BismillahiRahmahniRahim
Imam Ghazali of China – Hu Dengzhou: A biography
Hu DengZhou (胡登洲), is big Chinese Muslim scholars, and the founder of Jingtang JiaoYu (經堂教育), Chinese Madrassa system. Muslims of later generation called him Hu Taishi, “Master Hu" (胡太師), Or Hu Taishi Baba (胡太師巴巴). He was born in 1522 in a wealthy family in XianYang, Shanxi. Hu Dengzhou was highly gifted and talented at a very young age. During his childhood, he studied Confucian text as well as Islamic books. When he grew up he studied Farsi and Arabic langauge under local Imams, and he was well versed in Aqidah, Hanafi fiqh and Islamic philosophy.
After he passed 50 years of age, while he was on the way to Beijing for trade, he met an tributor from Arabia (who was wearing turban) near Xi’an, who would later on become his mentor. Hu Dengzhou would always bring the confusing part about Aqidah to his mentor for clarification, and his mentor would clarify these matter for him to understand, and Hu Dengzhou would gained a lot from these associations.
Under tutelage of Arab tributor, Hu collected Islamic texts, and he would studied them in depth. And the tributor would teach him the texts that China don’t have. Hu Dengzhou would gained alot of knowledge as a result.
Upon the completion of Hajj, Hu Dengzhou visited various countries include, India, Egypt, Turkey (Ottoman Empire) as he travelled back to China. He examined the education system of these Islamic countries and states. After he returned to China, he realized that there is a lack of Islamic text, and lack of students, which leads to inadequate propagation of Islamic knowledge, and the inability to clarify the religion for the masses.
He took it as his personal mission to spread the true way of Islam. He started by taking students at his own home, later on he transferred it to the Masjid. Combining the Islamic teaching style which treated the Masjid as the center of learning with the traditional Chinese private school education system. Freely accepted students, and taught Arabic and Farsi language with Islamic classical text. The oral translation and the clarification of Islamic classical texts are conducted with dialect called “Jiangtang Yu" (經堂語), which is an unique form of expression based on combination of classical Chinese, Arabic and Farsi terms. He set up a system of teaching structure, curriculum selection, teaching method, graduation method and assessment, and thus laid the foundation of Islamic education in China.
He passed away in October 8, 1597 and was buried near riverside. But in 1622, Qing Dynasty his grave was moved to a different place due to flooding. During the great migration of Muslims to Ninxia province as a result of Qing government persecution in late Qing Dynasty, his body was moved to Ninxia province and buried there.
Islam In China 