Since the Tang Dynasty in China, many Arab merchants and West Asian merchants have come to China to do business, and later settled down. China's climate and living environment are much better than those of the Arabian Peninsula, and it is suitable for human habitation.
But these people did not contribute to the formation of the Hui people, who either died in the war or integrated into the Han Chinese, and only a small number maintained their Islamic faith as a Hui presence.
Later, in the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols brought back many Muslims from West Asia, who are often referred to as the Semu people. In fact, the treatment of the Semu people is better than that of the Han people, and some Han people also believe in Islam and become Muslims.
During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang asked these Semu people to intermarry with the Han people, forming the Hui people.
In fact, it was difficult for Hui men to find a daughter-in-law at that time, and they basically couldn't find a daughter-in-law. Only Hui women are easy to marry, but whoever Hui women marry will enter Islam and become Muslims. Therefore, whether in terms of paternal or maternal lineage, the Hui people have a large number of Han blood.
The Hui people have lived in China for hundreds of years, even thousands of years, and the Hui people in the feudal era preferred to kill sheep and sell mutton rather than learn Chinese culture to take the imperial examination. Very few Hui people participated in the imperial examination and became officials.
Only the people of insight among the Hui people studied Confucian culture, participated in the imperial examinations, and became officials. For example, the ancestors of the famous general Bai Chongxi.
Cultural identity is more important than blood identity. The Arab ancestry of the Hui people is negligible, and the Chinese Han Chinese have a large proportion of them, and they are also part of the descendants of Yan and Huang, but they identify with Arabia, and their daily life and culture are Arabized, and they only remember that their ancestors came from Arabia, but they do not know that there are a large number of Han people in their ancestors.
When the Muslims are buried, their heads are turned in the direction of Mecca, which means that their hearts are toward Mecca.
It is too much for the cities in the northwest to require Arabic courses in schools. Some committee members even demanded that an Arabic language base be built and that Arabic should be tested for university entrance examinations.
It's ridiculous, if you want to learn Arabic, you can go back to Arabia, you can't promote Arabic on Chinese territory. There are not only Hui people in the northwest, but also Han people. Is it possible for Han Chinese to learn Arabic as well?
Although the Hui are all Chinese and descendants, Islam created by the Arabs ** ethnically, it seems that cultural identity has subverted blood identity.
Published on February 4, 2024 in Today's Headlines!