Minzu,Religion And Identification

Form the point of nationality origin, Hui nationality in China can be roughly divided into two types: some came from the northwest region through land and the others came from the southeast coast whose ancestor ever lived overseas. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, many businessmen and missionaries from Arab, Persia and other countries rushed to Quanzhou (in Fujian Province) and lived there. Hundreds of years later, the descendants of Muslims in Quanzhou have become a part of Hui nationality in China, how can they recognize their status?In this paper the author takes the Ding Family of Hui nationality in Chendai as an example, placing it under the modernization background of the national policy and analyzing the Islam religion related of this Family. At the same time, combining with the theory of identity the author discusses that the Ding Family of Hui nationality how to make use of their group advantages and quest for the best living space as a unique group. Hope that through case study and ethnography description the author can have a good knowledge of development characteristics in the process of the change of contemporary society and operation character of self-adjustment of Hui nationality in the southeast .The full text will take up the following eight parts one by one. Introduction tells mainly the research reasons and experience, makes a review of the literature related, and interprets some concepts. The first chapter is a brief introduction about the geography and a general description of the community of the Ding Family of Hui nationality in Chendai. Chapter Two analyses the double status-identity as the descendants of the Arab and the Han-people of the Ding Family of Hui nationality in Chendai until the 1980s based on the research datum of predecessors and historical materials. In the third chapter, it analyses the status-identity of the Ding Family as Hui nationality and describes mainly restating nationality status and an Ancestral Hall of Hui nationality——the Ancestral Hall of Ding Family. Chapter Four discusses status-identity of the Hui Muslim in Chendai since the 1980s, including Islamic revitalization in the Hui community of Chendai , building a new Mosque and the youth of Muslims'ambition. Chapter V is oral archives of the informants. From the view of the clan elites of the Ding Family and both of the old and the young Muslims, they explain the functions and influences of the Islamic religion in the community life. Furthermore, by using their perspective, the author has known of the opinions of that the exotic Muslims and local Muslims how to look at Hui nationality in Chendai. Chapter VI, borrowing the theory of Pierre Bourdieu the author try to analysis the cultural production and consumption behavior of the Ding Family in Chendai. The last part of this dissertation is conclusion. It gives an overall account of the development of the Ding Family of Hui nationality in Chendai and that of the relation among nationality, religion and psychological recognition.