Jahriyya
Encyclopedia
Jahriyya is a Sufi order
in China that once existed in Persia and the Turkish World. Founded by Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani
, it was brought to China in the 1760s by Ma Mingxin
. It has been active in the late 18th and 19th centuries in the then Gansu
Province (also including today's Qinghai
and Ningxia
), and its followers participated in a number of conflicts with other islamic religious groups and in Dungan Revolt against the Qing Dynasty
.
The name comes from the Arabic word jahr (جهر), referring to their practise of vocal performance of the dhikr
. This contrasted with the more typical Naqshbandi
practise, observed by the Khufiyya, of performing it silently.
After Ma Mingxin, Jahriyya only exists in China.
) islamic scholar Ma Mingxin soon after his return to China in 1761, after 16 years of studying in Mecca
and Yemen
. He had studied there under a Naqshbandi
Sufi teacher named 'Abd al-Khāliq (known to the muslims in Middle Asia as "Abu Duha Halik"), who was a son of az-Zayn b. Muhammad 'Abd al-Baqī al-Mizjaji (1643/44-1725), originally of Mizjaja near Zabīd
, Yemen
. Az-Zayn, in his turn, had studied in Medina
under the famous Kurdish mysticist Ibrahīm ibn Hasan al-Kūrānī (1616–1690), who was known for advocating the vocal (rather than silent) dhikr
(invocation of the name of God).
Ma Mingxin's Jahriyya menhuan (order) was the second Naqshbandi order in China after Ma Laichi
's Khufiyya. In opposition to the "silent" Khufiyya Sufis, and following al-Kurani's teaching, Jahriyya adherents advocated vocal dhikr, which is reflected in the name of their school (from Arabic jahr, "aloud"). Ma Mingxin is also an active supporter of the veneration of saints. He opposed the emphasis that the Khufiyya members placed of the veneration of the saints, construction of grandiose elaborately decorated mosques, and the enrichment of religious leaders at the expense of their adherents.
The leader of Jahriyya is called Murshid
, which means "teacher".
(which at the time also included today's Qinghai
and Ningxia
), as Ma Laichi's Khufiyya had later. Theological arguments between members of Jahriyya and Khufiyya, as well as the orders' claim on contributions of members, against the background of government mismanagement of the provincial revenue, often resulted in both violent conflicts and lawsuits.
The escalating conflict between the adherents of the two eventually attracted attention of the Qing
government in 1781. The apparent center of the conflict at the time was in the ethnic Salar community of Xunhua County (in today's Qinghai
Province, just west of today's Gansu's Linxia Prefecture
). Considering the Jahriyya (dubbed by the government the "New Order", in opposition to the "Old Order" (the Dungan/Hui people Shia muslims) subversive, the authorities had Ma Mingxin arrested, even though he wasn't personally anywhere around Xunhua at the moment.
While Ma Mingxin was kept in Lanzhou
, the Hezhou adjutant general Xinzhu and the prefect of Lanzhou Yang Shiji went to Xunhua with a small military detachment to take care of the Jahriyya business. The Jahriyya Salars sent a "welcoming party" to meet them, led by an akhund (imam
) nicknamed Su Sishisan (苏四十三).
Having met the government expedition at a place called Baizhuangzi, Su's people first performed to be friendly, but once they had learned about the purpose of the government expedition, they armed themselves immediately, overpowered the government soldiers, and killed both Qing officials. This action immediately made the Jahriya Salars not just subversives but outright rebels in the eyes of the government.
While openly confronting the government was obviously a suicidal act for Su's followers, modern researchers [Lipman (1998, p. 108)] surmise that they were motivated by the perceived thread of massacre against their "menhuan".
After destroying the government force at Baizhuangzi, Su's two thousand Salar fighters then rushed east, across the today's Linxia Prefecture and to the walls of Lanzhou. On the way, they had briefly besieged Hezhou and killed some Dungans (Hui people) there, as punishment for goading the government into anti-Jahriyya action.
When the besieged officials brought Ma Mingxin, wearing chains, to the Lanzhou city wall, to show him to the rebels, Su's Salars at once showed respect and devotion to their imprisoned leaders. Scared officials took Ma down from the wall, and beheaded him right away. Su's Salars tried attacking the Lanzhou city walls, but, not having any siege equipment, failed to penetrate into the walled city. The Salar fighters (whose strength at the time is estimated by historians to be in 1,000-2,000 range) then set up a fortified camp on a hill south of Lanzhou.
