The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Around the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the Chinese language becoming the mother tongue of Muslims in mainland China, the religious education of Chinese Muslims faced a dilemma. Meanwhile, a rejuvenated educational system was established by Hu Dengzhou (胡登洲) in Shaanxi during the Wanli (萬歷) peri...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-06-01
|
| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/6/553 |
| _version_ | 1797482816220430336 |
|---|---|
| author | Wei Wang |
| author_facet | Wei Wang |
| author_sort | Wei Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Around the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the Chinese language becoming the mother tongue of Muslims in mainland China, the religious education of Chinese Muslims faced a dilemma. Meanwhile, a rejuvenated educational system was established by Hu Dengzhou (胡登洲) in Shaanxi during the Wanli (萬歷) period. This system, which was called Jingtang education (經堂教育) after a long time, has epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese Islamic thought. Through Hu Dengzhou’s disciples, this educational system gradually spread to North China and Jiangnan, where Shandong School and Jinling School were formed. Sufism played an important role in the two early schools’ teaching arrangements and academic activities. In the middle and late Qing periods, Shaanxi School and Yunnan School emerged one after another. Scholars of these two schools paid more attention to rational sciences represented by philosophical theology and attempted to use theological theories to explain Sufi texts. Overall, the establishment of Jingtang education was not only an urgent requirement for Muslims in mainland China to explain Islamic classics in Chinese, but also a fruitful attempt to replace official schools with private schools. The early Shandong School and Jinling School attached great importance to Sufism for two reasons: (1) Sufism became a prominent study after the 12th century, and most of the teachers of early Jingtang education had a close relationship with the Sufis. (2) These scholars live in a Chinese cultural background with Neo-Confucianism as the mainstream, and there are many commonalities between Sufism and Confucianism, which helps Muslim scholars to use Confucian terms to explain Islamic teaching. In the later period, Shaanxi School and Yunnan School turned to pay more attention to philosophical theology for two reasons: (1) In order to deal with the emergence and ideological differences of Chinese Islamic sects in the mid-Qing era. (2) This change was not unrelated to the influence of the Shixue (實學) thought trends in China, especially the Qianjia School. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:37:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-946718bcc12d4c318746132abb82758b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:37:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-946718bcc12d4c318746132abb82758b2023-11-23T18:45:34ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442022-06-0113655310.3390/rel13060553The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing DynastiesWei Wang0College of Philosophy, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, ChinaAround the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the Chinese language becoming the mother tongue of Muslims in mainland China, the religious education of Chinese Muslims faced a dilemma. Meanwhile, a rejuvenated educational system was established by Hu Dengzhou (胡登洲) in Shaanxi during the Wanli (萬歷) period. This system, which was called Jingtang education (經堂教育) after a long time, has epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese Islamic thought. Through Hu Dengzhou’s disciples, this educational system gradually spread to North China and Jiangnan, where Shandong School and Jinling School were formed. Sufism played an important role in the two early schools’ teaching arrangements and academic activities. In the middle and late Qing periods, Shaanxi School and Yunnan School emerged one after another. Scholars of these two schools paid more attention to rational sciences represented by philosophical theology and attempted to use theological theories to explain Sufi texts. Overall, the establishment of Jingtang education was not only an urgent requirement for Muslims in mainland China to explain Islamic classics in Chinese, but also a fruitful attempt to replace official schools with private schools. The early Shandong School and Jinling School attached great importance to Sufism for two reasons: (1) Sufism became a prominent study after the 12th century, and most of the teachers of early Jingtang education had a close relationship with the Sufis. (2) These scholars live in a Chinese cultural background with Neo-Confucianism as the mainstream, and there are many commonalities between Sufism and Confucianism, which helps Muslim scholars to use Confucian terms to explain Islamic teaching. In the later period, Shaanxi School and Yunnan School turned to pay more attention to philosophical theology for two reasons: (1) In order to deal with the emergence and ideological differences of Chinese Islamic sects in the mid-Qing era. (2) This change was not unrelated to the influence of the Shixue (實學) thought trends in China, especially the Qianjia School.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/6/553Chinese Islamic educationschoolschangeSufismtheology |
| spellingShingle | Wei Wang The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties Religions Chinese Islamic education schools change Sufism theology |
| title | The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties |
| title_full | The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties |
| title_fullStr | The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties |
| title_short | The Evolution of Chinese Muslim’s Classical Learning and Schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties |
| title_sort | evolution of chinese muslim s classical learning and schools in the ming and qing dynasties |
| topic | Chinese Islamic education schools change Sufism theology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/6/553 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT weiwang theevolutionofchinesemuslimsclassicallearningandschoolsinthemingandqingdynasties AT weiwang evolutionofchinesemuslimsclassicallearningandschoolsinthemingandqingdynasties |