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Muslim population of mainland China: an estimateSyed Khalil Chisti aa Scientific Adviser , King Abdulaziz University , JeddahPublished online: 20 Mar 2007.

To cite this article: Syed Khalil Chisti (1979) Muslim population of mainland China: an estimate, Institute of Muslim MinorityAffairs. Journal, 1:2, 75-85, DOI: 10.1080/02666957908715795

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Muslim Population of Mainland China: An Estimate

Syed Khalil Chisti

IntroductionPrior to the 1900 occupation of Peking by European powers, most estimatesabout the number of Muslims in China were provided either by ChineseMuslims visiting abroad or by Christian missionaries.1 Since material evidencewas collected mainly by missionaries greater credence was given to theseestimates. In any case, during Imperial days facts about Muslim numbers werenot easily forthcoming. The situation has not much changed since then. Nobreakdown by religious affiliation is still available about the Chinesepopulation. Lack of contact with the outside world has compounded theproblem.2 However, we know that during different dynasties Muslimsoccupied important positions. Besides being renowned as military leaders,they were governors of important provinces, scientists, traders and farmers.3

In the acquired territories of Chinese Turkestan they had been independentrulers. In all major Chinese cities Muslims had an adequate number of mosquesand other religious facilities so much so that in the late 19th century a Russianwriter surmised that "Mohammadanism might become the national faith ofChina.4

Early Records of Chinese Muslim PopulationIn the preface to Marshall BroomhaH's book Islam in China, published in 1910,the World Missionary Conference noted that the book

has set before the Christian world the present-day aspect of a great andlargely unknown subject. The accessible Muslim population of China islarger than the Muslim population of Egypt, Persia or Arabia* and yetnothing particularly has been done for them, and their presence has beenalmost ignored by the Missionary Movement.5

The book relying on several sources set down the following estimates of theMuslim population of China (See Table I on page 76).

M. de Thiersant's estimate of 20 million (Table I) for 1878 was challenged byothers and he was accused of exaggeration from the pulpit. However, he wasfollowed by two Chinese Muslim visitors to Cairo, Syed Sulaiman and AbdurRahman, who placed Chinese Muslim population at 70 million and 34 millionrespectively. No data for the total Chinese population is available prior to 1900.In this year Peter Flemming estimated the total Chinese population at350,000,000.7 In 1910 the Statesman Year Book gave the total Chinesepopulation as 426,045,305.8 We have no means of authenticating either ofthese figures.

* Arabia at that time included Palestine, Lebanon. Syria. Iraq. Jordan. Yemen and the GulfStates.

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TABLE 1

Muslim Population of China 1870-19106

1

2

3—4—

5—6—

Year

18701878189419061907

1910

Author

Archimoderite PalladiusM. de ThiersantSyedSulaimanAbdur Rahman

Sarat Chandra DasMarshall Broomhall

Muslim population

4,000,00020,000,00070,000,00034,000,00050,000,0009,821,000

Our next source in historical sequence is S. C. Das, a Bengali Hindu. Heplaced Muslim population in China at 50,000,000.

Apart from these estimates, two others need to be noted. E. M. Wherry,following Das, quoted a figure of 50 million for the Muslim population ofChina. 9 A. H. Keane, whose figures were relied on by the Statesman YearBook gave a figure of 30 million.10

The figures in Table I if computed on the basis of the 1900 total Chinesepopulation as provided by Flemming would give the percentage of Muslimpopulation as follows:

TABLE II

Percentage of Muslim Population 1900

Year

187018781894190619071910

AuthorPalladiusThiersantSulaiman

RahmanDasBroomhall

MuslimPopulation

4,000,00020,000,00070,000,00034,000,00050,000,0009,821,000

% MuslimPopulation

Not computedNot computed

20.09.7

14.22.5

If based on the 1910 Statesman Year Book estimate of 426,045,305 for thetotal Chinese population, the percentage of Muslims for the years in questionwould amount to:

