In Qing China, Hui scholars were deeply concerned about keeping Muslim beliefs in a Confucian setting. They wrote Han kitab (Chinese Islamic texts) to help Chinese officials and Confucian literati understand Islam. Many attempted to apply Neo-Confucian ideas associated with the Yijing to advocate the unity of Islam and Confucianism. Based on close reading of Han kitab written by five representative Hui scholars, this chapter examines the role of the Yijing in bridging Islam and Confucianism in Qing China. Hui scholars shared common views regarding the relationship between Islam and the Yijing in their writings: First, Islam and the Way of the Yijing are in agreement with each other, but Islam represents a more advanced teaching. Second, Fuxi, the creator of the Yijing, was an Arabian sent to civilize the Chinese by Noah in antiquity. Third, Yijing-related concepts such as Taiji and yinyang could be used to explain the beginning of the universe, but the Islamic God Allah was behind the creation. To Hui scholars, Confucianism was merely a branch of Islam in the East. Their arguments in Han kitab might sound far-fetched to mainstream Qing Chinese scholars, but their efforts in forging an Islamic-Confucian synthesis was significant in world history. It reminds us of the European missionaries who also used Yijing-related concepts to discuss God’s creation, Great Flood, Noah and Fuxi to link ancient Chinese myth with their own religion in Qing China.

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The Yijing in the Islamic-Confucian Synthesis in Qing China

  • Benjamin Wai-ming Ng

摘要

In Qing China, Hui scholars were deeply concerned about keeping Muslim beliefs in a Confucian setting. They wrote Han kitab (Chinese Islamic texts) to help Chinese officials and Confucian literati understand Islam. Many attempted to apply Neo-Confucian ideas associated with the Yijing to advocate the unity of Islam and Confucianism. Based on close reading of Han kitab written by five representative Hui scholars, this chapter examines the role of the Yijing in bridging Islam and Confucianism in Qing China. Hui scholars shared common views regarding the relationship between Islam and the Yijing in their writings: First, Islam and the Way of the Yijing are in agreement with each other, but Islam represents a more advanced teaching. Second, Fuxi, the creator of the Yijing, was an Arabian sent to civilize the Chinese by Noah in antiquity. Third, Yijing-related concepts such as Taiji and yinyang could be used to explain the beginning of the universe, but the Islamic God Allah was behind the creation. To Hui scholars, Confucianism was merely a branch of Islam in the East. Their arguments in Han kitab might sound far-fetched to mainstream Qing Chinese scholars, but their efforts in forging an Islamic-Confucian synthesis was significant in world history. It reminds us of the European missionaries who also used Yijing-related concepts to discuss God’s creation, Great Flood, Noah and Fuxi to link ancient Chinese myth with their own religion in Qing China.