Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Group	Hui حُوِ ذَو (Huízú)
Caption	Hui Muslims
Poptime	10 million
Regions
Languages	Mandarin, Arabic, Dungan,other Chinese dialects
Religions	Islam
Related	Dungan, Panthay, Dongxiang, Han Chinese,other Sino-Tibetan peoples

The Hui people (, Xiao'erjing: حُوِ ذَو ) are an ethnic group in China, typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, and many of whom are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.

In modern People's Republic of China, the term "Hui people" refers to one of the officially recognized 56 ethnic groups into which Chinese citizens are classified. Under this definition, the Hui people are defined to include all historically Muslim communities in People's Republic of China that are not included in China's other ethnic groups. Since China's Muslims speaking various Turkic, Mongolian, or Iranian languages are all included into those other groups (e.g., Uyghurs, Dongxiang, or Tajiks) the "officially recognized" Hui ethnic group consists predominantly of Chinese speakers. In fact, the "Hui nationality" is unique among China's officially recognized ethnic minorities in that it does not have any particular non-Chinese language associated with it.

Nonetheless, included among the Hui in Chinese census statistics (and not officially recognized as separate ethnic groups) are members of a few small non-Chinese speaking communities. Among them are several thousand Utsuls in southern Hainan province, who speak an Austronesian language (Tsat) related to that of the Cham Muslim minority of Vietnam, and who are said to be descended from Chams who migrated to Hainan. A small Muslim minority among Yunnan's Bai people are classified as Hui as well (even if they are Bai speakers), as are some groups of Tibetan Muslims. with the exception that they practice Islam, and have some distinctive cultural characteristics as a result. For example, as Muslims, they follow Islamic dietary laws and reject the consumption of pork, the most common meat consumed in Chinese culture, and have also given rise to their variation of Chinese cuisine, Chinese Islamic cuisine and Muslim Chinese martial arts. Their mode of dress also differs primarily in that men wear white caps and women wear headscarves or (occasionally) veils, as is the case in most Islamic cultures.

The Hui people are of varied ancestry, many of whom are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers. Their ancestors include Central Asian, Arabs, Persian, Han Chinese, and Mongols. Several medieval dynasties, particularly the Tang Dynasty and Mongol Yuan Dynasty encouraged immigration from predominantly-Muslim Persia and Central Asia, with both dynasties welcoming traders from these regions and appointing Central Asian officials. In the subsequent centuries, they gradually mixed with Mongols and Han Chinese, and the Hui people were formed. On account of this mixing and long residence in China, the Hui have not retained Central Asian, Persian, or Arabic names, using instead names typical of their Han Chinese neighbors; however, certain names common among the Hui can be understood as Chinese renderings of common Muslim (i.e. Arabic), Persian, and Central Asian names (for instance, "Ma" for "Muhammad").

Etymology

"Huihui" and "Hui"

The word Huihui (回回), which was the usual generic term for China's Muslims during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, is thought to have its origin in the earlier Huihe (回纥) or Huihu (回纥), which was the name for the Uyghur State of the 8th and 9th century. Although the ancient Uyghurs were neither Muslims nor were very directly related to today's Uyghur people, and Ming Dynasties (1368–1644). Since almost all Muslims in China were exclusively foreign Arabs or Persians at the time, it was barely mentioned by the Chinese, unlike other religions like Zoroastrism, Mazdaism, and Nestorian Christianity which gained followings in China. As an influx of foreigners, such as Arabs, Persians, Jews, and Christians, most of them, but not all of them were Muslims who came from western regions, they were labelled as Semu people, but were also mistaken by Chinese as Uyghur, due to them coming from the west (uyghur lands). so the name "Hui Hui" was applied to them, and eventually became the name to refer to Muslims.

Another, probably unrelated, early use of the word Huihui comes from the History of Liao Dyansty, which mentions Yelü Dashi, the 12th-century founder of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, defeating the Huihui Dashibu (回回大食部) people near Samarkand – apparently, referring to his defeat of the Khwarazm ruler Ahmed Sanjar in 1141. Khwarazm is referred to as Huihuiguo in the Secret History of the Mongols as well.

The widespread and rather generic application of the name "Huihui" in Ming China was attested by foreign visitors as well. Matteo Ricci, the first Jesuit to reach Beijing (1598), noted that "Saracens are everywhere in evidence . . . their thousands of families are scattered about in nearly every province" Ricci noted that the term Huihui or Hui was applied by Chinese not only to "Saracens" (Muslims) but also to Chinese Jews and supposedly even to Christians. In fact, when the reclusive Wanli Emperor first saw a picture of Ricci and Diego de Pantoja, he supposedly exclaimed, "Hoei, hoei. It is quite evident that they are Saracens", and had to be told by a eunuch that they actually weren't, "because they ate pork".

The 1916 Encyclopædia of religion and ethics, Volume 8 said that Chinese Muslims alwatys called themselves Huihui or huizi, and that neither themselves nor other people called themselves Han, and they disliked people calling them Dungan. A French army Commandant Viscount D'Ollone wrote a report on what he saw among Hui in 1910, during the Qing dynasty, he reported that due to religion, Hui were classed as a different nationality from han as if they were one of the other minority groups like Miao.

While Huihui or Hui remained a generic name for all Muslims in Imperial China, specific terms were sometimes used to refer to particular groups, e.g. Chantou Hui ("turbaned Hui") for Uyghurs, Dongxiang Hui and Sala Hui for Dongxiang and Salar people, and sometimes even Han Hui(漢回) ("Chinese Hui") for the (presumably Chinese-speaking) Muslims more assimilated into the Chinese mainstream society. Some scholars also say that some Hui used to call themselves 回漢子 (Hui Hanzi) "Muslim Han" but now the Communist regime has separated them from other Chinese and placed them into a separate minzu, "Huizu".

(清真) shower house in Linxia City]] Under the aegis of the Communist Party in the 1930s the term Hui was defined to indicate only Sinophone Muslims. In 1941, this was clarified by a Communist Party committee comprising ethnic policy researchers in a treatise entitled "On the question of Huihui Ethnicity" (Huihui minzu wenti). This treatise defined the characteristics of the Hui nationality as follows: the Hui or Huihui constitute an ethnic group associated with, but not defined by, the Islamic religion and they are descended primarily from Muslims who migrated to China during the Mongol-founded Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), as distinct from the Uyghur and other Turkic-speaking ethnic groups in Xinjiang. The Nationalist government had recognised all Muslims as one of "the five peoples"—alongside the Manchus, Mongols, Tibetans and Han Chinese—that constituted the Republic of China. The new Communist interpretation of Chinese Muslim ethnicity marked a clear departure from the ethno-religious policies of the Nationalists, and had emerged as a result of the pragmatic application of Stalinist ethnic theory to the conditions of the Chinese revolution.

These days, within the PRC, Huizu and is the standard term for the "Hui nationality" (ethnic group), and Huimin, for "Hui people" or "a Hui person". The traditional expression Huihui, its use now largely restricted to rural areas, would sound quaint, if not outright demeaning, to modern urban Chinese Muslims.

beef lamian can be found throughout the country]] A traditional Chinese term for Islam is 回教 (pinyin: Huíjiào, literally "the religion of the Hui"). However, since the early days of the PRC, thanks to the arguments of such Marxist Hui scholars as Bai Shouyi, the standard term for "Islam" within the PRC has become the transliteration 伊斯蘭教 (pinyin: 'Yīsīlán jiào, literally "Islam religion"). The more traditional term Huijiao remains in use in Singapore, Taiwan, and other overseas Chinese communities.

Qīngzhēn (清真, literally "pure and true") has also been a popular term for the things Muslim since the Yuan or Ming Dynasty. Dru Gladney suggests that a good translation for it would be Arabic tahára. i.e. "ritual or moral purity" The usual term for a mosque is qīngzhēn sì (清真寺), i.e. "true and pure temple", and qīngzhēn is commonly used to refer to halal eating establishments and bathhouses.

"Dungan"

Hui people everywhere are referred to by Central Asian Turkic speakers and Tajiks as Dungans. This term has a long pedigree as well. The region's historian Joseph Fletcher cites Turkic and Persian manuscripts related to the preaching of the 17th century Kashgarian Sufi master Muhammad Yūsuf (or, possibly, his son Afaq Khoja) inside the Ming Empire (in today's Gansu and/or Qinghai), where the Kashgarian preacher is told to have converted 'ulamā-yi Tunganiyyān (i.e., "Dungan ulema") into Sufism.

In English and German, the ethnonym "Dungan", in various spelling forms, was attested as early as 1830s, typically referring to the Hui people of Xinjiang. For example, James Prinsep in 1835 mentions Muslim "Túngánis" in "Chinese Tartary". The word (mostly in the form "Dungani" or "Tungani", sometimes "Dungens" or "Dungans") acquired some currency in English and other western languages when a number of books in the 1860-70s discussed the Dungan revolt in north-western China.

Later authors continued to use the term Dungan (in various transcriptions) for, specifically, the Hui people of Xinjiang. For example, Owen Lattimore, writing ca. 1940, maintains the terminological distinction between these two related groups: the "Tungkan" (i.e. Wade-Giles for "Dungan"), described by him as the descendants of the Gansu Hui people resettled in Xinjiang in 17-18th centuries, vs. e.g. the "Gansu Moslems" or generic "Chinese Moslems".

The name "Dungan" was used to refer to all Muslims coming from China proper, such as Dongxiang and Salar in addition to Hui. They were called Chinese Muslims by westerners. Reportedly, the Hui disliked the term Dungan and did not want people to refer to them as Dungans, calling themselves either HuiHui or Huizi.

In the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and its successor countries, the term "Dungans" (дунгане) became the standard name for the descendants of Chinese-speaking Muslims who emigrated to the Russian Empire (mostly to today's Kyrgyzstan and south-eastern Kazakhstan) in the 1870s and 1880s.

Other terms

In Thailand Chinese Muslims are referred to as Chin Ho, in Myanmar and Yunnan Province, as Panthay.

During the Qing dynasty, the term Zhongyuan ren (中原人) was synonymous with being Chinese, especially referring to Han Chinese and Hui in Xinjiang or Central Asia.

While Hui do not consider themselves Han and are not Han, the Hui consider themselves Chinese and refer to themselves as Zhongyuan ren. The Dungan people, descendants of Hui who fled to Central Asia, called themselves Zhongyuan ren in addition to the standard labels Lao Huihui and Huizi. Zhongyuan ren was used by Turkic Muslims to refer to ethnic Chinese. When Central Asian invaders from Kokand invaded Kashgar, in a letter the kokandi commander criticizes the Kashgari Turkic Muslim Ishaq for allegedly not behaving like a Muslim and wanting to be a Zhongyuan ren (Chinese).

Pusuman was a name used by Chinese during the Yuan dynasty. It could have been a corruption of Musalman (The Persian name for Muslim), or another name for Persians. It either means Muslim or Persian. Pusuman Kuo (Pusuman Guo) referred to the country where they came from. The name "Pusuman zi" (pusuman script), was used to refer to the script that the HuiHui (Muslims) were using.

During the Tang dynasty mostly Arabic speaking Muslims visited China, Persian speakers formed the majority of Muslims in China in the Song and Yuan dynasties.

Classification as Ethnic Minority

During World War 2, American Asiatic Association published an entry in the text "Asia: journal of the American Asiatic Association, Volume 40", concerning the problem of whether Chinese Muslims were Chinese or a separate "ethnic minority", and the factors which lead to either classification. It tackled the question of why Muslims who were Chinese were considered a different race from other Chinese, and the separate question of whether all Muslims in China were united into one race. The first problem was posed with a comparison to Chinese Buddhists, who were not considered a separate race and did not become "Indian". It concluded that the reason Chinese Muslims were considere separate was because of different factors like religion, culture, military feudalsim, and that considering them a "racial minority" was wrong. It also came to the conclusion that the Japanese military spokesman was the only person who was propagating the false assertion that "Chinese Mohammedans" had "racial unity", which was disproven by the fact that Muslims in China were composed of multitudes of different races, separate from each other as were the "Germans and English", such as the Mongol Hui of Hezhou, Salar Hui of Qinghai, Chan Tou Hui of Turkistan, and then Chinese Muslims. The Japanese were trying to spread the false perception that Chinese Muslims were one race, in order to propagate the claim that they should be separated from China into an "independent political organization".

History

Origins

The Hui Chinese have diverse origins, and many of whom are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers. Some in the southeast coast (Guangdong, Fujian) and in major trade centers elsewhere in China are of mixed local and foreign descent. The foreign element, although greatly diluted, came from Arab (Dashi) and Persian (Bosi) traders, who brought Islam to China. These foreigners settled in China and gradually intermarried into the surrounding population while converting them to Islam, while they in turn assimilated in all aspects of Chinese culture, keeping only their distinctive religion.

Early European explorers speculated that T'ung-kan (hui, called "Chinese Mohammedan") in Xinjiang originated from Khorezmians who were transported to China by the Mongols, and that the were descended from a mixture of Chinese, Iranians, and Turkic peoples. They also reported that the T'ung-kan were Shafi'ites, which the Khorezmians were also.

A totally different explanation is available for the Hui people of Yunnan and Northwestern China, whose ethnogenesis might be a result of the convergence of large number of Mongol, Turkic, Iranian or other Central Asian settlers in these regions, who were recruited by the Mongol-founded Yuan Dynasty either as officials (the semu, who formed the second-highest stratum in the Yuan Empire's ethnic hierarchy, after the Mongols themselves, but before both northern and southern Chinese) or artisans. It was documented that a proportion of the ancestral nomad or military ethnic groups were originally Nestorian Christians many of whom later converted to Islam, while under the Sinicizing pressures of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Southeastern Muslims also have a much longer tradition of synthesizing Confucian teachings with the Sharia and Qur'anic teachings, and were reported to have been contributing to the Confucian officialdom since the Tang period. Among the Northern Hui, on the other hand, there are strong influences of Central Asian Sufi schools such as Kubrawiyya, Qadiriyya, Naqshbandiyya (Khufiyya and Jahriyya) etc. mostly of the Hanafi Madhhab (whereas among the Southeastern communities the Shafi'i Madhhab is more of the norm). Before the "Yihewani" movement, a Chinese Muslim sect inspired by the reform movement in the Middle East, Northern Hui Sufis were very fond of synthesizing Taoist teachings and martial arts practices with Sufi philosophy.

In early modern times, villages in Northern Chinese Hui areas still bore labels like "Blue-cap Huihui," "Black-cap Huihui," and "White-cap Huihui," betraying their possible Christian, Judaic and Muslim origins, even though the religious practices among North China Hui by then were by and large Islamic. Hui is also used as a catch-all grouping for Islamic Chinese who are not classified under another ethnic group.