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TABLE ID

Percentage of Muslim Population 1910

Year

187018781894190619071910

Author

PalladiusThiersantSulaimanRahmanDasBroomhall

MuslimPopulation

4,000,00020,000,00070,000,00034,000,00050,000,0009,821,000

% MuslimPopulation

Not computedNot computed

16.48.5

11.72.1

Broomhall's estimates of the Muslim population actually varied from aminimum of 4,727,000 to a maximum of 9,821,000 (Table IV). But even hismaximum figure does not compute to 3 per cent of the total Chinesepopulation. Both Muslim as well as other sources are at variance with thisestimate that in 1910 the Muslim population of China on the maximum was lessthan 3 per cent of the total Chinese population.

Marshall Broomhall's Book Islam in China was published with the aim ofcountering the "Muslim menace in the East".11 After quoting the variousestimates of Muslim population in China, he set about disputing andchallenging these estimates. He prepared an estimate from his correspondencewith eight hundred missionaries residing in China. It appears that only twohundred of his correspondents actually responded. Nevertheless, he was ableto set down the following estimates of the Muslim population in China byprovinces: :

TABLEIV

Summary of Mohammadan Population of Chinese EmpireBy Marshall BroomhaW2

1910

Province

KansuShensiShansiChihliShantungHonanKiangsuSzechwanKwichowYunnan

Minimum

2,000,00026,00025,000

500,000100,000200,000250,000100,00010,000

300,000

Maximum

3,500,000500,00025,000

1,000,000200,000250,000250,000250,00020,000

1,000,000

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TABLE IV (Continued)Summary of Mohammadan Population of Chinese Empire

1910

Province

HupehKiangsiAnhweiChekiangHunanKwangtungKwangsiFukien

ManchuriaSinkiangMongolia

Minimum

10,0002,500

40,0007,500

20,00020,00015,0001,000

3,627,000

50,0001,000,000

50,000

4,727,000

Maximum

10,0002,500

40,0007,500

20,00025,00020,000

1,000

7,121,000

200,0002,400,000

100,000

9,821,000

Some of these estimates were questioned by other Western authorities,particularly or the provinces of Shansi, Shantung, Honan, Kiangsu, Hupeh,Anhwei and Manchuria.13 Claude L. Pickens, writing in 1936, was probably tothe point when he said that:

there are certainly more Muslims in the old Chinese Empire thanmissionaries have been willing to concede. Though M. de Thiersant hasbeen accused of exaggeration, the facts before us today make his estimateseem nearer the truth. Cities and districts which have formerly beenconsidered as having no Muslims now1 are shown, in some cases, to havelarge thriving communities.14

In spite of this apparent fallacy, Broomhall introduced one helpful factor inl]is calculations. He gave the number of Muslims according to provinces. Buthere too he placed the Sinkiang Muslim population at 2,400,000 whichcomputes to 21-24 per cent of the total Chinese Muslim population(9,821,0000). Whereas in 1933 the Chinese Ministry of Information revealedthe number of Muslims in Sinkiang to be 4,360,000 which would compute to 5per cent of the total Muslim population of China (See Table V opposite).

Chinese Muslim Population, 1935-1979There is a gap of twenty-five years from 1910 to 1935 in our knowledge of thenumber of Chinese Muslims. However, in 1935-36 there appeared two ChineseYear Books in English. One published by the North China Daily News, whichgave an estimate of 15-20 million Muslims in China. The second published bythe Commercial Press gave a figure of 48 million for the same. This second

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TABLEV

Relationship of Total Chinese Population to Total Muslim Population andSinkiang Muslims to Total Muslims

YearTotal

Chinese

SinkiangTotal - Total Total Sinkiang Muslims

Chinese Total Sinkiang* Total Chinese Total ChineseMuslims Sinkiang Muslims % Muslims %

1910

1933

1935/36

1944/49

1970

1975

1979

426,000,000

400,000,000

400,000,000

540,000,000

759,000,000

822,000,000

960,000,000

9,821,000

80,000,000

48.000,000

64,000,000

91,000,000

98,000,000

115,000,000

* Muslim population calculated at 90% of total Sinkiang population.References for other population figures are given in Table VI.

t China Year Book, Commercial Press Publication. 1935. Cf. Pickens.

