Sufi orders

Sufi orders are socially important religious orders from the Muslim lands of Central Asia. Sufi orders provide Islamic teaching, religious guidance, and even armed protection to travellers. Students who have remained long enough with an order are given the opportunity to become fully-fledged initiates, after which step they are taught the esoteric teachings of the order. These esoteric teaching will also encompass the use of Islamic Magic (see pages 86-87 of the rule book).

Each Sufi order is named after its founder. The most active Sufi order in the areas close to Imperial China, and hence the one expected to play a major role in any Muslim-themed Celestial Empire campaign, is the Naqshbandiya, named after its founder Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari (1318–1389).

Sufism is frowned upon by conservative Muslims because of its perceived influences of Buddhist and Hindu mysticism, and of Nestorian and Manichæan monasticism.

Sufis also have some rather unorthodox practices like meditation, and pilgrimages to the tombs of saints.

Chinese Muslims

The history of Islam in China is briefly described in the rule book, pages 39-40. The following is an expansion to what is already written in The Celestial Empire.


The first Muslims arrived to China during the 7th century AD, travelling along the Silk Road. They were warmly received by the Chinese government, and they did gain a few converts in the north-western provinces. However, the main impact of early Islam in China was in the coastal cities that were major trade centres, such as Canton [Guǎngzhōu], Zayton [Quánzhōu], and Yángzhōu, which probably already had their first mosques built during the Tang Dynasty. The Huáishèng Mosque in Guǎngzhōu, for instance, is one of the oldest in the world. In these ports, Muslims were not Chinese converts but Arab and Persian traders. The Judge Dee novel Murder in Canton is precisely set against such a cosmopolitan background.

As mentioned in the rule book, ethnic Chinese Muslims (Huí 回) — as distinct from the Turkic-speaking ethnic groups of the Northwest — are descended primarily from Muslims who migrated to China during the Yuán dynasty, and who intermarried into the surrounding population while converting them to Islam, while they in turn assimilated in all aspects of Chinese culture, keeping only their distinctive religion.

Other Huí are descended from Nestorian Christians who converted to Islam after the 14th century, when Nestorianism was on the wane in China; other Huí yet are descended from Chinese Jews who converted to Islam, mainly in the 17th century.

As mentioned in the rule book, the main areas inhabited by the Huí are Gānsù and Yúnnán, thus splitting the Huí into Northern Huí and South-eastern Huí. The former are more restless, having been at the heart of many rebellions, most notably under the Qīng. The Northern Huí have also maintained strong links with Central Asian Islam, in particular with Central Asian Sufi schools and orders. Despite these links, the Northern Huí have also developed their own traditions, like synthesising Daoist teachings and martial arts practices with Sufi philosophy. The South-eastern Huí, on their side, have a much longer tradition of synthesising Confucian teachings with the Sharia and Koranic teachings, and of co-operating with the authorities. The South-eastern Huí have a history of contributing to the army and to the Confucian officialdom. The famous Chinese admiral Zhèng Hé, for instance, was a Huí from Yúnnán.

The Míng dynasty sees the rapid decline in the Muslim population in the sea ports because of the closing of all seaport trade with the outside world. However it also sees the rise of Muslim military generals, and the establishment of centres of Muslim learning in China. The Míng dynasty also gives rise to the already-mentioned admiral Zhèng Hé.

Muslims in China proper are given relative freedom by the authorities, with no restrictions placed on their religious practices or freedom of worship, and being normal subjects of the Emperor. Immigration slows down drastically, however, and the Muslims in China become increasingly isolated from the rest of the Muslim world, gradually becoming more Sinicised, adopting the Chinese language and Chinese dress. During this period, Muslims also begin to adopt Chinese surnames, e.g., Mǎ (馬) for Muhammad, as mentioned on p8 of the rule book.

As mentioned on p40 of the rule book, the Qīng dynasty is both a period of expansion (most notably of the Naqshabandi Sufi order) and of hardships (the 19th century rebellions and massacres) for the Huí. It is also a period of re-established links with Central Asia; many Huí migrate or flee to Sogdiana and Turkestan under the Qīng.

An interesting characteristic of the Huí is the ménhuàn (門宦), which is a Chinese-style Sufi order. Ménhuàn are thought of having originated from a synthesis of Confucianism and the clan system of China (see p101 of the rule book) with the Sufi orders. Ménhuàn are ruled by hereditary sheikhs.

Brilliant China-themed French comic books (cont'd)

OK; this comic book series is Belgian but still written in French. Apparently it's been translated to German but never to English. The author, Vink, was born in Vietnam but has lived in Belgium for the past 50 years or so. Still his comic books are almost always set in East Asia or in Southeast Asia and drawn with an obvious passion for that region.

The comic book series is actually made up of two consecutive series: Le Moine fou, in 10 volumes, and Les voyages de He Pao, in 5 volumes.

