The establishment of the Yuan Dynasty in China had dramatically benefited Islam in China in contrast to previous dynasties. Muslims in China were given an elevated status in the hierarchy of the new regime. The impact on China by its Muslims at this time, including the advancement of Chinese science and the designing of Beijing is vast and largely unknown. It is estimated that in the fourteenth century, the total population of Muslims was 4,000,000.^[1] Capital Dadu Language(s) Mongolian Chinese Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1260-1294 Kublai Khan  - 1333-1370 (Cont. ... Islam has a rich heritage in China. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... “Peking” redirects here. ...

History

Elevated Status

Though the Yuan Dynasty was the only Khanate to not convert to Islam, The Mongol rulers of Yuan Dynasty elevated the status of Muslims versus the Chinese, and placed many foreign and non-Han Chinese Muslims in high-ranking posts instead of native Confucian scholars. The state encouraged Muslim immigration, as Arab, Persian and Turkic immigration into China accelerated during this period. The Mongol emperors brought 100's of thousands of muslims with them from Persia to help administer the country. Many of the muslim worked in the elite circles arriving as provincial governers. They where referred to as Semu. Over ten thousand Muslim names can be indentified in Yuan historical records. The standard word used to denote Muslims in Chinese language documents of the late Yuan period is "HuiHui". The muslims were overseen by a 'HuiHui' named Amir al-Din who designed Qionghua island which sits in the lake of Beihai Park in central Beijing.^[2] This was part of a larger strategy of the Mongol dynasties to divide subject peoples from an administrative class. In addition, native Chinese and their descendants were sent out of China to administer other parts of the Mongol Empire, including West Asia, Russia and India (as Mughal dynasty) in successive centuries. In the fourteenth century, the total population of Muslims was 4,000,000.^[3] Capital Dadu Language(s) Mongolian Chinese Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1260-1294 Kublai Khan  - 1333-1370 (Cont. ... For the Star Trek character see Khan Noonien Singh. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Confucianism (儒家 Pinyin: rújiā The School of the Scholars), sometimes translated as the School of Literati, is an East Asian ethical, religious and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of Confucius. ... The Semu (色目 in Chinese characters) Contrary to popular definition, the term Semu (literally color-eye) actually does not mean people with colored eyes as if other castes of the Mongol Yuan society had black eyed in contrast. ... The bridge to the White Pagoda. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ...

New Communities

The Yuan Dynasty saw the formation of Muslim communities in North China and Yunnan. The descendants of these communities who were to merge completely with the local Han Chinese, nevertheless sought down to our own day to preserve their own personality and were to show a marked tendency to autonomy.^[4] Capital Dadu Language(s) Mongolian Chinese Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1260-1294 Kublai Khan  - 1333-1370 (Cont. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Yunan redirects here. ... Languages Chinese languages Religions Predominantly Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, traditional Chinese religions, and atheism. ...

Muslim Influence

Science

Muslim scholars were brought to work on calendar making and astronomy. Kublai Khan brought Iranians to Beijing to construct an observatory and an institution for astronomical studies. ^[5] Jamal ad-Din, a Persian astronomer, presented Kublai Khan with seven Persian astronomical instruments.^[6] There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... For other uses, see Kublai Khan (disambiguation). ... Jamal ad-Din, also spelt Jamal ud-Din, was a 13th-century Persian astronomer. ... For other uses, see Kublai Khan (disambiguation). ...

Muslim doctors and Persian medical texts, particularly in anatomy, pharmacology, and ophthalmology, circulated in China during this time. The Chinese emperor, Kublai Khan, who suffered from alcoholism and gout, accorded high status to doctors. New seeds and formulas from the Middle East stimulated medical practice. The traditional Chinese study of herbs, drugs, and portions came in for renewed interest and publication.^[5] This article is about the Persian people, an ethnic group found mainly in Iran. ...

