ma Dexin and Zhu Xi’s emphasis of sages because the

former discusses more from the aspect of believers, who should follow sages, while

the later talks more from the aspect of sages, who should renovate believers. In fact, it

is the pro and con sides of the relation in teaching.

After three perspectives of manifesting virtue, humans achieve the highest status of virtue in Neo-Confucianism. But in Islam, only Muslims experience the afterworld,

can they obtain ultimate virtue. With accomplishment of the four steps, Muslims

would receive the Islamic great learning and be rewarded to heaven by Allah in Ma

Dexin’s theory. I leave the discussion of the afterworld to Part 4. In this chapter, I

focus on the former three perspectives on practice of manifesting virtue.

Obeying Iman

The first avenue to manifest virtue is to follow the Path of heaven, known as

Islamic faith: iman (faith or belief) in Ma Dexin’s thoughts. Iman refers to “submit” to

Allah. The Qur’an (49:14) reveals that faith enters Muslims’ hearts only when they submit to Allah and obey Allah and His messengers.96 As previous mentions, Ma

Dexin draws on a new term of “real virtue” to bring iman into his philosophy of virtue.

Although Ma Dexin’s Islamic virtue concludes both real virtue and illustrious virtue, real virtue keeps the Islamic thought independently and uniquely. Ma Dexin pays more attention to teach manifesting real virtue, and in turn, introduces two main means of Islamic practice to obey iman, both traditional practice and spiritual experience. Finally, he connects them with Neo-Confucian logic.

Two Means of Islamic Practice

Ma Dexin first adheres to the commandments in Qur’an. Qur’an states that “the believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger then they doubt not and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah; they are the truthful ones” (Qur’an, 49:15). In this creed, Qur’an separates the contents of iman into two main aspects: one is about faith in Allah and His Messenger; the other is about the daily life in the way of Allah. Ma Dexin explains that: “Muslims should believe in Allah, the Prophet as Allah’s Messenger, the Holy Book, and the Path of cultivation which are all revealed and established by Allah, and believe virtue and evil that would bring about great rewards and great punishments (确信真宰并信识真宰所

差之圣人，所敕之经典，所立之教道，且信善恶将来必有大赏大罚).”97 Here, Ma

Dexin presents the traditional Islamic way to obey Allah by daily practice and following Islamic laws.

Ma Dexin points out the second way of iman which belongs to spiritual experience, saying that Muslims should

“love Allah and the Prophet, follow the Prophet’s establishments of cultivation, practice and operate the duties without tired, take the goal of becoming sages as the main task, and take human affairs and worldly matters as the associate task. The task of human relationships can be postponed, while the Path of Duty can not be forgotten. The whole human heart should concentrate and fix on this Path (喜主爱圣, 遵圣人所立之教，体行不倦，以至人为正务，以人情世务为陪随。人情可缓，而道义必不可忘，一心专定于是).”98

In this statement, Ma Dexin prefers spiritual experience rather than worldly matters.

Modern scholars, such as Yang Guiping, usually quote this excerpt to state that spiritual experience in Ma Dexin’s description seeks to the feeling of getting close to

Allah and concentrates on self-cultivation, which is characterized to Sufism.99 Sufis are engaged in spiritual experience, in order to remove the cover from light and purify their spirits. Sufi scholars or poets discuss the spiritual experience of getting close to

Allah. Does Ma Dexin accept Sufi’s theory in practice? The answer, I think, is no. Ma

Dexin, however, insists on his belief in Islamic tradition and denies Sufism many times in his texts. He criticizes some Sufism’s rituals, such as Grave-worship, which are forbidden in traditional Islam.100 From this excerpt, it seems that Ma Dexin does not argue against Sufi spiritual practice in respect that he highlights the function of heart and self-cultivation.101 But it is problematic to make such conclusion that Ma

Dexin supports Sufi practice, because Neo-Confucians also adopt the means of self-cultivation in spiritual experience, the resource which Ma Dexin’s spiritual experience would derive from. Moreover, there is no other evidence to prove his Sufi opinion in practice.

Besides Neo-Confucian emphasis on cultivation of the human heart and nature

(修身养性) in spiritual experience, Chinese Buddhism also advocates innate knowing, by which the human heart can understand the world. Thus, Chinese Buddhism prefers the practice of spiritual experience rather than that of material experience. Because many Ma Dexin’s works are lacking, we can not know that by which schools Ma

Dexin is influenced, especially under such complexly academic background. But we can conclude that practices of the orthodox way shares the same statue as spirit experience in the sight of Ma Dexin. In addition, both practices are more important than human affairs that are central to Neo-Confucianism. The different statues of two

Paths do not cause conflicts among two religions. They interact with each other. Two means of iman imply the two means to manifest real virtue, which are separated to the external rules, such as Hadith and prayer, and the internal rules, such as spiritual experience. The external rules strengthen internal faith and spiritual experience, while the internal rules enhance the understanding of the external rituals.

