Murata (comparative studies, State U. of New York-Stony Brook) opens a window to an aspect of Chinese culture and history little known to westerners by examining how Muslim scholars there adapted the Chinese tradition to their own needs during the 17th and 18th centuries, surveying the 1400-year history of Islam in China, and exploring why the four books translated from Islamic languages into Chinese before the 20th century were all Persian Sufi texts. She looks especially at the two most important writers and how they assimilated various Chinese traditions into Islamic thought. Throughout her work she integrates a new translation of Jami's Lawa'ih by William C. Chittick to demonstrate the Chinese adaptations.
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