Michael Dillon's sections are focused in particular on the Hui community within China - their history, particularly significant events dating back to early dynasty of which the results are still being played out even today, culture and overall development of the identity that the members of this society carry on so dearly.
Of particular interest, to me, was the idea of how the Hui are managing themselves and their culture within the greater Han Chinese society that they co-exist with - whether it's in a peaceful manner or in an ethically tense manner. Regardless of the the manner of these two communities' co-existence with each other, I think it's the idea of assimilation that comes off as important here.
No matter how much resistance that is given, I would say that it is inevitable for religions, cultures, and ethnic identities to find itself assimilating, to some degree, with the surrounding, usually majority-based, cultural society around it. For the Hui Chinese, that would inevitably be the Han Chinese - generally regarded as the 'typical' example of what Chinese culture is seen as.
I wouldn't say that I see this assimilation or acculturation on a one-sided basis. That is, it isn't just the Hui culture that is being assimilated with the Han Chinese culture - the reverse is also applicable and true, to whatever degree it may be. Culture and religions are always developing because of this; their encounters and exposures to something new inevitably leads to the birth of a somewhat 'new' form of the former. In other words, Hui Chinese culture finds itself taking in aspects of Han Chinese culture and incorporating it into whatever was already in existence. Generally the change is most likely not that great, but still - there is a new 'form' that is birthed. This combination of different cultures and identities, at some points aiding in the formation of new ones, is an interesting phenomeno.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Spread off completely around the country
While it does not seem like it at first, it turns out that the Muslim community (communities) in China are actually fairly widespread, if this map of mosques around the country is to be taken into account
It's fairly interesting to see so many mosques spread out around the country, but apparently mainly concentrated on the eastern side. One would think that the majority of the mosques would be more spread out around the northwestern borderlands areas, where groups like the Uighur population are concentrated.
In either case, it's a useful visual aid to see the widespread diversity of the faith all along China - it gives more of an indication that the religious tradition is more spread out along the country than I had initially thought.
Related to the idea of mosques in China, below is a video of the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou - apparently one of the oldest mosques in the world.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Crossroads at Calligraphic Art...
With that in mind, I'd say it's quite remarkable to see a combination of Arabian-styled calligraphy (which looks distinctively 'Muslim' in appearance) with Chinese artistic finesse.
Video: Taiwan city to screen Kadeer film
It's interesting to see the different forms of resistance that you could say the Uighur undertake in their struggle against the Chinese government.
The whiplash coming from the tensions that arose from the riots during the summer are still going on even now, in its various different forms - be they violent or passive
The whiplash coming from the tensions that arose from the riots during the summer are still going on even now, in its various different forms - be they violent or passive
Friday, September 18, 2009
A calculated attempt at uniformity?
"Chinese authorities in Xinjiang Province have issued a notice that any Uyghur cadres or workers found not eating lunch during Ramadan could lose their jobs.
It is part of the campaign of local authorities in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, to force the Uyghur people to give up their religious rituals during the fasting month of Ramadan ".
Given that China contains a large number of differing ethnic minority groups, about 55 in total at last count, it is quite hard for them to really develop a definition of what it means to be 'Chinese', in a way that would allow it to be applied to all of these ethnic groups. Many of these groups share nothing at all with the majority Han-Chinese - who represent what it means to be 'Chinese'. As such, it would seem like these ethnic minority groups can only be referred to as being 'Chinese' solely because they happen to be living within the borders of the country.
With that in mind, it wouldn't be surprising if the government and powers-to-be made attempts to suppress the most vocally opposing groups and have them conform, in some way, to the Chinese values that the Han-Chinese represent - that is, 'real' Chinese values and customs. While the veracity of the above linked story may need to be checked out, if it is true it truly is an interesting example of the government trying to suppress these non-Chinese minorities and influence them toward a more 'Chinese'-based identity. That is, giving up their traditional customs and culture and adopting that of the Han-Chinese - therefore, becoming a proper part of China.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Maps explain it all
It's true that language is a great way to examine the movement and spread of varying ethnic groups around a particular area - trends in immigration and emigration can be seen just from mapping out where particular dialects have been spread. Definitely a great way to trace the movement of the varying Muslim minority groups throughout China
It'll also be interesting to see how much of an impact, if any, the Silk Road had in bringing and spreading Islam into China. Although it's been said that Islam came to China during the Prophet's time, I would assume that during the peak point of the Silk Road's use is when a greater degree of influence came into China via merchants
Calligraphy - A Common Theme
I've always had a sort of appreciation for calligraphy...the whole art and style of it comes off as a beautiful thing to me. It's definitely something I would have liked to try my hand at, if I ever had any sort of artistic talent.
In either case, Chinese Islamic calligraphy is quite an art...and pleasing on the eyes, I think:
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A History of Ethnic Clashes
It's always fascinated me how over a billion people live in a single large country like China. Even more fascinating is the existence of dozens upon dozens of varying ethnic groups and cultures within this bordered off land. Their interactions with each other, be it co-existence or conflict, and the history behind these trends is also quite interesting to read up on. I think it'd be fair to argue that the situation with the ethnic Uighur group in China and their conflict with the Han Chinese has received considerably more worldwide media attention in our post-9/11 world than it was in our pre 9/11 times. I would say this is because our post-9/11 world has, understandably, developed a greater interest in all things 'Islamic'.