Economy

The Mongols used Persian, Arab and Uyghur administrators to act as officers of taxation and finance. Muslims headed most corporations in China in the early Yuan period but as the Chinese bought shares, most corporations acquired mixed membership, or even complete Chinese ownership.^[5] The name Mongols (Mongolian: Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups. ... Languages Arabic and other minority languages Religions Islam, Christianity, Druzism and Judaism Arab woman from Ramallah wearing traditional dress in 1915. ... The Uyghur (also spelled Uygur, Uighur, Uigur; Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) are a Turkic people of Central Asia. ... Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. ...

It was during the Yuan Dynasty that the port of Quanzhou flourished. Led by the Chinese Muslim tycoon Pu Shougeng they submitted to the Mongol advance. This was in stark contrast to the port of Guangzhou that was sacked. Quanzhou was made famous on account of the accounts of the famous travelers Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo who visited the port. Today a large number of stone inscriptions can be seen at Quanzhou, such as 300 stone inscriptions on tombs, graves and mosques. The earliest date records the death of a Hussayn ibn Muhammad of Khalat, Armenia in the year 1171. The characters 泉州 are also used for Senshū, an alternate name for the former Japanese province of Izumi. ... The Hui people (Chinese: ; Pinyin: , Xiaoerjing: حُوِ ذَو ) are a Chinese ethnic group, typically distinguished by their practice of the Islamic religion. ... Guangzhou is the capital and the sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the Peoples Republic of China. ... It has been suggested that Travelling route of Ibn Batuta be merged into this article or section. ... Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione (The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo). ... Mohammed Alim Khan (1880-1944), emir of Bukhara, wearing a khalat A Khalat (Arabic/Persian خلعت) is a loose long-sleeved outer silk or cotton robe common in Central Asia, Iran and northern India and worn both by men and women, although in differing styles. ...

Designing Dadu

Muslims were among the architects of the city of Dadu, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. The construction of the walls of the city began in 1264 and was completed in 1292, while the imperial palace was built from 1274 onwards. The design of Khanbaliq followed the book Zhouli, in that the rules of “9 vertical axis, 9 horizontal axis”, “palaces in the front, markets in the rear”, “left ancestrial worship, right god worship” were taken into consideration. It was broad in scale, strict in planning and execution, complete in equipment.^[7]. Khanbaliq or Cambuluc (great residence of the Khan) is the ancient Mongol name[1] for the city at the present location of Beijing, the current capital of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Capital Dadu Language(s) Mongolian Chinese Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1260-1294 Kublai Khan  - 1333-1370 (Cont. ...

Other Events in this Period

Marco Polo also met Nasaruddin who was the son of the conqueror and governer of Yunnan Sayid Ajjal of Bokhara, as appointed by the Monghuls. Yunan redirects here. ...

The earliest of the Arabic tombstones with dates unearthed in Quanzhou, 1171 CE

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The characters 泉州 are also used for Senshū, an alternate name for the former Japanese province of Izumi. ...

Notes

1. ^ Israeli (2002), p. 285
2. ^ Yang Huaizhong, "Yeheidie'erding" (Amir al-Din) in Bai Shouyi, Zhongguo Huihui minzu shi, op. cit., pp.813-818.
3. ^ Israeli (2002), p. 285
4. ^ Gernet, Jacques. A History of Chinese Civilization. 2. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-521-49712-4
5. ^ ^{a b c} Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson, and David Northrup. The Earth and Its Peoples. 3. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. ISBN 0-618-42770-8
6. ^ Zhu (1946)
7. ^ 《明史纪事本末》、《纲鉴易知录》卷八

See also

• Islam during the Song Dynasty
• Islam during the Ming Dynasty
• History of Islam in China
• Religion in China
• Demographics of the People's Republic of China
• Islam in China
• Islam by country
• Chinese Patriotic Islamic Association
• Tibetan Muslims
• Jamal ad-Din