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Sino-Platonic Papers is pleased to announce the publication of its three-hundred-and-seventy-ninth issue:

“Zhenzhu’s Deputy: Loyalty and Filiality in The Compass of Islam,” by Jonathan N. Lipman.
(free pdf)

ABSTRACT

This essay presents the evidence and argumentation of Yunnanese Muslim literatus Ma Zhu (1642–1711), elucidated in his Qingzhen Zhinan, for the simultaneity and even precise identity of Islamic and Chinese social ethics. Focusing on loyalty (zhong) and filiality (xiao), Ma Zhu concluded that Muslims living in the Chinese culture area should conform to both the dictates of Qur’an and ḥadīth and, seamlessly, the virtues stipulated in the Neo-Confucian classics and the rest of the Chinese canon. Alternating citations from the two traditions, he demonstrated what he perceived as their complete compatibility for modeling and managing human society.

Keywords: Ma Zhu, Qingzhen Zhinan, social ethics, Islam, Confucianism

All issues of Sino-Platonic Papers are available in full for no charge.
To view our catalog, visit http://www.sino-platonic.org/

Selected readings

• "In Memoriam: MATSUMOTO Akirō (松本耿郎), 1944-2026" (1/17/26)
• "Sinicization of language and culture (architecture in particular)" (5/28/24) — Islamic architecture
• "Perso-Arabic and Sinitic Literacy" (6/19/09)"
• "Sinographic taboo against Islam" (7/27/18)

January 23, 2026 @ 9:14 pm · Filed by Victor Mair under Announcements, Language and philosophy, Language and religion

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