Development and Decline of Beijing's Hui Muslim Community (Islam in Southeast Asia: Views from Within)

Hui Muslims in China have lived with the Han Chinese for hundreds of years, maintaining their Islamic and cultural identity despite the powerful assimilation mechanisms of Chinese society. Today, however, the urban Hui community is confronted with new pressures. Zhou Chuanbin and Ma Xuefeng examine the traditional social structure and kinship network of urban Hui Muslims that historically allowed them to defend ethnic and religious boundaries. They consider the social transitions and challenges caused by revolution, modernization, urbanization, and globalization that presently threaten the cultural survival of the Hui Muslim community in Beijing.

Zhou Chuanbin is professor of ethnology at Ningxia University, China. Ma Xuefeng is a lecturer on Hui Muslim society at Yunnan University, China.