Wang Daiyu

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Wang Daiyu ( Chinese  王 岱 輿 , Pinyin Wáng Dàiyú , W.-G. Wang Tai-yü ; † probably 1657/58) was a Chinese Muslim scholar. He is the author of a major work and several smaller works in Chinese .

Life

The date of birth is unknown. All that is known is that he called himself an old man in 1642 . According to his own statements, his ancestor came from Arabia ( Tianfang Hung-wu ).

Wang completed his studies of Islam mainly in Arabic and Persian . Because of his detailed explanations on Taoism and Buddhism , his works were often criticized by his readership, whereas he thought this was necessary in order to bring Islam closer to people who had no knowledge of the Islamic linguistic and cultural area. Mainly he wanted to reach mainly educated, Chinese Muslims. Because of his knowledge of astronomy, he was employed at the Imperial Institute for Astronomy in Nanjing . He was later followed by his sons and grandchildren in office.

Works (selection)

• Zhengjiao zhenquan ("The Real Commentary on True Doctrine"), Nanking, 1642
• Zhenquan yaolu (also published as another version of Cheng-chiao chen-ch'iian ), 1864
• Qingzhen daxue ("The Great Learning of the Pure and Real"), date of first publication unknown

literature

• Sachiko Murata: Article Wang Tai-Yu in: The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume 11, Brill: Leiden, 2002, p. 136f online
• Bai Shouyi, article in: Huizu renwu zhi , Ningxia, 1992
• Hu Fan: Islam in Shaanxi: Past and Present. Diss. Bonn 2008 ( online )
• Murata, Sachiko: Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light: Wang Tai-yu's Great Learning of the Pure and Real and Liu Chih's Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm (with a New Translation of Jami's Lawa'ih from the Persian by William C. Chittick) . Albany (New York): State University of New York Press, 2000.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hu Fan: Islam in Shaanxi: Past and Present. P. 172 (PDF file)

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Wang is the family name here, Daiyu is the first name.