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The Mythology of Prophet's Ambassadors in China: Histories of Sa'd Waqqas and Gess in Chinese Sources1

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 26; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13602000601141455

1469-9591

Haiyun Ma,

Chinese history and philosophy

Abstract This article attempts to understand and unravel how Chinese Muslims of the Qing Dynasty envisioned the way Islam arrived in Confucian China according to an eighteenth-century mythology, the Huihui Yuanlai. By studying histories of two mythic figures who appeared in this mythology—Sahaba Sad Ibn Abi Waqqas, the maternal uncle of Prophet Muhammad, and Gess (Gaisi), another ambassador—this article discusses the way in which Qing Muslim scholars artfully narrate the origin and history of Islam in Chinese Muslims. Through a textual and contextual analysis, this article argues that the creation of the Muslim mythology and its wide circulation among Chinese Muslims in the Qing dynasty is not merely a presentation of the early history of Muslims in China; rather, the mythology is closely linked to Qing Manchu expansions into Central Asia and Manchu interactions and relations with Turkic Muslims in the Hami-Turfan region. The mythology reflects the Qing encroachment upon this Turkic Muslim region and the impact of this incorporation on Chinese Muslims, as reflected in Han Kitab literature. The birth of the mythology reveals Chinese Muslims' reflections of and adjustment to the new Manchu Empire, which included much of the Turkic Muslim regions.