1、137Reader B H ui: Devout MulimsCompared with other ethnic groups in China, the Hui people have a bigger population.In white or blue hats, the Hui People can be seen almost everywhere in China:working hard and scrupulously adhering to their religious rules. Actually the majorityof Hui people live in
2、the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, some in Gansu, Xinjiang,Qinghai, Hebei, Henan, Yunnan, Shandong, Beijing and Tianjin. Today the Huipeople have a population of 9.81 million people.Chinese Hui people are pious Muslims and believe in the Islamic religion of the Sunnisect, praying five times a day in
3、 the direction of Mecca, saying shahadah. EveryFriday, they go to their mosque for a religious service and every year they have amonth-long Ramadan. A mosque is where they conduct their religious activities. AnyMuslim with conditions makes a pilgrimage to the sacred Mecca at least once in hislife ti
4、me. Apart from major religious holidays like Id al-Adha and Lesser Bairam, theyhave other religious occasions during the year.The Hui people abide by Islamic rules. Every year they have a month-long Ramadan,during which they can eat as much as they like before sunrise. However betweensunrise and sun
5、down, no food or drink is allowed, and personal desires of any kind,prohibited. Of course, babies, the weak, the aged, the sick and the pregnant areexceptions. The last day of Ramadan is Lesser Bairam which falls on the last day ofSeptember by the Islamic calendar. That morning Muslims gather in the
6、 mosque for areligious service before they start their celebration Id al-Adha is another majorholiday that falls on the tenth day in December by the Islamic calendar, meaning“butchering livestock for sacrifice.” During Id al-Adha, all Islamic families wouldclean up their houses. All families that po
7、ssess cattle would butcher some sheep,camels or oxen. In the morning of the festival, Islamic people would tidy their clothesafter taking a bath and listen to imams interpretation of Koran in the mosques. Afterprayers and rites, all the families will go to graveyard to pay tribute to their latebelov
8、ed on the day. Muslims observe many rules in life: no partaking of pork, horseand mule meat or animal blood, no partaking of dead poultry or anything notbutchered by an Islamic follower, and no baring of chests or arms before other people.The Islamic culture is apparent in its architecture, the mosq
9、ue (qing zhen si) being afine example. “Qing zhen” originally meant “simple and unadorned.” The ChineseHui people have added more to its content, being pure, unsullied and everlasting.Their mosque is a place with more than just one purpose, it is a place for the Huipeople to clean themselves, perfor
10、m religious ceremonies and hold religious classes tospread Islamic knowledge and to train Islamic workers. The Chinese Hui peoplesmosques fall in two categories: one in Arabic style with a dome on top, another intraditional Chinese architectural style, with upturned eaves and lock brackets. No138mat
11、ter what style, mosques are very clean inside, solemn and quiet, with paintedplants and relief engravings of Koran and Arabic square-shaped inscribed boards onwalls.Their residential houses look similar to those of local Han people. In the countrysidein Chinas northwest, most of their houses are one
12、 level-either cave dwellings orbrick-and-tile constructions. Most of their houses face south to receive maximumsunshine. In mountainous areas in south Ningxia, the Hui people like to add anotherfloor commonly called “tall houses.” The added space is for a religious purpose andfree from disturbance f
13、rom children. On the lintels of many houses, words fromKoran written in Arabic language, mostly being the eulogy to Allah, can be seen. Liketheir ancestors, the Hui people today still like to burn joss sticks, having moral guidesinside their main room, sutra basins on each side, and a Koran ready for a service.Burning joss sticks at home has a dual purpose: one for a pure place and the other toexpel evil air.