In Henan, Guangdong, and Gansu, Jews converted to Islam and were assimilated into the Hui. A lot of Chinese Jews converted to Islam by the 17th century. The Jews worked in government service and owned big properties in China.

A small minority of Hui are just converted Han chinese, according to legend, a Muhuyindeni person converted an entire village of Han to Islam. In addition, Hui also adopted Han children and raised them as Hui.

Intermarriage with Han Chinese and others

Intermarriage usually involves a Han Chinese woman converting to Islam, or it may involve a Han Chinese man converting to Islam to marry a Hui woman. In extremely rare cases, marriage takes place without conversion. In specifically northwest China most intermarriages involve Han women but in some rare cases it is Han men.

In Beijing Oxen street there were 37 Han Hui couples, two of which were Han with Hui wives, the other 35 were Hui men with Han wives. Data was collected in different Beijing districts. In Ma Dian 20% of intermarriage were Hui women marrying into Han families, in Tang Fang 11% of intermarriage were Hui women marrying into Han families. 67.3% of intermarriage in Tang Fang were Han women marrying into a Hui family and in Ma Dian 80% of intermarriag were Han women marrying into Hui families.

There is a distinction between women marrying out, and men moving in to the women's household. Zhao nuxu is a practice where the son in law moves in with the wife's family. Some marriages between Han and Hui are conducted this way, with some Han men moving in with their Hui wife and her family. The husband does not need to convert, but the wife's family follows Islamic customs. No census data collects this type of marriage, the census only reports data where the wife moves in with the groom's family.

Marriage of a Hui man and a Han woman

The most common occurrence of intermarriage.

Marriage of a Han man and a Hui woman

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period(Wudai) (907-960), there are examples of Persian women marrying Chinese emperors. Some Chinese officials from the Song Dynasty era also married women from Dashi (Arabia).

Li Nu, the son of Li Lu, from a Han chinese Li family in Quanzhou visited Hormuz in Persia in 1376. He married a Persian or an Arab girl, and brought her back to Quanzhou. He then converted to Islam. Li Nu was the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty reformer Li Chih.

In Henan province, a marriage was recorded between Han boy and Hui girl without the Han converting to Islam, during the Ming dynasty. They had two children who became Muslim. Steles in Han and Hui villages record this story and Hui and Han members of the Lineage celebrate at the ancestral temple together.

In Hui discourse, marriage between a Hui woman and a Han man is not allowed unless the Han converts Islam, despite this it occurred several times in the towns of Eastern China.

In 1715 in Yunnan province, many Han Chinese descendants of Confucius married Hui women and converted to Islam. Archives on this are stored in Xuanwei city.

The practice of men marrying into the women's family was mentioned above. In 1982 a case occurred where a Han married a Hui woman and moved into her family.

A case of switching nationality occurred in 1972 when a Han man married a Hui woman, and is currently considered a Hui after converting to Islam.

Generally Han of both sexes have to convert to Islam before marrying. This practice helps increase the population of Hui.

Research has shown that Hui men marrying Han women display education above average, and Han men who also marry Hui women display education that is above average.

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty employed many Muslims and the Ming Emperor treated Muslims relatively freely. Several Hui people in Taiwan even claimed that the first Ming Emperor Ming Taizu was a Hui. However, people from mainland China dispute this claim.

Hui troops were also used by the Ming Dynasty to crush the Miao and other aboriginal rebels during the Miao Rebellions (Ming Dynasty), and were also settled in Changde, Hunan, where their descendants still live.

Qing Dynasty

The Manchus grouped Hui people along with Han when segregating Beijing into a "Manchu" city and a "Chinese" city.

Muslim revolts

During the mid-nineteenth century, a series of civil wars broke out throughout China by various ethnic-lingual groups against the ruling Manchu-Mongol-Han Bannerman and Han Confucians elites. These include the Taiping Rebellion in Southern China (whose leaders were Evangelical Christians of ethnic Han Chinese Hakka and Zhuang background), the Muslims Rebellion in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia in Northwestern China and Yuannan, and the Miao people Revolt in Hunan and Guizhou. These revolts were supported by European Powers at the beginning but eventually put down by the Manchu government. The Dungan people were descendants of the Muslim rebels who fled to Russian Empire after the rebellion were suppressed by the joint force of Hunan Army led by Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠) with support from local Hui elites.

Population loss during these revolts was staggering. Some have estimated that the population loss in Shaanxi between 1862 and 1879 was as high as 6,220,000, about 44.6% of the original population before the war, of which 5.2 million was due to war. For the Hui, the figure may have been as high as 1.55 million. In 1990, there were only 132,000 Hui in Shaanxi.(Another source from Zuo Zongtang's written records suggests before the revolt there were 4 million Muslims in Shanxi (population of Shanxi was 13 million in total), and there were only 50,000 Muslims left in Shanxi after the war. The strategy used against Muslims in Shanxi was to make the province Muslim free by either mass killing or evictions, this is because the Han Chinese regarded Shanxi a Chinese heartland whereas places west of Shanxi such as Gansu and Ningxia are barbaric wasteland. Shanxi Muslims that were spared during the war were force relocated west to provinces such as Gansu, and the Shanxi Muslims that were allowed to stay are mainly Xian city Muslims who did not participate in the revolt.)

Poems were written about the victories of Yaqub Beg's forces over the Chinese and the Tungans (Chinese Muslims).

Hui rebels battled against Turkic Muslim rebels in addition to fighting the Qing. Yakub Beg seized Aksu from Hui forces and forced them north of the Tien Shan mountains, committing massacres upon the Hui (tunganis). Reportedly in 1862 the number of Hui in China proper numbered 30,000,000.

Despite the population loss, the military power of Hui increased, because some Hui who had defected to the Qing side were promoted and granted high positions in the Imperial Army. One of them, Ma Anliang, became a military warlord in northwest China, and other Generals associated with him grew into the Ma Clique of the Republican era.

During the Panthay Rebellion, the Qing dynasty did not massacre Muslims who surrendered, in fact, Muslim General Ma Rulong, who surrendered and join the Qing campaign to crush the rebel Muslims, was promoted, and became the most powerful military official in the province.

Another revolt erupted in 1895, which was suppressed by loyalist Muslim troops.

Panthays

Panthays form a group of Chinese Muslims in Burma. Some people refer to Panthays as the oldest group of Chinese Muslims in Burma. However, because of intermixing and cultural diffusion the Panthays are not as distinct a group as there once were.

Dungans

Dungan (; ) is a term used in territories of the former Soviet Union and in Xinjiang to refer to Chinese-speaking Muslim people. In the censuses of Russia and the former Soviet Central Asia, the Hui are enumerated separately from Chinese, and are labelled as Dungans. In both China and the former Soviet republics where they reside, however, members of this ethnic group call themselves Lao Huihui or Zhongyuanren, not Dungans. Zhongyuan 中原, literally means "The Central Plain," and is the historical name of Shaanxi and Henan provinces. Most Dungans living in the former Soviet Union are descendants of Hui people from Gansu and Shaanxi.

Islamic sects

The Islamic scholar Ma Tong recorded that among 6,781,500 Hui in China, 58.2 % were Gedimu, 21% Yihewani, 10.9% Jahriyya, 7.2 % Khuffiya, 1.4% Qadariyya, and 0.7 % Kubrawiyya.

Muslim General Ma Bufang allowed polytheists to openly worship and Christian missionaries to station themselves in Qinghai. General Ma and other high ranking Muslim Generals even attended the Kokonuur Lake Ceremony where the God of the Lake was worshipped, and during the ritual, the Chinese national Anthem was sung, all participants bowed to a Portrait of Kuomintang party founder Dr. Sun Zhongshan, and the God of the Lake was also bowed to, and offerings were given to him by the participants, which included the Muslims. Ma Bufang invited Kazakh Muslims to attend the Ceremony honoring the God. Ma Bufang received audiences of Christian missionaries, who sometimes gave him the Gospel. His son Ma Jiyuan received a silver cup from Christian missionaries.

The Muslim Ma Zhu wrote "Chinese religions are different from Islam, but the ideas are the same"

During the Panthay Rebellion, the Muslim leader Du Wenxiu said to a Catholic priest- "I have read your religious works and i have found nothing inappropriate." "Muslims and Christians are brothers."

Culture

Chinese Culture

Hui women practiced foot binding just like Han women, it was noticed that it was extremely prevalent among Hui in Gansu. The Dungan people, descendants of Hui from northwestern China who fled to central Asia, also practised foot binding up to 1948. However, in southern China, in Canton the westerner James Legge enocountered a mosque which had a placard denouncing footbinding, saying Islam did not allow it since it constituted violating the creation of God.

Hui marriages resemble typical Chinese marriages except traditional Chinese superstitious rituals are not used.

Unique Islamic practices

family celebrating Eid ul-Fitr in Ningxia]] Hui women are self aware of their relative freedom as Chinese women in contrast to the status of Arab women in countries like Saudi Arabia where Arab women are restricted and forced to wear encompassing clothing. Hui women point out these restrictions as "low status", and feel better to be Chinese than to be Arab, claiming that it is Chinese women's advanced knowledge of the Quran which enables them to have equality between men and women.

A French army Commandant Viscount D'Ollone wrote a report on what he saw among Hui in 1910, during the Qing dynasty, Sichuanese Hui were slacking in their practice of Islam alcohol and tobacco restrictions, ritual washing, Friday prayers were not followed. Chinese practices like incense burning at ancestral tablets and honoring Confucius were taken up, however, the one practice which was observe most stringently and followed rigorously was the banning of pork consumption.

The Sunni Gedimu and the Yihewani burned incense during worship. This was viewed as Daoist or Buddhist influence. The Hui were also known as the "White capped" HuiHui used incense during worship, while the Salar, also known as "black capped" HuiHui considered this to be a heathen ritual and denounced it.

Some Hui burned incense with ancestral tablets like non Muslim Han chinese, and honored the philosopher Confucius with ceremonies.

In Yunnan province, during the Qing Dynasty, tablets which wished the Emperor a long life were placed in at the Mosque entrance. No minarets were available and no chanting was done when calling for prayer. The mosques were similar to Buddhist Temples, and incense was burned inside the mosques as well.

Hui people usually have a Chinese name and a Muslim name in Arabic, the chinese name is used primarily. Sometimes Hui do not remember their Muslim names.

When Hui people adopt foreign names, they do not use their Muslim names. Instead, they, like Han chinese, prefer to adopt Christian European names. An example of this is Pai Hsien-yung, a Hui author in America, who adopted the name Kenneth. His father was the Muslim General Bai Chongxi, who had his children adopt western names such as Patsy, Diana, Daniel, Richard, Alfred, Amy, David, Kenneth, Robert and Charlie.

The Hui followed Chinese customs and Islamic law, refusing to consume alcohol, opium, and tobacco. Large numbers of Hui enlisted in the military and were praised for their martial skills.

Hui were also better off than other Muslims in China. The Europeans noted that Turki Muslims people would prostitute their daughters due to poverty, while such a thing would never happen among Tungan Muslims (Hui), which was why Turki prostitutes were common around the country.

Literature

The Han Kitab was a collection of Islamic and Confucian texts written by various Hui Authors in the 18th century, including Liu Zhi (scholar).

New works were written by Hui intellectuals following education reform by Ma Clique Warlords and Bai Chongxi. Texts were also translated from Arabic.

A new edition of a book by Ma Te-hsin, called Ho-yin Ma Fu-ch'u hsien-sheng i-shu Ta hua tsung kuei Ssu tien yaohui, which was printed in 1865 was reprinted in 1927 by Ma Fuxiang.

The General Ma Fuxiang invested in new editions of Confucian and Islamic texts. He edited Shuofang Daozhi. a gazette, and books such as Meng Cang ZhuangKuang: Hui Bu Xinjiang fu.

Language

Hui speak Chinese dialects as their native languages. The Hui of Yunnan (Burmaese called them Panthays) were reported to be fluent in Arabic. During the Panthay Rebellion, Arabic replaced Chinese as official language of the rebel kingdom. In Tianjin, Hui could speak an old, archaic form of Arabic, when they met Arab Muslims in recent times, it was found out that Old Arabic and Modern Arabic were very different, so Modern Arabic is now being taught to Hui.

In 1844 "The Chinese repository, Volume 13" was published, including an account of an Englishman who stayed in the Chinese city of Ningbo. There he visited the local mosque, the Hui running the mosque was from Shandong, and he was a descendant of Muslims from the Arabian city of Medina. He was able to read and speak Arabic with ease, but was totally illiterate in Chinese. He was born in China and spoke Chinese as well.

Marriage

Endogamy is practiced by Hui who are members of different sects, mainly marrying among themselves than with Muslims from other sects.

The Hui Na family in Ningxia is known to practice both parallel and cross cousin marriage. The Najiahu village in Ningxia is named after this family, descended from Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar.

Education

Hui have been interested in modern education and reform. Several Hui, such as Hu Songshan, and the Ma Clique warlords promoted western, modern secular education and reform.

Elite Hui received both Muslim and Confucian education. They studied the Koran and Confucian texts like the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Hui people refused to follow the May Fourth Movement. Instead, they taught both modern, western education such as science, along with traditional Confucian literature and Classical Chinese languages with Islamic education and Arabic in their schools. They merely incorporated the new instead of destroying the old and replacing it.

, a Muslim Ma Clique General, and his wife]]

The Hui Muslim Warlord Ma Bufang built a girl's school for Muslim girls in Linxia which taught modern secular education.

Hui also have female Imams, called Nu Ahong, which they had for centuries. They are the only female Imams in the world, they guide female Muslims in worship and prayer.

Hui and Muslim Salars are against coeducation (grouping male and female students together) due to Islam, Uyghurs are the only Muslims in China do not mind coeducation and practice it.

and Hui children in Egypt. The girls are not wearing veils]]

, a Muslim General, at his wedding with Kuomintang flag. None of the girls are wearing veils]]

History of military service in the Chinese army

, head of the Kuomintang with Muslim General Ma Fushou.]]

In 756, over 4,000 Arab mercenaries joined the Chinese against An Lushan. They remained in China, and some of them were ancestors of the Hui people.

Hui people have extensively served in the Chinese military. During the Ming dynasty, Hui Generals and troops loyal to Ming fought against Mongols and Hui loyal to the Yuan dynasty in the Ming conquest of Yunnan. Hui also fought for Ming against aboriginal tribes in southern China during the Miao Rebellions (Ming Dynasty). This resuled in many Hui soldiers of the Ming dynasty being settled in Yunnan and Hunan provinces in southern China.

