In recent years, there has been an uptick in tension between the Chinese government and Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim minorities, particularly the Uyghurs. Xinjiang is China’s western-most province and shares a border with eight other countries. Far more than any other provinces in China, thereby making it an extremely strategically important area. Earlier this summer, the Chinese government released a white paper “on historical matters concerning Xinjiang.” In this paper it was stated that “conversion to Islam was not a voluntary choice” for the original Chinese people who converted in Xinjiang. Rather, Islam was imposed on them and Islam, it is stated, is a foreign religion.
This report troubled many both in and outside of China. For many nations, it is hard to establish what is and what is not a “foreign” religion. At what point can one say that a certain religion has now become a key part a particular country? What is clear is that Islam has been in China for close to 1,400 years; it was introduced by traders from the maritime trade routes and the Silk Road. What may surprise some that are less familiar with China is that there are over 20 million Chinese Muslims. The oldest Mosque in China is estimated to have been built 1,300 years ago, in the southern part of China in Guangdong province.
Even prominent political figures in Chinese history have been Muslim. In the 13th century, Yunnan province’s mayor was a Muslim, formally called Sayyid Ajall Shams al-Din Omar al-Bukhari, and commonly referred to as Shams al-Din (赛典赤·赡思丁). According to the book Religions of the Silk Road, under Shams al-Din’s leadership, Confucian temples, Buddhist temples, Mosques and schools were built throughout Yunnan province.
Shams al-Din’s great-great-great-grandson was the great Chinese explorer Zheng He (郑和). Zheng He too was a Muslim. Indeed, he was born with the name Ma He (马和) which is a Chinese name for Muhammad. By the early 15th century, Zheng He and his fleet of several hundred ships had sailed as far as East Africa. So enamored by the giraffes Zheng He saw in what is now Kenya, Zheng He decided to bring one back with him to China. It is important to keep in mind that these voyages were completed almost a hundred years before Christopher Columbus mistakenly arrived in what he thought was the Indies, but later came to be called “the New World.” Moreover, Zheng He and his fleet never sought to colonize the countries they interacted with.
It is clear that Islam has a long and rich history in China. In recent years Islam has increasingly been treated as something foreign and separate from Chinese culture, when in fact it has integrated into and been a key part of Chinese traditions and China’s most prosperous historical periods. Whether Islam is indigenous to China or not is beside the point. Islam has, over a thousand years, become one of many religions that make up the manifold traditions and practices that converge to form what we know as China.