To deal with the rebels, Imperial Commissioners Agui
and Heshen
were sent to Lanzhou. Unable to dislodge the Salars from their fortified camp with his regular troops, Agui sent the "incompetent" Heshen back to Beijing, and recruited Alashan
Mongols and Southern Gansu
Tibetans to aid the Chinese Lanzhou garrison. After a three months' siege of the rebel camp and cutting off the Salars' water supply, Agui's joint forces destroyed the Jahriya rebels; Su and all his fighters were all killed in the final battle.
), and his daughters were exiled to Xinjiang
. It is stated elsewhere that "all his family" (excluding, presumably, his wife and daughters) were exiled to Yunnan
. Other Jahriya adherents were captured and exiled as well. Occasionally, mistakes were made, when many non-Jahriyya muslims (notably Ma Wuyi - the third leader of the Khufiyya) were caught and sent to the southwest (Yunnan
etc.) as well.
, to his son, Ma Guobao. Ma Mingxin himself chose his own successor as the head of the Jahriyya based on his Islamic scholarship and piety; later on, the third leader of the order was chosen in a similar way.
, which is within today's Ningxia
) - a very different, Dungan (Hui people) rather than Salar, region from the Xunhua County of the 1781 rebellion.
It took the Qing forces several months to quell Tian Wu's rebellion. As it happens too often during suppression of rebellions, many non-combatants perished as well; it is reported that Li Shiyao's forces executed over a thousand of women and children of in Jahriyya communities of Eastern Gansu. The Jahriyya was proscribed again, despite objections of some government officials (notably, one Fukang'an) who felt that a blanket prohibition would be counterproductive.
In view of modern historians, the suppression of Jahriyya was indeed counterproductive, since the dispersion of the order's throughout the country allowed them to widely popularize their idea among China's muslims. It also increased the attractiveness of the now-underground order to all muslims discontent with the government's policies.
This period was also characterized by the creation of Jahriyya literature. Written by the order's Akhunds in Persian, numerous miracle stories praised Ma Mingxin and his successors.
Although the 18th-century Jahriyya was primarily based in central Gansu, by the mid-19th century the order's activity was centered in the northern Ningxia
(which in the 19th century was also part of Gansu Province), its headquarters being located in Jinjipu (金积堡), a few kilometers south from today's Wuzhong City. Under the leadership of Ma Yide and his successor, the order's fifth shaikh Ma Hualong (d. 1871), the town of Jinjipu became an important religious and commercial center, and the order's leaders grew wealthy thanks to the order's profitable participation in the caravan trade
across Inner Mongolia
, between Baotou
, Huhhot and Beijing
.
During the Dungan Revolt, which started in 1862, the Jahriyya led the rebellion in the Jahriyya-centered eastern parts of the 19th-century Gansu Province, i.e. today's Ningxia
and easternmost sections of today's Gansu.
While the rebels elsewhere within the 19th-century borders of Gansu had been primarily controlled by their own, essentially independent leaders - notably, Ma Zhan'ao
in Hezhou (now Linxia), Ma Guiyuan in Xining
, and Ma Wenlu in Suzhou
(Jiuquan
) - Jahriyya members participated in the rebellion throughout the region.
Ma was besieged in Jinjipu in July 1869 by the Qing
forces led by General Zuo Zongtang
. After fortifications outside of the town itself had been captured by the government troops, and starvation started inside the walls, Ma Hualong surrendered in January 1871, hoping to spare the lives of his people. However, once Zuo's troops entered Jinjipu, a massacre followed. Over a thousand people lost their lives, and the town was destroyed. According to most accounts, Ma Hualong himself was executed on Zuo's orders on March 2, 1871, along with his son Ma Yaobang and over eighty Jahriyya officials. Many of his follwers fled to Middle Asia in afraid of the revenge from Han Chinese, while some choosed to hide among Dungan (Hui) communities in northeast China.