Rituals and Islamic Duties

Although Ma Dexin provides two Islamic means to obey iman, as a Chinese

Muslim scholar, he still explains iman through Neo-Confucian logic. He first states

that “among hundreds of thousands of good and virtue, the guiding principle is loyalty

and filial piety (千美万善，忠孝为纲).”102 In the Path of humans, emperor and father

occupy the supreme status both in a society and family, thus ministers and family

members should be loyal for emperor and father. In the Path of heaven, the Supreme,

known as Allah, is beyond emperor and father.103 The primary principle, or the best

virtue, is loyal to Allah in Islam. Thus, in daily life, humans should “respectively do

their best to obey Islamic rituals, in order to achieve heaven (各以其所能而尽其礼，

以达乎天也).”104 In other words, Muslims should obey rituals to be in the way of

Allah. The term “rituals” derives from Confucianism, which refers to the norms of

proper social and religious behavior. Ma Dexin draws rituals on the Five Duties,

explaining that: “the human body obeys the duty of rituals, the human heart obeys the

duty of praise, nature obeys Sawm (Fasting during Ramadan), ming obeys Hajj

(Pilgrimage to Mecca), wealth obeys Zakah (Paying of alms) (身有礼功，心有念功，

性有斋功，命有朝功，财有课功).”105 Ma Dexin uses Confucian categories of notions to connect with the Five Pillars of Islam.

Ma Dexin insists that among the Five Pillars, the most significance is the duty of rituals (礼功), which is similar to Salat (Prayers) from literal translation. Shahadah

(Profession of faith), however, takes the first place while the Salat stays in the second place in the Five Pillars of Islam. Ma Dexin, here, combines Salat and Shahadah together and draws them on the Confucian notion of “rituals” （礼）. Confucius (孔

子, BC 552 - BC479) discussed many rituals in Zhou Dynasty (BC1046 - BC771) to

describe the functions of rituals in the social orders and daily morality. Zhu Xi,

another expert in rituals, believed that rituals can define human status in the society

and help them follow their respective natures through self-cultivation.106 Ritual is a

term which both acts on knowledge and actions. In classic Chinese, ritual has forms of

noun and verb; the former refers to ideas which are about appropriate social behavior

to manifest virtue, while the later is involved in proper social actions. Ma Dexin

believes that rituals in Islam are similar to rituals in Confucianism, because Islamic

rituals share similar functions of reminding believers’ faith and helping them obey

Allah’s commandments. In other words, rituals act both on believers’ faith and actions.

Thus, Ma Dexin combines both duties of Salat and Shahadah, and explains that

“Muslims’ hearts should remain the faith in Allah, human will should incline towards

Allah, and the human body should serve Allah … Humans follow and act on this duty

to help manifest illustrious nature of real virtue (心存之，意向之，身事之…则人以

之助其德，而复其本性之明).”107 The duty of rituals helps Muslims express their

belief through daily prayers.

In addition, Ma Dexin believes that other duties are also important, but Muslims

do Hajj once in their whole life and perform Zakah and Sawm once in every year.

Even though many Muslims do Hajj as many as they can afford, China is far away

from Mecca. As there were no easy roads to the Middle East, it was difficult for ancient Chinese Muslims to do Hajj. Thus, the duty of rituals becomes the most

important in China, because it is involved five times in daily life.

To sum, Ma Dexin equates iman with real virtue. He believes that both the

actions of the traditional practice and spiritual experience can manifest real virtue.

Although Ma Dexin describes lots of Islamic practices and opinions, he still tries to

connect them with Confucianism. He introduces “ritual” into the Islamic duties, to

connect Islamic faith and practice. Confucius asked believers to follow rituals, in

order to achieve a harmonic society, while Ma Dexin requires Chinese Muslims to

follow the duty of rituals, in order to follow the right way of Allah.

Removing desire (去私欲)

After the discussion of manifesting real virtue, he continues to elaborate the

manifestation of illustrious virtue. Both Zhu Xi and Ma Dexin provide various means

to manifest illustrious virtue in the Path of humans, but this section narrows various ways only to the mean of removing desire, because this mean is stressed by both scholars. “Removing desire” is mainly derived from Zhu Xi’s commentary on

Confucius’ the Analects. Confucius states that “humans, who subdue his or her self and return to propriety (礼), can earn perfect virtue (ren, 仁) (克己复礼为仁).”108

Ren, another complex Confucian notion, is defined as perfect virtue here, which stresses virtue without defects, especially without self-desire. Just as Zhu Xi continues to explain that “self [inside texts] refers to human’s self desire (己，谓身之私欲

也).”109 He elaborates, saying that

“Perfect virtue inside the human heart is the principle of heaven,

which can be covered by human desire. Thus, humans with perfect virtue should subdue self-desire and return to propriety. In this way, every action would follow the principle of heaven, and essential virtue inside heart would [be manifested and] show as pure virtue without flaws to human beings (盖心之全德，莫非天理，而亦不能不坏于人欲。故为仁者必有以胜私欲而复于礼，则事皆天理，而本心之德复全于我矣).”110

Perfect virtue is covered by human desire, which is caused by qi before human birth.

Human beings should follow principles to subdue human desire, and then humans can gain pure and essential virtue. He says, “preserving principles of heaven and eliminating human desire (存天理，灭人欲).” Human desire acts as a huge obstacle in the way of manifesting illustrious virtue. Ma Dexin strongly agrees with Zhu Xi’s opinions and, furthermore, draws on Zhu Xi’s concepts to define the concept “Islam”.