The stories are set in the Sòng dynasty, a troubled time for China — but then a perfect time for an action-packed comic book. The main character of both series is the orphan girl He Pao [Hé Bǎo 河寶], a martial artist raised by Buddhist nuns and intent on discovering the origins of the incredibly efficient wǔshù that she has been taught, and who her true parents were.

The Triad Society (Sānhéhuì 三合會)

Period of Time
Qīng

Description
excerpt from The Chinese by Sir John Francis Davies, 1836

The fraternities which are most dreaded by the government of China are those secret associations, under various mysterious names, which combine for for purposes either religious or political, or perhaps both together. The present weak state of the government renders it particularly jealous of all secret societies whatever, as well as cruel and unrelenting in punishing their leaders. But the chief object of its dread and persecution is the Sānhéhuì, or Triad Society, of which some description was given in 1823 by Dr. Milne. The name seems to imply that when Heaven, earth, and man combine to favour them, they shall succeed in subverting the present Tartar dynasty, and that, in the mean while, exertion is to be used to mature that event.

Dr. Milne's account of the Triad Society, whose nature and objects he took some pains to investigate, is so curious as to deserve particular notice. In the reign of Jiāqìng [reign years 1796–1820], the Triad Society, under another name, spread itself rapidly through the provinces, and had nearly succeeded in overturning the government. In 1803 its machinations were frustrated, and the principal leaders seized and put to death, the official reports stating to the emperor that "not a single members of that rebellious fraternity was left alive." But the fact was otherwise, for they still existed, and, with a view to secrecy, adopted the name which they at present bear.

The objects of the association appear at first to have been allied to something like freemasonry, and to have aimed simply at mutual aid and assistance; but as the numbers increased, their views degenerated from the laudable ends of reciprocal benefit to violence and robbery, the overthrow of government, and the acquisition of political power by the expulsion of the Tartar dynasty. In foreign colonies, as at Batavia, Singapore, and Malacca, the real or pretended branches of the association exist, and their objects are mutual defence, as well as plunder and other dishonesty. They engage to defend each other from the attacks of police officers, and to assist members of their society in escaping from justice. If any one feels himself injured, the others take part in his quarrel and help him to revenge himself.

The management of the combination is vested in three persons who are denominated gè, elder brethren. Of their internal discipline, Dr. Milne could obtain little information. The society's regulations are said to be written for greater secrecy on cloth, which on any emergency may be thrown into a well, or otherwise concealed for a time.

The ceremony of initiation is said to take place at night. The oath of secrecy is taken before an idol, and a sum of money given to support the general expense. There is likewise a ceremony called guò qiáo, "passing the bridge," which bridge is formed of swords, either laid between two tables, or else set up on the hilts and meeting at the points, in form of an arch. The persons who receive the oath take it under this bridge, and the chief brother reads the articles of the oath, to each of which an affirmative response is given by the new member, after which he cuts off the head of a cock, which is the usual form of a Chinese oath, intimating, "Thus perish all who divulge the secret." Some of the marks by which they make themselves known to each other consist of mystical numbers, of which the chief is the number three. Certain motions of the fingers constitute a class of signs. To discover if one of the fraternity is in company, a brother will take up his teacup, or its cover, in a particular way with three fingers, and this will be answered by a corresponding sign.

Members
The Triad Society originally attracted anti-Manchu patriots; it later evolved into a Mafia-style criminal brotherhood.


Requisites
- Must be sponsored by someone who is already a member of the secret society.
- The new member must be useful to the secret society, either through his wealth, or through his skills, or his influence...
- Knowledge (Streetwise) must be at least 60%

Benefits
- Financial benefits from the Triad Society's illegal activities
- Help from fellow members, incl. being smuggled abroad to lie low for a while
- New skill: Knowledge (Group: Triad Society) at a starting value of 10+3D6% - Can be used to find shelter, recognise fellow Triad members, etc. (see Description above)

Obligations
- Must help fellow members
- Must blindly obey orders from 'elder brethren' (gē)
- Risk of death penalty if caught by government agents

History of the Chinese language(s) - Yuán Period Chinese

Under the Yuán, the Chinese language undergoes yet again several major transformations, the most notable of which is its transformation into a family of languages from a single fragmented language.

In what will become the lands where Mandarin is spoken today, late Middle Chinese evolves into Proto-Mandarin Chinese. In the southern provinces, each regional dialect becomes a language in its own right, Mǐn much more so than the other ones.

These changes are probably made more dramatic by the harsh rule of the Mongols, who divide the Chinese into two peoples, Northerners and Southerners, with different rights. Chinese culture appeals less to the (foreign) élite, and thus more popular literary forms appear, such as Chinese drama (known as "Chinese opera" in the West), which is performed in vernacular Chinese. Story-telling also becomes extremely important under the Yuán, as do novels written in báihuà 白話 ('written vernacular').

From the Yuán on, there are two concurrent ways of writing Chinese: Literary Chinese (wényán), and Written vernacular Chinese (báihuà).