The Islamic-Confucian Synthesis in China
Stephen Nashef translator Chongning Zhang translator Shuchen Xiang editor Zongping Sha editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:25th Apr '23
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The presence and history of Islam in China is not well-known. Since its arrival into China during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), Islam and its traditions have become an inextricable part of the fabric of the Chinese tradition. By the time of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 CE), Chinese Islam had evolved its own indigenous identity and, by the seventeenth century, specifically Chinese formulations of Islamic teachings began to emerge. This edited volume presents the most authoritative contemporary scholarship on the topic of the Islam-Confucian synthesis in China. It introduces to an international audience the hybridization of traditions throughout the millennia of Chinese history. The experience of the Islamic-Confucian synthesis is a historical example of cross-cultural thinking and mutual borrowing. It testifies to the fact that there is no incommensurability between cultures that cannot ultimately be accommodated. In this accommodation is the potential for mutual and creative growth, novelty, cultural renaissance, and the flourishing of the human spirit.
This volume constitutes the first (English) effort at examining a subject that has long been neglected. It is for this reason that this volume would be of immense interest not only to those engaged in the study of Confucianism and Islam (especially in China), but also to those with a more general interest in Chinese religion. * Religious Studies Review *
The strength of this volume is that it makes Chinese language scholarship available to those who cannot read it. This task is rarely taken up … It is wonderful that projects are striving to introduce key Chinese scholars of the Han Kitab to English readers. * Chinese Studies International *
Western studies of Chinese Islam had their modest beginnings over a century ago. In recent decades, English-language studies of the subject, from various scholarly perspectives and methodological approaches, have grown increasingly abundant and sophisticated. During the same time, unbeknownst to many in the Anglophone world, scholars in contemporary China have actively been engaged in a separate but parallel enterprise, studying the same thinkers and texts, albeit from a different vantage point and in Chinese. At last, this volume brings these two streams together, enriching the global trove of knowledge and providing an international readership access to a wealth of new translations and interpretations befitting the cosmopolitan historical Sino-Muslim scholars they examine. The multi-faceted effort that has gone into this important contribution should not be underestimated. -- James Frankel, Chinese University of Hong Kong
ISBN: 9781666913361
Dimensions: 234mm x 160mm x 17mm
Weight: 372g
136 pages