Yang Zengxin, the Han chinese governor of Xinjiang, extensively relied on Hui Generals like Ma Shaowu and Ma Fuxing.

Qing Muslim General Zuo Baogui (左寶貴) (1837–1894), from Shandong province, was martyred in Pingyang in Korea by Japanese cannonfire in 1894 while defending the city. A memorial to him was built.

Hui troops fought against western armies for the first time in the Boxer Rebellion, winning several battles including the Battle of Langfang and Battle of Beicang. These troops were the Kansu Braves led by General Dong Fuxiang.

Military service continued into the Republic of China. The Chinese government appointed Hui General Ma Fuxiang as military governor of Suiyuan. After the Kuomintang party took power, Hui participation in the military reached new levels. Qinghai and Ningxia were created out of Gansu province, and the Kuomintang appointed Hui Generals as military Governors of all three provinces. They became known as the Ma Clique.

Hui Generals and soldiers fought for the Republic of China against Tibet in the Sino-Tibetan War, against Uyghur rebels in the Kumul Rebellion, the Soviet Union in the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang, and against Japan in the Second Sino Japanese War.

Hui forces fought for the Kuomintang (aka the chinese nationalists) against the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, and against rebels during the Ili Rebellion.

Bai Chongxi, a hui General, was appointed to the post of Minister of National Defence, the highest Military position in the Republic of China. After the Communist victory, and evacuation of the Kuomintang to Taiwan, Hui people continued to serve in the military.

Ma Bufang, the Muslim General who fought a bloody war against the Tibetans, was made the ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Saudi Arabia. His brother, Ma Buqing remained a military General on Taiwan.

Bai Chongxi and Ma Ching-chiang were other Hui who continue to serve in Taiwan as military Generals.

Ma Zhanshan was a Hui guerilla fighter against the Japanese.

A Hui General, Ma Fuxiang, commented on the willingness for Hui people to become martyrs in Battle (see Martyrdom in Islam), saying:

"They have not enjoyed the educational and political privileges of the Han chinese, and they are in many respects primitive. But they know the meaning of fidelity, and if I say 'do this, although it means death,' they cheerfully obey".

The Chinese Islamic Association issued "A message to all Muslims in China from the Chinese Islamic Association for National Salvation" in Ramadan of 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

"We have to implement the teaching "the love of the fatherland is an article of faith" by the Prophet Muhammad and to inherit the Hui's glorious history in China. In addition, let us reinforce our unity and participate in the twice more difficult taks of supporting a defensive war and promoting religion.... We hope that ahongs and the elite will initiate a movement of prayer during Ramadan and implement group prayer to support our intimate feeling toward Islam. A sincere unity of Muslims should be developed to contribute power towards the expulsion of Japan."

Ahong is the Chinese word for Imam. During the war against Japan, the Imams supported Muslim reisistance in battle, calling for Muslims to participate in the Jihad against Japan, and becoming a shaheed (islamic term for martyr).

The Japanese planned to invade Ningxia from Suiyuan in 1939 and create a Hui puppet state. The next year in 1940, the Japanese were defeated militarily by the Kuomintang Muslim General Ma Hongbin, who caused the plan to collapse. Ma Hongbin's Hui Muslim troops launched further attacks against Japan in the Battle of West Suiyuan.

The PLA used Hui soldiers, who formally had served under Ma Bufang to crush the Tibetan revolt in Amdo during the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

Politics

, Zhang Zuobao, Chen Diaoyuan, Chiang Kai-shek, Woo Tsin-hang, Wen Xishan, Muslim General Ma Fuxiang, Ma Sida, and Muslim General Bai Chongxi.]]

The Majority of the Hui Muslim Ma Clique Generals were Kuomintang party members, and encouraged Chinese nationalism in their provinces. Ma Qi, Ma Lin (warlord), and Ma Bufang were Hui Generals who served as Military Governors of Qinghai, Ma Hongbin served as military Governor of Gansu, and Ma Hongkui served as military governor of Ningxia. All of them were Kuomintang party members.

General Ma Fuxiang, a Hui Kuomintang member, was promoted to Governor of Anhui and became chairman of Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs.

Ma Bufang, Ma Fuxiang, and Bai Chongxi were all members of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, which ruled China in a Single-party state.

Bai Chongxi, as a Kuomintang member, helped build the Taipei Grand Mosque on Taiwan.

Many members of the Hui Ma Clique were also Kuomintang members.

Hui put Kuomintang Blue Sky with a White Sun party symbols on their Halal restaurants and shops. A Christian missionary in 1935 took a picture of a Muslim meat restaurant in Hankow which had Arabic and chinese lettering indicating that it was Halal (fit for Muslim consumption), and it had two Kuomintang party symbols on it.

Overseas Hui

A Community of Hui people exists on Taiwan, see Islam in Taiwan.

Chineseness

Some prominent Hui, such as Imam Ma Chao-yen of the Taipei Grand Mosque, refer to themselves and other Hui people as Chinese in English, and consider themselves to practice Chinese, Confucian Culture.

The term Chinese Muslim is sometimes used to refer to Hui people. This is based mainly in the fact that their native language is a Chinese dialect, in contrast to Turkic speaking Salars and other Muslims. During the Qing Dynasty, "Chinese Muslim" (Han Hui) was the term sometimes used to refer to Hui people, which differentiated them from Non chinese speaking Muslims. In contrast, the Uyghurs were called "Chan Tou Hui" ("Turban Headed Muslim"), and the Turkic Salars called "Sala Hui" (Salar Muslim). While the Turkic speakers often referred the Hui as "Dungan". John Stuart Thomson, who traveled in China called them "Mohammedan Chinese". Because the Qing Dynasty grouped Muslims by language, the Chinese-speaking Hui had to wear the queue, while most Turkic Hui do not, except for their leaders. They have also been called "Chinese Mussulmans", when Europeans wanted to distinguish them from Han chinese.

The Qing authorities conisdered both Han and Hui to be Chinese, and in Xinjiang Both Hui and Han were classified as merchants regardless of profession. Laws were passed segregating the different races, in theory, keeping Turkic Muslims apart from Hui and Han, however, the law was not followed. Hui and Han households were built closer together in the same area while Turkic Muslims would live farther away from the town.

Before the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, when the revolutionaries faced the ideological dilemma on how to unify the country while at the same time acknowledging ethnic minorities, Hui people were noted as Chinese Muslims, separate from Uyghurs.

The Jahriyya Sufi leader Ma Yuanzhang said in response to accusations that Muslims were disloyal to China: "Our lives, livelihoods, and graves are in China. . . . We have been good citizens among the Five Nationalities!".

The Muslim General Ma Fuxiang encouraged Confucian style assimilation for all Muslims into Chinese culture, and even set up an assimilationist group for this purpose.

Imams such as Hu Songshan encouraged Chinese nationalism in their mosques, and the Yihewani was led by many nationalist Imams.

For some Uyghurs, there is barely any difference between Hui and Han. A Uyghur social scientist, Dilshat, regarded Hui as the same people as Han, deliberately calling Hui people Han and dismissing the Hui as having only a few hundred years of history.

The Kuomintang party and, Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuomintang party leader, considered all the minority peoples of China, including the Hui, as descedants of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor and semi mythical founder of the Chinese nation, and belonging to the Chinese Nation Zhonghua Minzu and he introduced this into Kuomintang ideology, which was propagated into the educational system of the Republic of China.

Hui as nationality or as religion

Some Hui clans who identify as Hui and are recognized as such by the Chinese government are Hui because of their ancestry only, and do not practice Islam as their religion. They had Muslim ancestors but they do not practice Islam anymore. Throughout history, when their ancestors first abandoned Islam as a religion, their identity has been fluid, claiming their "identity" based on what was convinient for the time. The modern definition of Hui by the Chinese government is as a nationality, and not a religion. These Hui are led to identify as Hui out of interest in their ancestry or because of Affirmative action benefits they will get from the Chinese government. These Hui are concentrated on the southeast coast of China, especially Fujian province. In 1913, a westerner noted that many people in Fujian province had Arab ancestry, but were no longer Muslim.

Some well known Hui clans around Quanzhou in Fujian, such as the Ding and the Guo families, are examples of these Hui who identify as Muslim by nationality but do not practice Islam. Due to more people of these clans identifying as Hui the population of Hui has grown. All these clans needed were only evidence of ancestry from Arab, or Persian, or other Muslim ancestors to be recognized as Hui, and they do not need to practice Islam. It was the Communist party and its policies which encouraged the definition of Hui as a nationality or ethnicity. It is taboo to offer pork to ancestors in the Ding clan family. However, the living Ding family members themselves consume pork. The Chinese Government's Historic Artifacts Bureau preserved tombs of Arabs and Persians whom Hui are descended from around Quanzhou. Many of these Hui worship village gods and do not have Islam as their religion, some are Buddhists, Daoists, followers of Chinese Folk Religions, secularlists, and Christians. Many clans with thousands of members in numerous villages across Fujian recorded their genealogies and had Muslim ancestry. These Hui clans originating in Fujian have strong sense of unity among their members, despite being scattered across a wide area in Asia, such as Fujian, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Philippines.

On Taiwan, there are also descendants of Hui who came with Koxinga who no longer observe Islam, the Taiwan branch of the Guo (romanized as Kuo in Taiwan) family is not Muslim, but still does not offer pork at ancestral shrines. The Chinese Muslim Association counts these people as Muslims. Also on Taiwan, one branch of this Ding (Ting) family descended from Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar resides in Taisi Township in Yunlin County. They trace their descent through him via the Quanzhou Ding family of Fujian. Even as they were pretending to be Han chinese in Fujian, they still practiced Islam when they originally came to Taiwan 200 years ago, building a mosque, but eventually became Buddhist or Daoist. The Mosque is now the Ding families Daoist temple.

An attempt was made by the Chinese Islamic Society to reconvert the Hui of Fujian back to Islam in 1983, sending 4 Ningxia Imams to Fujian. This futile endeavour ended in 1986, when the final Ningxia Imam remaining decided to go back and leave Fujian. A similar endeavour in Taiwan also failed to meet its goals.

Before 1982, it was possible for a Han to change ethnicity to the Hui nationality just by converting, after 1982 converted Han were no longer counted as Hui, instead, they are now known as "Muslim Han". Hui people consider other Hui who do not observe Islamic practices to still be Hui, they consider it impossible to ever lose their Hui nationality, even if a Hui becomes atheist the other Muslim Hui still consider them to be Muslim, albeit a bad one.

Ethnic tensions

During the Dungan revolt fighting broke out between Uyghurs and Hui.

In 1936, after Sheng Shicai expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui led by General Ma Bufang massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.

The Hui people have had a long presence in Qinghai and Gansu, or what Tibetans call Amdo, although Tibetans have historically dominated the local politics. The situation was reversed in 1931 when the Hui general Ma Bufang inherited the governorship of Qinghai, stacking his government with Hui and Salar and excluding Tibetans. In his power base in Qinghai's northeastern Haidong Prefecture, Ma compelled many Tibetans to convert to Islam and acculturate into the Hui community. When Hui started migrating into Lhasa in the 1990s, racist rumors circulated among Tibetans in Lhasa about the Hui, such as that they were cannibals or ate children. On February 2003, Tibetans rioted against Hui, destroying Hui-owned shops and restaurants. With Islamophobic sentiments high following the Taliban's demolition of two Buddha statues, local Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders lead a regional boycott movement that encouraged Tibetans to boycott Hui-owned shops, spreading the myth that Hui put the ashes of cremated imams in the cooking water they use to serve Tibetans food, in order to convert Tibetans to Islam. In addition, Chinese speaking Hui have problems with Tibetan Hui (the Tibetan speaking Kache minority of Muslims).

Tensions with Uyghurs arose because Qing and Republican Chinese authorities used Hui troops and officials to dominate the Uyghurs and crush Uyghur revolts. Xinjiang's Hui population increased by over 520 percent between 1940 and 1982, an average annual growth of 4.4 percent, while the Uyghur population only grew at 1.7 percent. This dramatic increase in Hui population led inevitably to significant tensions between the Hui and Uyghur Muslim populations. Some old Uyghurs in Kashgar remember that the Hui army at the Battle of Kashgar (1934) massacred 2,000 to 8,000 Uyghurs, which causes tension as more Hui moved into Kashgar from other parts of China. Some Hui criticize Uyghur separatism, and generally do not want to get involved in conflict in other countries over Islam for fear of being perceived as radical. Hui and Uyghur separate from each other, praying and attending different mosques.

Surnames

Hui people commonly believe that their surnames originated as "Sinified" forms of their foreign Muslim ancestors some time during the Yuan or Ming eras. These are some common surnames used by the Hui ethnic group:

Ma for Muhammad

Mu for Muhammad

Han for Muhammad

Ha for Hasan

Hu for Hussein

Sai for Said

Sha for Shah

Zheng for Shams

Koay for Kamaruddin

Chuah for Osman

A legend in Ningxia states that four Hui surnames common in the region - Na, Su, La, and Ding - originate with the descendants of one Nasruddin, a son of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, who "divided" the ancestor's name (Nasulading, in Chinese) among themselves.

Prominent Hui

Bai Chongxi (白崇禧), general of the Republic of China

Bai Shouyi (白壽彝), prominent Chinese historian and ethnologist

Pai Tzu-li, general of the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)

Dong Fuxiang (董福祥), Qing Dynasty General

Hai Feng (海峰), a professor of Xinjiang University and an author of a book on Dungan language

Hui Liangyu (回良玉), a Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China

Hu Songshan (虎嵩山), Imam and Chinese nationalist

Jia Xiaochen (贾晓晨), Hong Kong singer

Lan Yu, Ming Dynasty general who ended the Mongol dream to reconquer China.

Li Zhi (李贄), famous Confucian philosopher in Ming Dynasty, would perhaps be considered a Hui if he lived today because of some his ancestors being Persian Muslims.

Liu Bin Di was a Hui KMT officer who died while fighting against Uyghur rebels in the Ili Rebellion. Liu was killed by Uyghur rebels backed by the Soviet Union.