Ma Dexin states that

“Our religion supports ideas of ‘resurrection’ and ‘return to the Real’; it insists on the Justice during the processes of world creations; and it never attempts to act beyond routine or distinguish itself from other religions. … Exploring the definition of Islam, it only refers to subduing self desire and returning to the principles of Allah. This is the reason to name Islam as Qingzhen (清真, lit. clarity and reality). ‘To subdue self’ is named qing and ‘return to propriety’ is named zhen. The goal of Islamic virtue is to eliminate improper thoughts inside humans and remove desire. It is effective to eliminate self to return back to the Real (我教复命归真，以全真宰生人之正义，不图超常异众，…其究竟，惟在克去己私，复还天理，所以名为清真教此耳。夫克己之谓清，复礼之谓真，其功在除妄绝私，其效在化己还真).”111

Ma Dexin, in this excerpt, draws on “to subdue one’s self and to return to propriety”

to explain the name of Islam. Qing refers to cleanliness and the removal of self desire, and zhen refers to comply with principles of Allah. Thus, the duties of “to subdue

ones’ self” and “return in the Path of Allah” determine whether Muslims can go

heaven or not in the afterworld.

Ma Dexin continues to present that desire inside worldly life is the primary

immorality among various evils by creeds inside Qur’an. Because of worldly desire,

humans possess diverse kinds of avarice, insatiability, envy, and anger. These evils

cover illustrious virtue and cause evils in daily life. 112 Thus, Muslims should

eliminate human desire by both means of religion and self-constraint.

Ma Dexin presents the first mean of both belief in and practice on Islam, stating

that

“The great goal of practicing Islam is to subdue self and eliminate desire, eradicating the roots of desire and getting rid of all obstacles and covers of illustrious virtue. In this situation, believers would get close to the Path of Allah, and pure virtue inside humans [which is endowed by] the Real One would be manifested” (功修之极致，乃化己而绝欲，去其根株，乃至障蔽全消，与主相近，真一之全德显著).113

Islamic practice would help believers eliminate desire. For example, Prophet

Muhammad asks all Muslims to be brothers and sisters, which implies that they

should treat each other like family members, to eliminate the fighting. Qur’an also tells believers not to envy others because “Allah makes abundant the means of subsistence for whom He pleases of His servants, and straitens them for whom (He pleases) surely Allah is Cognizant of all things” (Qur’an 29:62). Allah has

foreknowledge that conceives all happenings in worldly life, thus, believers can not

envy other brothers and sisters because they are pleased by Allah. Islam also forbids

avarice, arrogance, and etc. Allah sends prophets to teach and reveal commandments,

in order to teach believers on the Path of Allah. Qur’an states that “surely We have

made you a ruler in the land; so judge between men with justice and do not follow

desire, lest it should lead you astray from the path of Allah; (as for) those who go

astray from the path of Allah, they shall surely have a severe punishment because they

forgot the day of reckoning” (Qur’an 38:26). If Muslims involve in desire and forget

the Path of Allah, they would be punished by Allah. Qur’an provides many other examples and commandments to teach Muslims eliminate human desire.

Ma Dexin describes the second mean from perspective on Zhu Xi’s

Neo-Confucianism. Similar to Confucian idea of “subduing one’s self and return to

propriety”, he states that “among practices of following the principles of heaven,

self-restraint is the fundamental one. Self-restraint refers to the elimination of desire

which causes departure from the Path (夫合天之功，克己为本，克己者，去其情欲

之偏也).”114 Unlike Confucians whose duties of manifesting illustrious virtue is put

into practice by his or her self-restraint and self-knowledge, Muslims fear the

punishments on the Day of Judgment when they seek self-desire in worldly life. By means of “cultivating body, manifesting heart, and purifying nature”, Ma Dexin believes that humans can remove all desires and subdue themselves.115

Following Sages and Renovating Believers

Sages play significant roles both in Islam and Neo-Confucianism. As early period

as Zhou Dynasty, Confucius advocates that humans should possess “internal sages

and external kings” (内圣外王), who have ability of perfect virtue in individual life and teaching virtue in public affairs. Although belief in prophets, called sages in

China, is the duties of iman, Ma Dexin describes this practice repeatedly and independently, to stress that the sages’ duty in both cultures conveys the same significance in spreading Paths on the right ways.116 In addition, because ordinary

persons can not find out the right Path by themselves, they necessitate needing

guidance.117 That is, the responsibility of sages is to teach or renovate believers while the task of believers is to follow or obey sages’ word and action. Thus, I follow Ma

Dexin’s idea to discuss this section alone. Moreover, believers in Neo-Confucianism should complete the duty of renovating people to gain the highest excellence; while believers in Islam do not obligate this duty, although it is beneficial to their Islamic practice.

Ma Dexin’s thought of sages separates into three steps, by introduction of sages’ task on Islam, the categories of sages, and benefits to help other in belief.

First, Ma Dexin stresses sages’ function on practice. Ma Dexin quotes Qur’an words that “sages are not the deputies of themselves, but the messengers of Allah.

Sages do not have private word, because their word represents Allah’s commandments

(圣人无自用，而代真主之用，无私言，而代真主之言).”118 In other words, Allah

gives word to Muslims by messengers. Muslims can not see or hear Allah and His word by themselves. Thus, they find the Path of Heaven by prophets’ words and actions. Sages are as with bridges to connect Allah with believers. Ma Dexin continues to stresses that “Heaven and Earth can not exist without the sun and the

moon; the world can not exist without sages; just as humans can not be alive without

hearts (有天地不可以无日月，有世界不可以无圣人，如有身不可以无心也).”119

Muslims can not exist without sages just like they can not live without a heart in worldly life. Sages in both of Neo-Confucianism and Islam are guiders, to lead believers to find the ultimate transcendence.

