Jingtang Jiaoyu
Encyclopedia
Jingtang Jiaoyu literally meaning "scripture hall education", refers to a form of Islamic education developed in China or the method of teaching it, which is the practice of using Chinese character
s to represent the Arabic language
.
, Shaanxi, by Ahongs to Chinese Muslim students. The Quran and quranic texts are taught in this curriculum.
, especially Xi'an
. An example of this was Salam, being represented in Chinese characters as 赛俩目- sài liǎng mù. This system of Chinese characters enabled students to coarsely pronounce the Arabic language, rather using the characters to translate the meaning.
jingtang jiaoyuan contains elements from Classical Chinese Grammar with Arabic and Persian vocabulary, along with some dialectal Chinese vocabulary, saying all of the words in Classical Chinese grammar regardless of the proper vernacular Chinese, Arabic, or Persian word order.
Jingtang Jiaoyu has been severely criticized for prounouncing Arabic incorrectly. Due to the liminations of Chinese characters, it propagates wrong pronunciation in Arabic. Many Hui who used it said Salaam Aleikun instead of Salaam Alaikum.
The Hanafi Sunni Gedimu cling fiercely to Chinese customs and the Jingtang Jiaoyu method of education, refusing to pronounce Arabic correctly even when learning of the correct pronunciation. Hanafi Sunni Sunnaiti's (Yihewani adherents) criticize the Gedimu for practicing Islamic customs influenced by Chinese culture, including Jingtang Jiaoyu, Sunnaiti's pride themselves on speaking correct Arabic, accusing the Gedimu Muslims of practicing Han and Buddhist customs and "Chinese Arabic". One Sunnaiti Imam said of the Gedimu, "blindly followed the traditions of their ancestors".
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
s to represent the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
.
Islamic Education
Jingtang jiaoyu is the form of Sunni Islamic education taught in Xi'anXi'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...
, Shaanxi, by Ahongs to Chinese Muslim students. The Quran and quranic texts are taught in this curriculum.
Arabic Language
In jingtang jiaoyu Chinese characters are used to phonetically represent the Arabic language. Chinese sounds were used to pronounce Arabic, and it was widespread among Chinese Muslim students in the northwest province of ShaanxiShaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
, especially 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...
. An example of this was Salam, being represented in Chinese characters as 赛俩目- sài liǎng mù. This system of Chinese characters enabled students to coarsely pronounce the Arabic language, rather using the characters to translate the meaning.
jingtang jiaoyuan contains elements from Classical Chinese Grammar with Arabic and Persian vocabulary, along with some dialectal Chinese vocabulary, saying all of the words in Classical Chinese grammar regardless of the proper vernacular Chinese, Arabic, or Persian word order.
Jingtang Jiaoyu has been severely criticized for prounouncing Arabic incorrectly. Due to the liminations of Chinese characters, it propagates wrong pronunciation in Arabic. Many Hui who used it said Salaam Aleikun instead of Salaam Alaikum.
The Hanafi Sunni Gedimu cling fiercely to Chinese customs and the Jingtang Jiaoyu method of education, refusing to pronounce Arabic correctly even when learning of the correct pronunciation. Hanafi Sunni Sunnaiti's (Yihewani adherents) criticize the Gedimu for practicing Islamic customs influenced by Chinese culture, including Jingtang Jiaoyu, Sunnaiti's pride themselves on speaking correct Arabic, accusing the Gedimu Muslims of practicing Han and Buddhist customs and "Chinese Arabic". One Sunnaiti Imam said of the Gedimu, "blindly followed the traditions of their ancestors".