Liu Duo (刘铎), Miss China World 2006

Cecilia Liu (劉詩詩), an actress

Ma Dexin (马德新), Islamic scholar in Yunnan

Ma Anliang (馬安良) Qing Dynasty General

Ma Zhanshan (馬占山), guerilla warrior against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War

Ma Chengxiang, (馬呈祥), warlord in China during the Republic of China era, son of Ma Buqing

Ma Ching-chiang, Republic of China Army Lt. General

Ma Dunjing (1906-1972), (馬惇靖) Republic of China Lieutenant-General

Ma Dunjing (1910-2003), (馬敦靜) Republic of China Lieutenant-General

Ma Fulu (馬福綠) Qing Dynasty Army Officer

Ma Fushou (馬福壽) Qing Dynasty Army Officer

Ma Fuxiang (馬福祥) Qing Dynasty General and a warlord in China during the Republic of China era

Ma Fuyuan (馬福元) Republic of China general

Ma Guoliang Qing Dynasty Army Officer

Ma Haiyan (馬海晏) Qing Dynasty General

Ma Hongbin (馬鴻賓) Republic of China general

Ma Hongkui (馬鴻逵) Republic of China general

Ma Hushan (馬虎山) Republic of China general

Ma Jiyuan (馬繼援) Republic of China general

Ma Ju-lung Republic of China general

Ma Julung, Qing Dynasty general

Ma Zhancang (馬占倉) Republic of China general

Ma Lin (warlord) (馬麟) Qing Dynasty and Republic of China general

Ma Linyi Gansu Minister of Education

Ma Qi (馬麒), Qing Dynasty and Republic of China general

Ma Qixi, founder of the Xidaotang

Ma Qianling (馬千齡) Qing Dynasty General

Ma Zhanao (馬占鰲) Qing Dynasty General

Ma Zhanhai, Republic of China general

Ma Hualong (马化龙), one of the leaders of the Muslim Rebellion of 1862-77.

Ma Shaowu (馬紹武), Daotai of Kashgar

Ma Shenglin (馬聖鱗), Panthay Rebellion rebel and great uncle of Ma Shaowu

Ma Sheng-kuei, a General of the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)

Ma Yuanzhang, (馬元章) a Jahriyya Sufi leader, uncle of Ma Shaowu

Ma Xiao, Republic of China general in Liu Wenhui's army

Ma Xinyi, (馬新貽), official and a military general of the late Qing Dynasty in China.

Tang Kesan, representaive of the Kuomintang in Xikang

Kasim Tuet, entrepreneur and Islamic educationalist in Hong Kong

Su Chin-shou,a General of the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)

Sha Baoliang, (沙宝亮), Chinese singer.

Shi Zhongxin, mayor of Harbin from 2002 to February 2007, whose ancestors came from Jilin

Wang Zi-Ping, martial artist who participated in the Boxer Rebellion

Zuo Baogui (左寶貴) (1837–1894), Qing Muslim General from Shandong province, was martyred in Pingyang in Korea by Japanese cannonfire in 1894 while defending the city. A memorial to him was built.

Zhang Chengzhi (張承志), contemporary author and alleged creator of the term "Red Guards"

Zheng He (鄭和), a Semu Muslim, probably the most famous Muslim in Chinese history, would perhaps be considered a Hui if he lived today

Related group names

Dungan (in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan)

Panthay (in Burma)

Utsul (in Hainan Island; speakers of a Malayo-Polynesian language, but officially classified by the Chinese government as Hui)

See also

Hui pan-nationalism

Islam in China

Hui Minorities' War

Panthay Rebellion

Further reading

Islam in China, Hui and Uyghurs: between modernization and sinicization, the study of the Hui and Uyghurs of China, Jean A. Berlie, White Lotus Press editor, Bangkok, Thailand, published in 2004. ISBN 974-480-062-3, 9789744800626.

Footnotes

References

Dru C. Gladney, "Ethnic Identity in China: The Making of a Muslim Minority Nationality (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology)", 1997, ISBN 0-15-501970-8.

(1st edition appeared in 1991)

"CHINA'S ISLAMIC HERITAGE" China Heritage Newsletter (Australian National University), No. 5, March 2006.

External links

Britannica Hui People

Category:Muslim communities Category:Islam in China Category:Muslim communities of China

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	Jay Chou
Caption	Chou on the red carpet at the MTV Asia Aid, Bangkok, Thailand, 2005
Tradchinesename	周杰倫
Simpchinesename	周杰伦
Pinyinchinesename	Zhōu Jiélún
Origin	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Birth date	January 18, 1979
Birth place	Linkou, Taipei County, Taiwan
Othername	Director Chou (周董)
Occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, rapper, deejay, music video director, film director, music arranger, model, screenwriter, actor
Genre	Mandopop, Taiwanese pop, Chinese rock, R&B;, Hip pop
Instrument	Piano, violin, cello, guitar, drum, guzheng, bass guitar, keyboard, pipa, erhu, harmonica
Label	Sony Music Taiwan (2008–present)JVR Music (2007–present)Alfa Music (1999–2007)
Yearsactive	2000–present
Parents	Father: Zhou Yaozhong (周耀中)Mother: Ye Huimei (葉惠美)
Influenced	Nan Quan Mama
Religion	Buddhist
Website	Jay Chou@JVR Music
Hongkongfilmwards	Best New Performer2006 Initial DBest Original Film Song2007 "Chrysanthemum Terrace" (Curse of the Golden Flower)
Goldenhorseawards	Best Newcomer2005 Initial DOutstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year2007 SecretBest Original Song2007 "The Secret That Cannot Be Told" (Secret)
Mtvasiaawards	Favorite Artist, Taiwan2002, 2005
Goldenmelodyawards	Best Mandarin Album2001 Jay2002 Fantasy2004 Ye Hui MeiBest Music Video2009 "Mr. Magic" (Capricorn)Best Song of the Year2008 "Blue and White Porcelain" (On the Run)2009 "Fragrant Rice" (Capricorn)Best Composer2002 "Love Before A.D." (Fantasy)2008 "Blue and White Porcelain" (On the Run)Best Producer2002 Fantasy
Awards	World Music AwardsBest-Selling Chinese Artist2004, 2006, 2007, 2008Shanghai Film Critics Awards2007 Best Actor (Curse of the Golden Flower)

in Seoul, South Korea, on 10 January 2008.]] Jay Chou (; born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. He is well-known for composing all his own songs and songs for other singers. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for popular Mandarin singers. Although he was trained in classical music, Chou combines Chinese and Western music styles to produce songs that fuse R&B;, rock and pop genres, covering issues such as domestic violence, war, and urbanization.

In 2000, Chou released his first album, titled Jay, under the record company Alfa Music. Since then he has released one album per year except in 2009, selling several million copies each. His music has gained recognition throughout Asia, most notably in regions such as Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and in overseas Asian communities, winning more than 20 awards each year. He has sold more than 28 million albums worldwide up to 2010. He debuted his acting career in Initial D (2005), for which he won Best Newcomer Actor in both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). He produced the theme song for the film Ocean Heaven starring Jet Li. His career now extends into directing and running his own record company JVR Music.

Life and career

Jay Chou grew up in Linkou, Taipei County, Taiwan. Both his parents were secondary school teachers: his mother, Ye Hui Mei (), taught fine arts, while his father, Zhou Yao Zhong (), was a biomedical researcher. His mother noticed his sensitivity to music and took him to piano lessons at the age of three. Meanwhile, he found himself a job as a waiter. Without his knowing, his friend had entered both their names in a talent show called Super New Talent King. Chou played the piano accompaniment for his friend, whose singing was described as "lousy". Although they did not win, the show's host Jacky Wu—an influential character in Taiwan's entertainment business—happened to glance at Chou's music score and was impressed with its complexity. Wu hired him as a contract composer and paired him with the novice lyricist Vincent Fang. has been popularized to describe his trademark cross-cultural music and his insistence on singing with slurred enunciation. Taipei Times once described the meaning of "Chou Style": "In what has become the archetypal Chou style, Taiwan's favorite son blends pop, rap, blues and a smorgasbord of esthetic elements of world music to create his dream-like never-never land ..."

He regularly fuses traditional Chinese instruments and styles with R&B; or rock to form a new genre called "Zhongguo feng" (), which literally means "Chinese Style Music", some of which are written in the Pentatonic Scale as opposed to the more common seven-note scale (Diatonic Scale) to accentuate an oriental style. Besides his own culture, he also incorporated Spanish guitar in "Red Imitation" (), American techno/electronica in "Herbalist's Manual" (), rap with subtle classical music undertones in "Reverse Scales" (), and Bossanova style in "Rosemary" (), to name a few. Sound effects from everyday life are frequently woven into his music, such as bouncing ping pong balls, touch tone phone dialing, helicopter blades, dripping rain, and radio static noise (concrete music).

His formal musical training is evident by the use of classical textures in his compositions. For example, counterpoint was used in "Perfection" () and "Sorry" (), while polyphony can be found in "The Wound That Ends War" () and "Twilight's Chapter Seven" ().

Chou's albums have been noted for the lack of change compared to his earlier works, yet he firmly stated that he will not alter his style: "They say I've been standing still ... but this is the music I want, and I don't see what I want by moving ahead." which he also insisted will not change; however, recently he has adopted clearer pronunciation for certain songs, particularly more traditional Chinese style songs, such as "Faraway" () which features Fei Yu-ching and "Chrysanthemum Terrace" ().

Lyrics

Chou is more often a singer-composer than a lyricist. Several "regulars" write the lyrics for most of his music, but the content and style is unified with his own personality and image, covering a diverse range of topics and ideas. Vincent Fang accounts for more than half of the lyrics in his albums, helping to establish an important element in Chou's music: the use of meaningful, imagery- and emotionally-rich lyrics, sometimes written in the form of ancient Chinese poetry with reference to Chinese history or folklore. In addition to writing romantic hits, he also touches on war, the Bible, sports, and martial arts. Vivian Hsu is a singer herself and has helped with Chou's earlier hits, while Huang Jun Lang () is noted for his work surrounding unusual themes (such as a detective story and chess game).

Chou himself has written lyrics for many ballads, but has also discussed societal ills such as drug addiction in "Coward" () and loss of the rural countryside to urbanization in "Terrace fields" (). Domestic violence discussed in "Dad, I am back" () received a great deal of commotion since he was the first to bring up this taboo subject in Sanscript music, which helped solidify his status as a pioneer and a unique pop singer capable of approaching serious issues. In the songs "Maternal grandmother" () and "Listen to Mother" (), he voiced his high regard for family values. He addressed personal issues about his failure to enter university in "Split" (), his resentment towards the paparazzi in "Besieged From All Sides" (), and highlighted the importance of individuality in "Popular Imitation" (). "Rice Fragrance" (), a song from his 9th album Capricorn encourages people not to give up their dreams even when facing difficulties in life.

Collaborations

Chou began as a songwriter for other singers and continued this area of work even after he debuted his own career in singing. He has composed frequently for Jolin Tsai, Landy Wen, and occasionally for other Taiwanese singers such as Coco Lee, S.H.E, Vivian Hsu, Leehom Wang, Will Liu, Valen Hsu, and Hong Kong pop stars Edmond Leung, Gigi Leung, Jordan Chan, Edison Chen, Karen Mok, Leo Ku, Eason Chan, and Joey Yung, as well as a one-time collaboration with Howard Su. He has also written for singers outside of his generation—over one dozen songs for his mentor Jacky Wu, later also for Taiwanese singer Jody Chiang, and Hong Kong singers Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, and Kenny Bee.

He initiated the band Nan Quan Mama in 2004, selecting band members and overseeing their album production. The group has been noted for sounding too similar to their mentor; as a result, Chou has reduced his involvement in the band, but continues to help increase their exposure to mass audiences by inviting them as guests performers for his own concerts and music videos.

He has performed live duets with Landy Wen, and former girlfriend news anchor Patty Hou, but only two studio recordings of duets have been formally placed in his own albums: "Coral Sea" () in 2005 with Lara Veronin (of Nan Quan Mama) and "Faraway" () in 2006 features Fei Yu-Ching, who began his career in the 1970s. Besides working with singers, Chou's longest-running collaboration is with lyricist Vincent Fang, as they both started their careers in the music field in 1998. The compilation album Partners () featured 12 songs, each consisting of Chou's musical and Fang's lyrical compositions. Fang has written the words to more than 40 of Chou's songs, was the chief editor of Chou's book Grandeur de D Major (), and is now Chou's business partner (together with Chou's manager JR Yang) for the record company JVR Music. Jay Chou was also featured in Cindy Yen's (袁詠琳) song "Sand Painting" (畫沙) released in October 2009. Jay Chou collaborates with Kobe Bryant on "The Heaven and Earth Challenge"(天地一鬥) in order to "promote youth creativity, as well as an upcoming slam-dunk competition in China." The song was released at a press conference before the NBA All-Star Game on 20 February 2011.

World tours

Jay held his first series of five solo concerts, titled Fantasy Concert (范特西演唱會), with the first stop on 11 January 2001 at Taoyuan Arena, Taiwan. Followed by two shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum, one in Malaysia and ended in Singapore on 10 February 2002. His second concert tour, The One Concert (The One 演唱會) commenced on 28 September 2002 at Taipei Municipal Stadium, followed by 11 stops and ended at Shenzhen Stadium, China on 3 January 2004.

Two more series of world tours followed: Incomparable Concert (無與倫比演唱會) in 2004 and Jay Chou 2007 World Tours (2007世界巡迴演唱會), with stops in cities such as Taipei, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Las Vegas, Toronto and Vancouver. In 2010, to celebrate Jay's 10 year career in the entertainment industry, he embarked on his fifth series of concert tour titled, New Era World Tour (超時代演唱會), with the first stop of three concerts from 11 to 13 June 2010 at Taipei Arena, followed by 24 stops ending in Malaysia on 5 March 2011.

;World tours/Live (DVD) album releases

2001 – Fantasy Concert (范特西演唱會)

2002 – The One Concert (The One 演唱會) – Jay Chou The One Concert Live

2004 – Incomparable Concert (無與倫比演唱會) – Incomparable Jay Concert Live

2007 – Jay Chou World Tours (世界巡迴演唱會) – Jay Chou 2007 the World Tours Concert Live

2010 – New Era World Tour (超時代演唱會) – Jay Chou 2010 The Era World Tours Concert Live

Other works

Movie career

Chou formally entered the film industry in 2005 with the release of the movie Initial D (頭文字Ｄ). He has since acted in three other movies, directed one film and more than a dozen music videos. Chou, who once said "I live because of music", ventured into movies because he felt the need for a new challenge. As fans have grown concerned that movies will compromise his music career, Chou has repeatedly reassured that movies are a source of inspiration and not a distraction; at the same time, he realizes the need to balance both careers and maintain his place in the music field to garner the continued support of fans.

