The second stage of the movement of translating and writing scriptures into Chinese began from the time Ma Zhu translated his “Islamic Guidebook” to the time when Jin Tianzhu finished his “Answers to Doubts on Islam”? The movement was pushed to its peak in this period by intellectuals and their works withLiu Zhi as the most outstanding one. The movement also extended to other places, not only being limited in the area around Nanjing and Suzhou any more. The mainstream of the movement came to be connected closely with Confucian thoughts. The object of the movement was turned to the outside spheres of Islam, hoping to eliminate others religions‘ doubts of Islam and gain understanding and support from the feudal ruling class and scholar-officials. Thus, the audience and object of the movement changed from those either illiterate or those who only read Islamic scriptures to those who were well versed in the three religions. As a result, the pure Islamic nature of the translated and written works was not in existence any more, and was replaced by a form of obvious combination of Islam with Confucianism, which presented dual characteristics of both religions. The Islamic scholars in this period stopped criticizing Confucian thoughts but emphasized the common ground between Islam and Confucianism, advocating learning both Islam and Confucianism.
The representative figures of this period and their works are: Ma Zhu, with his “Islamic Guidebook”; Liu Zhi, with his “Arabian Principles of Nature”, “Arabian Ceremonies”, “Life of the Greatest Prophet of All”; Jin Tianzhu, with his “Answers to Doubts on Islam”; Ma Boliang, with his “A Sketch of IslamicLaw“; Mi Wanji, with his ”Thoughts on Islamic Institutions“? Among all the works mentioned above, the ones by Liu Zhi were of the greatest influence, being considered as the representative works that pushed the movement of expounding Islam with Confucian thoughts to the peak. His ”Arabian Ceremonies“ was cataloged in ”complete Collection in Four Treasuries“ as the only Islamic book selected, being thought highly by scholars of both the Huis and the Hans. As the social situation changed, the third stage of themovement of translating and writing scriptures in Chinese took on new characteristics different from the first two stages.
As colonial powers invaded in 1840, China was reduced to a semi-colony; traditional Confucian thought and culture was greatly impacted. The failures of two uprisings of the Huis and the two cases of literary inquisition related to Islam halted the movement of translating and writing scriptures in Chinese for dozens of years. The center of the movement was transferred to Yunnan, and the subject was expanded to astronomy, geography, literature and Qur"an translation from theology, religious philosophy, religious system and doctrine, becoming much more extensive. The content of the translating and writing came to focus on propagandizing Islamic theory on the hereafter, mysticism and the thoughts on nourishing one"s inborn nature. This was much more closely related to Confucianism.
The representative figures of this period and their works are: Ma Dexin, with his “Ending of Creation”, “Concise Four- Aspect Exposition of Islam”, “Guide to Healthy Life”, “What Islam Is” and “Explanations to Prayers”; Ma Lianyuan, with his “Annals of Truth”, Lan Xu, with his “Right Learning of Arabia”? The revised and enlarged edition of “Answers to Doubts on Islam” was completed in this period, too. “Islamic Way” appeared inthis period and was of special value for it sketched out Dhikr, one of the major courses practiced by mystics in Islam. As the third stage concluded, the whole movement of translating and writing scriptures in Chinese that pursued the combination of Islamic with Confucian thoughts and cultures came to an end.
The movement of expounding scriptures with Confucianism exerted great influence upon Islam in China and made a tremendous contribution to its development. Since Du Huan wrote a brief introduction to Islam in Chinese in his “Jing Xing Ji” (Where I Traveled) in the Tang Dynasty for the first time, a few scholars, both Hui and Non-Hui, also touched Islam and tried to interpret its doctrine within the terms of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. However, they only provided very simple information on Islam, far from being enough. With the strenuous efforts of Hui scholars for generations, starting from Wang Daiyu, tremendous accomplishments were achieved in the movement of translating and writing scriptures in Chinese. Using Confucian terms and thoughts, they made profound studies on Islamic doctrine, leading to the breaking of the estrangement between Islam and Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the sphere of ideology. By absorbing the thoughts of other religions, Islamic doctrine and philosophy was broadened and the influence of Islamin China was enlarged as well. The long-lasting situation of tripartite confrontation of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism came to an end as a result and a new sphere of ideology was opened in China. The Islamic philosophy on human nature and rationality was combined with that of Confucianism in the movement of translating and writing scriptures in Chinese, which enriched the content of this sphere in the history of Chinese ideology.
