Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China

Studies on Ethnic Groups in China

by Jonathan N. Lipman

Open-access DOI 10.6069/9780295800554

The Chinese-speaking Muslims have for centuries been an inseparable but anomalous part of Chinese society―Sinophone yet incomprehensible, local yet outsiders, normal but different. Long regarded by the Chinese government as prone to violence, they have challenged fundamental Chinese conceptions of "self" and "other" and denied the totally transforming power of Chinese civilization by tenaciously maintaining connections with Central and West Asia as well as some cultural differences from their non-Muslim neighbors.

Familiar Strangers narrates a history of the Muslims of northwest China, at the intersection of the frontiers of the Mongolian-Manchu, Tibetan, Turkic, and Chinese cultural regions. Based on primary and secondary sources in a variety of languages, Familiar Strangers examines the nature of ethnicity and periphery, the role of religion and ethnicity in personal and collective decisions in violent times, and the complexity of belonging to two cultures at once. Concerning itself with a frontier very distant from the core areas of Chinese culture and very strange to most Chinese, it explores the influence of language, religion, and place on Sino-Muslim identity.

Genres: China, History, Islam, Nonfiction, Religion

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real life is so much more complicated, and real history so much more involved and subtle and layered than the summaries, simplifications, platitudes, saws, propaganda, advertising and whatnot that we breathe (with varying degrees of depth) as we go about our business, and as the various forces in our societies seek to remake us in their own images. I'm not really in a position to judge the true value of this rather dense but still enjoyable - and extremely informative and creative - study, but it rings true and seems like it would be hard to improve on. There are aspects of the story of Muslims in Northwest China that Lipman does not discuss (alas nothing really on the post-1949 period except for his ongoing commentary on the Communist historiography and characterisation of some Muslim peoples), but what he does discuss comes alive and just... makes sense.
He sets his history in the contexts of twentieth-century nation-building and border/centre dichotomy. The role of itinerant Sufis from outside the Imperial borders is highlighted, as the lineages they founded became powerful socio-economic actors (in some ways akin to medieval European monasteries, but don't push the analogy!) reaching through and across regions to marshall resources and sentiments. Underneath the detail of the later chapters about the Qing period (1644-1911) lies a concern to give a rounded or "thick" description and explanation for the bursts of violence among rival Muslim communities and between various Muslims and the non-Muslims around them, including, of course the Imperial State. Lipman pretty successfully deals with simplistic readings (of the the time, and modern) of Muslims as inherently violent, or Islam as itself responsible for the conflicts. Everything must be taken together to properly explain these phenomena - foolish policy decisions, personal rivalries, arguments about orthodoxy and heterodoxy, misjudgements, prejudices, economic changes, etc.
'But they did not act simply as "Muslims." Especially after the arrival of Sufi orders in Gansu, and the militarization of local society in both Gansu and Shannxi, they also acted as members of local solidarities, as rivals of other Muslims, as residents of particular communities and members of lineages, as Chinese- or Mongolic- or Turkic- or Tibetan-speakers. And they did not all act in the same way.' (pp.224-5) Real life is simply more complicated than most people want to think, especially when the shit hits the fan and there is scapegoating work to be done.

[sawaaiiq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A generous five star rating, which most people who read this will probably not agree with, and I say this because I personally found it very intriguing and interesting from the start and don't expect others to feel the same. I honestly wanted to read more.

Lipman presents a study of Muslims in China, beginning from the early days of trade on the Silk Road to the mid-20th century, going all the way back to the early days of Muslim expansion when the Sahaba were still around. He does question the belief that a masjid in China, which was said to have been built by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas رضي الله عنه, was in-fact built by him, due to a lack of evidence. And you see from this early exposure in the book that this will be an academic work, relying only on sources which definitely existed. But Lipman still took those with a pinch of salt and considered them carefully, knowing that there is a severe lack of documentation from the Muslims of China at the time. One side of a story seldom tells the truth.

Muslims predominantly entered through trade, it was a common need of the time to export and import goods, caravans often travelled through deserts and seas to extract goods that were found in other parts of the world. The Silk Road was the home of "globalisation" long before the term was even coined. But this was not about the Silk Road, this was all about how Muslims found themselves in a part of China for centuries to follow.