In the western section of the Yunnan
Province, Jahriyya exiles - notably by the relatives of Ma Mingxin
exiled there after the suppression of the rebellion 1781 - was active as well. One of the Jahriyya leaders in Yunnan was Ma Shilin, said to be a direct descendant of Ma Mingxin himself. Ma Shilin traveled twice to Ningxia, visiting Ma Hualong in Jinjipu, and when Du Wenxiu started the Panthay Rebellion in Yunnan, Ma Shillin became one Du's commanders. After defending the fortress of Donggouzhai for a year against the Qing forces, he chose to commit suicide rather than to become a prisoner of the Qing.
They discovered that two of Ma Hualong's grandsons, Ma Jincheng and Ma Jinxi, survived the disaster at Jinjipu. Imprisoned in Xi'an
, the two boys were sentenced to be castrated
upon reaching the age of 12. Too late to save the older boy from ending his days as a eunuch
salve, Ma Yuanzhang managed to spirit away, intact, the younger one. This boy, Ma Jinxi, survived in hiding, until, years later, Ma Yuanzhang managed to obtain a pardon for him.
Meanwhile Ma Yuanzhang set himself up as a leather merchant. This allowed him to visit scattered Dungan Jahriyya communities all over eastern China, gaining the respect of the surviving members of the order. He married to a female relative of Ma Malaichi, thus solidifying his claim of legitimate succession. After yet another muslim rebellion in Gansu (this time triggered by the Salars and Dongxiangs who believe in the Khufiyya) blew up and was suppressed in 1895, Ma Yuanzhang returned to Gansu, and re-established the Jahriyya organization, now headquartered in Zhangjiachuan County, an area in eastern Gansu almost exclusively populated by the Dungan refugees from Shaanxi, resettled there by Zuo Zongtang
after the defeat of the Dungan Revolt in the early 1870s.
However, the pardoned Ma Jinxi felt himself to be the more legitimate successor of Ma Hualong; so he set up a rival Jahriyya organization, based in northern Ningxia, not far from his grandfather's former Jinjipu headquarters. A split within the Jahriyya followed, with some members becoming followers of Ma Jinxi, and others holding for Ma Yuanzhang.
In remembrance of Ma Mingxin, whose beard is said to have been shorn by government soldiers before his execution 1781, many Jahriyya members shave the sides of their beards.
In 1985, over 20,000 Hui Muslims
(Dungan) assembled at the site of Ma Mingxin's original (destroyed) tomb near Lanzhou
for a commemoration ceremony. The tomb has since been rebuilt.
Tariqah
A tariqa is an Islamic religious order. In Sufism one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a tariqa. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a tariqa the aspirant seeks ḥaqīqah - ultimate truth.-Meaning:A tariqa is a...
in China that once existed in Persia and the Turkish World. Founded by Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani
Yusuf Hamdani
Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani is the first of the group of Central Asian Sufi teachers known simply as Khwajagan of the Naqshbandi order.-Life:...
, it was brought to China in the 1760s by Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin was a Dungan Sufi master, the establisher of the Jahriyya Sufi order in China.-Names:Ma Mingxin's religious name was Ibrāhīm. After returning to China from Arabia he started calling himself 'Azīz.He was also called Muhammad Emin.-Life:A Persian-speaking Muslim from Gansu, Ma Mingxin...
. It has been active in the late 18th and 19th centuries in the then Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
Province (also including today's Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
and Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
), and its followers participated in a number of conflicts with other islamic religious groups and in Dungan Revolt against the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
.
The name comes from the Arabic word jahr (جهر), referring to their practise of vocal performance of the dhikr
Dhikr
Dhikr , plural ; ), is an Islamic devotional act, typically involving the repetition of the Names of God, supplications or formulas taken from hadith texts and verses of the Qur'an. Dhikr is usually done individually, but in some Sufi orders it is instituted as a ceremonial activity...
. This contrasted with the more typical Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...
practise, observed by the Khufiyya, of performing it silently.
After Ma Mingxin, Jahriyya only exists in China.
Establishment and principles
The Jahriyya order was established in China by the Gansu Dungan (Hui peopleHui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
) islamic scholar Ma Mingxin soon after his return to China in 1761, after 16 years of studying in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
and Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. He had studied there under a Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...
