James Frankel: Halal or Qingzhen?: A Question of Sinicization of Islam in China
Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Interdisciplinary Research Seminar
Halal or Qingzhen?: A Question of Sinicization of Islam in China
Professor James Frankel
Department of Cultural and Religious Studies
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Date and Time: April 30, 2024 (Tue), 12:30 – 1:30 pm (HKT) | April 29, 2024, 9:30 – 10:30 pm (PDT)
Venue: Lecture Hall at May Hall, HKU
Join us in person at May Hall or via Zoom using the following link: https://hku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eflaLsOYS0y3qPjCoY2LBQ#/registration
(Light refreshments will be served for those attending the seminar in person)
Abstract
Islam arrived in China during the 7th century as a foreign religion. Yet, once the first Muslims settled permanently there, Islamic religious and cultural traditions were gradually influenced by the norms of Chinese culture and society. This process of naturalization and localization, sometimes referred to as “Sinicization”, continued apace for nearly a millennium before historical circumstances accelerated it during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The vicissitudes of modern Chinese history have led to varying official governmental and societal attitudes towards Islam and Muslims and concomitant adaptations of identity and expressions of religiosity by Chinese Muslims. Most recently, the government of the People’s Republic of China is pursuing its own policies of decreasing foreign religious influences in the country in the name of combatting “extremism and separatism.” These have included official regulations aimed at “sinicizing” Islam in China, leading Muslims into a new wave of adaptation for their survival.
About the Speaker
James D. Frankel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he is also the Director of the Centre for the Study of Islamic Culture. His scholarly interests include the comparative history of ideas, and religious and cultural syncretism. His expertise in the history of Islam in China is reflected in his books, Rectifying God’s Name: Liu Zhi’s Translation of Monotheism and Islamic Ritual Law in Neo-Confucian China (University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2011) and Islam in China (I.B. Tauris, 2021).
About the Series
This series aims to introduce a wide range of cutting-edge research in various disciplines and areas.