Muslim Networks, Religious Economy, and Community Survival: The Financial Upkeep of Mosques in Late Imperial China

Abstract

This paper seeks to show how geographically isolated yet historically and culturally significant southern mosques survived in late Imperial China. Long-distance donations to mosques in the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911) in the forms of remittance payments, charitable donations, and real estate investments help to explain the continuous existence of Muslims in parts of southern China. Mosques in late imperial China could raise funds in a variety of ways, from Islamic teachers who went out on fundraising trips to scholars who emphasized the pivotal role of a particular mosque in the history of Chinese Islam, to Muslim officials who generously donated to mosques. This paper provides insight into how Islam survived in China throughout the imperial period, reveals the degree of interconnectivity between distant Muslim communities, and highlights the role that sacred geographies and circulatory networks played within the history of Islam in China.