CHINA> Ethnic and Religious Affairs
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CHINA> Ethnic and Religious Affairs
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皇冠体育app's Muslims date back to Tang era
(皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-12 15:10
Although Muslims only account for 1.5 percent of 皇冠体育app's population, their absolute number is not to be underestimated: 20 million. Muslim communities can be found throughout 皇冠体育app, but most of them are in Northwestern 皇冠体育app, especially in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Ten of the 56 ethnic groups in 皇冠体育app believe in Islam: the Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Ozbek, Tatar, Tajik, Dongxiang, Salar, and Bonan. There are more than 34,000 mosques and more than 45,000 imams in 皇冠体育app. Most Chinese Muslims are Sunnis.
It was in the mid 7th century, not long after Mohammed died, that Arabic envoys and merchants began to bring Islam to the Middle Kingdom. Arabic and Persian merchants reached Southern and Southwestern 皇冠体育app by sea, and reached Chang'an, today's Xi'an through the Silk Road. With the permission of the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1127) dynasties, Arabs and Persians established communities in the cities of Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou, Chang'an, Kaifeng, and Luoyang. Abiding by Chinese laws, they kept their religion but intermarried with Chinese. During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), hundreds of thousands of soldiers, craftsmen and religious scholars from West and Central Asia moved to 皇冠体育app, which further helped the dissemination of Islam in 皇冠体育app. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) had the first written record of Chinese Muslims performing the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city. Some historians believe the famous Chinese Muslim mariner and diplomat Zheng He (1371-1433) performed the Hajj during his voyage to Arabia. After the founding of New 皇冠体育app in 1949, the 皇冠体育app Islamic Association was established in 1953. The number of Chinese Muslims who perform the hajj has been increasing in recent years. Last year, the number exceeded 10,000 for the first time. |
