Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/760

 CHINA

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CHINA

first time, and again in 1354. Ricci sent to K'ai- feng a Chinese Jesuit, who was followed later on by Giiflio Aleni (1613), Gozani (1704), Gaubil, and Do- menge. Finally it was discovered that these Jew's had a synagogue (Li-pai-sze), looking to the East, and possessed many books. Facsimiles of some of the books were made at Shanghai in 1851. Three tab- lets bearing inscriptions have been found at K'ai- feng: (1) The oldest, dated 1489, commemorated the reconstruction of the synagogue Ts'ing-chen-sze, states that seventy Jewish families arrived in China at the court of the Sung (960 to 1278). (2) The second, dated 1512, placed in the synagogue Ts'ven- chong-tao-king-sze, was taken to China under the Han dynasty. (3) The third, dated 1663, com- memorating the rebuilding of the synagogue Ts'ing- chen-sze, says that the Jewish religion had its origin in India and was introduced into China at the time of theChou (1122-955 B.C.), which is manifestly wrong. The Jews came to China through Persia after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus, during the first cen- tury of the Christian Era, under the Emperor Ming-ti of the Han dynasty. This statement is based upon oral tradition. Professor Chavannes writes that the Jews came to China from India by sea under the Sung dynasty, between 960 and 1126 (Revue de Synthese historique. Dec, 1900). Father Joseph Brucker, after reading carefully Ricci's original manuscripts, finds that his informer, Ngai, stated that there were but ten or twelve families at K'ai-feng, where they had been settled but five or six hundred years, and that they were much more numerous at Hang- i hou (Etudes, 20 Nov., 1907). This seems to con- firm the theory of Chavannes and the text of the inscription of 1489: the arrival of the Jews at the court of the Sung, which was Lin-ngan, or Hang- cliou. The Jews call themselves Tiao-kin-kiao (the sect which extracts the sinew), referring to the strug- gle of Jacob with the Angel (Genesis, xxxii, 32); they suffered greatly and were scattered during the T'ai- p'ing rebellion (1857). They have since gone back to their old seat, but they are neither numerous nor prosperous.

Mohammedans (Hwei-hwei-kiao). — The first men- tion of the Arabs, called Ta-shi, is found in the annals of the T'ang dynasty (618-907); in 713 there is a record in China of a Ta-shi ambassador. In 75S a large Mohammedan colony, settled at Canton, rebelled, burnt their houses, and fled by sea. They had a large mosque (Ihrci-shrnq-sze), built under the T'ang dy- nasty, which was destroyed by fire in 1343, and re- built in 1349-51; only the ruins of a tower mark the site of the first building. Two inscriptions of the sixteenth century refer to the mosques of Nan-king; one of the same date was found at Si-ngan-fu, as well as the following which is considered apocryphal by some savants. Palladius writes (Russian Mission, IV, 438) that a Mohammedan tablet was discovered at Si-ngan-fu bearing the date A. D. 742, and recording the fact thatduring the reign of the Sui emperor, K'ai- hwang (581-600) Islamism penetrated into China. The difficulty is to make this date tally with the Hegira (622). It is the belief of the writer that the nn induction of Islam was gradual. The adherents were first known as Ta-shi (Arabs), but have since been known as Hwei-hwei. They paid tribute to the the Si Liao or Kara K'itai and in the twelfth there was a regiment of Hwei-hwei in the Kin army. Many distinguished Mohammedans served in the Mongol armies, among them Nasr- uddin, who was governor of Yun-nan. In the four- i century some of the Mongol chiefs, Barak Khan, Kabak Khan, and finally die Knakan Tughluk Timur, embraced [slamism. The influence of Mohamme- danism in Central Asia rose as the Mongol authority was declining. The Arab geographer. Ahu'lfeda, mentions the following cities of China {Sin): Khanfu

(Hang-chou), Khandju, Yandju (Yang-chou), Zaitun (Ts'ean-chou), Khangu, Sila (Korea), Khadjou, Sankdju (Su-chou). The city of Si-ngan was called Khamdan. Ibn Batuta (fourteenth century) visit- ed Sin Kalan (Canton), and remarks that in every city of China there was always a sheikh id islam and a cadi to act as judges among the Mussulmans. The Arabs called the Chinese emperor Fagh/ur, an altera- tion of the Persian Baghpur (Son of God), equivalent to "Son of Heaven". China was Chin or Mahachin, sometimes Tung-t'u, "Land of the East".

