Semu

Semu (Chinese: 色目; pinyin: sèmù) is the name of a caste established in China under the Yuan dynasty.

Name

Contrary to popular belief, the term "Semu" (interpreted literally as "color-eye") did not imply that caste members had "colored eyes" in contrast with brown-eyed Mongol Yuan people. It in fact meant "assorted categories" (各色名目, gè sè míng mù), emphasizing the ethnic diversity of Semu people.[1]

Classification

The Semu categories are pointed to people who come from Central and West Asia by Yuan dynasty, it is told that there are 31 categories among them. They had come to serve the Yuan dynasty by enfranchising under the dominant Mongol caste. The Semu were not a self-defined and homogeneous ethnic group per se, but one of the four castes of the Yuan dynasty: the Mongols, Semu (or Semuren), the "Han" (Hanren in Chinese, or all subjects of the former Jin dynasty, Dali Kingdom and Koreans) and the Southerners (Nanren in Chinese, or all subjects of the former Southern Song dynasty; sometimes called Manzi). Among the Semu were Buddhist Turpan Uyghurs, Tanguts and Tibetans; Nestorian Christian tribes like the Ongud; Alans; Muslim Central Asian Persian and Turkic peoples including the Khwarazmians and Karakhanids; West Asian Jewish and other minor groups who are from even further Europe.

While administratively classified as Semu, many of these groups rather referred to themselves by their self-aware ethnic identities in everyday life, such as Uyghur. Muslims, Persians, Karakhanids and Khwarazmians in particular, were actually mistaken to be Uyghurs or at least, "from the land of the Uyghurs". Therefore, they adopted the label conferred to them by the Chinese: "Huihui" (see Hui), which was a corruption of the name Uyghur, but at the same time distinguishable from the name reserved for Buddhist Turpan Uyghurs proper, "Weiwuer". Of the many ethnic groups classified as "Semu" during the Yuan, only the Muslim Hui managed to survive into the Ming period as a large collective identity with self-awareness of common identity spanning across the whole China.

Other ethnic groups were either small and confined to limited localities (such as the Buddhist Turpan Uyghurs in Wuling, Hunan, and the Babylonian Jewry of Kaifeng, see Kaifeng Jews), or were forced to assimilate into the Han Chinese or Muslim Huis (such as some Christian and Jewish Semu in the Northwest, who, though thoroughly Islamicized, still unto this day retain peculiar labels like "Black Cap/Doppa Huihui", "Blue Cap Huihui").

The historian Frederick W. Mote wrote that the usage of the term "social classes" for this system was misleading and that the position of people within the 4 class system was not an indication of their actual social power and wealth, but just entailed "degrees of privilege" to which they were entitled institutionally and legally so a person's standing within the classes was not a guarantee of their standing, since there were rich and well socially standing Chinese while there were less rich Mongol and Semu than there were Mongol and Semu who lived in poverty and were ill treated.[2]

The reason for the order of the classes and the reason why people were placed in a certain class was the date they surrendered to the Mongols, and had nothing to do with their ethnicity. The earlier they surrendered to the Mongols, the higher they were placed, the more the held out, the lower they were ranked. The Northern Chinese were ranked higher and Southern Chinese were ranked lower because southern China withstood and fought to the last before caving in.[3][4] Major commerce during this era gave rise to favorable conditions for private southern Chinese manufacturers and merchants.[5]

When the Mongols placed the Uighurs of the Kingdom of Qocho over the Koreans at the court the Korean King objected, then the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan rebuked the Korean King, saying that the Uighur King of Qocho was ranked higher than the Karluk Kara-Khanid ruler, who in turn was ranked higher than the Korean King, who was ranked last, because the Uighurs surrendered to the Mongols first, the Karluks surrendered after the Uighurs, and the Koreans surrendered last, and that the Uighurs surrendered peacefully without violently resisting.[6][7] Koreans were ranked as Han people along with northern Chinese.

