104 Self-Perception and Identity
Way is called teaching).^62 The Zhongyong, originally a part of the
Record of Rites (Liji 禮記), was one of the Four Books, which had
stood as the basis for Confucian moral teachings since the late Song
dynasty, when it was declared by Zhu Xi 朱熹 ( 1130 – 1200 ) as part
of the Confucian core curriculum and basic to the Confucian
canon. As a part of the Four Books, this text was an integral part
of the curriculum of every elementary school. Since the Song dy-
nasty, it had also been a part of the examination curriculum.^63
By invoking the Zhongyong, Ma Minglong creates a common
ground for dialogue with the officials, who react at first with some
impatience. Initially suspicious, it seems, that Ma is misusing a text
that is not really his, the officials gradually come to see that Ma has
a deep understanding of its true meaning. Ma’s second reply, in
which he expounds upon what it means to “follow one’s natural
disposition,” changes the officials’ attitude toward him. From that
point on, the newly established common ground begins to expand,
and it becomes clear that the Muslim and his Confucian visitors
share more than the simple belief that proper action stems from
following one’s natural disposition. First, both share negative
views of Buddhists and Daoists and view their reputed lack of re-
spect for parental and state authority as particularly problematic.
Next, Ma’s positive response to the officials’ question “Do you
have any classics?” establishes the value placed by both camps on a
written body of knowledge. Ma Minglong’s explication of the con-
tents of one Islamic text demonstrates that Islam, too, has classics
and implicitly suggests that Islam, as a source of knowledge, con-
tains elements that, while unknown to Confucians, might never-
theless be meaningful and comprehensible to them.
Ma’s presentation of Islamic knowledge exemplifies the way in
which Islamic scholars in general viewed their work vis-à-vis its
Confucian counterpart. Put simply, Ma Minglong presents Islam as
a moral philosophy, not as a religion. He does not mention Allah
—————
62. Zhongyong, chapter 1 , verse 1 ; the translation is from Tu, Centrality and
Commonality, pp. 5 – 6.
63. On the Four Books as a part of the examination curriculum, see Benjamin
Elman, “Changes in Confucian Civil Service Examinations,” in Elman and Wood-
side, Education and Society in Late Imperial China, pp. 111 – 49.