An imperial edict, dated 4 May, 1729, says of the Mohammedans: "They muster strongest in Shen-si, and there they are persecuted more than anywhere else, on account of their clubbing together to gamble, their secreting weapons, and various other illegal acts. There they also give expression unreservedly to their wrath about the imperial decrees forbidding the slaughter of horned cattle, which are so indis- pensable to agriculture. They should therefore be constantly reminded to be kind and tolerant" (De Groot). In 1648 a rebellion broke out in Kan-su in the part west of the Hwang-ho, and the Moham- medans occupied the jus of Kan-chou, Liang-ehou, Min-chou, etc. Su-chou was retaken in 1649 by the imperial troops and the rebel leader, Ting Kwo-tung, was killed with his followers. In 17S1 the black- turbaned Salar Mussulmans dwelling at Si-ning. east of Ku-ku-nor, killed the prefect of Kan-chou, took Ho-chou, and besieged Lan-chou. Imperial troops were called from all parts of the empire, and after a fierce resistance and great bloodshed, the chief, Tien ^Yu, was killed and other leaders were exiled (1784) to Hai-nan. New difficulties arose in August, 1789, and a number of Moslems were sent to Heh- lung-kiang, as slaves to the Tatars. They rebelled again in 1861, 1862, and 1895. In this region they are divided into "white-capped" Hwei-hwei. who burn incense as the other Chinese do, and the "black capped" Hwei-hwei, or Salar, who condemn this practice as pagan, and are more fanatical. These live at Salar Pakun, in the vicinity of Ho-chou.

In 1855 a quarrel between Mussulmans and Chinese miners working near Ta-li in the Yun-nan province, was the occasion of a general rising of all the Moham- medans of the region under two chiefs, Ma Te-sing and Ma-hien, who submitted in 1S60, though they were victorious. However, a young chief, Tu Wen- siu, established himself as a sultan in the stronghold of Ta-li, where he resisted the imperial troops until 19 Jan., 1S73, when a wholesale massacre of Mohamme- dans took place. In 1863 another great rebellion broke out in the T'ien-shan region, or Hi, which had been conquered for the empire by K'ien Lung in 1759. Burzuk Khan, a descendant of the ancient chieftains, with the help of Yakub, an adventurer, taking ad- vantage of the difficult position of the Chinese, cap- tured the territory south of T'ien-shan. Eventually Yakub replaced his chief, assumed his title of Ameer, and founded a short-lived empire which came to an end with the death of Yakub and the capture by General Tso Tsung-tang of Aksu. the capital ( 19 Oct., 1877), Yarkand (21 Dec, 1S77>. Kashgar (26 Dec, 1877), and Khotan (4 Jan., 1^7-m.

Though some Chinese Mohammedan pilgrims probably visited Mecca between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, there is no mention of them in Chinese literature dealing with Islam. This does not date further back than 1681. The land-route of later hadjis (pilgrims) to Arabia ran through Kia-yu- kwan. llanii, Turfan, Aksu. Andijan. Khokand, Samarkand, Bokhara, Charjui, Meshed, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Bagdad, Mossul, Diarbekir, Aleppo. Damascus, Jerusalem, ('aim. Some embarked at Jaffa : others in Mekran. After leaving Bokhara they passed through Balkh, Tash-kurgan, Kabul. Kanda- har, Kelat. The sea routes were through Ava to