These chapters focus on China’s Muslim Hui Community and touch on several topics. Dillon mentions that Sufism in China shows that the importance of family values and ancestors’ teaching is crucial to the Sufi orders. Thus, it is an accommodation to the Chinese values which stress very much on filial piety and ancestors worship.
Assimilation is a phenomenon that has occurred in all religions. Take Buddhism as an example: for a Buddhist, the quickest way to reach enlightenment is to leave ordinary home life and pursue an ascetic life in the forest free of any attachments. This goes against Chinese culture which requires one to be responsible for and take care of their family. However, Buddhism has successfully assimilated to Chinese values and it flourished and became a popular religion in China. Buddhism is now such an integral part of the Chinese culture that sometimes we forget it is indeed an import from India.
The author also talks about the Hui’s acculturation to the Chinese society. In general, I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing to assimilate to a certain culture as long as we preserve our own identity and ways of life. It is interesting to learn that the Hui also speak Arabic and Persian due to their religion and ethnic background. I think a mélange of different cultures always makes interesting people.
In the spirit of the discussion on Hui Muslims, I have attached a video which depicts the Hui community in China. It echoes what Dillion discussed in these chapters, such as their learning of Arabic in the Medrassa (Koranic school) besides the Chinese language and the integration of Chinese cultures into their own tradition.
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