Second, Ma Dexin separates sages into four categories by their functions: the

Supreme Sage (至圣), the Great Sages (大圣), the Divine Sages (钦圣), and the common sages (列圣).120 The Supreme Sage is Muhammad, the Prophet of Allah and

the Seal of Prophets, known as Khatam al-Anbiya’ in Arabic. Muhammad is the best

one among prophets, who possesses all virtue and wisdom. He is the last messenger

from Allah, and Allah does not sent any messenger after him. He is the only perfect

man in the worldly world. Muhammad’s actions and sayings are collected in the

Sunnah, which significantly constitutes the Hadith, the Islamic laws. The Sunnah

provides a model of emulations for Muslims by teaching Muslims how to pray and

comply with Allah, how to manifest virtue, and how to remove evil. Ma Dexin states

that “the Supreme Sage is only Muhammad. He has all virtues … He exceeds

thousands of sages and becomes the unique powerful sage for all years (至圣唯穆罕

默德一人而已。德无不备, ...超万圣而千古独雄).” 121 Ma Dexin stresses

Muhammad’s unique status in Islam and praises that Muhammad has wholly

illustrious and real virtue, which is the model of all Muslims.

The Great Sages is known as ulual-Izmi, Allah’s prophets and messengers. Both

of the Great Sages and the Supreme Sages receive Allah's revelation and form this

divine message to a book. Muslims believe that Allah sent messengers to every

ethnicity in order to spread His messages to a specific group of people. But these

prophets deliberately change Allah's word. Only Muhammad spreads the real word of

Allah and the divine message given to Muhammad is the only word to the whole

world. Qur’an lists around 18 famous Great Sages in the Chapter of Cattle. Ma Dexin

states that “although sages’ shape of body is similar to that of the ordinary people,

sages’ nature of virtue exceeds others (圣人之身形，虽类乎众，而圣人之德性，实

出乎天).”122

Ma Dexin also describes the Divine Sages and the common sages in his texts. In

addition, he characterizes Confucius to the Divine Sages, who should be followed for

all Chinese Muslims. The highlight on Confucius presents Ma Dexin’s respect of

Confucianism. In fact, Ma Dexin inherits these categories of sages from the Chinese

Islamic School. In addition, he gives prominence to sages’ illustrious virtue at every

category of sages. Because Confucianism reveres people with illustrious virtue, Ma

Dexin’s emphasis of illustrious virtue of Islamic sages would attract Confucians’

attentions to Islamic sages, and then facilitates Confucians’ respect to Islamic sages

and Islam.

For all sages, Ma Dexin concludes that “all Muslims should follow their guidance,

comply with their orders and prohibition (凡为穆民者，即当从其指示，遵其命

禁).”123 He, in turn, explains that all Muslims should follow all sages by “observing

sages’ word and actions, and complying with sages’ classic rules (体圣人之言行，而

循规蹈矩，守圣人之典则).”124

Finally, Ma Dexin also supports Muslims’ help to other in belief, as with that in

Neo-Confucianism. He says that if Muslims do such actions, they would “complete their goals [of achieving real and illustrious virtue] and complete others’ goals” (成己

成物). This notion derives from the Doctrine of Mean, and the whole sentence is that

“the completeness of his or her [goal] shows his or her benevolence. [Helping others

to] complete of their [goals] shows his or her cultivation to others. Both [of

completeness] comprise the nature of virtue, and they refer to the external and internal

Paths (成己，仁也；成物，知也。性之德也，合内外之道也).”125 Ma Dexin’s quotation

from Neo-Confucian texts implies the reciprocal ways of the external and internal

Paths. When believers remove evil, they are on the internal Path; meanwhile, when

they help others, they are on the external Path. Only when both practices of the

external and internal paths would be completed, believers achieve perfect virtue.

Conclusion

This chapter discusses Ma Dexin’s suggestions of obeying real virtue,

manifesting illustrious virtue, and sages’ renovating Muslims. Islam and

Neo-Confucianism mutually interacts in manifesting illustrious virtue by removing

desire. In addition, Ma Dexin extends the content of Confucian illustrious virtue to

Islamic faith and practice. In other words, Ma Dexin creatively draws on the term

“virtue” with broad meanings, which contains not only Confucian virtue, but also

Islamic virtue. He introduces the term “real virtue” to define iman, which implies that

Islamic real virtue exceeds the importance of illustrious virtue. Thus, when Muslims manifest virtue, they should manifest real virtue first.

The below Graph is easier to find out the relationship between Zhu Xi’s Path of humans and Ma Dexin’s Path of heaven.

Zhu Xi Ma Dexin

Virtue Virtue = illustrious virtue Real Virtue Illustrious virtue Iman

Path of humans Path of heaven

To To To To To Manifest Renovate Manifest Renovate Manifest Illustrious People Illustrious People real Virtue (sages) Virtue virtue

Self-cultivation Allah

The highest Resurrection and the excellence Day of Judgment

After the duties of manifesting illustrious virtue and renovating people,

Neo-Confucians believes that believers have already achieved the highest excellence by self-cultivation. For Islam, however, after Muslims follow iman and sages to manifest real and illustrious virtue, they can not return to the Real One, as long as they experience resurrection and receive Allah judgments on the Day of Judgment.

Ma Dexin introduces the theory of the afterword into the philosophy of virtue, which is seen as his contribution to complete Chinese Islamic system of virtue by many

Chinese scholars, such as Sun Zhenyu.126 I will introduce Ma Dexin’s thought of the afterworld in the next part.