Sufi teacher named 'Abd al-Khāliq (known to the muslims in Middle Asia as "Abu Duha Halik"), who was a son of az-Zayn b. Muhammad 'Abd al-Baqī al-Mizjaji (1643/44-1725), originally of Mizjaja near Zabīd
Zabid
Zabid is a town with an urban population of around 23,000 persons on Yemen's western coastal plain. The town, named after Wadi Zabid, the wadi to its south, is one of the oldest towns in Yemen...
, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. Az-Zayn, in his turn, had studied in Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
under the famous Kurdish mysticist Ibrahīm ibn Hasan al-Kūrānī (1616–1690), who was known for advocating the vocal (rather than silent) dhikr
Dhikr
Dhikr , plural ; ), is an Islamic devotional act, typically involving the repetition of the Names of God, supplications or formulas taken from hadith texts and verses of the Qur'an. Dhikr is usually done individually, but in some Sufi orders it is instituted as a ceremonial activity...
(invocation of the name of God).
Ma Mingxin's Jahriyya menhuan (order) was the second Naqshbandi order in China after Ma Laichi
Ma Laichi
Ma Laichi , also known as Abu 'l-Futūh Ma Laichi, was a Sufi master, who brought the Khufiyya movement to China and created the Huasi menhuan - the earliest and most important Naqshbandi order in the history of Islam in China.-Afaq Khoja's blessing:Ma Laichi is a hybrid of Hui and Han Chinese...
's Khufiyya. In opposition to the "silent" Khufiyya Sufis, and following al-Kurani's teaching, Jahriyya adherents advocated vocal dhikr, which is reflected in the name of their school (from Arabic jahr, "aloud"). Ma Mingxin is also an active supporter of the veneration of saints. He opposed the emphasis that the Khufiyya members placed of the veneration of the saints, construction of grandiose elaborately decorated mosques, and the enrichment of religious leaders at the expense of their adherents.
The leader of Jahriyya is called Murshid
Murshid
Murshid is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher". Particularly in Sufism it refers to a Sufi teacher. The term is used by other branches of Islam as well, e.g. by the Nizaris, the main school of Ismā‘īlī Shiites....
, which means "teacher".
The early Jahriyya-Khufiyya conflict, the Salar Revolt of 1781, and the death of Ma Mingxin
By the early 1780s, the ideals of the Jahriyya had spread over greatly in the province of GansuGansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
(which at the time also included today's Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
and Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
), as Ma Laichi's Khufiyya had later. Theological arguments between members of Jahriyya and Khufiyya, as well as the orders' claim on contributions of members, against the background of government mismanagement of the provincial revenue, often resulted in both violent conflicts and lawsuits.
The escalating conflict between the adherents of the two eventually attracted attention of the Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
government in 1781. The apparent center of the conflict at the time was in the ethnic Salar community of Xunhua County (in today's Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
Province, just west of today's Gansu's Linxia Prefecture
Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture
Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture is in Western China's Gansu Province, south of the capital, Lanzhou. It is an autonomous prefecture for the Muslim Hui people, a large Chinese ethnic group. It also includes two autonomous counties for other Muslim groups, namely Dongxiang, Salar, and...
). Considering the Jahriyya (dubbed by the government the "New Order", in opposition to the "Old Order" (the Dungan/Hui people Shia muslims) subversive, the authorities had Ma Mingxin arrested, even though he wasn't personally anywhere around Xunhua at the moment.
While Ma Mingxin was kept in Lanzhou
Lanzhou
Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. A prefecture-level city, it is a key regional transportation hub, allowing areas further west to maintain railroad connections to the eastern half of the country....
, the Hezhou adjutant general Xinzhu and the prefect of Lanzhou Yang Shiji went to Xunhua with a small military detachment to take care of the Jahriyya business. The Jahriyya Salars sent a "welcoming party" to meet them, led by an akhund (imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
) nicknamed Su Sishisan (苏四十三).
Having met the government expedition at a place called Baizhuangzi, Su's people first performed to be friendly, but once they had learned about the purpose of the government expedition, they armed themselves immediately, overpowered the government soldiers, and killed both Qing officials. This action immediately made the Jahriya Salars not just subversives but outright rebels in the eyes of the government.
While openly confronting the government was obviously a suicidal act for Su's followers, modern researchers [Lipman (1998, p. 108)] surmise that they were motivated by the perceived thread of massacre against their "menhuan".
