# Qingzhen Zhinan

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Philosophical treatise on Islam by Ma Zhu

Qingzhen Zhinan Original title 清真指南 Language Chinese Publication date 1683 Publication place China (Qing dynasty) Media type Print

Qingzhen Zhinan Chinese 清真指南 Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qīngzhēn Zhǐnán Wade–Giles Ch'ing-chen Chih-nan

***Qingzhen Zhinan*** (清真指南),[a] also known as ***al-Murshid ilā ‘Ulūm al-Islām***,[b] is a philosophical treatise on [Islam](/source/Islam) written by Chinese [Hanafi](/source/Hanafi)-[Maturidi](/source/Maturidi) scholar [Ma Zhu](/source/Ma_Zhu) and first published in 1683. It later became part of the *[Han Kitab](/source/Han_Kitab)*, a collection of Chinese Islamic texts written in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

## Contents

Part of a series on Maturidism Mausoleum of Imam al-Maturidi in Samarkand Background Hanafi Fiqh Sunni Islam Ahl al-Ra'y Eminent scholars Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 333/944) Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi (d. 373/983) Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi (d. 493/1100) Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi (d. 508/1114) Abu al-Thana' al-Lamishi (d. 522/1128) Abu Ishaq al-Saffar al-Bukhari (d. 534/1139) Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi (d. 537/1142) Siraj al-Din al-Ushi (d. 569/1173) Nur al-Din al-Sabuni (d. 580/1184) Jamal al-Din al-Ghaznawi (d. 593/1197) Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi (d. after 690/1291) Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi (d. 710/1310) Sadr al-Shari'a al-Asghar (d. 747/1346) Akmal al-Din al-Babarti (d. 786/1384) 'Ala' al-Din al-Bukhari (d. 841/1437) Badr al-Din al-'Ayni (d.855/1451) Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam (d. 861/1455) Khidr Bey (d. 863/1459) 'Ali al-Qushji (d.879/1474) Ibn Kemal Pasha (d. 940/1534) Ebussuud Efendi (d. 982/1574) Mulla 'Ali al-Qari (d. 1014/1606) Hasan Kafi Pruščak (d. 1025/1616) Ahmad al-Sirhindi (d. 1034/1624) 'Abdul Hakim Sialkoti (d. 1067/1657) Wang Daiyu (d. ca. 1067/1657) Ma Zhu (d. ca. 1122/1710) Isma'il Haqqi al-Burusawi (d. 1137/1725) 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi (d. 1144/1731) Nizamuddin Sihalivi (d. 1161/1748) Liu Chih/Liu Zhi (d. ca. 1177/1764) Murtada al-Zabidi (d. 1205/1791) Shah 'Abdul 'Aziz Dehlawi (d. 1239/1824) Ibn 'Abidin (d. 1252/1836) Muhammad 'Abid al-Sindi (d. 1257/1841) Fadl al-Haqq al-Khayrabadi (d. 1278/1861) Yusuf Ma Dexin (d. 1291/1874) 'Abd al-Ghani al-Maydani (d. 1298/1880) 'Abd al-Hayy al-Lucknawi (d. 1304/1887) Naqi Ali Khan (d. 1297/1880) Muhammad Qasim Nanawtawi (d. 1317/1899) Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (d. 1323/1905) Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (d. 1339/1921) Khalil Ahmad al-Saharanpuri (d. 1346/1927) Anwar Shah Kashmiri (d. 1352/1933) Muhammed Hamdi Yazır (d. 1361/1942) Ashraf Ali Thanwi (d. 1362/1943) Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi (d. 1364/1944) Amjad Ali Aazmi (d. 1948) Naeem-ud-Deen Muradabadi (d. 1948) Shabbir Ahmad 'Uthmani (d.1369/1949) Al-Kawthari (d. 1371/1951) Mustafa Sabri (d. 1374/1954) Hussain Ahmad Madani (d. 1377/1957) Sardar Ahmad Chishti (d. 1962) Muhammad Yusuf al-Kandhlawi (d. 1384/1965) Abdul Hamid Qadri Badayuni (d. 1970) Muhammad Idris al-Kandhlawi (d. 1394/1974) Zafar Ahmad 'Uthmani (d. 1394/1974) Fazlur Rahman Ansari (d. 1974) Muhammad Yusuf Banuri (d. 1397/1977) Hamid Raza Khan (d. 1970) Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi (d. 1970) Mustafa Raza Khan Qadri (d. 1981) Zakariyya Kandhlawi (d. 1402/1982) Qari Muhammad Tayyib (d. 1403/1983) Ahmad Saeed Kazmi (d. 1986) Habibur Rahman Azami (d. 1412/1992) Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri (d. 1993) Syed Shujaat Ali Qadri (d. 1993) Wahbi Sulayman Ghawji (d. 1434/2013) Muhammad Salim Qasmi (d. 2018) Akhtar Raza Khan (d. 2018) Usmankhan Alimov (d. 1443/2021) Theological works Al-Fiqh al-Akbar Kitab al-Tawhid Al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya Al-Sawad al-A'zam Tabsirat al-Adilla Al-Aqaid al-Nasafiyya Han Kitab Qingzhen Zhinan Institutions Imam Maturidi Research Centre Darul Uloom Deoband Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama Jamia Nizamia Al Jamiatul Ashrafia Jamiatur Raza Jamia Naeemia Lahore Firangi Mahal Events 2016 International Islamic Conference 2020 International Maturidi Conference Related groups Classic Ash'aris Ahl al-Hadith Sufis Modern Deobandis Barelwis Islam portal Category v t e