Acting

in January 2008]] Entry into acting was an unexpected move for Chou. In 2005, Chou's first role as the lead actor in Initial D served two purposes: to launch his acting debut, and to increase his exposure to Japanese audiences. This film is based on the Japanese comic Initial D, where Chou played Takumi Fujiwara, a gifted touge racer who is quiet and rarely shows expression. Some reviewers criticized his bland acting while others felt he performed naturally, but only because the character’s personality closely mirrored his own. His performance in Initial D won him Best Newcomer Actor in Golden Horse Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards. Chou’s second film was Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). As a supporting character, he drew much of the attention of Chinese reporters; Chou’s involvement in this movie was announced in its own press conference, separate from the meeting held for Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li, and the other actors. Chou portrayed Prince Jai, the ambitious second eldest prince and general of the Imperial army whose personality epitomizes Xiao (孝), the Chinese virtue of filial piety. In this internationally-released film, North American audiences saw Chou for the first time. According to Chinese movie critics, comments about his acting ranged from "lacks complexity" to "acceptable," but was critically praised by Western reviewers. His performance in Curse of the Golden Flower was nominated Best Supporting Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards. In the 2008 film Kung Fu Dunk, Chou portrayed a kung fu student and dunking prodigy, and the film earned over ¥100 million (US$14.7 million). Chou portrayed Kato in The Green Hornet, directed by Michel Gondry and released in January 2011, after Hong Kong actor Stephen Chow withdrew from the project, the film grossed over $228 million worldwide. MTV Networks' NextMovie.com named him one of the 'Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011'.

Directing

featuring Chou as a director for the first time.]] Chou's acquired his first directing experience in 2004 through music videos. He initially experimented with a song by the group Nan Quan Mama titled "Home" () where he was involved throughout the entire process from research to editing. After learning the difficulties of being a director, he refused to direct again even at the request of his record company. However, his interest resurfaced again as he directed music videos for 4 of the 12 songs in own album November's Chopin in 2005, and later television advertisements. By 2006, he had taken responsibility for the storyboard, directing, and editing of music videos for all his songs.

In February 2007, Chou finally directed his first movie Secret. The story he wrote is based loosely on his relationship with a high school girlfriend, with a plot focused on music, love, and family. He stars as the lead actor of the film with Kwai Lun-Mei‎ as the female lead, and Hong Kong veteran actor Anthony Wong as Chou’s father. Despite previous experience in filming music videos, Chou admits that movies are more challenging due to storyline and time constraints.

In 2005, Jay Chou played the male lead in Initial D, but according to reports, he will be back to direct the sequel, while Andrew Lau, who was a co-director of the first Initial D, will take on the role of the producer.

Book: Grandeur de D Major

Chou published his first book titled Grandeur de D Major () on November 25, 2004. This 200-page book features a prologue written by his family, friends, and co-workers; the main section is a compilation of his personal attitudes, philosophies, and recollections of childhood experiences along with pictures from his music videos, many of which have never been released; and lastly, a list of the artist's major awards, musical and lyrical compositions, and discography. For the usually low-profile singer, this book revealed his personality and convictions that has served as the basis of his musical and public image. He demonstrated a strong appreciation of family values with an especially deep connection with his mother and maternal grandmother. His confidence and dedication towards music is evident as he dedicated 2 out of 7 chapters to music: the current state of the industry, his composition methodology, and the importance of individualism to his success in music. This pride is contrasted against his modesty and self-assessed naivety about many aspects in life, particularly regarding relationships and marriage.

Endorsements

Chou has been a spokesperson for popular brands such as Pepsi (2002–2007), Panasonic (2001–2005), Motorola (since 2006), M-Zone/China Mobile (since 2003), Levi's (2004–2005), Deerhui (sporting goods, since 2003), and Metersbonwe Group (casual wear, since 2003), Colgate (2004–2005), popular computer game (2002), science and nature magazine National Geographic (2005). To maximize the celebrity branding effect, advertisements are nearly always linked to his music and TV commercials are occasionally directed by him. Recently, Jay is promoting Sprite with Angela Chang. In the commercial, he can be seen performing magic tricks. He also did a Sprite commercial with Kobe Bryant.

Accolades

From the launch of his music career in 2000, Jay Chou has won more than 350 singer, singer-songwriter, and producer awards in Asia. The highly coveted Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan awarded "Best Album" for his debut CD Jay (2000) in 2001, and five awards (including "Best Album", "Best Composer", and "Best Producer") in the following year for the album Fantasy (2001). However, failure to win "Best Album" for three consecutive years has left him disheartened with award ceremonies. Although he continues to win more than 20 awards per year from various organizations in Asia, Chou has stated he will rely more on album sales as an indicator of his music's quality and popularity. In 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, he was awarded Best-Selling Artist in China by World Music Awards for the albums Common Jasmin Orange, Still Fantasy and ''On the Run.

Media and public relations

Public image

40th anniversary tour in Seattle, 2011]] Despite living under continual media scrutiny, Chou's public image has changed little over the years as he emphasizes individuality as his "personal philosophy". In his music, this is also evident as he fuses Chinese and Western styles and explores topics unconventional for a pop singer, which have been described as "authentic" and "revolutionary". The media describes a hard-working perfectionist who is occasionally regarded as competitive and a "control freak". but also points at his musical talent. modest, and views filial piety as "the most important thing". In-line with his aim to present a positive image, he is a non-smoker, non-drinker, and does not go to nightclubs. Government officials and educators in Asia have awarded him for his exemplary behaviour, designated him a spokesperson in the youth-empowerment project "Young Voice" in 2005 and an anti-depression campaign in 2007, His lyrics for two songs has been incorporated into the school syllabus to inspire motivational and filial attitudes. In November 2007, Chou was criticized for attending the funeral of Taiwanese gang leader Chen Chi-li to console Chen's son Baron Chen, whom Chou met while filming Kung Fu Dunk.. In 2011 Chou performed on the New Year's Gala program on China's Central Television.

Response to the news media and paparazzi

As with other stars, Chou has expressed a strong dislike of the paparazzi. In the early years of his career, unwanted attention by the media was usually dealt with by avoidance. In-line with his quiet nature, he frequently wore baseball caps and hoods while lowering his head and evading eye contact during interviews. He openly calls the paparazzi "dogs" and tabloids "dog magazines", as shown in his lyrics for "Besieged From All Sides" (). The media have also accused Chou of evading compulsory military service by feigning to suffer from ankylosing spondylitis. Later that year he was acquitted after providing the relevant medical records and letters from the army confirming a lawful exemption from draft dated before the start of his music career.

Despite constant harassment and stalking by the media, he does acknowledge that not all media attention is unwelcome. Coverage by international journals and news agencies such as Time, and Reuters At the end of 2009, he was included on JWT's annual list of 100 Things to Watch in 2010.

Fanbase

It is difficult to estimate the size and global spread of Chou's fanbase. Jay's fanbase originated and grew extensively in China. The Chinese-speaking populations of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Mainland China make up a significant percentage of Chou's fans. Despite rampant piracy issues in this region of Asia, particularly in China, every album Chou has released so far has surpassed 2 million sales. According to Baidu, the most popular internet search engine in China, Chou is the number one searched male artist in 2002, 05, 06 and 07.

In Hong Kong, he has been the best-selling Mandarin artist for the past 4 years. According to a 2004 survey in five Chinese urban centers for children ages 9 to 14, 1 in 6 named Chou as their favorite idol; he was also reported as the favorite singer of youths aged 8 to 25 in a study conducted in seven Asian countries (2006). He has a solid fanbase throughout Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Currently, Chou remains largely unknown outside of Asia, except in cities with large Chinese immigrant populations such as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. He has held concerts in major venues such as the Acer Arena (Sydney – 3 July 2009), HP Pavilion at San Jose (San Jose – 31 December 2010), Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (Los Angeles – 8 January 2011), MGM Grand (Las Vegas—25 December 2002), Rogers Arena (Vancouver – 23 December 2010), Galen Center (Los Angeles—24 December 2007) and the Air Canada Centre (Toronto – 18 December 2008). His intention to increase his prominence in the Western world beyond Chinese audiences is clear. In 2006, Chou composed and sang the theme song for Fearless, a movie released in major theatres in most English-speaking countries, though the impact to his fame has been minimal. His role in Curse of the Golden Flower (limited release) marks his acting debut in North America. Despite having a supporting but important role in the story's plot, the North American version of the official posters only featured a view of his back, greatly contrasting the Asian versions where his face and name were clear and placed between the leading actor and actress. Although Chou is still far from being well-known to English audiences, this movie has brought him international exposure. Chou gained further exposure to western audiences in his starring role as crimefighter Kato in January 2011's The Green Hornet.

Chou has won the Favorite Male Artist of the 20th Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. He did not attend the event to collect the award because he was on tour in China at the time.

Filmography

Films

Television series

Notes

a. Examples of Chou's Chinese style R&B;: "East Wind Breaks" (東風破), "Hair Like Snow" (髮如雪), "Faraway" (千里之外). Examples of Chinese style rock: "Nunchucks" (雙截棍), "Dragon Fist" (龍拳), "Golden Armor" (黃金甲). b. Examples of sound effects used in Chou's music: ping pong balls in "Class2 Grade3" (三年二班), touch-tone phone dialing in "Blue Storm" (藍色風暴), helicopter blades in "My Territory" (我的地盤), dripping rain in "You Can Hear" (妳聽得到), and radio static noise in "Nocturne" (夜曲). c. Examples of Oriental-style lyrics by Vincent Fang: "Shanghai 1943" (上海一九四三), "Wife" (娘子), and "Chrysanthemum Flower Platform" (菊花台). d. Examples of romantic lyrics by Vincent Fang: "Love Before Anno Domini" (愛在西元前), "Nocturne" (夜曲), "Common Jasmin Orange" (七里香), and "Perfectionist" (完美主義) . e. Vincent Fang's lyrics discuss war in "The Last Campaign" (最後的戰役) and "Wounds That End War" (止戰之殤), the Bible in "Blue Storm" (藍色風暴), sports in "Bullfight" (鬥牛) and "Class2 Grade3" (三年二班), and martial arts in "Nunchucks" (雙截棍) and "Ninja" (忍者). f. Examples of Vivian Hsu's work: "Adorable Woman" (可愛女人), "Tornado" (龍捲風), and "Simple Love" (簡單愛). g. Unusual themes of Huan Jun Lang's lyrics: detective story in "Twilight's Chapter Seven" (夜的第七章), a chess game in "Checkmate" (將軍). h. Examples of romantic lyrics by Jay Chou: "Black Humor" (黑色幽默), "Silence" (安靜), "Iron Box Of An Island" (半島鐵盒), "Fine Day" (晴天), "Excuse" (藉口), "Black Sweater" (黑色毛衣), and "White Windmills" (白色風車). i. "Snail" (蝸牛) and "Listen To Mother's Words" (聽媽媽的話) j. Golden Melody Awards: "…the Chinese pop music industry's equivalent of the Grammy Awards in the US are held annually to award professionals making music in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka and any of Taiwan's Aboriginal languages." k. A similar book was published in Japanese, titled Grandeur de D major—Jay Chou Photo Essay (ISBN 4-901873-50-4).

References

External links

Jay Chou@JVR Music Jay Chou International Fan Club

Category:1979 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Best New Performer HKFA Category:Living people Category:People from New Taipei Category:Taiwanese film actors Category:Taiwanese film directors Category:Taiwanese male singers Category:Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriters Category:World Music Awards winners

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Playername	Zheng Jie
Caption	Zheng at the 2010 US Open
Nickname	Little Jie
Country
Residence	Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Birth date	July 05, 1983
Birth place	Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	16 January 2003
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	US$3,853,936
Singlesrecord	300–191
Singlestitles	3 WTA, 4 ITF
Highestsinglesranking	No. 15 (18 May 2009)
Currentsinglesranking	No. 80 (23 May 2011)
Australianopenresult	SF (2010)
Frenchopenresult	4R (2004)
Wimbledonresult	SF (2008)
Usopenresult	3R (2008, 2009)
Doublesrecord	336–147
Doublestitles	14 WTA, 16 ITF
Highestdoublesranking	No. 3 (10 July 2006)
Currentdoublesranking	No. 15 (23 May 2011)
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	W (2006)
Frenchopendoublesresult	SF (2006)
Wimbledondoublesresult	W (2006)
Usopendoublesresult	SF (2010)
Updated	January 10, 2011

Zheng Jie (, ; born 5 July 1983 in Chengdu, Sichuan) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on May 18, 2009. As of May 23, 2011, Zheng is ranked World No. 80 in singles and World No. 15 in doubles.

Being one of the most successful tennis players from China, Zheng has won three WTA singles titles at Hobart in 2005 and Estoril and Stockholm in 2006. She has also won twelve doubles titles, eleven of them with Yan Zi including Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006. Her career high doubles ranking is World No. 3. Zheng has reached the singles semi-finals at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, along with Li Na becoming the first Chinese female players to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam, and at the 2010 Australian Open. She also won the bronze medal in doubles with Yan Zi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was able to defeat a World No. 1 at the time (Ana Ivanović at Wimbledon in 2008).

Personal life

Zheng graduated from the Sichuan Sports Academy in June 2000.

At Wimbledon in 2008, she gained recognition when she became the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, defeating then World No. 1 Ana Ivanović en route. She donated her winnings to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in her native province.

Zheng was coached by Jiang Hong Wei, China's national women's tennis team head coach, but she is now coached by her husband Zhang Yu, who is also her hitting partner. They became close during the period after her severe ankle injury. Zhang Yu was there for her during this time, taking cared of the injured Zheng. Zheng is a Rolex testimonee together with Roger Federer and Ana Ivanović, and on the advisory staff of Yonex and uses their rackets. She wears clothing by Anta and appears in their advertising campaigns.

Zheng started playing tennis when she was 10, after she saw her older sister play and thought it would be good exercise to keep her in shape.

Back then, there were no grass courts in China, only hard. Thus, her success at Wimbledon surprised even herself at first. Quickly though, it became a surface that she liked, for her small frame is perfect for the fast balls on grass courts.

Nearly a year after the Sichuan earthquake that shook her home province, she visited there and brought with her tennis balls and rackets to distribute to the children there.

Zheng Jie keeps in a small vial pieces of her ankle bone that were removed during the ankle surgery of 2007. She says she keeps it because it is a part of her, and that it makes her cherish being able to play tennis again and life in general. She says that although it made her world ranking plunge, it also made her grow up a lot.

In 2009, Zheng Jie broke off from the Chinese Tennis Association, for under its jurisdiction she had to give back 65 percent of her earnings. However, Zheng talked about how it protected her in times of injury and when she was not playing well, for the CTA would back her completely and give her medical support. Now she manages her own money, which puts her at risk but also means that success will be more profitable.