The ethnic tensions, according to Perdue and Millward, has been there for a number of centuries, since the time Islam found its way to the region via Arabian and Persian merchants. While Muslims can be found in various regions around the country, it is the minority majority Uighur group in the Xinjiang province that has been under considerable focus. Ethnic tensions between the Uighur and Han-Chinese dates back for many centuries, with the Uighur constantly striving for independence. Unsurprisingly, such tensions have only degraded into violence over and over again - we've seen riots this past summer and, more recently, the rising spat of attacks by hypodermic needle-wielding citizens in the city of Urumqi. It's obvious enough that Human Rights activists and the Uighur themselves would love nothing more than to gain their independence, but given the long drawn out history that surrounds this ethnic group and their relation with the Han-Chinese, I highly doubt that we'll be seeing any sort of progress any time soon. Certainly not on their own, at least.
The Xinjiang region has been a volatile one, undergoing political and social tensions. On their own, the Uighur don't stand a chance, at least under more violent or aggressive methods. Given that we're in a post-9/11 world where violence + Islam has, in general, drawn an immediate association with militant terrorism, it's understandable that most would be reluctant to side with the Uighur, or find it easy to condone any violent acts of resistance. Not only that, China's position as a growing world power would make any country who could have any sort of influence (such as the US) reluctant to take any sort of action....of course, there's also the fact that taking any sort of action would probably give them no direct benefit to begin with anyway.
In either case, it'll be interesting to see how the current situation plays out, most especially in the politically explosive age that we're currently living through.
The ethnic tensions, according to Perdue and Millward, has been there for a number of centuries, since the time Islam found its way to the region via Arabian and Persian merchants. While Muslims can be found in various regions around the country, it is the minority majority Uighur group in the Xinjiang province that has been under considerable focus. Ethnic tensions between the Uighur and Han-Chinese dates back for many centuries, with the Uighur constantly striving for independence. Unsurprisingly, such tensions have only degraded into violence over and over again - we've seen riots this past summer and, more recently, the rising spat of attacks by hypodermic needle-wielding citizens in the city of Urumqi. It's obvious enough that Human Rights activists and the Uighur themselves would love nothing more than to gain their independence, but given the long drawn out history that surrounds this ethnic group and their relation with the Han-Chinese, I highly doubt that we'll be seeing any sort of progress any time soon. Certainly not on their own, at least.
The Xinjiang region has been a volatile one, undergoing political and social tensions. On their own, the Uighur don't stand a chance, at least under more violent or aggressive methods. Given that we're in a post-9/11 world where violence + Islam has, in general, drawn an immediate association with militant terrorism, it's understandable that most would be reluctant to side with the Uighur, or find it easy to condone any violent acts of resistance. Not only that, China's position as a growing world power would make any country who could have any sort of influence (such as the US) reluctant to take any sort of action....of course, there's also the fact that taking any sort of action would probably give them no direct benefit to begin with anyway.
In either case, it'll be interesting to see how the current situation plays out, most especially in the politically explosive age that we're currently living through.
Because the first time is always special, amirite?
So it was only when the alarm clock on my cell rang, notifying me that I should be heading out to training soon, that I realized I'd spent the better part of this day working on this blog. A bit too much, apparently.
Oh, setting it up and all that was simple enough....although trying to be somewhat creative with the title did, admittedly, take a little bit of time (and even then, I know I've read way better ones)...but the real challenge came in making it look -good-. I'll have to just blame some form of OCD on that - getting the right sort of colour scheme down, the right looking font...it just has to look good. That's always the hard part. Not the reading of assignments and writing out a reflection on it - it's making this thing look good that's hard. But I'm not much of a blogger to begin with; never saw a reason to do it, personally, and never really spent my time looking up other ones.
So it'll be an interesting experience for sure, figuring out how this all works (HTML being my achille's heel doesn't make it any easier), while implementing it to help myself, and hopefully others, learn about a pretty interesting and, in my opinion, little studied subject.
Coming from a family of Muslims, I suppose I've taken for granted what I know about this religion - most of what I know is what I experienced growing up, or saw in very largely 'Muslim-based' communities (having spent my high school years living abroad, in the Middle East). To be honest, I never really gave much thought about Islam being in far east Asia, China or elsewhere in that region. I guess I'm guilty of generalizing when I admit that I had a very set-definition of Islam being a 'Middle Eastern' tradition, and associating it with Arabian and South Asian cultures. I guess that's just because I was raised in those sort of communities and never had much exposure to Muslims who weren't either Arabs or South Asians. A silly generalization, I know, but that's the great thing about courses like RLG356 - we learn new things, practical things even, and incorporate them into our mindset and world view. So hey, I guess that tuition money is paying off already!
Oh, setting it up and all that was simple enough....although trying to be somewhat creative with the title did, admittedly, take a little bit of time (and even then, I know I've read way better ones)...but the real challenge came in making it look -good-. I'll have to just blame some form of OCD on that - getting the right sort of colour scheme down, the right looking font...it just has to look good. That's always the hard part. Not the reading of assignments and writing out a reflection on it - it's making this thing look good that's hard. But I'm not much of a blogger to begin with; never saw a reason to do it, personally, and never really spent my time looking up other ones.
So it'll be an interesting experience for sure, figuring out how this all works (HTML being my achille's heel doesn't make it any easier), while implementing it to help myself, and hopefully others, learn about a pretty interesting and, in my opinion, little studied subject.
Coming from a family of Muslims, I suppose I've taken for granted what I know about this religion - most of what I know is what I experienced growing up, or saw in very largely 'Muslim-based' communities (having spent my high school years living abroad, in the Middle East). To be honest, I never really gave much thought about Islam being in far east Asia, China or elsewhere in that region. I guess I'm guilty of generalizing when I admit that I had a very set-definition of Islam being a 'Middle Eastern' tradition, and associating it with Arabian and South Asian cultures. I guess that's just because I was raised in those sort of communities and never had much exposure to Muslims who weren't either Arabs or South Asians. A silly generalization, I know, but that's the great thing about courses like RLG356 - we learn new things, practical things even, and incorporate them into our mindset and world view. So hey, I guess that tuition money is paying off already!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