Japanese historians like Uematsu, Sugiyama and Morita criticized the perception that a four class system existed under Mongol rule and Funada Yoshiyuki questioned the very existence of the Semu as a class.[8]

Korean women married Indian, Uyghur, and Turkic Semu men.[9] A rich merchant from the Ma'bar Sultanate, Abu Ali, was associated closely with the Ma'bar royal family. After falling out with them, he moved to Yuan dynasty China and received a Korean woman as his wife and a job from the Mongol Emperor.[10][11] Tamil Hindu Indian merchants traded in Quanzhou during the Yuan dynasty.[12][13][14][15][16] Indian Hindu statues were found in Quanzhou dating to this period.[17]

Lineages

Among the Huihui, or Hui, there were in fact Muslim lineages that have migrated to China via Central Asia or by sea route prior to the Yuan migration of merchants, adventurers, craftsmen and service men from the Muslim World to China. These Muslims were not previously known as Hui, but have come to associate themselves with the "Muslims from the land of the Uyghurs" by the mere fact of common religious identity. "Hui" has thus become synonymous with the Islamic religion in the Chinese language since the Ming period (but not before that). Besides identifying themselves as Huis, the Semu Muslims of the Yunnan province, especially those descended from the Khwarazmian statesman Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, or Sayyid Ajjal, came to be labeled as Panthay wherever they migrated to in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

This name Panthay is particular to the Yunnan Huis and is not shared by Huis in other parts of China such as Fujian and Ningxia. Zheng He is probably the best-known Panthay Hui in the West. The learned Semu, including scribes, interpreters and statesmen who served the Mongol military class, were known for their contributions to Chinese literature and sciences. Many of them became masters of Chinese poetry and also helped compose state-commissioned historical works on previous dynasties. Their privileged position in the Yuan bureaucracy was in part due to the Mongol military class's distrust of the native Khitay and Manji subjects. One such Yuan Semu mandarin and poet was Guan Yunshi, a Turk of disputed origin.

Soldiers

After the fall of the Yuan, many Semu intellectuals and soldiers, due to their less entrenched loyalty to the Mongols, also became quickly assimilated into the Ming political culture and became prominent mandarins and aristocrats. Some no longer retained separate ethnic identity and became Han Chinese, others still served the Ming court as Muslim Huis. The Ming court's tolerance for loyal Muslims and respect for their practices and ethnic identity partially explains the strength and vitality of the Muslim Hui community in modern China, compared to other Semu groups such as the Christians and Jews.

Similar practices in other areas of the Mongol Empire

At the same time the Mongols imported Central Asian Muslims to serve as administrators in China, the Mongols also sent Han Chinese and Khitans from China to serve as administrators over the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central Asia, using foreigners to curtail the power of the local peoples of both lands.[18] Han Chinese were moved to Central Asian areas like Besh Baliq, Almaliq, and Samarqand by the Mongols where they worked as artisans and farmers.[19] Alans were recruited into the Mongol forces with one unit called "Right Alan Guard" which was combined with "recently surrendered" soldiers, Mongols, and Chinese soldiers stationed in the area of the former Kingdom of Qocho and in Besh Balikh the Mongols established a Chinese military colony led by Chinese general Qi Kongzhi (Ch'i Kung-chih).[20]

After the Mongol conquest by Genghis Khan, foreigners were chosen as administrators and co-management with Chinese and Qara-Khitays (Khitans) of gardens and fields in Samarqand was put upon the Muslims as a requirement since Muslims were not allowed to manage without them.[21]

The Mongol appointed Governor of Samarqand was a Qara-Khitay (Khitan), held the title Taishi, familiar with Chinese culture his name was Ahai[22]

Discrimination

Yuan dynasty

Genghis Khan and the following Yuan emperors forbade Islamic practices like Halal butchering, forcing Mongol methods of butchering animals on Muslims, and other restrictive degrees continued. Muslims had to slaughter sheep in secret.[23] Genghis Khan directly called Muslims and Jews "slaves", and demanded that they follow the Mongol method of eating rather than the halal method. Circumcision was also forbidden. Jews were also affected, and forbidden by the Mongols to eat Kosher.[24][25] Toward the end, corruption and the persecution became so severe that Muslim Generals joined Han Chinese in rebelling against the Mongols. The Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang had Muslim Generals like Lan Yu who rebelled against the Mongols and defeated them in combat. Some Muslim communities had the name in Chinese which meant "barracks" and also mean "thanks"; many Hui Muslims claim it is because that they played an important role in overthrowing the Mongols and it was named in thanks by the Han Chinese for assisting them.[26]

The Muslims in the semu class also revolted against the Yuan dynasty in the Ispah Rebellion but the rebellion was crushed and the Muslims were massacred by the Yuan loyalist commander Chen Youding. After the massacre, the remaining Jews and Muslims escaped. Some were back to their own country, but some like Jews escaped to Guangdong.