Many Muslims had established homes in China by the 13th Century. They lived for a while under the Ming dynasty and were often seen as second class citizens, subjects of the empire, not by any means equals. Many officials wrote or lobbied laws at the time to condemn the "barbaric, violent others", which was a far cry from the truth at the time. A form of relief came later when the Qing dynasty, who the Muslims also fought, took over. The emperor gave them some more freedom by giving them the ability to practice Islam freely and trade and marry and even educate their children as they wanted.

This wasn't long-lived, however. Muslims gained wealth and some had a high status but a lot of them began to fight. It was mostly in-fighting amongst Muslims but on occasion, new "warlords" took it upon themselves to arrange rebellions or attack others. Later on, the Qing dynasty changed its tune, due to some of the Muslims fighting and that giving the anti-Muslim politicians and military officials an excuse to attack. Armed Muslims were taken down and killed in droves. And a lot of the labelling of Muslims as rebels or warmongers came from these situations.

These people were generally Sufi Muslims. That was the main form of Islam there for a long time. In the late 19th Century there was a short period when there was an increase of Salafi teachings. Upon his return from Makkah, a man by the name of Ma Wanfu started to propagate the Najdi school's way of thought. Due to him having been a respected scholar of theirs before his pursuit of more knowledge, he managed some success. However, the Sufi ways were too engrained in the elites of their society and while the common people were receptive as they already admire him, he was driven out later and his comrades were killed because this new way would have changed too much.

A lot of this book was dispelling the lie that Muslims are more violent than others, a myth that China used and uses time and time again to say that Muslims are waging a jihad against them, even when Muslims did not have a political presence nor a military to take action with. Only warlords with small militia existed in the Muslim world and those too consisted of people who fought other Muslims more than non-Muslims. The theory was clearly incorrect from the onset and it was vigorously refuted here. I used to think that it was China who learnt Muslim hatred from the West but after reading this, it feels like the opposite could be true. This sums it up very well:

"They may have hated the Qing for its violence against their people, mistrusted their (or others’) leaders for starting the troubles, but we can only surmise that plenty of people took the passive option when they could. We cannot know if they acted on fear or on principle, out of loyalty to the Qing or in quiet solidarity with fellow Muslims, for they have left no traces in our historical record to date, a record dominated by martial action, sweeping generalization, and stereotypical characterization. We can certainly conclude that violence is no more natural to the Muslims of northwest China than it is to other people."

I think the following shows Lipman's integrity in this excellent work:

"If I have erred on the side of choice, of individual and collective decisions as expressions of identity, I must plead the complex and contradictory nature of the sources, which do not allow simple generalizations to stand."

I enjoyed it, I don't know that others will, and it was filled with far more content than I can remember from one read, so I only mentioned what most interested me, though pretty much the whole book was great. By no means is the small portion I have mentioned in any way representative of the depth this book contains.

[Ramón · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very refreshing read after Raphael Israeli's Islam in China. Lipman is a careful historian, dealing only with the sources that are available to him and avoiding sweeping generalizations or impositions of preconceived categories onto specific contexts.

As I am currently living in Northwest China, I found the history behind the somewhat mysterious internal divisions (religious, political, and social) between the various Muslim groups to be particularly enlightening. More importantly I found myself readjusting the frameworks with which I have been processing my experience with various Muslim groups here. Lipman's own thorough research has made me more aware of my need to specific with my words and questions as I delve deeper into attempts to understand Hui and Salar society here in Qinghai.

I highly recommend this book to those interested in the subject, and even more highly recommend coming to visit and explore the regions which Lipman is writing about. You'll have a couch to stay on :o)

[Eressea]

大學時就聽聞這本是名著，不敢挑戰
不過KOBO/Amazon上這本居然都是免費的
先領了再說XD

[Chad Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expertly researched for book. Very heavy book and unfamiliarity with Chinese geography in the west/north west makes it a harder read!

[Bubba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the study of the Hui. Interesting chapter on the role of the Naqshbandiyya.

[Annika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Familiar Strangers is a sweeping overview of the history of Chinese Muslims from the 8th century to the 1930s. If you've been wanting to understand the history of the Uyghur people to make better sense of current-day events, I highly recommend it. It's easily approachable without any background in Chinese history--Lipman assumes some knowledge of Chinese dynasties and culture, but a few quick Google searches provided me with all the context I needed to understand what he was talking about.

