The Han Kitab (; ) are a collection of Chinese Islamic texts, written by Chinese Muslims, which explains

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

through

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

terminology. Its name reflects this utilization: ''Han'' is the Chinese word for Chinese and ''kitab'' means book in Arabic. They were written in the early 18th century during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

by various Chinese Muslim authors. The Han Kitab were widely read and approved of by later Chinese Muslims such as Ma Qixi, Ma Fuxiang, and

Hu Songshan Hu Songshan (1880–1955), a Hui, was born in 1880, in Tongxin County, Ningxia, China. His Muslim name in Arabic was Sa'd al-Din ( '; zh, s=赛尔敦丁, t=賽爾敦丁, p=sài ěr dūn dīng). Although he was born Sufi and turned Wahhabi ...

History

The origins of Han Kitab literature can be traced back to the establishment of the scripture hall education ( jingtang jiaoyu) system created by scholar Hu Dengzhou in the 16th century. After studying abroad in the Islamic world for several years, Hu returned to China and formed the educational system, which incorporated the use of authoritative Islamic texts and foreign language lessons mixed with Chinese. Initially the Han Kitab was composed of Chinese translations of Sufi texts and other religious material originally written in Persian or Arabic. Around the mid-17th century, Chinese Muslim scholars began writing original texts that synthesized Islamic and Classical Chinese thought. Within a few generations, the instructional system spread throughout China, and subsequent scholars began writing Islamic literature within a Chinese cultural context.

21st century

In July 2023, the

United Front Work Department The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with " united front work". It gathers intelligence on, manages relations with, and attempts to gain influence over ...

's Central Institute of Socialism developed a plan to "meld Islam with Confucianism" using the Han Kitab texts as a guide.

Authorship

Liu Zhi wrote his Han Kitab in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

in the early 18th century. The works of Wu Zunqie, Zhang Zhong, and Wang Daiyu were also included in the Han Kitab.

References

Bibliography

* * Islamic literature Confucian texts Religious Confucianism Chinese classic texts Chinese literature 18th-century books Islam in China Religious syncretism {{China-philo-stub