Ming dynasty

After expelling the Mongols, the Ming dynasty was soon founded. Because of the Semu' help, some of them were being employed into the central government. However, the Ming dynasty enforced assimilation to Chinese customs, such as banning used their own languages, customs, names and instead switching to speaking Chinese and using Chinese names and intermarrying with Han people.

The aim for it is to reduce Semu's population since Semu was in the second class in Yuan and used to help the Mongols.[27] Some Hui claim that the order was secretly done by the Ming Hongwu Emperor to protect them from attacks since they stood out while they thought Zhu was a Hui too.

Indeed, Zhu was not a Hui while at that time only the Semu used this name. But in the middle period of Ming Dynasty, the royalties separated Semu into different groups while the groups as Muslims and Tibetans were still many. The Islam and Tibetan religions have survived until today. But the minority groups such as Jews, most of their customs were no more, leaving them into the Han group. This separation continued until the establishment of the Republic of China. Although the Communist Party of China founded the "People's Republic", Chinese are scientifically separated into more groups which is now determined to be as many as 56 different ethnic groups. Some people claim that this number is higher than the periods before.

The new separation doesn't mean there are only 56 ethnic groups. This list doesn't include small populations like Jewish. Even if such ethnicities are so few in numbers, they still continue to exist in China.

The Ming dynasty allowed Islam and Judaism to be practiced and issued edicts that said they conformed to Confucianism while it banned religions such as Nestorian Christianity, Manicheanism and the White Lotus sect. Nestorian Christianity and Manicheanism died out during the Ming dynasty while Islam and Judaism were protected.

Around 1376 the 30-year-old Chinese merchant Lin Nu visited Ormuz in Persia, converted to Islam, and married a Semu girl (“娶色目女”) (either a Persian or an Arab girl) and brought her back to Quanzhou in Fujian.[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] The Confucian philosopher Li Zhi was their descendant.[44] This was recorded in the Lin and Li geneaology《林李宗谱》.

