Sufi Theory in Chinese

Abstract

There are only four Islamic texts on theology and philosophy which are known to have been translated into Chinese before the twentieth century. One of them, Ashiʿʿat al-lamaʿāt, Jāmī’s commentary on Fakhr al-Dīn ʿIrāqī’s Lamaʿāt, was translated by She Yunshan. He was one of the earliest members of the school of thought known as “the Muslim Confucianists.” In this article, I will present a few examples from Yunshan’s translation, who is also known by the penname Ponachi, in order to illustrate the elegance of his understanding of the universal dimensions of Sufism.

Keywords

• She Yunshan
• Ponachi
• ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī
• the Rays of the Flashes

Çin Dilinde Tasavvuf Düşüncesi

Öz

Yirminci yüzyıldan önce Çinceye tercüme edildiği bilinen sadece dört adet dinî-tasavvufî metin bulunmaktadır. Bunlardan biri, Mollâ Câmî’nin Fahreddîn Irākî’nin Lema‘ât adlı eserine yazdığı şerh olan Eşia‘‘tü’l-lema‘ât’tır. Eserin mütercimi olan She Yunshan, “Müslüman Konfüçyanistler” olarak bilinen düşünce okulunun ilk üyelerinden biridir. Bu makalede, “Ponachi” mahlasıyla da tanınan Yunshan’in sözü edilen tercümesinden birkaç örnek sunarak, onun tasavvufun evrensel boyutlarına dair sahip olduğu derin anlayışı göstermeye çalışacağım.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• She Yunshan
• Ponachi
• Abdurrahmân Câmî
• Eşia‘‘tü’l-lema‘ât

References

1. Benite, Zvi Ben-Dor. The Dao of Muhammad: A Cultural History of Muslims in Late Imperial China. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2005.
2. Murata, Sachiko. Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light: Wang Tai-yü’s Great Learning of the Pure and Real and Liu Chih’s Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm. Albany: SUNY Press, 2000.