Introducing a New Contributor: Brendan Newlon

I would like to welcome a new contributor to this project, to the blog and the website, Brendan Newlon whose area focus is on the study of Buddhism and Islam in China. He is in the MA/PhD program at the UCSB Religious Studies department. I would like to very enthusiastically welcome Brendan and I think his contributions would help make this a more comprehensive project and a better place for both public as well as academic discourse.

Earlist Copy of the Complete Translation of the Quran Discovered

Source: Asian Age

‘Earliest’ Quran in Chinese, from 1912, found
Dec 18, 2011 – K.J.M. Varma | PTI | Beijing

Researchers in China’s north-western Gansu prov-ince have found a hand-written copy of the Quran completed in 1912, which is said to be the earliest Chinese language version of the Muslim holy book.

The Quran, found among old archives by researchers with the Muslim Culture Institute of Lanzhou University, is believed to have been translated into Chinese by Sha Zhong and Ma Fulu, two noted imams and Arabic calligraphers in Lanzhou, Ding Shiren, head of the institute said.
Sha and Ma began translating the Koran in 1909 and completed their work in 1912, Ding said.
Sha then copied out the Chinese text and made three hand-written books, which were widely used in Lanzhou, Xinhua reported.
China has about 20 million Muslims spread out in Xinjiang and Ningxia Autonomous provinces. While the Muslim of Xinjiang were largely Uygurs of Turkik origin, Ningixa Muslims belonged to Hui community.
Ding said two other Chinese versions of the Koran were finished in Gansu in the 20th century. Ding and his colleagues are still making a comparative study of the three versions.
He said the translation by Sha and Ma is faithful to the Arabic version, though parts of the Chinese text used Lanzhou dialect.
Experts say Islam was introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). But ancient Chinese scholars did not translate the Koran, out of fear they might misinterpret its text, Ding said. — PTI

Eid Mubarak, Vote for Islam in China and the Future

(Image Source: http://www.coolfreeimages.net/eid_mubarak_10.php)

First of all Eid Mubrak from Wang Daiyu.

Secondly, I would like to thank all the loyal readers of this blog. It would not have been the success that it is without your support. Today is the last day to vote for the Brass Crescent Awards, just in case you have not already voted, be sure to vote for Islam in China in the Best Blog and the Best Regional Blog category: http://brasscrescent.org/

Thirdly, over the last year or so the pace of posts on this blog has changed because of my schedule. That is mainly because I am in the last years of my PhD and I will be defending at the end of this month so remember me in your prayer.

Lastly, as for the future of this blog and the companion website there are going to be many positive changes as I will finally have more time after graduation. This will involve addition of new people to the blog and a greatly expanded website so stay tuned.

Islam in China at the Brass Crescent Awards

Voting for the 8th Annual Brass Crescent Awards has started and as is the case for the last 3 years the Islam in China Blog has been nominated again. This year the blog has been nominated in the Best Blog as well as the Best Blog category. I would like to thank all the readers who have made this blog a success and for their continued support and words of encouragement. Thanks to everyone who nominated the blog. The task is however far from over. Be sure to vote for the blog in both the categories at the following URL: http://www.brasscrescent.org/

The Descendants of Grandmaster Wang Ziping

(Image: Master Wu Xiaoping with her grandfather Grandmaster Wang Ziping)

I have talked about the legendary Muslim Martial Artist Grandmaster Wang Ziping a few times before.  The grandchildren of Grandmaster Wang Ziping have carried on the family tradition. The website Wu Yi Jie He Family System of Chinese Healing and Martial Arts has some information about members of his family who have carried on the tradition. Interestingly enough they have now dispersed to other parts of the globe so that some of the family members now reside in Canada and the US. In fact Master Wang Ziping’s wife moved to Texas later in her life and was instrumental in the development of Wushu in the United States. The granddaughters of Master Ziping also teach martial arts in Canada and thus it is possible for people based in Toronto to directly learn from an important family in the recent history of Wushu.

Site: http://www.wuyijiehe.com/

Brass Crescent Awards

Its that time of the year again, the Brass Crescent Awards are accepting nominations. This is your chance to nominate your favorite blog (Islam in China) in the Best Asian Blog category and any other category which you may deem appropriate. Here is the URL of the awards website: http://www.brasscrescent.org/

Eid Mubarak from Wang Daiyu

Eid Mubarak to everyone from Wang Daiyu. May you have a blessed Eid.

Zhao Rugua’s description of Mehmood Ghaznavi

Zhao Rugua (趙汝适) was a customs inspector  in the city of Quanzhou during the time of the Song dynasty who wrote a two-volume book called Zhufan Zhi (諸蕃志) or Chu-fan-chi (Description of the Barbarous Peoples or Records of Foreign Peoples) around the year 1225. It has a description of various countries outside of China. He is his description of the famous Turkish ruler Mehmood Ghaznavi.

The king’s arms reach down to below his knees. He has an [sic] hundred chargers, every one full six feet high, also some dozen head of mules, three feet high, which, on excursions, he rides alternately with the horses. His bow pulls several piculs, so that five or seven ordinary men cannot string it. When he is on horseback, he carries an iron mace weighing full fifty catties. … [A]ll the people of the west fear him.

Ramadan Mubarak 2011

I am a couple of days late but better late than never. Ramadan/Ramazan/Ramajan Mubarak to everyone.

P.S: I will be San Francisco from this Thursday 08/04/11 to Tuesday 08/09/11. As usual if anyone wants to meet up, send me a message wangdaiyu [at] gmail [dot] com

Islam in China Interview of James Frankel

As I mentioned previously, I had the great fortune of meeting and interviewing James Frankel whose book, Rectifying God’s Name, on Shiekh Liu Zhi was published recently. It took me some time to transcribe the interview but finally the wait is over. I have posted the interview on the companion website to this blog. Here is the link to the interview.