The Tang Dynasty was a great and open dynasty which encouraged foreign merchants to do business in China. Due to advanced external transport, more than 70 foreign countries traded with China during this period. At that time, a large number of Arabian and Persian merchants came to China, attracted by the prosperous economy and tolerant China, got married and had children, and worked for the royal government after having passed the imperial examinations.

      These Arabian and Persian merchants, knwon as Fanke (foreign guests) in China, were the first group of people that brought Islam to China.

      The second crucial stage of the spread and development of Islam in China was during the Yuan Dynasty. During the 50 years from the beginning of the 13th century, in a large scale Mongolian westward expansion, a group of Arabs, Persians and Central Asians were conscripted for the war against the Song Dynasty in China. These people, together with the descendants of the Arabs and Persians were called Huis people.

      Because Huis people lived together and intermarried with Han people and Mongolians for quite a long time, by the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, a new ethnic group had finally been formed, that is the Hui minority. The formation of the Hui minority laid a stable social foundation for the spread of Islam in China. Meanwhile, it also indicated that Islamic believers were no longer immigrants, and after living here for as long as 700 or 800 years, their descendants became native Chinese ethnic minorities. This also transformed Islam from a foreign religion into one which was rooted in China and has become an important part of Chinese culture.

      The Chinese language is commonly used in the Hui minority, while the Arabiac and Persian languages are usually used in religious activities. As for when and how these Muslims lost their original languages, some scholars explain that because there were few women among merchants and soldiers, they had to marry local women of the Han ethnic group in order to have children. Then passed down from mother to son, people of the Hui minority gradually became familiar with their mother's language, Han Chinese, and eventually adopted it. Furthermore, they mastered Chinese for the purpose of trading. In fact, the Hui minority has integrated Islamic ethics with a traditional Chinese concept of "respect of God and ancestors" in aspects of ethics and code of conduct; as to a religious education system, the Hui minority has combined the Islamic monastic education with the traditional private schold education in China, which forms the unique "Mosque Education" in Chinese Islam.

       Islamic localization in China made further progress in the Qing Dynasty: some scholars not only explained Islamic doctrines, disciplines, decrees and regulations in the Chinese language, but also dedicated themselves to the combination of Confucian and Islamic doctrines. During the same period, Islamic sects and the Menhuan system with Chinese characteristics were formed in Chinese Islam. Menhuan was the product of Islamic mysticiam(Sufism) and patriarchal system in China. What's more, mosque architecture at that time began to integrate with the traditional Chinese architectural style; the family lives of all Chinese Muslims also started to melt into the traditional Chinese etiquette in daily life.

      Islam began to spread in Xinjiang as early as the 10th century AD. Before that, the ethnic groups here were all pious believers of Buddhism, which has a history of over 1,000 years in Xinjiang. Actually, as a crucial route on the Silk Road, around 1 AD, Xinjiang accommodated many important religions in the world, including Shamanism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism, and Zoroastrianism. Uygur people used to be believers of the above-mentioned religions as well as Buddhism. After the spread of Islam for more than four centuries and the Islamic religious war against Buddhism, Islam was finally accepted by the Uygur minority. Islam was not accepted by other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang until the 18th century.

     There are mainly 10 Muslim ethnic groups in China. Besides the Hui and Uygur minorities, they also include the Kazak, Kirgiz, Ozbek, Tatar and Tajik minorities in Xinjiang; the Salar minority in Qinghai; the Dongxiang minority and the Bonan minority in Gansu.

     At present, there are over 34,000 mosques in China. This indicates that in China, fore every 600 Muslims of the 20 million have a mosque. Many of these mosques were restored or newly built in the 1980s.

     The Islamic Association of China was founded in Beijing in 1953, serving as a nationwide organization of Islam in China; its association journal, Chinese Muslims is published in both Chinese and Uygur. some provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities where Muslims live in compact communities all have their own Islamic associations as well as publications.

      China has now published the Koran in 10 languages to meet the needs of Muslim readers among various ethnic groups.

      Currently, China has 11 Islamic academies for mosque education. China Islamic Institute, founded in Beijing in 1955, is the highest institution of learning in Chinese Islam.

                                                                                                                                                                                              China's Ethnic Groups and Religions by Zheng Qian, published in 2010, Jan