Self-Perception and Identity 105
or Muhammad when asked to explain the basic principles of his
“teaching.” Rather than interpreting the officials’ questions as an
attempt to learn about Islam as a religion, Ma understands their in-
quisition to be an invitation to intellectual and philosophical ex-
change, an exchange of and between scholars concerned with the
same fundamental philosophical questions.
The story’s conclusion presents the outcome of the exchange as
a complete and total victory for the schoolmaster, his school, and
for Islam. Not only do the officials listen with reverence to an ex-
plication of Islam–there was not one among them who dared to
make a sound or cough—but, more important, they conclude that
what Ma has said of Islam is deserving of respect. They conclude
that Islam and Confucianism are in harmony, and that Islam can in
fact contribute to the understanding of Confucianism. The tokens
of admiration given to Ma include a document asserting that his
status is that of a literatus—a category associated with Confucian
culture. One hardly need state the semiotic implications of the spe-
cific items given Ma.
In a tale from another source, entitled “Wang Daiyu Debates the
Dao” (“Wang Daiyu tan dao” 王岱輿談道), which resembles many
tales included in the Genealogy, we learn about Wang Daiyu’s en-
counter with a Buddhist monk. In “the seventh year of the Shun-
zhi reign” ( 1650 , undoubtedly a fictitious date), Wang Daiyu is pass-
ing by a Buddhist temple in Beijing when a Buddhist monk
emerges. In the ensuing dialogue, Wang “proves” the superiority of
Islam by answering ten questions posed by Buddhist monk and by
asking ten questions that the Buddhist cannot answer. The tale
ends with the conversion of the monk to Islam.^64 This tale high-
lights the acute sense of social and cultural hierarchy and their po-
sition within it felt by Chinese Muslim scholars that we saw in Ma
Minglong’s tale. In the first story, the representatives of the state
visit a Muslim school, and in the end the equal status of Islam and
Confucianism is recognized. In the second story, a Muslim “runs
into” a monk while out on a stroll, bests him in argument, and
—————
64. This oral tradition was first published in Huijiao yuehua 回教月刊 in 1938.
For the full text, see HRZ (Qingdai) pp. 303 – 5.