Throughout, Lipman warns against viewing Chinese Muslims as a unified cultural or racial group, arguing that the category of Hui/Uyghur was created by modern Chinese nation-state. While Chinese Muslims were of course connected by a common religious identity, there was no sense of being a "minzu" or race until the twentieth century. They spoke different languages, were descended from a mix of Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, and central Asian peoples, and were influenced by different strands of Islam. Over the centuries, people made a wide variety of choices about how to belong to both the broader Muslim umma and to China: some privileged "authentic" forms of Islam from the Middle East while others sought to blend their Islam with Confucianism; some fought for the Chinese state in conflicts while others fought against it; some tried to assimilate while others tried to maintain their separate culture. Lipman also explains how non-Muslim Chinese people viewed Muslims as either "familiar strangers" or as a terrifying Other, and he traces a centuries-long history of poverty, legal discrimination, over-policing, and assumptions that the Uyghur are inherently criminal or violent.

[Jiaxing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Previous studies have largely overlooked the significance of Chinese Muslims (often referred to as Hui, a term Lipman notably rejects) in constructing Chinese nation-state, as well as their complex relationship with both Chinese culture and Islam. This book presents groundbreaking research and contributes to the late twentieth-century American scholarly effort to recover the voices of marginalized groups and construct more inclusive histories. His objective is to recover the silenced voices of Sino-Muslims.

Lipman reflects on a well-known truism: "Historical writing depends to a great extent on what people choose to remember, often by recording it in writing, but also by other means, and this is shaped by what they consider important." He critiques a historical record dominated by martial events, sweeping generalizations, rigid categories, and stereotypical portrayals. The Chinese Empire constructed violent and rebellious “others” (Sino-Muslims) and obedient “us”, negelecting the violent uprisings by non-Muslim Chinese. An important part of the book is devoted to the Hui "rebellion" in the Qing Empire. Lipman argues the “rebellions” were multifocal and were constructed by the Qing Empire.

Challenging hegemonic paradigms of the Qing Empire and the Chinese nation-state, Lipman interrogates categorical systems that objectify the "Other."Lipman refuses to use the terms “Hui” and “Han”, which demand exclusive membership in one “minzu” (ethnic group) .

Lipman emphasizes Gansu 甘肅 as a critical region for understanding China’s transformation from empire to nation-state, owing to its dual liminality. Gansu functioned as a frontier between China and non-China, while local Muslims have connections both to Islamic world and China. Chinese Muslims in this region are heterogeneous, and their relationships with non-Muslim Chinese vary. As time goes by, the Chinese Muslims are integrated into Chinese society, as they have to interact with the authority and local non-Muslim Chinese. Many Chinese Muslim scholars promoted Islamic education and in fact contributed to future integration into the Chinese Empire. The book also explores sectarian conflicts among local Muslims, who often used complex religious and social stereotypes to foster Muslim solidarities and mobilize their communities in violent uprisings.

Lipman emphasizes local cases and resists overgeneralization. Unfortunately, the book does not include the experiences of a large number of more sinicized, secular, and urbanized Chinese-Muslims (or even ex-Muslims) in Eastern China, except to imagine a similar situation for Gansu Muslims. Future research could explore the heterogeneity and complexity of Sino-Muslim experiences across different regions, particularly in eastern China, where Muslims have long been integrated into local communities.

Although the book is intended for an English-speaking audience with limited prior knowledge of Chinese Muslims, the introduction may feel overly lengthy. Lipman’s extensive focus on critiquing the CCP’s historical narrative occasionally overshadows the clarity of his own arguments in the introduction, making it somewhat challenging to discern the book's central thesis.

[Mishari · Rating 4 out of 5]

تفهم من تاريخ التخوم أكثر عن المركز مقارنة بتاريخ المركز ذاته، وما يشكله مسلمو الهوي في الصين من نقطة لفهم الصين مركزي في فهم الرؤى والسياسات القومية والثقافية وتراكماتها التاريخية التي صنعت الهوية الصينية المتجانسة.

[Omar Al-Zaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that demands a longer review, which I hope to complete in the near future.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 3 out of 5]

more of a history of rebellions with religious and ethnic themes intertwined ... kind of military history...

[Salman Ahsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very comprehensive and rigorous - complete with references and footnotes.