After destroying the government force at Baizhuangzi, Su's two thousand Salar fighters then rushed east, across the today's Linxia Prefecture and to the walls of Lanzhou. On the way, they had briefly besieged Hezhou and killed some Dungans (Hui people) there, as punishment for goading the government into anti-Jahriyya action.
When the besieged officials brought Ma Mingxin, wearing chains, to the Lanzhou city wall, to show him to the rebels, Su's Salars at once showed respect and devotion to their imprisoned leaders. Scared officials took Ma down from the wall, and beheaded him right away. Su's Salars tried attacking the Lanzhou city walls, but, not having any siege equipment, failed to penetrate into the walled city. The Salar fighters (whose strength at the time is estimated by historians to be in 1,000-2,000 range) then set up a fortified camp on a hill south of Lanzhou.
To deal with the rebels, Imperial Commissioners Agui
Agui
Agui was a Manchu noble general for the Qing dynasty. As the only son of Akdun, he was a scion of a noble family who led a number of important Manchu military operations, including several of the "Ten Great Campaigns"....
and Heshen
Heshen
Heshen or Hešen , from the Manchu Niohuru clan, was a Manchu official of the Qing Dynasty, a favourite of the Qianlong Emperor. Born Shanbao , his given name was later changed to Heshen. His courtesy name was Zhizhai . He was a member of the Plain Red Banner, as well as one of the most corrupt...
were sent to Lanzhou. Unable to dislodge the Salars from their fortified camp with his regular troops, Agui sent the "incompetent" Heshen back to Beijing, and recruited Alashan
Alxa League
Alxa League is one of 12 prefecture level divisions and three extant leagues of Inner Mongolia. The league borders Mongolia to the north, Bayan Nur to the northeast, Wuhai and Ordos to the east, Ningxia to the southeast, and Gansu to the south and west. The capital is Bayan Hot in the aimag's...
Mongols and Southern Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
Tibetans to aid the Chinese Lanzhou garrison. After a three months' siege of the rebel camp and cutting off the Salars' water supply, Agui's joint forces destroyed the Jahriya rebels; Su and all his fighters were all killed in the final battle.
Government repression
The Jahriya was now a patently dangerous organization in the eyes of the authorities. In the aftermath of the Salar revolt, Ma Mingxin's widow, whose surname was Zhang (originally, from Gansu's Tongwei CountyTongwei County
Tongwei County is an administrative district in Gansu, the People's Republic of China. It is one of 58 counties of Gansu. It is part of the Dingxi prefecture, with the city of the same name being the prefecture seat...
), and his daughters were exiled to Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
. It is stated elsewhere that "all his family" (excluding, presumably, his wife and daughters) were exiled to Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
. Other Jahriya adherents were captured and exiled as well. Occasionally, mistakes were made, when many non-Jahriyya muslims (notably Ma Wuyi - the third leader of the Khufiyya) were caught and sent to the southwest (Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
etc.) as well.
Early succession
During his life, Ma Mingxin strongly criticized the competing Khufiyya order for passing its leadership from the order's founder, Ma LaichiMa Laichi
Ma Laichi , also known as Abu 'l-Futūh Ma Laichi, was a Sufi master, who brought the Khufiyya movement to China and created the Huasi menhuan - the earliest and most important Naqshbandi order in the history of Islam in China.-Afaq Khoja's blessing:Ma Laichi is a hybrid of Hui and Han Chinese...
, to his son, Ma Guobao. Ma Mingxin himself chose his own successor as the head of the Jahriyya based on his Islamic scholarship and piety; later on, the third leader of the order was chosen in a similar way.
Tian Wu's rebellion (1784)
Ma Mingxin's death did not stop conflicts in China's minority ethnic group muslim community, or those between the minority ethnic group muslims and the government. Three years after the death of Ma Mingxin, a Jahriyya akhund (imam) named Tian Wu, started a rebellion against the imperial government. It was centered in the eastern part of the then Gansu Province (including GuyuanGuyuan
Guyuan is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It occupies the southernmost section of the region.-Administrative divisions:-Geography and climate:...
, which is within today's Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
) - a very different, Dungan (Hui people) rather than Salar, region from the Xunhua County of the 1781 rebellion.