2,400,000

4,360,000t

2.350,000

4,000.000t

8.000.000

Data notavailable

11,000,000

Chinese Jews.

2.400.000 0.56

3.924.000 1.09

2.350.000 0.58

3,600.000 0.74

7.200.000 1.05

9.900.000 1.14

Sinkiang Muslims:Wei-Wu-erh or UighursHa-sa-K'o or Kazakhs^Ta-Chi-Ko or Tajiks 1Wu-tzu-Ko or Uzbeks ]Ta-t'a-erh or Tartars JHan Hui or Chinese

Muslims

Total

24

4.09

4.9

5.6

7.9

8.6

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source also gave the number of mosques in China as well. It also for the firsttime revealed statistics about the percentage of Chinese Muslims in eachprovince:

TABLE VI

Muslim Population of China by Provinces15

1935-36

Province

SinkiangKansuNingsiaTsinghaiThree Eastern ProvincesJeholSaiyuanChaharHopeiHonanShensiShansiShantungYunnanKweichowSzechuanKwangsiKwantungHunanHupehKiangsiChekiangAnhweiKiangsuFukien

Total

Muslims

2,350,9503,518,920

735,4001,186,5907,533,680

278,950384,620195,050

3,379,4103,094,8004,129,0901,589,5702,890,4304,568,290

519,1602,615,330

280,180558,450

1,302,9001,587,080

286,590357,300

2,288,5801,963,170

471,750

48,104,240

% Population

8065—

•9929101910129

40136

3875214611

1062

12

Mosques

2,0453,891

6551,0316,570

241253175

2,9422,7033,6121,9312,5133,971

4492,275

429201932

1,134205239

1,5151,302

157

42,371 .

In the same year another Chinese magazine Yueh Hua gave a figure of 80million for the Muslims in China. Since the Commercial Press figures are thelast in which we get the number and percentage of Muslims in China we have toevaluate them carefully. As shown in Tables II and III, the percentage figuresof20, 16.4,9.7,8,14.2,11.7,20,12, not excluding Broomhall's own figures of2.1 and 2.3, were derived by calculating Muslim population figures with thenearest available figures for the total Chinese population. The average ofvarious percentage gives a figure of 11.6% as the percentage of Muslims inChina. To be on the conservative side, we may, therefore, consider the figure

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of 48,000,000 or 12 per cent as our reference for computing the Muslimpopulation of China in the years following.

Although from 1935 onwards we lack Muslim population figures frompublished sources, figures for the total Chinese population are available for1949, 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1979 from non-Chinese sources. Muslimpopulations are computed from these figures in Table VII:

TABLE VIIMuslim Population of China, 1935-1979

Year

1935

1935-36

1949

1970

1974

1975

1979

TotalChinese

400,000,000

540,000,000

759,000,000

898,582,000

822,000,000

960,000,000

TotalMuslims

80,000,000

48,104,240

64,800,000*

91,000,000*

107,892,000*

98,000,000*

115,000,000*

%ofMuslims

20

12

12

12

12

12

12

Source

Yueh Hua, quotedPickens, p. 201China Year Book,Ibid, p. 202Newsweek,Nov. 26, 1979Times Atlas ofthe World, 1972World Fact Book,1974Atlas Nat. Geog.,1975Times Inter-national, April16,1979

* Muslim population figures for 1949-1979 are computed on the basis of 12% Muslim populationin 1935. . '