Playing style

Zheng's game is characterized by consistency and intellect. She is not the strongest player, but makes up for this with her careful thinking about where to place her shots and willingness to change game plans if a strategy is not working. Her shots are very well placed and can be quite deep in the court, making Zheng an excellent defensive counterpuncher. Zheng has good foot speed which allows her to keep points in play that normally would be winners; so few shots get by her that some admiring journalists have begun calling her "the Great Wall of China." Having played many years in doubles, Zheng is also a comfortable net player. Zheng has powerful ground strokes that are often deep enough to push opponents off the baseline. Zheng's best shot is her backhand. Zheng's main weakness is her serve; however she is sometimes able to neutralize her weak serve with her quickness or by serving to the body or to the opponent's weaker groundstroke.

Singles career

2002

In May 2002, she won two successive $25,000 ITF singles tournaments, at Shanghai and Tianjin, right after reaching her first $50,000 tournament quarterfinal, at Fukuoka, Japan. That September, she gained direct entry into a WTA tournament at Shanghai, and reached Round Two before losing to Anna Kournikova.

2003

In 2003, she qualified for Hyderabad and took a love set against Mary Pierce in the main draw first round, only to lose the match in three sets. She also qualified for Doha, but then lost to Lina Krasnoroutskaya.

Later in the year, she defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round of a $25,000 ITF tournament, Alona Bondarenko in the first round of qualifying for Palermo, and Maria Elena Camerin at another $50,000 ITF event in July, where she reached the quarterfinal; but it was in August at Bronx that she won her first $50,000 tournament, beating Shenay Perry, Jamea Jackson, Akiko Morigami, Adriana Serra Zanetti and (in the final) Maria Kirilenko to this end. and the second round at Miami and Vienna (where she beat Lisa Raymond). She was the first Chinese women to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam. In September, she won a $25,000 ITF tournament at Beijing, defeating Yan Zi in the semifinal and Li Na in the final.

She qualified for Dubai with wins over Sandra Kleinová, Maria-Elena Camerin and Virginia Ruano-Pascual, and went on to defeat Anabel Medina Garrigues in the main draw before succumbing to Lindsay Davenport.

Zheng's new found confidence earned a title at her next tournament in Estoril, where she defeated top-seeded Flavia Pennetta en route to the final

However, in December, Zheng took part in the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. After a surprising first round loss in the team event, she went into the singles competition as the second seed. She ended up winning the gold medal, with victories over Shikha Uberoi, Chan Yung-jan, Aiko Nakamura and Sania Mirza. She also took gold in doubles with partner Yan Zi, defeating Yung Jan Chan and Chuang Chia-jung of Chinese Taipei. To end 2006, Zheng won the Chinese National Championships, with a three set victory over her doubles partner in the final.

2007

2007 started well for Zheng, where she reached a second Hobart quarterfinal before losing to eventual champion Anna Chakvetadze. In doubles, her title defense with Yan Zi ended in the semifinals with a defeat to Yung Jan Chan and Chia Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei – the same partnership which they managed to defeat in the final of the Doha Asian Games just 1 month previously.

Zheng competed in the both the singles and doubles (with Yan Zi) of the French Open. At the beginning of the tournament, she sustained an ankle injury, hampering her performance. She was knocked out in the first round of the singles competition by Timea Bacsinszky, and also lost in the first round in the doubles portion. In doubles, she and Zi Yan reached the final, only to lose to the third seeds, Safina and Szávay. However, in Sydney, the duo won the title, beating second seeds Sugiyama and Srebotnik and reigning US Open champions Dechy and Safina along the way. At the Australian Open, the duo made it to the seminfinals, beating the Williams sisters along the way, before losing to the 12th seeds Peer and Azarenka.

Zheng qualified for the main draw of the French Open, and then reached the third round before losing to Russia's Dinara Safina. Zheng then beat Ágnes Szávay of Hungary, the 15th seed, in the fourth round, and 18th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. This made Zheng the first Chinese women's tennis player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. She also became the first wild card to reach the semifinals of the women's singles at Wimbledon. In the semifinals, Zheng lost to two-time Wimbledon champion and former World No. 1 Serena Williams. Zheng's strong Wimbledon performance elevated her ranking from World No. 133 to World No. 40.

She donated her prize money from the tournament and spent time helping the victims and post-reconstruction effort of the 12 May earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people and left 5 to 10 million homeless in her home province Sichuan. She did the same with her French Open prize money earlier in the year.

In August 2008, Zheng competed for China in both singles and doubles at the Beijing Olympics. In the singles portion, Zheng made it to the third round before losing to sixth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia, who eventually won the singles silver medal. Zheng had better results in doubles with her partner Yan Zi, where they were seeded eighth. After losing in the semifinals to the fourth-seeded Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual for a spot in the gold medal final, they won the bronze medal match against the Ukrainian sisters team of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko. This was the second Olympics tennis medal ever won by China.

After the Olympics, Zheng entered the US Open. She advanced to the third round before losing a tight match to second-seeded Jelena Janković of Serbia.

Zheng was seeded third in the Tier III Guangzhou International Open held in September and made it to the semifinals before losing to top-seeded Vera Zvonareva.

Ranked World No. 30, Zheng returned in September to Beijing for the China Open Tier II tournament. She advanced to the semifinals before losing to World No. 7 and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. Based on her strong China Open performance, Zheng became Asia's highest ranked women's singles player at World No. 26, her highest to-date career WTA singles ranking. She later reached World No. 23 on 20 October 2008.

In March 2009, Zheng was awarded the WTA Tour "Comeback of the Year" Award for 2008, as she rebounded from an injury-marred 2007.

2009

In January at the Australian Open, Zheng was seeded 22nd in women's singles. She advanced to the Round of 16 and faced 8th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. Zheng trailed 1–4 in the opening set, but was forced to retire with a left wrist injury after hitting the court while reaching for a ball. This was the furthest that Zheng progressed at women's singles at this tournament in her career. In the doubles portion of the tournament, she and her partner Yan Zi were eliminated in the third round, by Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez.

Zheng returned to action at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, and made it to the third round before losing to World No. 1 Serena Williams. She and her partner, Yan Zi, lost in the first round in doubles to the Bondarenko sisters.

Seeded 4th at the 2009 Monterrey Open, she made it to the semifinals before losing to #2 seed Marion Bartoli. After this result, she rose up to world no. 17, her highest so far on the tour.

Zheng was seeded 17th at the Sony Ericsson Open. She advanced to the Round of 16 before losing to Serena Williams in three sets. Zheng's strong performance helped her to reach world No. 16, the highest ranking ever by a Chinese tennis player (Li Na had also reached world No. 16 in 2007).

At the Rome Masters, Zheng lost to World No. 1 Dinara Safina in three sets.

At the Madrid Masters, Zheng fell to Amélie Mauresmo in the second round. Despite the loss, on May 18, Zheng became the highest-ranked Chinese player in history, at No. 15.

At the 2009 French Open, Zheng (seeded 15th) progressed to the second round before losing Michelle Larcher de Brito in straight sets.

At the 2009 AEGON Classic at Birmingham, the first tournament on grass, Zheng was the top seed but lost to the eventual champion Magdaléna Rybáriková in the third round. Next at the 2009 AEGON International. Zheng advanced to the second round before losing to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.

.]] Seeded 16th at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Zheng was upset in the second round by Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets. As she was a semifinalist the previous year, Zheng's ranking fell out of the top twenty to World No. 24.

Zheng's next tournament was the LA Women's Tennis Championships as part of her US Open Series campaign. She advanced to the 4th round before losing to 13th seeded Samantha Stosur in three sets.

At the Toronto, Zheng advanced to the third round before losing to Lucie Šafářová.

At the 2009 US Open, Zheng, who was seeded 21, advanced to the third round before losing in straight sets to the number 13 seed, Nadia Petrova 6–4, 6–1.

Zheng ended the year with a 28–22 singles record and she finished the year ranked World No. 36.

2010

Zheng began her tour season at the Moorilla Hobart International, where she made it to the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual tournament champion Alona Bondarenko.

Zheng was unseeded at the 2010 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. After three set wins over Peng Shaui, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Marion Bartoli, as well as a straights sets fourth round win over Alona Bondarenko, Zheng made Australian open history by becoming the first Chinese player to reach an Australian Open semifinal when she took out unseeded Maria Kirilenko in the quarter-finals. In the semi-final match, she lost to former World No.1 and 2004 champion Justine Henin.

Zheng next competed at the Dubai Tennis Championships as the sixteenth seed, but was upset in the first round by Alicia Molik in three sets. Next competing at the first-ever Malaysian Open, Zheng reached the second round as the third seed, where she was defeated by Chang Kai-Chen. However, Zheng won the doubles title at the event with Yung-jan Chan, defeating Anastasia and Arina Rodionova in a championship tie-break.

Zheng next competed at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, where she was seeded eighteenth. She advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to #2 seed Caroline Wozniacki. In doubles, Zheng and Chan reached the semifinals of the tournament.

Zheng next competed at the Sony Ericsson Championships, but lost in her second-round match with Virgine Razzano. She and doubles partner Chan Yung-jan reached the semi-finals.

Zheng was seeded fifth at the 2010 Polsat Warsaw Open, where she reached the finals of the singles before losing to the defending champion, Alexandra Dulgheru. She also advanced to the semi-finals of the doubles portion of the tournament.

Zheng was seeded 26th at the 2010 French Open and reached the second round before losing to Anastasia Pivovarova.

Zheng began her grass court season at the 2010 AEGON International, where she was unseeded. She advanced to the second round before losing to British wildcard Elena Baltacha.

At Wimbledon, Zheng was the 23rd seed, but lost in the second round to Petra Kvitová, who herself made it to the semifinals.

Zheng was unseeded at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, where she was defeated by Maria Sharapova in the first round. In doubles, she reached the final where she lost a close three set match to Leizel Huber and Lindsay Davenport. At her next tournament in San Diego, Zheng reached the second round before losing to Daniela Hantuchová. In consolation, Zheng partnered with Maria Kirilenko to win her second doubles title of the year by defeating second seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs in the final.

Her next singles tournament was the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, where Zheng lost to the eleventh-seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round. In doubles, Jie teamed with Yung-jan Chan and made it to the quarterfinals. Next playing at the 2010 Rogers Cup, Zheng reached the quarterfinals before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets.

Zheng next competed at the 2010 US Open in singles and doubles. In singles, Zheng was the 21st seed, however she was upset in the second round by a resurgent Ana Ivanović. In doubles, she and Yung-jan Chan reached the semifinals before losing to Nadia Petrova and Liezel Huber. Following the tournament Zheng withdrew from all scheduled tournaments citing a wrist injury, which kept her off of the tour until February 2011.

2011

Zheng was scheduled to compete at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic exhibition tournament in Team Asia-Pacific alongside Li Na and Mark Philippoussis, as well as competing as the third seed at the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International. Zheng hadn't rehabilitated from her wrist injury sufficiently, and withdrew from both tournaments, as well as the Australian Open, where she was a semi-finalist in 2010.

Jie made a return to the tour at the 2011 PTT Pattaya Open in Thailand. She was seeded seventh but was defeated by Akgul Amanmuradova in the first round 6–4, 7–6(6).

Zheng next competed at the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships. In the first round, Zheng defeated Kristina Barrois 6–3, 2–6, 6–4. In the second, she was defeated by Patty Schnyder, 1–6, 6–0, 6–2. At the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open, Zheng was trounced by Flavia Pennetta 6–2, 6–2. Zheng next played at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she was a quarter-finalist in 2010. Zheng continued her string of losses, falling 6–3, 6–2 to Sofia Arvidsson.

At the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, Zheng won a tough three-setter over Sorana Cirstea, 6–3, 6–7, 6–3. Zheng lost to her next opponent, the fourth seed and World #4 Samantha Stosur, 6–2, 6–1. Her next event was the 2011 Family Circle Cup in Charleston. In the first round, Zheng defeated qualifier Monica Puig 3–6, 7–6(10),7–5 in a match lasting over three hours. In the next round she faced seeded Yanina Wickmayer for the first time, losing 6–4 6–0.

Zheng will compete at the 2011 Estoril Open as the seventh seed. Her first-round opponent was Italian Romina Oprandi, who won the match 6–4, 6–2.

After successive defeats, she played in Qualifications for the first time since 2008 in the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, as the second seed. She lost in the second round of qualifying to Anastasia Rodionova 6–3, 2–6, 5–7. She was one of the lucky losers. However, she lost to the wildcard Alberta Britani of Italy 4–6,5–7. Next playing in Brussels, Zheng lost to Ayumi Morita in the first round in three sets; after losing her points from reaching the finals of Warsaw, a Premier tournament no longer on the WTA Tour, Zheng dropped from No. 47 to world No. 80, her lowest ranking since 2008.

Zheng next played at the 2011 Roland Garros, turning her fortunes around by defeating Sandra Zahlavova in the first round 6–4, 6–3, successfully defending her second round points from the previous year. In the second round Zheng lost to ninth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Zheng partnered Peng Shuai in doubles, losing in the second round.