Part 4

The Theory of the Afterworld

Ma Dexin presents that only when Muslims experience dying and resurrecting on

the Day of Judgment, they have a chance to achieve the highest excellence. Allah, as

the Just Judge, would reward believers, who have manifested real and illustrious

virtue, to heaven and punish people with evil into hell. Heaven is filled with virtue;

while hell is full of evil. This chapter discusses Ma Dexin’s thought of the afterworld that strengthens believers’ will to manifest real and illustrious virtue in daily life.

Because Neo-Confucianism does not discuss the afterworld, Ma Dexin contributes this theory into philosophy of virtue.

Ma Dexin draws on the notions of “resurrections” (复命 or 复生) and “return to the Real” (归真) to express his theory of the afterworld. He first defines that “the

notion of resurrections equates with that of return to the Real (复生者，归真也).”127

Resurrection has a precondition of death, which implies that “return to the Real” can be achieved only after human death. Ma Dexin discusses “return back to the Real” from three aspects: first, he endows deaths with virtue meanings; second, he describes

the beauty of paradise; third, he presents the relationships between this life and after

life, to courage Muslims manifesting both real and illustrious virtue. The second and

third steps have so a close tie that I discuss both steps together.

Ma Dexin begins with the discussion of death. Death is a common phenomenon in the world. But Ma Dexin finds out the moral meaning in this experience, explaining that “after humans die, their spirit and nature remain forever (人死之后，其灵性长在

不灭).”128 Although human death brings about destruction of the body, nature departs

from the human body and exists independently in the universe. Ma Dexin continues to

state that “[spirit] goes beyond the immaterial heaven and earth, and it returns to the

Real Place. From this perspective, death becomes a great huge issue [in this life] and

nothing else can exceed it (超乎无形天地之中，而至于会归之真境，其死乃大之又

大，而无有出乎其大者也).”129 As mentioned before, human nature exists with evil

before human birth. After humans manifest virtue, evil is removed. Death separates

this nature from the body and let spirit wait for the Day of Judgment, which implies

that death ends up human’s process of manifesting virtue. The different spirits which

involve with respective virtue or evil are the basis of Allah’s judgments on that day.

Allah would let nature with virtue combine with the health body to revive. The

resurrected body is purified by Allah, which is without paining and sickness.130 If

virtue is not manifested in the worldly life, spirit with evil would be punished to hell.

Death is the necessary path for Muslims to gain perfect virtue.

On the Day of Judgment, virtue is the only basis to determine where Muslims would go, to heaven or hell. Virtue is also the standard to distinguish categories of

paradise. Ma Dexin describes paradise, saying that

“Paradise is separated into three grades. For the moral people who only cultivate themselves, they stay in paradise with forms, enjoying Allah’s mercy with forms. For the wisdom who can manifest their heart and help others, they can stay in paradise without forms, enjoying Allah’s mercy without forms. For the sages who can manifest human nature and gain the purest nature, they can stay in paradise with the supreme excellence and mystery, sharing … the real mercy of infinitude and innumerability (天堂亦分三品焉。仅能修身者为善人，则位列于有形色之天堂，其所享亦形色之天恩也。并能明心者为贤人，则位列无形色之天堂，其所享亦无形色之天恩也，更能于尽性而明其各具之本然者为圣人，则位列至妙至玄之天堂，其所享…无量无数只真恩).”131

The notion of “form” belongs to Chinese Buddhism, in which the concrete paradise with form is in the lower level than the paradise without form. Ma Dexin accepts this idea here. Thus, from Ma Dexin’s excerpt, Muslims with respective virtue enter respective paradise. The purer virtue Muslims manifest, the better paradise they gain.

Paradise is filled with virtue without evil. Ma Dexin also depicts the beautiful places and eternal life in paradise. He states that:

“If the worldly world compares with the afterworld, from the beauty, it is like a small room comparing with the palace; from the greatness, it is like a stone comparing with the Taishan Mountain; from the expanse, it is like a creek comparing with the ocean; from the length, it is like a day comparing with the eternal years … The worldly world can not compare with the afterworld in greatness; the worldly world can not compare with the afterworld in length; the worldly world can not compare with the afterworld in reality (若以尘世较之，论其美，如斗室之比皇宫；论其大，如卷石之比泰山；论其阔，如行潦之比沧海；论其长，如一日之比千古；…后世之大，非尘世所比；后世之久，非尘世所比；后世之真，非尘世所比).”132

Paradise has much more beautiful and real places than this world. Ma Dexin repeatedly delineates the beauty of paradise in his texts, for the sake of “awaking the

ordinary to turn to virtue” (唤醒众人，同归于善).133 That is, the beauty of paradise

attracts human’s aspiration and helps them insistently manifest virtue.

Ma Dexin also draws on hell to admonish immoral Muslims because their actions would cause the punishments in the afterworld. He states that “hell is the gloomy prison for the evils who disobey the principle of heaven and indulge in self desire (地

狱乃悖天理、纵私欲，而任意作恶者久居之幽牢也).”134 In other words, if Muslims

do not manifest virtue and subdue to themselves, they would be punished by Allah to

be thrown into hell forever. Comparing with the beauty of paradise, hell is filled with

horror, which cautions Muslims to follow the right Path.

The judgments of rewards and punishments are decided by Allah, who makes

them on the basis of believers’ virtue and evil in the worldly life.135 Although Ma

Dexin discusses much about the afterworld from various perspectives, virtue is

conceived as the most significant connection between the worldly life and the

afterworld. Virtue in this life determines Muslims’ further in the afterworld. Thus,

manifesting real and illustrious virtue is central for Muslims in this life. Due to

humans’ desire for heaven and horror of hell, virtue is advanced to the unique and

primary duties for Muslims.