Total Muslim Population of China TodayAs regards the total Muslim population of China today we can calculate fromour base figures of 1935. (Tables VI and VII). Accepting a 2.1% growth rateper year which in fact is lower than the actual Chinese growth rate, butconforms to the overall Asian growth rate, we arrive at a population of96.000,000 in 1968. And a projected population of 144,000,000 in 1985:

TABLE VinTotal Chinese Population Progression

According to 2.1% Asian Average Growth Per Year16

Year in million Year in million1949 540 1954 5991950 551 1955 6111951 562 1956 6241952 574 1957 6371953 586 1958 651

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TABLE VIII (Continued)

Total Chinese Population ProgressionAccording to 2.1% Asian Average Growth Per Year16

Year in million Year in million

1959I9601961196219631964196519661967196819691970

6646786927077227377537687848(X)817834

19711972197319741975197619771978197919801981

852869

'888906925945964985100510261074

MuslimsBy 2.1 % average yearly increase

1935 population: 48,104,2401968 population: 96,208,4801985 population: 144,312,720

Although in China the growth rate for Muslims is considered higher and thecensus estimates six for a Muslim family and only five for a native Chinese,17

we have calculated Muslims at par with the Chinese. If we take the 1979 totalChinese population at 960 million (Table VII) and calculate Muslim populationat 12% of the total, we arrive at a figure of 115,000,000 for the Muslims in Chinain 1979.

Similar results are obtained if we take the 1972 populations of the variousprovinces and calculate the number of Muslims from the percentage ofMuslims as existed in 1935. The figures arrived at from such a calculation arerepresented in Table IX.

TABLEIX

Estimated Muslim Population of China in 197218 _ ^ ^

Total Chinese*Province Population Muslim**

AnhweiChekiangTsinghaiFukienHinlunkiangHonan

82

35,000,00031,000,0002,000,00018,000,00025,000,00050,000,000

3,500,000310,000

1,980,000360,000

7,250,0004,500,000

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TABLE IX (Continued)

Estimated MusKm Population of China in 197218

Province

HopehHunanHupehInn. MongoliaKansuKiangsiKiangsuKirinKwangsi ChungKwangtungKweichowLiaoningNingsia HuiPekingShanghaiShansiShensiSinkiangSzchwanYunnanShantung

TOTAL

Total Chinese*Population

43,000,00038,000,00032,000,00013,000,00013,000,00023,000,00047,000,00020,000,00024,000,00040,000,00020,000,000 -28,000,0002,000,0007,000,000

10,000,00018,000,00021,000,0008,000,000

70,000,00023,000,00057,000,000

718,000,000

Muslim**

5,160,0001,520,0001,920,000

Data not available8,450,000

230,0002,820,0005,800,000

480,000400,000

1,400,0008,120,000 .1,980,000

420,000600,000

2,340,0008,400,0006,400,0003,500,0008,740,0003,420,000

90,700,000

•Source: Times Atlas of the World, 1972."Calculation based on percentage Muslim population in 1935.

Relationship of Sinkiang Muslims to Total Muslims in ChinaThe relationship of the Sinkiang Muslim population to the rest of the ChineseMuslim population is of special significance as it has often been used to form afalse impression with regard to the total number of Muslims in China. Theimpression has been given by many writers that Sinkiang is the only area inChina where the Muslims predominate and hence are of any significance.

In a sense this has been true. Up to 1949 the Sinkiang population consisted ofat least 90% Muslims, the Uighurs being in a majority (80%); the remainingbeing Kazakhs, Tatars, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Han Huis and Kan Huis. Only 10 percent of the population were Han Chinese out of which a good number wereHan Huis or Han Muslims (Table V).

Earlier than 1944 there existed a relationship between the number ofMuslims in Sinkiang and the total Chinese population, as well as between thenumber of Muslims in Sinkiang and the remaining Muslims in all of China. Thisrelationship seems to have been disturbed due to the influx of a large number of

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THE R£D'JPL'COF C - S A

Han Chinese into Sinkiang. Hence the earlier estimate of at least 90 per centdoes not hold good for the Sinkiang Muslims any more.