Doubles career

The highlights of her doubles career to date have been her two Grand Slam tournament victories in 2006, detailed below:

Australian Open 2006

Wimbledon 2006

At Wimbledon, Zheng and Max Mirnyi, seeded two, reached the semifinals of the Mixed Doubles, where they were beaten by Bob Bryan and Venus Williams (who were unseeded), 7–5, 7–5. She triumphed in women's doubles with Yan Zi over Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, capturing China's first Wimbledon title. With her win, she became the first Chinese tennis player to amass over $1 million in career earnings. Their route to the final was so:

Career finals

WTA Tour singles finals (5)

{| class="sortable wikitable" style="font-size:97%;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" |width=75|Outcome |width=25|No. |width=115|Date |width=225|Tournament |width=220|Location |width=75|Surface |width=200|Opponent in Final |width=125|Score in Final |- bgcolor="#66CCFF" | bgcolor="98FB98"|Winner | 1. | 14 January 2005 | Moorilla Hobart International | Hobart, Australia | Hard | Gisela Dulko | 6–2, 6–0 |- bgcolor="#66CCFF" | bgcolor="FFA07A"|Runner-up | 2. | 2 May 2005 | GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem | Rabat, Morocco | Clay | Nuria Llagostera Vives | 6–4, 6–2 |-bgcolor="#66CCFF" | bgcolor="98FB98"|Winner | 3. | 7 May 2006 | Estoril Open | Estoril, Portugal | Clay | Li Na | 6–7(5), 7–5, retired |- bgcolor="#66CCFF" | bgcolor="98FB98"|Winner | 4. | 13 August 2006 | Nordea Nordic Light Open | Stockholm, Sweden | Hard | Anastasia Myskina | 6–4, 6–1 |- bgcolor="#BF94E4" | bgcolor="FFA07A"|Runner-up | 5. | 22 May 2010 | Polsat Warsaw Open | Warsaw, Poland | Clay | Alexandra Dulgheru | 6–3, 6–4 |}

Doubles wins (14)

{| class="sortable wikitable" |- |width=50|No. |width=125|Date |width=250|Tournament |width=75|Surface |width=200|Partner |width=275|Opponent in the final |width=125|Score in the final |- bgcolor="#66CCFF" | 1. | 14 January 2005 | Hobart, Australia | Hard | Yan Zi | Anabel Medina Garrigues Dinara Safina | 6–4, 7–5 |- bgcolor="#66CCFF" | 2. | 12 February 2005 | Hyderabad, India | Hard | Yan Zi | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 6–4 6–1 |- bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 3. | 28 January 2006 | Australian Open, Australia | Hard | Yan Zi | Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur | 2–6 7–6(7) 6–3 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4. | 14 May 2006 | Berlin, Germany | Clay | Yan Zi | Elena Dementieva Flavia Pennetta | 6–2 6–3 |- bgcolor="#66CCFF" | 5. | 21 May 2006 | Rabat, Morocco | Clay | Yan Zi | Ashley Harkleroad Bethanie Mattek | 6–1 6–3 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" | 6. | 24 June 2006 | s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Grass | Yan Zi | Ana Ivanović Maria Kirilenko | 3–6 6–2 6–2 |- bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 7. | 8 July 2006 | Wimbledon, Great Britain | Grass | Yan Zi | Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez | 6–3 3–6 6–2 |- bgcolor="#ccccff" | 8. | 26 August 2006 | New Haven, United States | Hard | Yan Zi | Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur | 6–4 6–2 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 9. | 15 April 2007 | Charleston, United States | Clay | Yan Zi | Peng Shuai Sun Tiantian | 7–5 6–0 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" | 10. | 26 May 2007 | Strasbourg, France | Clay | Yan Zi | Alicia Molik Sun Tiantian | 6–3 6–4 |- bgcolor="#ccccff" | 11. | 11 January 2008 | Sydney, Australia | Hard | Yan Zi | Tatiana Perebiynis Tatiana Poutchek | 6–4 7–6(5) |- bgcolor="#50C878" | 12. | 28 February 2010 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Hard | Chan Yung-jan | Anastasia Rodionova Arina Rodionova | 6–7(4) 6–2 10–7 |-bgcolor="#BF94E4" | 13. | 8 August 2010 | San Diego, USA | Hard | Maria Kirilenko | Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs | 6–4 6–4 |-bgcolor="#c0d077" | 14. | 15 May 2011 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Peng Shuai | Vania King Yaroslava Shvedova | 6–2 6–3 |}

ITF titles (20)

Singles (4)

2004 : ITF/Beijing 3

2003 : ITF/Bronx

2002 : ITF/Shanghai, ITF/Tianjin 1

Doubles (16)

2005 : ITF/Beijing 1

2004 : ITF/Shenzhen 1

2003 : ITF/Redding, ITF/Gorizia, ITF/Orbetello, ITF/Sedona, ITF/Paducah

2002 : ITF/Hull (w/Sun), ITF/Tipton, ITF/Ho Chi Minh City, ITF/Cagliari, ITF/Taranto, ITF/Maglie, ITF/Shanghai, ITF/Tianjin 1

2001 : ITF/Hohhot

Performance timelines

Singles performance timeline

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%" |- |align=center colspan=4|NM5 || means an event that is neither a Premier Mandatory nor a Premier 5 tournament. |} To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2010 Australian Open.

Women's doubles performance timeline

^YZ = with Yan Zi ^YJ = with Chan Yung-jan

Mixed doubles performance timeline

^DN = with Daniel Nestor ^MB = with Mahesh Bhupathi ^MM = with Max Mirnyi

Key

xR = lost in x round

SF = semifinalist

QF = quarterfinalist

F = finalist

W = won

– = did not play

NH = not held

Qx = lost in round x of qualifying

See also

Chinese tennis players

Tennis in China

References

External links

Zheng Jie's blog

China's Aspiring Aces article from Time Magazine

Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Chinese female tennis players Category:Olympic bronze medalists for China Category:Olympic tennis players of China Category:People from Chengdu Category:Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Wimbledon champions Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Olympic medalists in tennis

China () is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity.

With nearly 4,000 years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. Prior to the 19th century, it possessed one of the most advanced societies and economies in the world; but through successive dynasties it then missed the Industrial Revolution in Europe and began to decline. In the 19th and 20th century, imperialism, internal weakness and civil wars damaged the country and its economy, and led to the overthrow of imperial rule.

In 1949, after major combat ended in the Chinese Civil War, two states calling themselves "China" emerged: The People's Republic of China (PRC), established in 1949, commonly known as China, has control over mainland China and the largely self-governing territories of Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999). The Republic of China (ROC) established in 1912 in mainland China, now commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, the Pratas island group, and a few other outlying islands.

In the 1950s, change to economic policies in Taiwan transformed the island into a technology-oriented industrialized developed economy after a period of high growth rates and rapid industrialization. In mainland China, in the 1970s, reforms known as the Four Modernizations improved agriculture, industry, technology and defense, raising living standards and making the PRC one of the great powers. By 2011 challenges included the growing divide between rich and poor, environmental degradation, and rampant corruption.

Historically, the cultural sphere of China has extended across East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Through its history, China was the source of many major inventions. It has also one of the world's oldest written language systems. The first evidence of human presence in the region was found at the Zhoukoudian cave. It is one of the earliest known specimens of Homo erectus, now commonly known as the Peking Man, estimated to have lived from 300,000 to 780,000 years ago.

Etymology

(top) and simplified (bottom) characters for "China" in Chinese. The first character means "middle" or "center", and the second character means "country" or "state."]]

English names

The word "China" is derived from Cin (چین), a Persian name for China popularized in Europe by Marco Polo. The first recorded use in English dates from 1555. In early usage, "china" as a term for porcelain was spelled differently from the name of the country, the two words being derived from separate Persian words. Both these words are derived from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन),

There are various scholarly theories regarding the origin of this word. The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini, is that "China" is derived from "Qin" (秦, pronounced chin), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty, or from the succeeding Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BC). In the Hindu scriptures Mahābhārata (5th century BC) and Manusmṛti (Laws of Manu) (2nd century BC), the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन) is used to refer to a country located in the Tibeto-Burman borderlands east of India. Another theory is that this word is derived from Yelang, an ancient kingdom in what is now Guizhou whose inhabitants referred to themselves as 'Zina'.

Chinese names

The official name of China changed with each dynasty or with each new government, the imperial governments referred to themselves as the Empire of the Great Qing, Empire of the Great Ming, etc. However, the common name remained as Zhōngguó (, ) through dynastic changes. This translates traditionally as "the central Kingdom", or as "the middle country".

The name Zhōngguó first appeared in the Classic of History (6th century BC), and was used to refer to the late Zhou Dynasty, as they believed that they were the "center of civilization," while peoples in the four cardinals were called Eastern Yi, Southern Man, Western Rong and Northern Di respectively. Some texts imply that "Zhōngguó" was originally meant to refer to the capital of the sovereign, to differ from the capital of his vassals. The use of "Zhōngguó" implied a claim of political legitimacy, and "Zhōngguó" was often used by states who saw themselves as the sole legitimate successor to previous Chinese dynasties; for example, in the era of the Southern Song Dynasty, both the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song state claimed to be "Zhōngguó."

Zhōngguó was used as a common name for the Republic of China (Zhonghua Minguo) after its establishment in 1912. After the Communists took over control of mainland China in 1949, they established the People's Republic of China (PRC). After the ROC's loss of the UN "China" seat in 1971, the PRC gained the ability to be the "representative" of "China" under the One-China policy and as a result is now commonly known as "China" or "Zhōngguó" in Chinese. The Republic of China nowadays is commonly known as "Taiwan".

History

Ancient China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing,

Prehistory

Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest hominids in China date from 250,000 to 2.24 million years ago. A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Beijing) has fossils dated at somewhere between 300,000 to 780,000 years.

Dynastic rule

, 17th to 11th Century BC.]] Chinese tradition names the first dynasty Xia, but it was considered mythical until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province in 1959. Archaeologists have since uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs in locations cited as Xia's in ancient historical texts, but it is impossible to verify that these remains are of the Xia without written records from the period.

of the Qin Dynasty, ca. 210 BC.]] The first Chinese dynasty that left historical records, the loosely feudal Shang (Yin), settled along the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11th century BC. The Oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty represent the oldest forms of Chinese writing found and the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters used throughout East Asia. The Shang were invaded from the west by the Zhou, who ruled from the 12th to the 5th century BC, until their centralized authority was slowly eroded by feudal warlords. Many independent states eventually emerged out of the weakened Zhou state, and continually waged war with each other in the Spring and Autumn Period, only occasionally deferring to the Zhou king. By the time of the Warring States Period, there were seven powerful sovereign states, each with its own king, ministry and army.

The first unified Chinese state was established by Qin Shi Huang of the Qin state in 221 BC, who proclaimed himself as the "First Emperor" and created many reforms in the Empire, notably the forced standardization of the Chinese language and measurements. The Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years, as its harsh legalist and authoritarian policies soon led to widespread rebellion.

The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China between 206 BC and 220 AD, and created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that extends to the present day. The Han Dynasty expanded the empire's territory considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and also helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia.

After Han's collapse, another period of disunion followed, including the highly chivalric period of the Three Kingdoms. Independent Chinese states of this period such as Wu opened diplomatic relations with Japan, introducing the Chinese writing system there. In 580 AD, China was reunited under the Sui. However, the Sui Dynasty was short-lived after a failure in the Goguryeo-Sui Wars (598–614) weakened it. celadon porcelain pieces from Zhejiang province, during the Song Dynasty]]

Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture reached its zenith. The Tang Empire was at its height of power until the middle of the 8th century, when the An Shi Rebellion destroyed the prosperity of the empire. The Song Dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy. Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in size. This growth came about through expanded rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses.

Within its borders, the Northern Song Dynasty had a population of some 100 million people. The Song Dynasty was a culturally rich period for philosophy and the arts. Landscape art and portrait painting were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity after the Tang Dynasty, and social elites gathered to view art, share their own, and trade precious artworks. Philosophers such as Cheng Yi and Chu Hsi reinvigorated Confucianism with new commentary, infused Buddhist ideals, and emphasized a new organization of classic texts that brought about the core doctrine of Neo-Confucianism. ; daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng.]] In 1271, the Mongol leader and fifth Khagan of the Mongol Empire Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, with the last remnant of the Song Dynasty falling to the Yuan in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty thinkers such as Wang Yangming would further critique and expand Neo-Confucianism with ideas of individualism and innate morality that would have tremendous impact on later Japanese thought. Chosun Korea also became a nominal vassal state of Ming China and adopted much of its Neo-Confucian bureaucratic structure.

Under the Ming Dynasty, China had another golden age, with one of the strongest navies in the world, a rich and prosperous economy and a flourishing of the arts and culture. It was during this period that Zheng He led explorations throughout the world, possibly reaching America. During the early Ming Dynasty China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. In 1644 Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a minor Ming official turned leader of the peasant revolt. The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing Dynasty then allied with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty, and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty, which lasted until 1912, was the last dynasty in China. In the 19th century the Qing Dynasty adopted a defensive posture towards European imperialism, even though it engaged in imperialistic expansion into Central Asia. At this time China awoke to the significance of the rest of the world, the West in particular. As China opened up to foreign trade and missionary activity, opium produced by British India was forced onto Qing China. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control. European imperialism proved to be disastrous for China: ship Celestial Empire]]

The Arrow War (1856–1860) [2nd Opium War] saw another disastrous defeat for China. The subsequent passing of the humiliating Treaty of Tianjin in 1856 and the Beijing Conventions of 1860 opened up more of the country to foreign penetrations and more ports for their vessels. Hong Kong was ceded over to the British. Thus, the "unequal treaties system" was established. Heavy indemnities had to be paid by China, and more territory and control were taken over by the foreigners.

The weakening of the Qing regime, and the apparent humiliation of the unequal treaties in the eyes of the Chinese people had several consequences. One consequence was the Taiping Civil War, which lasted from 1851 to 1862. It was led by Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by an idiosyncratic interpretation of Christianity. Hong believed himself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the Qing forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history, costing at least 20 million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in the World War I), with some estimates of up to two hundred million. Other costly rebellions followed the Taiping Rebellion, such as the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855–67), Nien Rebellion (1851–1868), Miao Rebellion (1854–73), Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873) and the Dungan revolt (1862–1877). at night; the palace was the residence for the imperial family from the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912.]] These rebellions resulted in an estimated loss of several million lives each and led to disastrous results for the economy and the countryside. The flow of British opium hastened the empire's decline. In the 19th century, the age of colonialism was at its height and the great Chinese Diaspora began. About 35 million overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia today. The famine in 1876–79 claimed between 9 and 13 million lives in northern China. From 108 BC to 1911 AD, China experienced 1,828 famines, or one per year, somewhere in the empire.

While China was wracked by continuous war, Meiji Japan succeeded in rapidly modernizing its military and set its sights on Korea and Manchuria. At the request of the Korean emperor, the Chinese government sent troops to aid in suppressing the Tonghak Rebellion in 1894. However, Japan also sent troops to Korea, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War, which resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan.

Following this series of defeats, a reform plan for the empire to become a modern Meiji-style constitutional monarchy was drafted by the Guangxu Emperor in 1898, but was opposed and stopped by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who placed Emperor Guangxu under house arrest in a coup d'état. Further destruction followed the ill-fated 1900 Boxer Rebellion against westerners in Beijing.

By the early 20th century, mass civil disorder had begun, and calls for reform and revolution were heard across the country. The 38-year-old Emperor Guangxu died under house arrest on 14 November 1908, suspiciously just a day before Cixi's own death. With the throne empty, he was succeeded by Cixi's handpicked heir, his two year old nephew Puyi, who became the Xuantong Emperor. Guangxu's consort became the Empress Dowager Longyu. In another coup de'tat, Yuan Shikai overthrew the last Qing emperor, and forced empress Dowager Longyu to sign the abdication decree as regent in 1912, ending two thousand years of imperial rule in China. She died, childless, in 1913.

Republic of China (1912–49)

and Chiang Kai-shek at the founding of the Whampoa Military Academy. Flags of the Republic of China and the Nationalist Party shown.]] On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, heralding the end of the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party) was proclaimed provisional president of the republic. However, the presidency was later given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general, who had ensured the defection of the entire Beiyang Army from the Qing Empire to the revolution. In 1915, Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor of China but was forced to abdicate and return the state to a republic when he realized it was an unpopular move, not only with the population but also with his own Beiyang Army and its commanders.