Ma Dexin’s idea of the afterworld is distinguished from Zhu Xi’s

Neo-Confucianism because Neo-Confucianism does not discuss the afterworld before.

Why does Ma Dexin introduce this new theory? Ma Dexin discovers that the absence

of afterword is the cause of Neo-Confucian weakness in restriction of human’s

manifesting virtue. Just as the Graph in Chapter 3, Confucians discerns that

self-restrictions safeguard the process of self-cultivation; that is, Confucians are

engaged in self-cultivation through their free will. But if they give up cultivation, no

one can punish them. Thus Zhu Xi’s theory has a weakness on manifesting virtue,

which lacks of the ultimate authority of oversight.136 Ma Dexin believes that Islam

can solve this problem with respect to Allah. On the Judgment Day, Allah would make

decisions of rewards and punishments, which inspires everyone to manifest real and illustrious virtue in this life. Because Allah is the Omniscience and the Judge, no one

can escape from Allah’s judgments. Thus, afterworld would strengthen the ordinary

people’s will to follow the Path. From this perspective, Ma Dexin insists that Islam makes up for the weakness of Neo-Confucian philosophy of virtue.137

When Ma Dexin discusses both the Path of heaven and that of humans, he insists

that the Path of heaven comprises the Path of humans; and the former one achieves a

high status that is beyond the later one. During actions of manifesting real and

illustrious virtue, Muslims bear more duties than Confucians with respect to their faith

to Allah. Finally, Islam has stronger power than Confucianism to restrict believers’

practice, because of Allah’s judgments, which admonishes Muslims to follow the Path.

The final judgment operates stronger moral power for the ordinary people.138

Part 5

Conclusion

This master thesis introduces Ma Dexin’s philosophy of virtue, which harmonizes

Neo-Confucianism with Islam. From the aspects of cosmology, actions of manifesting virtue, and the afterworld, it is evident that although Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism provides the background and logical system of virtue to Ma Dexin, Ma Dexin does not limit Islam inside the Confucian system. Harmony between two cultures is best for Islamic development in China, because Islam needs not only communication with mainstream cultures, but also an independent status among Chinese cultures. In the aspect of cosmology, Ma Dexin replaces the ultimate transcendence, taiji, with Allah and draws equivalence between Islamic concepts and Neo-Confucian notions, such as ming. On perspective of manifesting virtue, Ma equates iman with real virtue, in order to prove legitimacy of Islamic virtue. He also provides a new opinion of the afterword, to strengthen the power of virtue by Allah’s rewards and punishments. Thus Ma Dexin borrows from the Confucian system, but does not put Islam in the secondary status.

Instead, he explores Confucian system, discovers similar notions, and deliberately extends or changes their meanings to make equivalence of Islamic concepts. In addition, he finds out the weakness of Confucianism and tries to supplement it by

Islamic ideas. His philosophy of virtue facilitates cultural dialogue between Islam and

Neo-Confucianism. The more significance is that Islam in Ma Dexin’s theory shares the equal status with Confucianism. Moreover, for a Muslim scholar, Islamic thought stays in the highest place inside Ma Dexin’s heart and academic work.

Notes

1 Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, The Dao of Muhammad: A Cultural History of Muslims in Last Imperial China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005) 119. I agree with Benite’s earlier date of 1630s but the date for the end of the Chinese Islamic golden age is problematic. While Zvi Benite defined the golden period of Chinese Muslim scholarship between 1630s and 1730s (from late Ming Dynast to the earlier Qing Dynast). I argue that it was only in the late Qing Dynast that the Qur’an was first translated into Chinese. As the sacred text of Islam, Qur’an’s translation should be considered as significant symbol in the raise of the new Islamic School.

2 Zhenyu Sun, Critical Biography of Wang Daiyu. Liu Zhi (Nanjing: Nanjing University Press, 2005) 33.

3 Benite, 119.

4 Confucius, Chapter 13th in the Analects, Trans. Charles Muller, 2nd June 2009, Resource for East Asian Language and Thought, 17 June 2009 .

5 Youlan Feng, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, (Tianjin: Tian Jin Academy of Social Science Press, 2005) 257.

6 Xu Shen, Chapter 1st in the “Emperor Gaozhong” in the Old Book of Tang (945 A.D.), 10 June 2009, Tianya Books, 17 June 2009 .

7 Sun, 13.

8 Jonathan N. Lipman, Familiar Strangers, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997) 119.

9 Benite, 138.

10 Sun; Guiping Yang, Research into Ma Dexin's Ideas (China: Religion and Culture Publishing House, 2004), 12 June 2009, China Review, 17 June 2009 .

11 The three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues is basic principle of value in Chinese tradition and fits for Chinese traditional patriarchal hierarchy society. The three cardinal guides are “ruler guides subject, father guides son, and husband guides wife.” The five constant virtues are “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and fidelity.”

12 Rong Ding, “A Study on Chao Jin Tu Ji,” Journal of the Graduates 29 (2008): 60-69.

13 Jianping Wang, “Tentative Analysis of ‘Heaven’ Conception in the Works by Ma Dexin and of the Relationship between Islam and Confucianism,” Journal of Shanghai Normal University 33 (2004).

14 “To manifest virtue” is a traditional Confucian notion. Because Confucians believes that virtue

would be covered by evil, humans should work hard to remove it, known as “to manifest virtue”.

