The Muslim Appropriation of Confucian Thought in Eighteenth-Century China

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of Huiru, “Islamic Confucianism.” From the seventeenth through the nineteenth century, a school of thought known as Huiru flourished in the Chinese language and produced many books on Islamic teachings taking full advantage of the rich vocabulary of the Neo-Confucian philosophical tradition. Probably the most influential of these books was Tianfang xingli, “Nature and Principle in Islam,” published by Liu Zhi in 1704. In contrast to the vast majority of modern-day books about Islam, which focus on legal, social, and political teachings, Liu Zhi addresses the underlying principles of the Islamic worldview—specifically unity, prophecy, and the return to God. The result is a surprisingly harmonious synthesis of Islamic and Confucian thought that can provide inspiration to those of us today who would like to carry out a meaningful “dialogue among civilizations.”