Seeking Panelists for Muslims in Pre-Modern China Panel Session, AAR's Annual Meeting (Denver, November 17-20, 2018)

Cuma Ozkan Discussion

I am putting together a panel on Islam in pre-Modern China for next year’s American Academy of Religion (Chinese Religions Unit) annual meeting (Denver, November 17-20) and am looking to add two/three additional presenters.

I am planning to present a paper addressing to what extent were the distinct cultural and religious practices of Muslims were considered to pose social and cultural threats to the Qing society by primarily analyzing Jin Tianzhu’s 金天住 (1736-1795) Qingzheng Shiyi 清真释疑 (Dispelling the Doubts about Islam).

Shaodan Zhang, who is a PhD student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, will also present a paper from her own research, which is on the forms of association and legal practices of Chinese Muslims during the Qing period (so mainly in an approach of social history).

This panel seeks to address some of the following questions:

  1. What were the everyday lives of Muslims like, whether traders, officials, scholars, or ahongs (imams)? 

  2. To what extent were the distinct cultural and religious practices of Muslims considered to pose social and cultural threats to the pre-Modern Chinese society? 

  3. How were Muslims in pre-Modern China treated legally? Were Muslims treated and punished differently because of their religious and cultural practices? 

  4. To what extent did Muslims manage to maintain their distinct religious and cultural practices? How did scripture hall education (jingtang yu) and the Han Kitab tradition play a role in preserving distinct identities of Chinese Muslims or acculturating their practices into Chinese culture? 

  5. To what extent did the Chinese/barbarian dichotomy (hua-yi) affect everyday lives of Muslims in pre-Modern China? 

  6. What was the relationship between Muslims and practitioners of other religious traditions in China?

If interested, please contact me (Cuma Ozkan) at cuma-ozkan@uiowa.edu by February 28.