15 Dexin Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin (Qinghai: Qinghai People's Publishing House, 1988) 7.

16 Ibid.

17 Yang.

18 Tony Stewart, “In Search of Equivalence: Conceiving Muslim-Hindu Encounter through Translation Theory,” Chicago Journal 40 (2001): 260-287.

19 Yang.

20 Illustrious virtue (mingde 明德) here is a noun, while “to manifest virtue” (mingde 明德) mentioned before is phrase, because 明 in Chinese language has functions of noun and verb. “To manifest virtue” is a practice, to achieve the goal of “illustrious virtue” without evil.

21 The great ultimate was translated by Wing-Tsit Chan, and the Supreme Ultimate was translated by You-Lan- Feng.

22 Wing-Tsit Chan, “Neo-Confucianism: New Ideas in Old Terminology,” Philosophy East and West 17 (1967): 18.

23 Yulan Fung, and Derk Bodde. “The Philosophy of Chu His,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 7 (1942): 6.

24 Feng, 259.

25 Ibid.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid, 260.

28 Ibid, 258.

29 Ibid, 259.

30 Wm. Theodore de Bary, East Asian Civilizations: a dialogue in five stages (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991) 55.

31 Matter is defined by Feng You-Lan because qi constitutes the form of the universe.

32 Fung and Bodde, 6.

33 Patrick Moran, Explorations of Chinese Metaphysical Concepts (UMI No. AAI8326318).

34 Moran, 240.

35 Feng, 260.

36 Fung and Bodde, 8.

37 The Doctrine of the Mean Trans. Wing-Tsit Chan, 20 May 2009, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York ITS Public Computing Labs, 19 June 2009 .

38 Xi Zhu, The Doctrine of the Mean in The Commentaries of the Four Books (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1983).

39 Ibid.

40 Dawen Feng, The Second Volume in the New Organized a history of Chinese philosophy (Beijing: The People Press House, 2004) 75.

41 Ibid.

42 Ibid.

43 James Legge, Confucius: Confucian Analects, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean (New York: Dover Publications INC, 1983) 356.

44 Xi Zhu, The Great Learning in The Commentaries of the Four Books (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1983).

45 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin.

46 Benite, 75.

47 Ibid.

48 Dexin Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God, 25 April 2009, China Sufi Organization, 25 June 2009 .

49 Wang, 32.

50 “Shenxian,” Book of Philosophy in the Chinese Lexicographical- Encyclopedic Dictionary, (Shanghai: Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 1980 ed.) 120. Supernatural being (神仙) is a very general notion which includes gods, ghosts, angels, and immortals, etc. Immortal refers to 神仙 (supernatural being) in Daoism, but I do not want to use this term because in the earlier Confucianism, heaven is the overseer of the universe. But unlike in

Daoism whose immortals come from enlightened persons, heaven in Confucianism is beyond the world and without shape. It is very difficult to define heaven in early Confucianism; thus I use an ambiguous word to express it.

51 Zhiming Song, “From Official as a Teacher to Heaven as a Religion——New Exploration of Dong Zhong-shu’ s ‘Heaven and Man in One’,” Hebei Academic Journal, 29 (2009): 58.

52 Wang, 32; Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, 22.

53 Wang, 32.

54 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, 21.

55 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

56 “Al-Farabi,” Chinese Islamic Cyclopedia. 2007 ed.

57 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin.

58 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

59 Qur’an says that “Allah. There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting, Supporter of all. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permits? He knows what (appears to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He wills. His Throne does extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. For He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory)” in The Cow (Qur’an 2: 255).

60 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

61 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin. . 62 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

63 Ibid.

64 Ibid.

65 Ibid.

66 Ibid.

67 Yang; Sun.

68 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin.

69 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

70 Dexin Ma, The Classic of Manifesting Virtue, 21 Oct. 2008, Nabiiway, 25 June 2009, < http://www.nabiway.org/ss/html/20/t-820.html>.

71 Ibid.

72 Yang, Sun.

73 Shihabuddun Yahaya al-Suhrawardi, Suhrawardi, The Shape of Light (Lousville: Fons Vitae, 1998).

74 Sachiko Murata, Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light (Albany: State University of New York, 2000).

75 Yang; Sun.

76 James Legge, Confucius: Confucian Analects, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean (New York: Dover Publications INC, 1983) 359.

77 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

78 I summarize all these meanings from Ma Dexin’s work of All Great Transformation Return to God, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, The Classics of Manifesting Virtue.

79 Yang.

80 Ibid.

81 Zhu, The Doctrine of the Mean in The Commentaries of the Four Books.

82 Ibid.

83 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

84 Ibid.

85 Ibid.

86 Yang.

87 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin.

88 Feng, 261.

89 Weiming Tu, Way, learning, and politics: essays on the Confucian intellectual (New York: State University of New York Press, 1993) 36.

90 Lai Chen, Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasty (Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2003) 144.

91 Ibid, 145.

92 Ibid.

93 Zhu, The Great Learning in The Commentaries of the Four Books.

94 The Great Learning Trans. Wing-Tsit Chan, 10 June 2009, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York ITS Public Computing Labs, 19 June 2009 . In Chinese translation, he says that “what the Great Learning teaches”, which translates 道 by its meaning in the Doctrine of the Mean, that says “the regulation of this path is called Instruction”. I insist on translating the origin meaning of 道 in this thesis，which is easier to connect with the Path of heaven and human mentioned in the former chapter.

