Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the urban life experiences of Hui Muslims in northwest China. It elucidates how the dynamic between the ethnographer and Hui Muslims is situated within a complex and contested space, wherein political agenda, ethno-cultural boundaries, and religious distinctiveness are decisive.

Paper long abstract:

Since mid-2019, the Hui Muslims of the Hui Fang Jamaat in Xi'an city have confronted with a political imperative aimed at "Sinicizing Islam." This initiative not only embodies a political directive but also reflects the collective disposition of the mainstream Han ethnicity toward the Hui Muslims. Specifically, this Muslim enclave, which heavily relies on ethnic tourism, has faced explicit political mandates, including the removal of Arabic language signage from shop signboards and the demolition of mosque domes. This has intensified tensions surrounding the pre-existing ethnic boundaries. However, it is erroneous to presume a clear demarcation between the Hui and mainstream society. Instead, the distinctiveness of Hui ethnicity, as the second largest Muslim group of ten million people whose lineage originates from intermarriages between Han Chinese and Arabic traders three centuries ago, has resulted in a considerable assimilation into mainstream society. This is evident in their physical appearance, language, and socio-economic patterns, largely resembling those of their Han counterparts. Hence, a Han researcher cannot be easily classified as either purely insider or outsider, but rather occupies a perpetual liminal space of "between and betwixt". As a segment of them become indifference to their religious significance, evidencing by enforcing as grassroots governmental officials that political imperative which ensues internal discord. It thus becomes imperative for the researcher to continuously reassess the relational dynamics and navigate this ongoing "tug-of-war which has determined the (self-)reflective nature and substantive content of the fieldwork, and the fluid positions of the researcher within the context.