Contextualization of Sufi Spirituality in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century China

"Scholars have previously focused on the innovative nature of Islamic contextualization in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century China. Lee's work goes further, firstly, by focusing on (1) a significant Muslim from the network of scholars in this period, Liu Zhi; (2) his uniquely indigenized use of the Akbarian tradition both for teaching and apologetics; secondly, by combining the use of (1) his own translations with the existing ones; (2) selected Western sources with the previously unknown Chinese secondary sources."

--David Emmanuel Singh, OCMS, Oxford



"This is a brilliant study of the contextualization of Arabic and Persian Sufi Muslim writing for a Chinese audience by one of the most influential Chinese Muslim writers, Liu Zhi (c. 1662-c. 1730). David Lee has shown clearly how Liu Zhi translated key Sufi works using Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucianist concepts to encourage the reception of Islam as a fourth recognized tradition alongside the other three."

--Mark Beaumont, Senior Lecturer in Islam and Mission, London School of Theology



"In this book, Dr. David Lee has demonstrated how Liu Zhi, a Hui Muslim scholar in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century China, had successfully integrated the Muslim way of life into Chinese culture by means of contextualization with Confucianism at that time. This not only is a significant contribution to the study of Islamic spirituality in Chinese culture, but also sheds light on the use of contextualization to explain one's faith in other cultures."

--Dr. Andrew Lam, Associate Professor of Theology at Evangel Seminary in Hong Kong



"Reverend Dr. David Lee's book is a significant contribution of analyzing the legacy and translating Liu Zhi's literature to the international readership. By conceptualizing Liu Zhi's active engagement of Islamic texts within Chinese traditions and contexts in the translation-conversation framework of contextualization, Lee's contribution will not only stimulate scholarly interests in exploring Liu Zhi's work within and beyond Nanjing Islamic tradition; it also provides an important theoretical outlook to further study the contextualization of other Islamic texts in the period of Ming-Qing China."



--Wai-Yip Ho, Author of Islam and China's Hong Kong: Ethnic Identity, Muslim Networks and the New Silk Road