95 Xi Zhu, The Great Learning in The Commentaries of the Four Books.

96 Qur’an, 30 May 2009, Online Quran Project, 25 June 2009 .

97 Yang.

98 Ibid.

99 Ibid.

100 Ibid.

101 Ibid.

102 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, 34.

103 Ibid.

104 Ibid.

105 Ibid.

106 Xi Zhu, Afterword in The Commentaries of the Four Books, by Yi Wu, (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1983).

107 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, 35. Here Ma Dexin strangely uses “heart” again. Connecting with the context, I believe that “heart” here refers to human beings. I translate it by meanings.

108 Confucian, The Analects of Confucian, Trans. James Legge, 24 Jan. 2004, eBooks@Adelaide, 27 June 2009 < http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/ confucius/c748a/part12.html >. Propriety and rituals are both translated from li (礼). For rituals, it stresses on daily actions; while for propriety, it refers to the proper society in which everyone obeys daily rituals.

109 Xi Zhu, The Analects in The Commentaries of the Four Books (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1983).

110 Ibid.

111 Yang.

112 Ibid.

113 Ibid.

114 Ibid.

115 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

116 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, 27.

117 Yang.

118 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, 27.

119 Ibid, 26.

120 Ibid.

121 Ibid

122 Ibid, 27.

123 Ibid.

124 Ibid.

125 The Doctrine of Mean Trans. James Legge, 20 April 2008, AFPC, 27 June 2009 .

126 Yang; Sun.

127 Sun, 456.

128 Yang.

129 Sun, 453.

130 Ibid, 456.

131 Ma, The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin, 68.

132 Ibid, 60.

133 Ibid, 70.

134 Ibid.

135 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

136 Yang.

137 Ma, All Great Transformation Return to God.

138 Yang.

Bibliography

“Al-Farabi.” Chinese Islamic Cyclopedia. 2007 ed.

Al-Suhrawardi, Shihabuddun Yahaya. Suhrawardi, The Shape of Light. Lousville: Fons Vitae, 1998.

Bary, Wm. Theodore de. East Asian Civilizations: a dialogue in five stages. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991.

Benite, Zvi Ben-Dor. The Dao of Muhammad: A Cultural History of Muslims in Last Imperial China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005.

Chan, Wing-Tsit. “Neo-Confucianism: New Ideas in Old Terminology.” Philosophy East and West. 17 (1967): 15-35.

Chen, Lai. Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasty. Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 2003.

Confucius. The Analects. Trans. Charles Muller. 2nd June 2009. Resource for East Asian Language and Thought. June. 17, 2009 .

Ding, Rong. “A Study on Chao Jin Tu Ji.” Journal of the Graduates. 29 (2008): 60-69.

The Doctrine of the Mean. Trans. Wing-Tsit Chan. 20 May 20 2009. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York ITS Public Computing Labs. 19 June 2009 .

Feng, Dawen. The Second Volume in the New Organized a history of Chinese philosophy. Beijing: The People Press House, 2004.

Feng,Youlan. A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. Tianjin: Tian Jin Academy of Social Science Press, 2005.

Fung, Yulan, and Bodde, Derk. “The Philosophy of Chu His.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 7 (1942): 1-51.

The Great Learning. Trans. Wing-Tsit Chan. 10 June 2009. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York ITS Public Computing Labs. 19 June 2009 .

Legge, James. Confucius: Confucian Analects, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean. New York: Dover Publications INC, 1983.

Ma, Dexin. All Great Transformation Return to God. 25 April 2009. China Sufi Organization. 25 June 2009 .

Ma, Dexin. The Essential Points of the Four Classics of Ma Dexin. Qinghai: Qinghai People's Publishing House, 1988.

Ma, Dexin. The Classic of Manifesting Virtue. 21 Oct. 2008. Nabiway. 28 June 2009 < http://www.nabiway.org/ss/html/20/t-820.html>.

Moran, Patrick. Explorations of Chinese Metaphysical Concepts (UMI No. AAI8326318).

Murata, Sachiko. Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light. Albany: State University of New York, 2000.

Nipman, Jonathan N. Familiar Strangers. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.

Qur’an. 30 May 2009. Online Quran Project. 25 June 2009 .

“Shenxian.” Book of Philosophy in the Chinese Lexicographical- Encyclopedic Dictionary. Shanghai: Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 1980 ed.

Song, Zhiming. “From Official as a Teacher to Heaven as a Religion——New Exploration of Dong Zhong-shu’ s ‘Heaven and Man in One’.” Hebei Academic Journal. 29 (2009): 58-62.

Stewart, Tony. “In Search of Equivalence: Conceiving Muslim-Hindu Encounter through Translation Theory.” Chicago Journal. 40 (2001): 260-287.

Sun, Zhenyu. Critical Biography of Wang Daiyu. Liu Zhi. Nanjing: Nanjing University Press, 2005.

Tu, Weiming. Way, learning, and politics: essays on the Confucian intellectual. New York: State University of New York Press, 1993.

Wang, Jianping. “Tentative Analysis of ‘Heaven’ Conception in the Works by Ma Dexin and of the Relationship between Islam and Confucianism.” Journal of Shanghai Normal University 33 (2004): 30-35.

Xu, Shen. Emperor Gaozhong in the Old Book of Tang. June 10, 2009. Tianya Books. June 17 2009 .

Yang, Guiping. Research into Ma Dexin's Ideas. China: Religion and Culture Publishing House, 2004. June 12, 2009. China Review. June 17, 2009

Zhu, Xi. The Commentaries of the Four Books. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1983.