Table Of ContentEducational Journeys,
Struggles and
Ethnic Identity
The Impact of State Schooling on
Muslim Hui in Rural China
XINYI WU
Palgrave Studies on
Chinese Education in a
Global Perspective
Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education
in a Global Perspective
Series editor
Fred Dervin
Department of Teacher Education
University of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland
Xiangyun Du
Confucius Institute
Aalborg University
Aalborg, Denmark
“This remarkable volume offers deep insights into the lives of children from the
Hui minority in China, a unique Islamic group of over ten million with their own
autonomous region in China’s northwest. Extensive field work using critical eth-
nography in an impoverished southern county of Ningxia highlights the dilemmas
they face between state schooling and religious education. As both insider and
outsider, the author depicts their struggles in ways that are both vivid and
authentic.”
—Ruth Hayhoe
University of Toronto, Canada
The transformation of China into a global super-power is often attributed
to the country’s robust education system and this series seeks to provide a
comprehensive, in-depth understanding of the development of Chinese
education on a global scale. The books in this series will analyze and prob-
lematize the revolutions, reforms, innovations and transformations of
Chinese education that are often misunderstood or misrepresented beyond
its own borders and will examine the changes in Chinese education over
the past 30 years and the issues as well as challenges that the future of
Chinese education faces. For more information or to submit a proposal
please contact Eleanor Christie ([email protected])
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14568
Xinyi Wu
Educational Journeys,
Struggles and Ethnic
Identity
The Impact of State Schooling on
Muslim Hui in Rural China
Xinyi Wu
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education in a Global Perspective
ISBN 978-3-319-57053-2 ISBN 978-3-319-57054-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57054-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017952318
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bstrAct
This book examines how state schooling in China has economically, cul-
turally, and ideologically impacted and gradually transformed a traditional
Muslim Hui village in rural northwestern China. By discussing the inter-
pretation and appropriation of dominant educational discourse of “qual-
ity” in the rural context, it illustrates the dichotomies of poverty and
prosperity, civility and uncivility, and religiosity and secularity as they are
perceived and understood by teachers, parents, and students. Based on an
original ethnographic research conducted in a secondary school, it further
touches upon Muslim Hui students’ negotiations of filial, rural, and eth-
noreligious identities when they struggle to seek a life of their own in the
educational journey to prosperity.
The book captures the changing rural–urban dynamic as state school-
ing continues to guide local formal educational activities, as well as creat-
ing tension and confusion for both teachers and parents. It also introduces
audiences to multiple ways in which Muslim Hui students construct and
negotiate identities through state schooling, especially the educational
heterogeneity experienced by various Muslim youths, as more Muslim
Hui parents have developed diverse perceptions of compulsory education.
Most importantly, the book challenges stereotypes about Muslim Hui stu-
dents across China being assimilated into mainstream culture. It demon-
strates how Muslims in some parts of rural northwestern China find ways
to maintain their religion through living, studying, praying, and fulfilling
the five pillars of Islam while being educated with mainstream ideologies
in school. It will be highly relevant to students and researchers in the fields
of education, anthropology, sociology, and religious studies.
v
P
rologue
Born and raised in a Muslim Hui family in an urban Han-dominated
region, I always felt that I was not one of “them,” the people with whom
I grew up and studied in school. My middle-school classmates were sur-
prised to find out that I was a “Hui” and I did not eat pork like they did.
This little incident has remained deep in my consciousness and constantly
reminds me of how I downplayed my minority identity in school because
I did not want people to know that I was different. I also felt that I was
not capable of explaining my differences because of my own poor knowl-
edge of Islam.
Over the years, I became accustomed to not talking openly about my
minority identity, unless I was with my family, relatives, or close friends.
Thus, my identity as a Muslim Hui minority was often displaced by my
other identities as an urban resident, a diligent student, a good caring
daughter, a nice friend, and many more. However, during the years of my
early adulthood, I never forgot this part of myself, though it was sub-
merged and I seldom brought it up. When needed, I used the ethnic term
“Hui” to identify myself and shied away from the Islamic part of Hui
nationality, though ethnic and religious aspects of being Hui are inte-
grated in China (when you are a Hui, you are a Muslim). I am hesitant to
identify myself as a Muslim because I have limited knowledge of Islam and
have not followed the Islamic doctrines besides keeping the dietary restric-
tions and occasionally learning about Islam through reading the Koran,
visiting mosques, and discussing Islam with my father.