After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally recognized but virtually powerless national government seated in Peking (Beijing). Warlords in various regions exercised actual control over their respective territories. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control, moving the nation's capital to Nanking (Nanjing) and implementing "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's program for transforming China into a modern, democratic state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the Kuomintang.

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) (part of World War II) forced an uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists as well as causing around 20 million Chinese civilian deaths. With the surrender of Japan in 1945, China emerged victorious but financially drained. The continued distrust between the Nationalists and the Communists led to the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing Civil War many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China.

Post Civil War (1949–present)

After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Mao Zedong gained control of most of Mainland China. On 1 October 1949, they established the People's Republic of China as a socialist state headed by a "Democratic Dictatorship" with the CPC as the ruling political party, thus, laying claim as the successor state of the ROC. The central government of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) led by Chiang Kai-shek retreated to the island of Taiwan that it had administered at the end of World War II, and moved the ROC government there. Major armed hostilities ceased in 1950 but no peace treaty has been signed.

Beginning in the late 1970s, the Republic of China began the implementation of full, multi-party, representative democracy in the territories still under its control (Taiwan, and a number of smaller islands including Quemoy and Matsu). Today, the ROC has active political participation by all sectors of society. The main cleavage in ROC politics is the issue of eventual political unification with the Chinese mainland vs. formal independence of Taiwan. proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.]] After the Chinese Civil War, mainland China saw a dramatic improvement in life expectancy, leading to an explosion in population. A series of disruptive socioeconomic movements started in the late 1950s with the Great Leap Forward and continued in the 1960s with the Cultural Revolution. The Great Chinese Famine resulted in an estimated 30 to 36 million deaths. With the death of its first generation Communist Party leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, the PRC began implementing a series of political and economic reforms advocated by Deng Xiaoping that eventually formed the foundation for mainland China's rapid economic development starting in the 1990s.

Post-1978 reforms in mainland China have led to some relaxation of control over many areas of society. However, the PRC government still has almost absolute control over politics, and it continually seeks to eradicate what it perceives as threats to the social, political and economic stability of the country. Examples include the fight against terrorism, jailing of political opponents and journalists, custody regulation of the press, regulation of religion, and suppression of independence/secessionist movements. In 1989, the student protests at Tiananmen Square were violently put to an end by the Chinese military after 15 days of martial law. In 1997, Hong Kong was ceded to the PRC by the United Kingdom, and in 1999, Macau was handed over by Portugal.

Since 1949, mainland China is administered by the People's Republic of China—a one-party state under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party—while the island of Taiwan and surrounding islands are administered by the Republic of China—a democratic multi-party state. After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, both states claimed to be the sole legitimate ruler of all of China. After the Kuomintang retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the Republic of China had maintained official diplomatic relations with most states around the world, but by the 1970s, a shift had occurred in international diplomatic circles and the People's Republic of China gained the upper hand in international diplomatic relations and recognition count.

In 1971, under UN resolution 2758, the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek to the United Nations were expelled from the intergovernmental organization. With the expulsion of the representatives, and effectively the Republic of China, the representatives of the People's Republic of China were invited to assume China's seat on the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly and other United Nations councils and agencies. Later attempts by the Republic of China to rejoin the UN have either been blocked by the People's Republic of China, which has veto power on the UN Security Council, or rejected by the United Nations Secretariat or a United Nations General Assembly committee responsible for the General Assembly's agenda.

Since the relocation of its capital to Taiwan, the Republic of China has not formally renounced its claim to authority over all of China, nor has it changed its official maps, which include the mainland and Mongolia. Following the introduction of full democracy, and the electoral victory of the DPP's Chen Shui-bian in the presidential elections, the ROC had adopted a policy of separating the state's identity from "China", while moving towards identifying the state as "Taiwan".

However, the ROC has not made any formal moves to change the name, flag, or national anthem of the state to reflect a Taiwanese identity due to the lack of consensus within Taiwan, pressure from the United States and the fear of invasion or military action from the People's Republic of China against the island. The Republic of China during the DPP years did not actively pursue its claims on mainland China or Mongolia. However, after having been elected as president, KMT's Ma Ying-jeou asserted that, constitutionally, mainland China is part of the Republic of China. The People's Republic of China claims to have succeeded the Republic of China as the sole legitimate governing authority of all of China, which, from the official viewpoint of the People's Republic of China, includes the island of Taiwan.

Over the last 50 years, both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China have used diplomatic and economic means to compete for recognition in the international arena. Because most international, intergovernmental organizations observe the One-China policy of the People's Republic of China, the PRC has been able to pressure organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee, to refuse to officially recognize the Republic of China. Due to the One-China policy, states around the world are pressured to refuse, or to cut off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. As a result, 23 U.N. member states currently maintain official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, while the vast majority of U.N. member states maintain official diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

Territory and environment

Historical political divisions

Top-level political divisions of China have altered as administrations changed. Top levels included circuits and provinces. Below that, there have been prefectures, subprefectures, departments, commanderies, districts, and counties. Recent divisions also include prefecture-level cities, county-level cities, towns and townships.

Most Chinese dynasties were based in the historical heartlands of China, known as China proper. Various dynasties also expanded into peripheral territories like Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. The Manchu-established Qing Dynasty and its successors, the ROC and the PRC, incorporated these territories into the Chinese empire.

Geography and climate

China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to lower lands in the east. Principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Yellow River (Huang He, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong (river), and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. Most of China's arable lands lie along these rivers, and they were the centers of China's major ancient civilizations. Other major rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. Yunnan Province is considered a part of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which also includes Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing Earth's highest point, Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus with more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater, or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus.

The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has summer daytime temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius and winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate continental climate with very hot summers and cold winters. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate with very hot summers and mild winters.

Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China. Dust has blown to southern Mainland China and Taiwan, and has reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries.

Economy

China was for a large part of the last two millennia the world's largest economy. However, in the later part of the Qing Dynasty, China's economic development began to slow and Europe's rapid development during and after the Industrial Revolution enabled it to surpass China.

Many analysts assert that modern China is one of the leading examples of state capitalism in the 21st century.

Culture

, a highly influential Neo-Confucian]] (Beijing Opera) performance in Beijing of the historical character Yang Guifei.]] Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy. China's traditional values were derived from various versions of Confucianism. A number of more authoritarian strains of thought have also been influential, such as Legalism.

There was often conflict between the philosophies, e.g. the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucians believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians (not to be confused with Neo-Confucianism) have advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite compatible with traditional Confucian "Asian values".

With the rise of European economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally rejected China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and European cultures. In essence, the history of 20th-century China is one of experimentation with new systems of social, political, and economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse.

Arts, scholarship, and literature

by Mi Fu, Song Dynasty, ca. 1100 CE]]

, a traditional Chinese stringed musical instrument, favored by scholars and the nobility, as highlighted in the Book of Rites: "a gentleman does not part with his qin or se without good reason."]]

Calligraphy later became commercialized, and works by famous artists became prized possessions. Chinese literature has a long past; the earliest classic work in Chinese, the I Ching or "Book of Changes" dates to around 1000 BC. A flourishing of philosophy during the Warring States Period produced such noteworthy works as Confucius's Analects and Laozi's Tao Te Ching. (See also: the Chinese classics.) Dynastic histories were often written, beginning with Sima Qian's seminal Records of the Grand Historian, which was written from 109 BC to 91 BC.

The Tang Dynasty witnessed a poetic flowering, while the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature were written during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Printmaking in the form of movable type was developed during the Song Dynasty. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on the classics in both printed and handwritten form. Royalty frequently participated in these discussions as well.

The Song Dynasty was also a period of great scientific literature, and saw the creation of works such as Su Song's Xin Yixiang Fayao and Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays. There were also enormous works of historiography and large encyclopedias, such as Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian of 1084 AD or the Four Great Books of Song fully compiled and edited by the 11th century.

For centuries, religious and social advancement in China could be achieved through high performance on the imperial examinations. This led to the creation of a meritocracy, although success was available only to males who could afford test preparation. Imperial examinations required applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those who passed the highest level of the exam became elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a highly esteemed socio-economic position.

Chinese philosophers, writers and poets were highly respected and played key roles in preserving and promoting the culture of the empire. Some classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the common people, often to the displeasure of authorities.The Chinese invented numerous musical instruments, such as the zheng (zither with movable bridges), qin (bridgeless zither), sheng (free reed mouth organ), and xiao (vertical flute) and adopted and developed others such the erhu (alto fiddle or bowed lute) and pipa (pear-shaped plucked lute), many of which later spread throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia, particularly to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

Demography

and the Republic of China]] Hundreds of ethnic groups have existed in China throughout its history. The largest ethnic group in China by far is the Han. This group, however, is internally diverse and can be further divided into smaller ethnic groups that share similar traits.

Over the last three millennia, many previously distinct ethnic groups in China have been Sinicized into a Han identity, which over time dramatically expanded the size of the Han population. However, these assimilations were usually incomplete, and vestiges of indigenous language and culture still often remain in various regions of China. Because of this, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and cultural traditions while still identifying as Han.

Several ethnicities have also dramatically shaped Han culture, e.g. the Manchurian clothing called the qipao became the new "Chinese" fashion after the 17th century, replacing earlier Han styles of clothing such as the Hanfu. The modern term Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu) is now used to describe a notion of a Chinese nationality that transcends ethnic divisions.

Languages

Most languages in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan languages family, spoken by 29 ethnicities. There are also several major linguistic groups within the Chinese language itself. The most spoken varieties are Mandarin (spoken by over 70% of the population), Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic), Hmong and Korean.

Classical Chinese was the written standard in China for thousands of years, and allowed for written communication between speakers of various unintelligible languages and dialects in China. Written vernacular Chinese, or baihua, is the written standard based on the Mandarin dialect and first popularized in Ming Dynasty novels. It was adopted with significant modifications during the early 20th century as the national standard. Classical Chinese is still part of the high school curriculum and is thus intelligible to some degree to many Chinese.

Religion

bronze script character for tian (天), "Sky" or "Heaven."]] The "official" orthodox faith system held by most dynasties of China since at least the Shang Dynasty (1766 BC) until the overthrow of the last dynasty (1911 AD) centered on the worship of Shangdi ("Supreme God") or "Heaven" as an omnipotent force. This faith system pre-dated the development of Confucianism and Taoism and the introduction of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.

It has features of monotheism in that Heaven is seen as an omnipotent entity, endowed with personality but no corporeal form. From the writings of Confucius, we find that Confucius himself believed that Heaven cannot be deceived, Heaven guides people's lives and maintains a personal relationship with them, and that Heaven gives tasks for people to fulfill to teach them righteousness (yi, 義). They became influential in government circles, including Zheng He, Lan Yu and Yeheidie'erding, who designed the Yuan Dynasty's capital, Khanbaliq. Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study. The Qing Dynasty waged war and genocide against Muslims in the Dungan revolt and Panthay Rebellion.

Judaism in China dates to as early as the 7th or 8th century CE. In the first half of the 20th century, tens of thousands of Jews from Europe arrived in Shanghai and Hong Kong during those cities' periods of economic expansion, seeking refuge from the Holocaust. Shanghai was notable for its volume of Jewish refugees, as it was the only port in the world to accept them without an entry visa.

Christianity in China has developed since at least the 7th century AD with the introduction of the Assyrian Church of the East. Christianity began to make significant inroads in China after the 16th century through Jesuit and later Protestant missionaries. The Taiping Rebellion was influenced to some degree by Christian teachings, and the Boxer Rebellion was in part a reaction against Christianity in China.

Sports and recreation

racing, a popular traditional Chinese sport.]]

:For sports in the People's Republic of China, see Sport in the People's Republic of China, Sport in Hong Kong, and Sport in Macau. :For sports in the Republic of China, see Sport in Taiwan.

Many historians believe that football originated in China, where a form of the sport may have appeared around 1000 AD. Other popular sports include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, and more recently, golf. Basketball is now popular among young people in urban centers.

There are also many traditional sports. Chinese dragon boat racing occurs during the Duanwu Festival. In Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrian sports are part of traditional festivals.

Physical fitness is highly regarded. It is common for the elderly to practice tai chi chuan and qigong in parks. Board games such as Chess, Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are also common and have organized formal competitions. The capital city of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, a major international sporting event.

Science and technology

Among the technological accomplishments of ancient China were paper (not papyrus) and papermaking, woodblock printing and movable type printing, the early lodestone and needle compass, gunpowder, toilet paper, early seismological detectors, matches, pound locks, the double-action piston pump, blast furnace and cast iron, the iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the suspension bridge, natural gas as fuel, the differential gear for the South Pointing Chariot, the hydraulic-powered armillary sphere, the hydraulic-powered trip hammer, the mechanical chain drive, the mechanical belt drive, the raised-relief map, the propeller, the crossbow, the cannon, the rocket, the multistage rocket, etc.

Chinese astronomers were among the first to record observations of a supernova. The work of the astronomer Shen Kuo (1031–95) alone was most impressive, as he theorized that the sun and moon were spherical, corrected the position of the pole star with his improved sighting tube, discovered the concept of true north, wrote of planetary motions such as retrogradation, and compared the orbital paths of the planets to points on the shape of a rotating willow leaf. With evidence for them, he also postulated geological theories for the processes of land formation in geomorphology and climate change in paleoclimatology.

Other important astronomers included Gan De, Shi Shen, Zhang Heng, Yi Xing, Zhang Sixun, Su Song and Guo Shoujing. Chinese mathematics evolved independently of Greek mathematics and is therefore of great interest in the history of mathematics. The Chinese were also keen on documenting all of their technological achievements, such as in the Tiangong Kaiwu encyclopedia written by Song Yingxing (1587–1666).

China's science and technology had fallen behind that of Europe by the 17th century. Political, social and cultural reasons have been given for this, although recent historians focus more on economic causes, such as the high level equilibrium trap. Since the PRC's market reforms, China has become better connected to the global economy and is placing greater emphasis on science and technology.

See also

Index of China-related articles

Outline of China

Sinosphere

Notes

References

External links

China.org.cn China news, weather, business, travel, language courses, archives

Forecasts for Chinese Development to 2060 by Issue

China from UCB Libraries GovPubs

China information from the U.S. Department of State

U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of China Economic Area

IBTimes HK Topics - China

Category:Ancient history Category:Ancient peoples Category:Civilizations Category:Cultural regions Category:Divided regions Category:East Asia