Between Sacred and Secular Knowledge: Rationalities and Education of a Muslim Village in Northwest China (By Yanbi Hong)

Abstract

Between Sacred and Secular Knowledge was developed from Yanbi Hong’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Hong Kong. Although not a Muslim himself, Hong presents a detailed in-depth study of Muslim education in Redstone, a small village in the northwestern province of Gansu, near the city of Linxia—a city where the predominantly Muslim population is so well-versed in Islamic knowledge that it has been nicknamed the Little Makkah of China. Hong (2022) explains that his study not only highlights (quantitative) statistics but also relies heavily on qualitative field research and interviews to obtain a clearer depiction of the reality. The question that begs to be answered is whether this image also reflects the status quo of education among Chinese Muslims as a whole, only in rural areas, or only in Redstone? In fact, a Northwestern Chinese Muslim could easily have informed Hong that the “Islamicity” of Muslims in Linxia is very different from that of a Muslim in the rest of Gansu, or in neighboring Qinghai province, which again is very different from the Muslims in Beijing, Henan, Yunnan, or the southeast generally. Of course, the disparity is again very wide between rural and urban Muslims. So then, does this study only offer a snapshot in time and space, or does it raise broader questions and suggest solutions?