Formation of Cultural Heritage Through the Interaction Between Chinese and Arab Cultures from a Post-colonial Perspective: Taking Ma Jian as an Example

Abstract

Abstract Ma Jian brought a major transformation that had not been experienced in the early period of Chinese-Arab relations, which not only benefited from his study in Egypt, but also originated from the wave of cultural revival in Egypt and other Arab countries in the “post-colonialism” era. Ma Jian was fruitful in his life. Two of his most prominent achievements are: first, he completed the translation of the Chinese version of the Koran. With traditional Chinese thoughts (Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism) as the root and classical Islamic thoughts as the guide, Ma Jian translated the Koran by integrating the identity characteristics of the Chinese nation with the spirit of Islam; second, he introduced Arabic into Chinese university education and compiled the first Arabic-Chinese dictionary. By establishing the Chinese-Arab cultural exchange base, Ma Jian effectively promoted the integration of the Chinese and Arab nations and multicultural exchanges and mutual learning and got rid of the “English hegemony”. At the same time, Ma Jian translated many ancient Chinese books into Arabic, which also laid the foundation for the establishment of “Sinology” in the Arab region.