Liu Zhi (scholar) explained

Liu Zhi (Xiao'erjing: Chinese: ﻟِﯿَﻮْ جِ, ca. 1660 – ca. 1739), or Liu Chih, was a Chinese Sunni Hanafi-Maturidi scholar^{[1] [2]} of the Qing dynasty,^[3] belonging to the Huiru (Muslim) school of Neoconfucian thought.^[4] He was the most prominent of the Han Kitab writers who attempted to explain Muslim thought in the Chinese intellectual climate for a Hui Chinese audience, by frequently borrowing terminologies from Buddhism, Taoism and most prominently Neoconfucianism and aligning them with Islamic concepts. He was from the city of Nanjing.^[5] His magnum opus, Tianfang Xingli or 'Nature and Principle in the Direction of Heaven', was considered the authoritative exposition of Islamic beliefs and has been republished twenty-five times between 1760 and 1939, and is often referred to by Muslims writing in Chinese.^[6]

Biography

Liu Zhi was born into a scholarly family around 1660.^[7] In his childhood, he received instruction from his father, Liu Sanjie (Chinese: 劉三杰). At the age of 12, he studied scriptures with Yuan Ruqi (Chinese: 袁汝契) at the Garden of Military Studies Mosque in Nanjing, (which no longer exists). At the age of 15, he began a career of study in his home: for fifteen years, he studied Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism and "Western Studies." He considered Confucius and Mencius to be "Sages of the East" and Muhammad to be a "Sage of the West," and that "the teachings of the Sages of East and West, today as in ancient times, are one." He further believed that the scriptures of Islam are also "generally similar to the intentions of Confucius and Mencius." From around the age of 30, he took up residence at the foot of Qingliangshan in Nanjing, where he began to interpret and expound on the Islamic scriptures, using Confucian studies, for a period of about twenty years. During this time, he twice brought his manuscript with him to visit and solicit advice and the opinions of both Muslims and non-Muslims, leaving his tracks throughout Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and other places. In his later years, he resided at his studio, Saoyelou ("House of Sweeping Leaves"), at Qingliangshan in Nanjing.

He learned Arabic and Persian, and studied both Buddhism and Daoism. He also wrote several works on Islam in 1674, 1710, and 1721.^[8]

His writings became part of the Han Kitab, a collection of literature which synthesized Islam and Confucianism.

He said that Muslims were allowed to believe in the Mandate of Heaven and serve the Emperor, because Allah allowed the Mandate of Heaven to exist.^[9]

After Liu Zhi's death, his tomb became a site of pilgrimage for Chinese Muslims, with thousands visiting his tomb annually.^[10]

Works

• Chinese: 天方性理 (Tianfang Xingli, The Metaphysics of Islam or The Philosophy of Arabia). (Arabic: شرح اللطائف) was the Arabic translation by Ma Lianyuan (Chinese: 馬聯元 and Arabic: محمد نور الحق ابن لقمان الصيني, 1841-1903)^{[11] [12]}
• Chinese: 天方典禮 (Tianfang Dianli, The Rites of Islam)^{[13] [14]}
• Chinese: 天方字母解義^[15] (Arabic Script explanation meaning)^[16]
• Chinese: 天方至聖實綠 (Tianfang Zhisheng Shilu, The Real Record of the Last Prophet of Islam) In 1921 it was translated into English by Royal Asiatic Society member Isaac Mason as "The Arabian Prophet: A Life of Mohammad from Chinese Sources".

See also

• Wang Daiyu, Chinese Islamic scholar, considered the first Han Kitab writer.
• Yusuf Ma Dexin, a later Chinese Islamic philosopher and reformist.
• Ma Zhu
• List of Hanafis
• List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
• List of Muslim theologians

Further reading

• Book: Sachiko Murata. William C. Chittick. Tu Wei-ming. Foreword by Seyyed Hossein Nasr. The Sage Learning of Liu Zhi: Islamic Thought in Confucian Terms. Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series. Harvard University Asia Center. 2009. 9780674033252.

External links

• • Liu Zhi: A Brief History of China's 17th Century Muslim Scholar

Notes and References

1. Web site: الماتريدية وآثارها في الفكر الإنساني بدول طريق الحرير.. الصين نموذجًا. Alfaisal Magazine. ar. https://archive.today/20230503140134/https://www.alfaisalmag.com/?p=16608. 3 May 2023.
2. Web site: الحنفية الماتريدية في بلاد الصين. 4 January 2020 . midad.com. ar. https://archive.today/20230503135919/https://midad.com/article/221923/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%86%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%86. 3 May 2023.
3. Hagras. Hamada. The Ming Court as Patron of the Chinese Islamic Architecture: The Case Study of the Daxuexi Mosque in Xi'an. 2019-12-20. SHEDET. 6. 134–158. 10.36816/shedet.006.08. free.
4. Friendship in Confucian Islam, Sachiko Murata
5. See generally: William Chittick with Sachiko Murata and Tu Weiming, The Sage Learning of Liu Zhi: Islamic Thought in Confucian Terms (Harvard University 2009).
6. Murata . Sachiko . 2004 . The Unity of Being in Liu Chih's "Islamic Neoconfucianism" . Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society . Oxford . 36 . 4 . The Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society.
7. Book: Frankel, James D.. Rectifying God's Name: Liu Zhi's Confucian Translation of Monotheism and Islamic Law. University of Hawaii Press. 2011. 978-0-8248-6103-2. 5.
8. News: Muslims in China. Paul Lunde. SAUDI ARAMCO World. July–August 1985.
9. Web site: The completion of the idea of dual loyalty towards China and Islam . Masumi . Matsumoto . 2010-06-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110724054724/http://science-islam.net/article.php3?id_article=676&lang=fr . 2011-07-24 .
10. Book: Lynn, Aliya Ma. Muslims in China. University of Indianapolis Press. 2007. 978-0-88093-861-7. 25–26.
11. Book: Kees Versteegh. Mushira Eid. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics: A-Ed. 2005. Brill. 978-90-04-14473-6. 381–.
12. http://kias.sakura.ne.jp/ibnarabi/index.php?title=%E9%A6%AC%E8%81%AF%E5%85%83
13. Book: Rajeswary Ampalavanar Brown. Justin Pierce. Charities in the Non-Western World: The Development and Regulation of Indigenous and Islamic Charities. 4 December 2013. Routledge. 978-1-317-93852-1. 151–.
14. Book: Morris Rossabi. From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi. 28 November 2014. BRILL. 978-90-04-28529-3. 236–.
15. Book: Tian fang zi mu jie yi . Qing zhen si cang ban .
16. Book: Tian fang zi mu jie yi . Qing zhen si cang ban .