Dragons can soar, tigers can bite, bulls can gore, horses can kick, cocks can rouse, dogs can guard, apes can climb, rats can burrow, silkworms can spin, spiders can make a web, ants can form ranks, bees can make honey—their forms are different, so too their special abilities; their diets vary, as do their voices. These are analogous to artisans making tools. Though their forms and collection are dissimilar—the square and round, horizontal and vertical, small and large, long and short—each is appropriate to its function. We can see the subtle working of their use and know the craftsman's remarkable skill. No one, gazing on the craftsman's uncanny skill, could possibly call it the thing's own inherent nature. Why do bells not give birth to bells? Why do drums not give birth to drums? Can a wooden horse whinny, or a stone cow low?

— Ma Zhu invoking the [watchmaker analogy](/source/Watchmaker_analogy).[5]

The preface written by Ma himself has the earliest recorded use of the term *huiru* (回儒) in reference to "Confucian Muslim" scholars.[6] The work also contains some two dozen "ceremonial prefaces and dedications",[7] including a poem by [Liu Zhi](/source/Liu_Zhi_(scholar))'s father.[8] The main work comprises eight volumes that cover topics as [orthopraxy](/source/Orthopraxy) and [orthodoxy](/source/Orthodoxy),[9] the [history of Islam](/source/History_of_Islam), [Islamic cosmology](/source/Islamic_cosmology), and [Sharia](/source/Sharia).[10] Ma Zhu argues that Islam is superior to Confucianism,[11] and devotes an entire volume to denouncing the "[heterodox](/source/Heterodoxy)" [Sufis](/source/Sufism) who had gained a following in his native [Yunnan](/source/Yunnan): he writes that their teachings and practices both violated Sharia and Confucianism and recommends "official persecution" of them.[8]

## Publication history

Wishing to spread the message of Islam across China and to be officially recognised as a *[sayyid](/source/Sayyid)* by the [Kangxi Emperor](/source/Kangxi_Emperor), Ma Zhu completed the earliest manuscript of *Qingzhen Zhinan* in 1683.[12] He went about China afterwards, meeting notable *[ahong](/source/Ahong)* and Islamic scholars to gather feedback on his book. The work underwent several revisions, with the final edition being published in 1710.[9] According to Yuan-lin Tsai, *Qingzhen Zhinan* is "the first comprehensive introductory work to Islam in Chinese".[11] It was later collected in the *[Han Kitab](/source/Han_Kitab)*, a collection of Chinese Islamic texts written in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.[9]

## Reception

*Qingzhen Zhinan* was praised by Chinese Muslims and "became probably the single most respected of the many works written by Chinese Muslim scholars",[2] but received a "less enthusiastic response" by contemporaneous Confucian thinkers who were "conservative and somewhat xenophobic".[13] According to Jonathan Lipman, writing in his 2016 book *Islamic Thought in China*, *Qingzhen Zhinan* was "unsuccessful in persuading non-Muslims of God’s cosmogenetic power" but "remains popular among Sino-Muslims, who combine Chinese and Islamic cultures in their intellectual and religious lives."[14] Yuan-lin Tsai accused Ma of bias, while stating that his work was "much less philosophical" than that of [Wang Daiyu](/source/Wang_Daiyu) and failed to make a "substantive contribution to the comparative discourse of Islam and Confucianism".[11] According to scholar Kristian Petersen, Ma's "monumental" work was part of an effort that "set the stage for an important restyling of Islamic education and scholarship within the Chinese context."[1]

## Notes

Chinese [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has original text related to this article:

**[清真指南](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/zh:%E6%B8%85%E7%9C%9F%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97)**

