Islamic China: An Asian History, a book release conversation with Rian Thum: Manchester China Institute-March3,2026

 YouTube Video:

https://youtu.be/tnYuEwCc9sg?si=uJmgjo63vQuFGdN_

Islamic China: An Asian History, a book release conversation with author Rian Thum Dr Rian Thum is a Senior Lecturer in East Asian History at the University of Manchester. Rian's book is called 'Islamic China: An Asian History' and is available to purchase now. Dr David Stroup is a Senior Lecturer of Chinese Politics at the University of Manchester. This event took place at Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester on Tuesday 10th Feb 2026 from 12:30 to 14:00; a talk followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Amazon:Islamic China: An Asian History: Rian Thum

https://www.amazon.com/Islamic-China-History-Rian-Thum/dp/0674976800

A deeply learned reassessment of the history of Chinese Muslims, who since the fourteenth century have been subject to a constant program of minoritization.
For more than a millennium, Islam has been a Chinese religion, and native-born Chinese Muslims have played important roles in their homeland―as butchers, merchants, and farmers; diplomats, scholar-officials, and royal astronomers. Yet the Muslims of China have often been understood as inherently foreign, incompatible with Chinese culture. In this reappraisal, Rian Thum recaptures the ordinariness of Chinese Muslims. In doing so, he suggests that these communities, whose classification has so often been seen as problematic, can teach us about the ways social categories are made and maintained in the first place.
Firmly rooted in Chinese and long-neglected Perso-Arabic sources, Islamic China traces the interlinked histories of twenty Chinese Muslims, some famous and some obscure, spread across multiple ethnicities, sects, and centuries. Their stories―emphasizing the diversity of Chinese Muslim communities and their continuous exchanges with other groups both within and beyond China―cut through the flattening narratives that have obscured China’s Muslim heritage. Taken together, the experiences chronicled here offer a fresh view of Islamic China, stretching across Central, Southeast, and South Asia―and of China itself.
While focused on the Ming, Qing, and early Republican eras, Thum also harkens back to earlier centuries and traces the inheritances of this history to the present. Islamic China makes the compelling argument that the abstractions brought to bear on the past have practical implications in today’s People’s Republic of China, where the state enforces an oppressive regime of differentiation and control aimed broadly at Muslims and is routinely exposed for atrocities committed against particular subgroups.
Review:
“Thum is meticulous in providing historical, religious, social and religious context…Although for the most part scholarly, Thum also includes long passages of on-the-ground reportage and interviews (among other things, he likes hunting down copies of these books). Whether Thum succeeds in making the Muslims of China ‘ordinary’, I will leave to others. What he does do is imbue selected personages with personality, intellectual depth and fascination.”―Peter Gordon, Asian Review of Books

“Thum is a beautiful writer…[he] enlivens [this book] with storytelling about individuals and also about objects, about the circulation of books from different places and different sets of maps. He tracks the way that books flowed in and out of China, and how different languages could be used by the people involved in this.”―Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Five Books

“Proposes an important methodological shift in the study of historic and contemporary Chinese Muslims, arguing that they should be understood as simultaneously authentically Chinese and Muslim.”―M. C. Brose, Choice

“Readers searching for insights into doctrine and religious education of China’s Muslims need go no further. A deep dive into Sino-Islamic culture.”―Kirkus

“Beautifully written and on the cutting edge of scholarship, Islamic China is the rare book that is perfect for both those new to the subject and those deeply immersed in it.”―Valerie Hansen, author of The Year 1000: When Globalization Began

“Intellectually, linguistically, and technically virtuosic, this beautifully written book is an astonishing journey around the diverse, interconnected landscapes of Islamic China. A vivid, deeply erudite history of Chinese Muslims, it is essential reading for anyone interested in religion, culture, and society in Asia.”―Julia Lovell, author of Maoism: A Global History

“Islamic China is a fundamental reconceptualization of Islam in China that folds both back into a larger, Inter-Asian history and geography of continuous connections, rather than eras of isolation and exceptionalism. This is a fresh, agile, and adventurous book that knocks open the wooden box of minority studies in China and shines a clear light for others to follow.”―Engseng Ho, author of The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean

“In recent decades, historians have increasingly incorporated the history of Islam in China into the broader narrative of China's past. Rian Thum takes us to the next phase with this book, by treating this history as Asian history. Transcending linguistic and historical boundaries across Asia, Islamic China stands out as a significant accomplishment and signals a paradigm shift in the field.”―Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, author of The Dao of Muhammad: A Cultural History of Muslims in Late Imperial China
About the Author:
Rian Thum is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Manchester. A contributor to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Nation, he is the author of The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History, winner of the Fairbank Prize for East Asian History from the American Historical Association and the Hsu Prize for East Asian Anthropology from the American Anthropological Association.

Podcast:Islamic China with Rian Thum
Islam has been part of China’s religious and cultural fabric for over a millennium, yet often it is seen as a foreign element. The author of a new study explains just how wrong that is.Alec Ash-Feb 3,2026
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/02/03/rian-thum/

Asian Review of Books:Islamic China: An Asian History: Rian Thum-Peter Gordon-Jan 4,2026

https://asianreviewofbooks.com/islamic-china-an-asian-history-by-rian-thum/