ABSTRACT
The history of Islam in China is long and contentious, rife with strife over the proper means of following the universal faith while living in a society dominated by non-Muslims. This chapter updates this history by examining Salafiyya's contrast and conflict with previous modalities and further complicating the picture by introducing Tabligh Jamaat, a new modality that transcends sectarian boundaries. Both of these recent movements allow Chinese Muslims to participate in global trend of Islamic revival through individualized piety and membership in transnational community. Chinese Muslims historically simplified the divisions within Sufism into a dichotomy of "old teaching", consisting of the Qadariyya, Qubrawiyya, Khufiyya, and other sub-sects whose members recite the dhikr silently, and the "new teaching", made up of branches of the Jahariyya who recite aloud and sometimes incorporate ecstatic exclamations and bodily movements. Chinese Muslims commonly cite a Hadith, of questionable authenticity, according to Islamic scholars outside China, quoting the prophet Muhammad saying, "Seek knowledge even unto China".
