Socio-historical Study on the Western Protestant Missionaries' Missions to Muslims in Modern China

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This study examined the following issues. First, what were the motivation and the reality of the Protestant missionaries' activities to Hui Muslims in China? Secondly, confronting such a movement, how did Hui Muslims in China react in terms of social and religious reform?Aiming at the formulation of Christendom, China Inland Mission and other fundamentalist denominations in China carried out the work toward Muslims in China, starting from the fundamental study of Islam in China. In the tide of the World Missionary Movement, the mission to Muslims in China was regarded as the most feasible in the world. The trend continued from the end of the nineteenth century until the birth of the People's Republic.Leaders of Hui Muslims perceived this as a challenge. Many minor conflicts took place between Christian missionaries and Muslims. But there was no serious violence because of the modest and rational religious leaders, who appreciated the values of coexistence of different religions.Muslims … More not only refuted against Christian discourses to criticize Islam but also began to form Muslim associations in order to retain their common profits. They started Islamic reformist movement. at the same time, they tried to imitate Christian theology, organizations, educational systems, curriculum, ways of propagation, and modernization for the purpose. Furthermore, in the social engagements to formulate a strong nation-state and expel foreign powers at the time, new Islamic knowledge in the Middle East began to be recognized as being only reliable a and the almost same program in al-Azhar in Egypt were taught in the newly established bilingual (Chinese-Arabic) religious schools such as the Chengda Normal School in Beijing. This reformers trend extended to a movement to acquire ethnic political rights in the state.While this modernist way of thinking and reform were prevailing in the Hui Muslim communities, the traditional thought of the unity of being (wahda al-wujud) was criticized as being too backward, too complicated, and illegitimate. Islamic reformers disapproved the traditional madrasa or jingtang of not being appropriative to foster religious leaders. Keeping the strong affinity with the nationalistic regime, the present Islam in China is also under the strong influence of the Islamic reformers in the Republican period. Less