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Translated into English as *The Compass of Islam*[1] or *The Guide to Islam*.[2]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Translated into English as *The Guide to the Sciences of Islam.*[3][4]

## References

### Citations

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-newlines270721_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-newlines270721_1-1) Petersen, Kristian (27 July 2021). ["The Rich History of China's Islam"](https://newlinesmag.com/essays/the-rich-history-of-chinas-islam/). *Newlines Magazine*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBöwering201210_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBöwering201210_2-1) [Böwering 2012](#CITEREFBöwering2012), p. 10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWain201634_4-0)** [Wain 2016](#CITEREFWain2016), p. 34.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Muhammad Syafiq Borhannuddin (15 September 2018). ["China's forgotten legacy of Islam"](https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/09/411469/chinas-forgotten-legacy-islam). *New Straits Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELipman201626–27_7-0)** [Lipman 2016](#CITEREFLipman2016), pp. 26–27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPetersen2014343_8-0)** [Petersen 2014](#CITEREFPetersen2014), p. 343.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrankel201010_9-0)** [Frankel 2010](#CITEREFFrankel2010), p. 10.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELipman201181_10-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELipman201181_10-1) [Lipman 2011](#CITEREFLipman2011), p. 81.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELipman201180_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELipman201180_11-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELipman201180_11-2) [Lipman 2011](#CITEREFLipman2011), p. 80.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJin201768_12-0)** [Jin 2017](#CITEREFJin2017), p. 68.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETsai202024_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETsai202024_13-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETsai202024_13-2) [Tsai 2020](#CITEREFTsai2020), p. 24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEThomasChesworth2018641_14-0)** [Thomas & Chesworth 2018](#CITEREFThomasChesworth2018), p. 641.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEStewart2018479_15-0)** [Stewart 2018](#CITEREFStewart2018), p. 479.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELipman201629_16-0)** [Lipman 2016](#CITEREFLipman2016), p. 29.

### Bibliography

- Böwering, Gerhard (2012). ["Preliminary Observations on Islamic Ethics in the Chinese Context"](http://americanscholarspress.us/journals/JIBE/pdf/JIBE-2-2012/v5n212-art1.pdf) (PDF). *Journal of International Business Ethics*. **5** (2).

- Frankel, James D. (2010). ["Review: Being What We Read: Perennialism in Chinese Islamic Studies"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/23734345). *China Review International*. **17** (1). [University of Hawai'i Press](/source/University_of_Hawai'i_Press): 8–12.

- Jin, Yijiu (2017). *Islam*. Brill. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789047428008](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789047428008).

- Lipman, Jonathan (2011). *Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China*. [University of Washington Press](/source/University_of_Washington_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780295800554](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780295800554).

- Lipman, Jonathan (2016). *Islamic Thought in China: Sino-Muslim Intellectual Evolution from the 17th to the 21st Century*. [Edinburgh University Press](/source/Edinburgh_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781474402286](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781474402286).

- Petersen, Kristen (2014). ["Shifts in Sino-Islamic Discourse: Modelling religious authority through language and travel"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/24494583). *Modern Asian Studies*. [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press): 340–369.

- Stewart, Alexander (1 September 2018). ["Islamic Thought in China: Sino-Muslim Intellectual Evolution from the 17th–21st Century Edited by Jonathan Lipman (Review)"](https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/islamic-thought-in-china-sino-muslim-intellectual-evolution-from-the-o5JTIbX70A?). *[Journal of Islamic Studies](/source/Journal_of_Islamic_Studies)*. **29** (3): 478–482.

- Thomas, David; Chesworth, John A. (2018). *Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 12 Asia, Africa and the Americas (1700-1800)*. Brill. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789004384163](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789004384163).

- Tsai, Yuan-lin (2020). "Ma Zhu's *Qingzhen Zhinan*". In Scott, Gregory Adam; Travagnin, Stefania (eds.). *Intellectual History of Key Concepts*. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9783110547825](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783110547825).

- Wain, Alexander (2016). ["Islam in China: The Hān Kitāb Tradition in the Writings of Wang Daiyu, Ma Zhu and Liu Zhi: With a Note on Their Relevance for Contemporary Islam"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307529770_Islam_in_China_The_Han_Kitab_Tradition_in_the_Writings_of_Wang_Daiyu_Ma_Zhu_and_Liu_Zhi_With_a_Note_on_Their_Relevance_for_Contemporary_Islam). *Islam and Civilisational Renewal*. **7**. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.12816/0027166](https://doi.org/10.12816%2F0027166). [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[10023/23961](https://hdl.handle.net/10023%2F23961).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Qingzhen Zhinan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingzhen_Zhinan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingzhen_Zhinan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.