My personal understanding of Huiness is thus not aligned with societal
views of Hui as a radical and violent group of Muslims which often causes
vii
viii PROLOGUE
political unrest and cultural rivalry. Whenever I mention that I am Hui,
people ask, “Are you a Muslim? Do you believe in Islam?” In my experi-
ence, Hui is often a religious label attached to Chinese Muslims who have
some association with Muslims in other parts of the world, and the ethnic
nature of Huiness seems reserved only for official recognition and catego-
rization. The search for my own identities continues, but I continue strug-
gling to identify and hesitate to reveal myself as a Muslim Hui.
In recent years, studying and living in the United States, I usually pri-
oritize my identity as Chinese, and it often gets complicated to explain
myself as a member of a Chinese ethnic and religious minority, even to
Chinese people. My journey of finding, negotiating, and choosing my
identities became the impetus for my research topic around identities and
motivated me to study Muslim Hui and my cultural roots and religious
origins. Being an urban Muslim Hui, I am more interested in Muslim Hui
living in rural northwestern China where the Silk Road passed through
and where the first group of Muslim businessmen traveled through and
introduced Islam into China. I believe that this region, with its large
Muslim Hui population, preserves many Islamic traditions, though it is
less known to outsiders.
While I was formulating my research, a Muslim Hui friend recom-
mended to me an English book entitled The Diaries of Ma Yan: The
Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese School Girl published in 2005, an autobi-
ography of a schoolgirl from an impoverished rural village in the Xihaigu
region of Ningxia. In this book, Ma Yan describes her struggle against
hunger and poverty, as well as her wishes to continue her education for a
better life and to lift her parents and the children alike in her community
out of poverty. I was moved by her determination to get out of rural pov-
erty and her desire to take care of her parents through education. Inspired
by the schoolgirl’s autobiography, the terms Muslim Hui identities, rural-
ity, poverty, education, and filial piety converged in my mind and became
the topic of this research. A place unknown to me seemed to reveal a little
of itself in the book. I am propelled to find out if education has changed
the lives of the Muslim Hui as Ma Yan had wished during the ten years
since her diaries were published to the outside world. Reflecting on my
own experience with identities, I am also eager to know how Muslim Hui
in that region cope with their identities in the context of state schooling.
Therefore, this research is partly a fulfillment of my childhood dream to
take a personal journey and learn more about ethnic Muslim Hui in north-
western China. Most importantly, the study seeks to present stories of a
PROLOGU E ix
rural ethnic group that is less known but struggles against poverty while
maintaining the practices of Islamic traditions. State schooling, believed
by the government as a pathway leading to prosperity, is questioned and
challenged by local Muslim Hui students about its promised value of edu-
cation. The dichotomies between mainstream ideologies and Islamic
teachings never cease to shape Muslim Hui students’ heterogeneous expe-
riences, as they manage to construct different educational journals to
prosperity through negotiating their multiple identities.
A
cknowledgements
In writing this book, I have benefited enormously from the assistance and
support of many people. My foremost gratitude is to the teachers, stu-
dents, families, and community members in the village and county in
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region where I conducted my fieldwork. I
want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to listen to their life
stories and experience a new world in their classrooms, at their homes, and
on their roads. I am especially indebted to two local scholars, Jinbao Ma
of The Journal of Muslim Hui Minority Studies and Genming Wang of
Ningxia University, who facilitated my access to the research site and
ensured my safety during my fieldwork. Special thanks also goes to
Professor Huaizhong Yang of Ningxia Social Science Academy for his
mentorship and long-term support of my study. Because of the people’s
hospitality, genuineness, and sincerity, the months of staying in a village
surrounded by barren mountains, blown by sandstorms, and constrained
by water shortages were pleasant and enjoyable. The weekend meals pre-
pared by every family I visited kept me warm and encouraged me to persist
through the bad days.
I would also like to express my gratitude to an outstanding circle of
mentors, colleagues, and friends at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities,
who inspired me to use qualitative inquiry to pursue my scholarly interest
and challenged me in my thought process. My greatest indebtedness goes
to my co-advisors, Dr. Joan DeJaeghere and Dr. Frances Vavrus, whose
stimulating comments and insights constantly illuminated my ideas and
thoughts at different stages of my research and writing. Their encourage-
ment, guidance, and support during the time I was in the field were
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