A R Davis Memorial Lecture, 2007, China's Islamic Minorities--Contemporary Perspectives

Abstract

The article discusses the relationship between ethnicity and Islam in China, noting that the state gives religious or faith markers to almost all ethnic groups. The article gives a good deal of material about all the main Islamic ethnic minorities, especially the Hui, who are Sinic culturally, differing only in being Muslim from China's dominant ethnic group the Han, and the Uygurs, who are Turkic. It argues that the Hui are generally loyal to the Chinese state, but that over the last two decades there have been several separatist movements among the Uygurs. The article has some material about the societies of the different Islamic ethnic groups, noting their diversity.