A 17th-century Qur’an from China in the British Library recently attracted much interest in a belated Eid show-and-tell arranged for the local community. This provides an ideal opportunity to go into more detail about the British Library’s collection of Chinese Qur’ans.
Visitors are always surprised when we show them a Chinese Qur’an, as they don’t automatically associate Islam with China. But in the eighth century, Muslim merchants were already trading in China and a community is known to have been established in Xi’an, where a mosque was built in 742. The impact of Islam in China was, however, not strongly felt until several centuries later during the Song and Yuan dynasties: the network of routes, known as the Silk Road, became the conduit for the spread of religious and cultural influences as well as for goods and merchandise.
Chinese Qur’ans were often produced in 30-volume sets rather than in a single-volume codex, and many of our Chinese Qur’ans are sections (juz’) from a number of different 30-volume sets. The script used was a variation of muḥaqqaq and penned in a way that suggests that the pen strokes were influenced by Chinese calligraphy. This is often referred to as sīnī (“Chinese”) Arabic. A central panel is a prominent feature of Chinese Qur’ans on their decorated pages, which usually contain as few as three lines of text, with only a few words on each.
The assimilation of local traditions in Islamic manuscripts produced in areas not normally associated with the art of Islamic calligraphy and illumination is evident in Chinese Qur’ans. While the illumination and decoration have the same function in all Qur’ans, the influence of local style and culture is manifest, without infringing Islamic practice in sacred art. The adaptation of symbols common to Chinese art and culture is therefore felt very strongly. In the final opening of a 17-century Qur’an, a lantern motif has become the visual vehicle for the text in the diamond design in the centre of the lantern. The impression of a Chinese lantern is further reinforced by pendulous tassels attached to the hooks on the outer side of the structure.
In the same Qur’an a decorative leaf, exemplifying the use of local flora, functions as a section marker indicating the halfway point in part six of a 30-volume set.
Chinese Qur’ans often incorporate vibrant colours and gold for typical motifs such as crescents and banners. The impression of petals in the shamsah (sunburst) illumination below is produced by the intricate design of overlapping circles.
Chinese influence is also visible in the swirling lettering of the basmalah inscription in this shamsah medallion occurring in an 18th-century Qur’an, Or.14758, part 10 of a 30-volume set.
An unusual Qur’an is a 19th-century volume of selections accompanied by a Chinese translation (IO Islamic 3440). The Chinese translations are placed sometimes at the beginning, sometimes at the end, sometimes in the middle of the lines and occasionally between them.
This Qur’an has an interesting history. It was presented to the India Office Library in 1883 by Hugh W Gabbett, whose father Lt (later Major General) William M Gabbett of the Madras Horse Artillery was Lord Gough’s aidedecamp when Amoy (Xiamen) was taken in 1841 during the First Opium War. A faded note in pencil on folio 1r by William Gabbett describes it as “A Koran found by me at” Amoy found in the Admiral’s House WM Gabbett” and “The most valuable Book yet found in China. WMG.”
This article first appeared on the British Library’s Asian and African Studies blog.