It took the Qing forces several months to quell Tian Wu's rebellion. As it happens too often during suppression of rebellions, many non-combatants perished as well; it is reported that Li Shiyao's forces executed over a thousand of women and children of in Jahriyya communities of Eastern Gansu. The Jahriyya was proscribed again, despite objections of some government officials (notably, one Fukang'an) who felt that a blanket prohibition would be counterproductive.
In view of modern historians, the suppression of Jahriyya was indeed counterproductive, since the dispersion of the order's throughout the country allowed them to widely popularize their idea among China's muslims. It also increased the attractiveness of the now-underground order to all muslims discontent with the government's policies.
This period was also characterized by the creation of Jahriyya literature. Written by the order's Akhunds in Persian, numerous miracle stories praised Ma Mingxin and his successors.
Relocation to Ningxia, and the Dungan Revolt
The nineteenth century brought significant changes to the Jahriyya. While the order's second and third leaders were selected primarily based on their abilities, the fourth shaikh, Ma Yide (late 1770s - 1849), who inherited the leadership position in 1817, was the son of the third. In this period, many Dungans (Hui people) joined in the Jahriyya, replaced the Salars as the basis of the order's social support.Although the 18th-century Jahriyya was primarily based in central Gansu, by the mid-19th century the order's activity was centered in the northern Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
(which in the 19th century was also part of Gansu Province), its headquarters being located in Jinjipu (金积堡), a few kilometers south from today's Wuzhong City. Under the leadership of Ma Yide and his successor, the order's fifth shaikh Ma Hualong (d. 1871), the town of Jinjipu became an important religious and commercial center, and the order's leaders grew wealthy thanks to the order's profitable participation in the caravan trade
Camel train
A camel train is a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points. Although they rarely travelled faster than the walking speed of a man, camels' ability to handle harsh conditions made camel trains a vital part of...
across Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
, between Baotou
Baotou
Baotou is a mid-sized industrial city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, its urban areas are home to a population of approximately 1.78 million, with a total population of over 2.65 million accounting for counties under...
, Huhhot and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
During the Dungan Revolt, which started in 1862, the Jahriyya led the rebellion in the Jahriyya-centered eastern parts of the 19th-century Gansu Province, i.e. today's Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
and easternmost sections of today's Gansu.
While the rebels elsewhere within the 19th-century borders of Gansu had been primarily controlled by their own, essentially independent leaders - notably, Ma Zhan'ao
Ma Zhan'ao
Ma Zhan’ao was a Chinese Muslim General who defected to the Qing Dynasty in 1872 during the Dungan revolt along with his General Ma Qianling and General Ma Haiyan who served under him during the revolt. He first sent Ma Chun to negotiate a surrender with General Zuo, but Zuo suspected a ruse. Ma...
in Hezhou (now Linxia), Ma Guiyuan in Xining
Xining
Xining is the capital of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has 2,208,708 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,198,304 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts.-History:...
, and Ma Wenlu in Suzhou
Suzhou District
The Suzhou District is an administrative district in Gansu, the People's Republic of China. It is one of 17 districts of Gansu.Suzhou District is part of the Jiuquan prefecture, and the seat of the prefecture government. Therefore, less-detailed modern maps typically mark Suzhou's location...
(Jiuquan
Jiuquan
- Suzhou town :The administrative center of the "prefecture-level city" of Jiuquan is the "District" of Suzhou , which occupies 3,386 square km in the eastern part of Jiuquan "prefecture-level city", and had a population of 340,000 as of 2002....
) - Jahriyya members participated in the rebellion throughout the region.
Ma was besieged in Jinjipu in July 1869 by the Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
forces led by General Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang , spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang in Wade-Giles and known simply as General Tso in the West, was a Chinese statesman and military leader in the late Qing Dynasty....
. After fortifications outside of the town itself had been captured by the government troops, and starvation started inside the walls, Ma Hualong surrendered in January 1871, hoping to spare the lives of his people. However, once Zuo's troops entered Jinjipu, a massacre followed. Over a thousand people lost their lives, and the town was destroyed. According to most accounts, Ma Hualong himself was executed on Zuo's orders on March 2, 1871, along with his son Ma Yaobang and over eighty Jahriyya officials. Many of his follwers fled to Middle Asia in afraid of the revenge from Han Chinese, while some choosed to hide among Dungan (Hui) communities in northeast China.
