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| Introduction-The
Decline of China's Most Prosperous Port |
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In
Yunlu Village there are many descendants of Arabs who
once lived and flourished here, but after so many years
it is hard to tell them apart from the Han Chinese.
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However, the period of Quanzhou's history when
Han Chinese and Arabs co-existed in peace still lives on in
the descendants of these people. Mixed marriages were common,
and their offspring are now Quanzhou citizens. It is sometimes
difficult to tell who is pure Han Chinese and who is of Arabic
origin. To avoid political trouble, many Arabs and people
of mixed descent actually changed their names and lived on
with their Han neighbours.
The Chendai Muslims mentioned at the beginning of this article
are one branch of Arabic descendants who flourished in Quanzhou.
Their forefathers changed their family name to "Ding" and
then moved to Chendai in the south of Quanzhou.
They formed a new community but kept their
own customs and way of life. Today, Chendai is a large Muslim
village and its villagers are known as "Chendai Ding". There
is a fairly large ancestral hall in this village which attests
to this marriage of cultures. Architecturally, it is built
like any ancient structure typical to southern Fujian, but
in its decoration it is pure Islam.
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Quanzhou
women have their own style of dress.
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The descendants of some Arabic tribes have
assimilated themselves so well into Han Chinese society that
they themselves did not know about their origin until historians
informed them of the fact. People with surnames like Bu and
Huang in Yunlu Village, for example, had only heard rumours
that they were descendants of Arabs. However, researchers discovered
that their anscestor was none other than Pu Shougeng, an Arab
who had been appointed head of the city's Maritime Administration
of Foreign Trade both in the Song Dynasty and in the Yuan. Later
he became assistant to the governor of Fujian during the Yuan
Dynasty.
In this way the past is slowly being revived, and although most
of the temples and mosques of ancient Quanzhou are no more,
the local people have much to look back on with pride. Today
Quanzhou is still a city with strong cultural traditions, and
as its economic development continues, so too does people's
appreciation for its unique history. |
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