The Uyghurs of Taoyuan are the remnants of Uyghurs from Turpan from the Kingdom of Qocho.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lipman, Jonathan Neaman (1998). Familiar strangers: a history of Muslims in Northwest China. Hong Kong University Press. p. 33. ISBN 962-209-468-6.
  2. ↑ Mote 2003, p. 492.
  3. ↑ ed. Zhao 2007, p. 265.
  4. ↑ Bakhit 2000, p. 426.
  5. ↑ Ford 1991, p. 29.
  6. ↑ ed. Rossabi 1983, p. 247.
  7. ↑ Haw 2014, p. 4.
  8. ↑ Funada 2010, pp. 1-21.
  9. ↑ David M. Robinson (2009). Empire's Twilight: Northeast Asia Under the Mongols. Harvard University Press. pp. 315–. ISBN 978-0-674-03608-6.
  10. ↑ Angela Schottenhammer (2008). The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 138–. ISBN 978-3-447-05809-4.
  11. ↑ SEN, TANSEN. 2006. “The Yuan Khanate and India: Cross-cultural Diplomacy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries”. Asia Major 19 (1/2). Academia Sinica: 317. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41649921.
  12. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece
  13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gcb643uVtSc
  14. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gcb643uVtSc#t=0
  15. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01523/TH20_PAGE_1_ANANTH_1523758g.jpg
  16. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01523/TH20_PAGE_ANANTH_S_1523759g.jpg
  17. ↑ http://travel.cnn.com/quanzhou-chinas-forgotten-historic-port-258149/
  18. ↑ BUELL, PAUL D. (1979). "SINO-KHITAN ADMINISTRATION IN MONGOL BUKHARA". Journal of Asian History. Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 137–8. JSTOR 41930343.
  19. ↑ Biran 2005, p. 96.
  20. ↑ Morris Rossabi (1983). China Among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10th-14th Centuries. University of California Press. pp. 255–. ISBN 978-0-520-04562-0.
  21. ↑ E.J.W. Gibb memorial series. 1928. p. 451.
  22. ↑ E.J.W. Gibb memorial series. 1928. p. 451.
  23. ↑ Michael Dillon (1999). China's Muslim Hui community: migration, settlement and sects. Richmond: Curzon Press. p. 24. ISBN 0-7007-1026-4. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  24. ↑ Donald Daniel Leslie (1998). "The Integration of Religious Minorities in China: The Case of Chinese Muslims" (PDF). The Fifty-ninth George Ernest Morrison Lecture in Ethnology. p. 12. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  25. ↑ Johan Elverskog (2010). Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road (illustrated ed.). University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 340. ISBN 0-8122-4237-8. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  26. ↑ Dru C. Gladney (1991). Muslim Chinese: ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic (2, illustrated, reprint ed.). Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University. p. 234. ISBN 0-674-59495-9. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  27. ↑ 马, 明达. "回族研究".
  28. ↑ Association for Asian studies (Ann Arbor;Michigan) (1976). A-L, Volumes 1-2. Columbia University Press. p. 817. ISBN 0-231-03801-1. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  29. ↑ Chen, Da-Sheng. "CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS vii. Persian Settlements in Southeastern China during the T'ang, Sung, and Yuan Dynasties". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  30. ↑ Li Guang-qi, “Li-shi shi-xi tu” (Genealogical list of the Li lineage), in Rong-shah Li-shi zu-pu (Genealogy of the Li lineage of Rong-shan), ms., Quan-zhou, 1426.
  31. ↑ Joseph Needham (1971). Science and civilisation in China, Volume 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 495. ISBN 0-521-07060-0. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  32. ↑ Association for Asian Studies. Ming Biographical History Project Committee, Luther Carrington Goodrich, Chao-ying Fang (1976). Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644. Columbia University Press. p. 817. ISBN 0-231-03801-1. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
  33. ↑ Hung, Ming-Shui (1974). Yüan Hung-tao and the late Ming literary and intellectual movement (reprint ed.). University of Wisconsin-Madison. p. 222. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  34. ↑ Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft: ZDMG, Volume 151. Contributor Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft. Kommissionsverlag F. Steiner. 2001. p. 420. Retrieved 25 August 2014. horizontal tab character in |others= at position 12 (help)
  35. ↑ Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft: ZDMG, Volume 151. Contributor Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft. Kommissionsverlag F. Steiner. 2001. p. 422. Retrieved 25 August 2014. horizontal tab character in |others= at position 12 (help)
  36. ↑ Asian culture, Issue 31. Contributor Singapore Society of Asian Studies. 新加坡亚洲研究学会. 2007. p. 59. Retrieved 25 August 2014. horizontal tab character in |others= at position 12 (help) The translator mistranslated xiyang (western ocean) as xiyu (western region) and mistranslated semu as "purple eyed". Original Chinese text says 洪武丙展九年,奉命发舶西洋,娶色目人.遂习其俗,终身不革. And 奉命發舶西洋;娶色目女,遂習其俗六世祖林駑, ...
  37. ↑ Wang Tai Peng. "Zheng He and his Envoys’ Visits to Cairo in 1414 and 1433" (PDF). p. 17. Retrieved 25 August 2014.The translator mistranslated xiyang (western ocean) as xiyu (western region) and mistranslated semu as "purple eyed". Original Chinese text says 洪武丙展九年,奉命发舶西洋,娶色目人.遂习其俗,终身不革. And 奉命發舶西洋;娶色目女,遂習其俗六世祖林駑, ...
  38. ↑ 侯外庐. "李贽生平的战斗历程及其著述". 国学网. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  39. ↑ 蔡庆佳, ed. (2009-08-30). "多元的泉州社会——以伊斯兰文化融合为例". 学术研究-学习在线. 来源： 学习在线. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  40. ↑ 林其賢 (1988). 李卓吾事蹟繫年. 文津出版社. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  41. ↑ 陳清輝 (1993). 李卓吾生平及其思想研究. 文津出版社. ISBN 9576681480. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  42. ↑ 陈鹏 (1990). 中国婚姻史稿. 中华书局. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  43. ↑ 海交史研究, Volumes 23-24. Contributors 中国海外交通史研究会, 福建省泉州海外交通史博物馆. 中国海外交通史研究会. 1993. p. 134. Retrieved 25 August 2014. horizontal tab character in |others= at position 13 (help)
  44. ↑ Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft: ZDMG, Volume 151. Contributor Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft. Kommissionsverlag F. Steiner. 2001. pp. 420, 422. Retrieved 25 August 2014. horizontal tab character in |others= at position 12 (help)
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