In the western section of the Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
Province, Jahriyya exiles - notably by the relatives of Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin was a Dungan Sufi master, the establisher of the Jahriyya Sufi order in China.-Names:Ma Mingxin's religious name was Ibrāhīm. After returning to China from Arabia he started calling himself 'Azīz.He was also called Muhammad Emin.-Life:A Persian-speaking Muslim from Gansu, Ma Mingxin...
exiled there after the suppression of the rebellion 1781 - was active as well. One of the Jahriyya leaders in Yunnan was Ma Shilin, said to be a direct descendant of Ma Mingxin himself. Ma Shilin traveled twice to Ningxia, visiting Ma Hualong in Jinjipu, and when Du Wenxiu started the Panthay Rebellion in Yunnan, Ma Shillin became one Du's commanders. After defending the fortress of Donggouzhai for a year against the Qing forces, he chose to commit suicide rather than to become a prisoner of the Qing.
Restoration under Ma Yuanzhang
After the disaster of Jinjipu, and the death or capture of most of Ma Hualong's family, it became the task of Ma Shilin's son, Ma Yuanzhang (the 1850s - 1920) to restore the Jahriyya. Ma Yuanzhang and his brothers survived the destruction of the Jahriyya leadership in Ningxia and Yunnan because their fathers had sent them to Sichuan, away from the fighting. Now, when the dust settled, Ma Yuanzhang and his brothers, disguised as merchants, traveled to Gansu to assess the situation.They discovered that two of Ma Hualong's grandsons, Ma Jincheng and Ma Jinxi, survived the disaster at Jinjipu. Imprisoned in Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
, the two boys were sentenced to be castrated
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
upon reaching the age of 12. Too late to save the older boy from ending his days as a eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
salve, Ma Yuanzhang managed to spirit away, intact, the younger one. This boy, Ma Jinxi, survived in hiding, until, years later, Ma Yuanzhang managed to obtain a pardon for him.
Meanwhile Ma Yuanzhang set himself up as a leather merchant. This allowed him to visit scattered Dungan Jahriyya communities all over eastern China, gaining the respect of the surviving members of the order. He married to a female relative of Ma Malaichi, thus solidifying his claim of legitimate succession. After yet another muslim rebellion in Gansu (this time triggered by the Salars and Dongxiangs who believe in the Khufiyya) blew up and was suppressed in 1895, Ma Yuanzhang returned to Gansu, and re-established the Jahriyya organization, now headquartered in Zhangjiachuan County, an area in eastern Gansu almost exclusively populated by the Dungan refugees from Shaanxi, resettled there by Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang , spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang in Wade-Giles and known simply as General Tso in the West, was a Chinese statesman and military leader in the late Qing Dynasty....
after the defeat of the Dungan Revolt in the early 1870s.
However, the pardoned Ma Jinxi felt himself to be the more legitimate successor of Ma Hualong; so he set up a rival Jahriyya organization, based in northern Ningxia, not far from his grandfather's former Jinjipu headquarters. A split within the Jahriyya followed, with some members becoming followers of Ma Jinxi, and others holding for Ma Yuanzhang.
Later history
The Jahriyya order continues to this day, even if in more moderate forms. Almost all its members are Dungans (Hui).In remembrance of Ma Mingxin, whose beard is said to have been shorn by government soldiers before his execution 1781, many Jahriyya members shave the sides of their beards.
In 1985, over 20,000 Hui Muslims
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
(Dungan) assembled at the site of Ma Mingxin's original (destroyed) tomb near Lanzhou
Lanzhou
Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. A prefecture-level city, it is a key regional transportation hub, allowing areas further west to maintain railroad connections to the eastern half of the country....
for a commemoration ceremony. The tomb has since been rebuilt.
See also
- History of the SoulHistory of the SoulHistory of the Soul, written by Zhang Chengzhi, is a work of narrative history spanning 172 years, which explores the personal and religious conflicts among the Jahriyya, a Sufi tariqah in Northwestern China...
, Zhang ChengzhiZhang ChengzhiZhang Chengzhi is a contemporary Hui Chinese author. Often named as the most influential Muslim writer in China, his historical narrative History of the Soul, about the rise of the Jahriyya Sufi order , was the second-most popular book in China in 1994.-Biography:Zhang was born in Beijing in 1948...
's historical narrative about the rise of the Jahriyya