ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Hui Muslims’ transnational migration between China and Iran and the formation of diasporic ties and imaginations through different moments of Hui people’s migration. Throughout the chapter, migration is conceptualised as a circular, open-ended process rather than a unidirectional relocation. It is argued that Hui Muslims became ‘diasporic’ even prior to their migration to Iran. Experiences with migration allow Hui people to acquire cross-cultural competency and complicate their sense of belonging. After returning to China, Hui people forge new diasporic connections and community imaginations through participation in global trade. The analysis moves beyond the theorisation of diaspora as connected to cross-border travelling and conceptualises diasporic disposition primarily as a way of being and of understanding the world that can be embodied by experiences of people on the move as well as prospective and returned migrants.