The official figures given by the Chinese government of the number ofminority groups in 1957 and 1963 and quoted by A. K. Saitoh19 are actually thefigures for non-Han Chinese. This is evident by the pitiable percentages of1.3% and 1% of the total Chinese population which they compute to (TableVIII). The non-Han Chinese Muslims living in Sinkiang and bordering areaswere actually very few in number as compared to the Han Muslims. TheMuslim population of Yunnan, Kansu, Shensi, Shansi and other provinceswhere Muslims were in a minority were predominantly Han; or at least cannotbe distinguished from Han Chinese.

This seems to be an accepted position since long. In 1895 Abdul Aziz ofKuldja in The Muslims of China, 20 described the Muslims of Northern Chinaas Tungans, i.e. converts of Chinese origin. Their number he estimated to be30,000,000. The other Muslims he described as Salars of Kansu, Khojem fromPeking and 10,000,000 Muslims in Chinese Turkestan (Sinkiang), all of Turkicorigin. He unfortunately did not give the details of the Panthay and YunnaneseMuslims. Abdul Aziz also shed light on the attitude of the Chinese governmenttowards the Muslims at the time and described it as that of respectful tolerationand gave a very satisfactory picture of the conditions and influence of Muslimsin Chinese administration.

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The problem of identifying Muslims of Han origin still persists. Since thepresent Chinese regime does not encourage collective worship, only those canbe visibly identified who can be differentiated either racially or linguistically orhave prominent Central Asian or Turkic physical features.

The example of non-Uighur Muslims would serve to reinforce this argument.The majority population of Sinkiang consists of Uighur (Turkic origin). But allnon-Uighurs who came from the east and were not of westerly origin like theKazakhs or Kirghiz were classified, as late as 1930s, as Han (racially Chinese).The Muslims in this group were known as Han Huis (Muslims of Chineseorigin) or Kan Huis (Muslims from Kansu province) and were consideredracially part of the Chinese. • • •

It stands to reason that this trend would have been further reinforced underthe present regime. Religious identification being irrelevant underCommunism, all Hans, irrespective of religious affiliations, would be classifiedtogether.

NotesI Marshall Broomhall. Islam in China, New York. 1966.?. For one recent estimate that appears far off the mark, see Kwangming Dailv News, Pekinc.

August 21. 1958.3 For History of Muslims in China and their active role in Chinese life see: J. Anderson. A

Report on the Expedition to Western Yunnan, Calcutta. 1871; Sir Henry Yule. Cathy and theWay Thither— Proceedings of the Royal Geographic Society. Nov. 1882: Samuel Lee. TheTravels of Ibn Banna, New York. 1971: and Sir William Muir. The Caliphate: Its decline andFall, Edinburgh. 1975.

4 V. P. Vasilier. The Advance of Islam in China, Unpublished Manuscript, quoted Broomhall.op. cit..p. 196.

5 Broomhall. p. X.6 Ibid., p. 215.7 Peter Fleming. Siege at Peking, New York. 1959.8 Broomhall. op. cit. p. 197.9 E. W. Wherry. Islam and Christianity in the Far East, quoted Broomhall. p. 83.

10 See Claude L. Pickens. Chinese Jews. Toronto. 1966. p. 2(X).11 Broomhall. op. cit.. p. 196.12 Ibid., p. 21513 Pickens. op. cit. p. 201.14 Ibid., p. 202.15 Ibid..p.2(X).16 Cf. John J. Hanlou & Georce E. Pickett. Public Health, Administration and Practice, 1979.

p. 75.17 Cf. World Fact Book.18 Times Atlas of the World. London. 1972.19 Journal, Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. I. No. I. p. 119.20 Istanbul. 1895. published by the Turkish Ministry of Education.

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