Shandong And Muslim Historical Memory And Ethnic Identity

What is the Hui nationality’ sense of identity? The thesis based onthe related ethnic identity theory of the social anthropology displays myunderstanding through the analysis of the historical memory and thepreface of pedigree of the clan of the Huihui Muslim of Shandongprovince. Firstly, the thesis summarizes the study of Islam in Shandongprovince and ascertains the purpose and the significance about thepaper. What’s more, the thesis reviews and cleans up the related theoryof the ethnic identity of the social anthropology, and ascertains thisthesis’s initiative point: the historical memory and the ethnic identity.Thirdly, based on the history and the current situation of the HuihuiMuslim and the Islam in Shandong province, the thesis discusses: Whowere the ancestors of Huihui Muslim of Shandong province whether inreality or in fiction? What time is the formation of Huihui Muslim ofShandong province? Is there something be treasured in “the Preface ofPedigree of the Clan of the Huihui Muslim of Shandong province”--thePedigree of the Wen and An Clans in Dezhou city Shandong Province.Last but not the least, the thesis sums up: the Huihui Muslim of Shandongin dating back to their common ancestors is either real or fictive, butthere is an invariable and essential element-they are relating with theIslam and the Western Regions (namely Central Asia and the WesternAsia). The Huihui Muslims were always the ethnic minority in China andthey were lack in their right to speak in the dominant Confucian culture.Considering about the importance of the Human Beings’ survival, theymake full use of their ancestor’s real and fictional identity in the lineagesto maintain their ethnic group not being assimilated and soliciting andgaining the legal right to distribute recourse, which is said that “theso-called historical memory creating the basis is still a tool to unitethemselves under the realistic interests”(Wang Mingke).