Jin Tianzhu`s Qingzhen Shiyi : an eighteenth century comparative study between Islam and Confucianism and other religions in China

Abstract

This study aims at introducing to English readers Qingzhen Shiyi, a book written by a Chinese Muslims scholar, Jin Tianzhu, during the time of Qing Dynasty (1616-1909), specifically in 1737. According to our present knowledge, this was the first book ever written by a Chinese Muslim scholar entirely composed in the Chinese language, for the purpose of defending the rights of Muslims.The author clarifies the objectives and significance of the rules of Shariah which were practiced by Chinese Muslims in their daily life and compares them with other religions in China. Our study of the book consists of six chapters namely, introduction, historical background, Jin Tianzhu and his book, translation of the edited texts, commentaries and comments on the main body of the texts and conclusion followed by an appendix. The method adopted in this study is library research, editing the text, and translation. This is the first study of the book in English language, through which, one will find that Muslims in China were practicing Shariah and keeping their own identities which caused doubts and suspicions of the society and put them in a very difficult condition; Mr. Jin, as a scholar, tried to remove those doubts and clarify those suspicions by showing the similarities between Islam and Confucianism, presenting the advantages of Islam over other main religions in some aspects, and criticizing some them, in a period of history when there is no free-speech and democracy in the modern sense. He or she also will be aware through this study that Religious or Civilizational Dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims started in China as early as 18th century.