114 Self-Perception and Identity
explain why the term shi can be freely borrowed by his own intel-
lectual community.
The Chinese Muslim scholarly network shows that the catego-
ries shi and genealogy were flexible and available to non-Confucians
and Confucians alike. Similarly, Chinese Muslim authors came to
understand themselves as members of a school. Their literary
works, and the specifically communal circumstances under which
they were produced, were vital components of this self-definition.