The Missionaries Who Came To China During The Period Of The Republic Of China Learned About The Muslims In Mainland China And Their Missionary Activities

Since the end of 19th century,Chinese Islam and Hui Muslim society have aroused muchinterest among Western scholars.Such writings by those missionaries who came to China in the first half of 20th century have contributed greatly to the Western studies on the history and culture of Hui Muslims,some of which correspondingly supplemented for the related Chinese historical writings.Based on the articles in the Moslem World,an English quarterly edited by Dr.Samuel Zwemer,the present study intends to explore the missionaries' understandingsand that of influence on the studies of Chinese Islam and Hui Muslim society.The dissertation is composed of five parts.The introduction part mainly introduces the research origins,the literature reviews,the main contents,the research methods as well as its theoretical and practical significance.It is testified that such research presents a more comprehensive view of how missionaries interpreted Chinese Islam and Hui Muslim society.Therefore,it should contain certain degree of academic innovation,theoretical construction and practical implication.The first chapter covers two parts,including Dr.Samuel Zwemer's lifetime,his missionary activities and theological traits,together with the inauguration background,reasons,themes of the Moslem World as well its attention to Chinese Islam and Hui Muslims.This chapter aims to manifest Dr.Zwemer's enthusiasm on missionary work,and his theological alternation of understanding Islam.Then such alteration effectively pushed forward the Moslem World to be both an academic and evangelical platform for communication.The related articles in the Moslem World sufficiently provide data for this research.The main body of the dissertation extends from the second chapter to the forth one.The second chapter focuses on the missionaries'observation and discussion on such aspects as Hui Muslim population,its ancestral origins,physical and apparel traits,livelihood methods,Imams and mullah,marriage and family,religious practice,maderasa,religious sects,religious literature,construction style of mosque,the Hui and the Han's relationship,as well as the cultural conflicts between the Hui and missionaries.The third chapter emphasizes on such historical issues as the Chinese Islamic literature translation movement,Hui Moslem leadership,the entrance time of the Arabians to China and the New Culture Movement discussed by missionaries.A further analysis of the evangelical failure is also presented in this chapter in order to shed light on research in terms of the Hui community formation.The last chapter is the discussion and conclusion part.The author holds the view that the missionaries' research foci are related to their evangelical motivations,yet their studies via sufficient fieldwork have greatly contributed to the richness of such field as Chinese Islamic History,Hui History,Northwest Minority Ethnography and Sino-western Cultural Exchange History,providing insights on the development of Chinese Islam under the global situation,especially for the harmonious coexistence of religious pluralism in minority areas in China.Besides,missionaries' religious belief,the thinking mode of Binary Opposition as well as the Orientalism inevitably lead to their understandings and analysis with bias,even mis-interpretation of Hue Muslim culture,which naturally requires a critical acceptance from researchers.