Liu Zhi (Xiao'erjing:ﻟِﯿَﻮْ جِ, ca. 1660 – ca. 1739), orLiu Chih, was a ChineseSunniHanafi-Maturidi scholar^[1][2] of theQing dynasty,^[3] belonging to theHuiru (Muslim) school of Neoconfucian thought.^[4] He was the most prominent of the Han Kitab writers who attempted to explain Muslim thought in the Chinese intellectual climate for a Hui Chinese audience, by frequently borrowing terminologies from Buddhism, Taoism and most prominently Neoconfucianism and aligning them with Islamic concepts. He was from the city ofNanjing.^[5] His magnum opus,Tianfang Xingli or 'Nature and Principle in the Direction of Heaven', was considered the authoritative exposition of Islamic beliefs and has been republished twenty-five times between 1760 and 1939, and is often referred to by Muslims writing in Chinese.^[6]

Liu Zhi
Tomb of Liu Zhi inYuhuatai District,Nanjing
Traditional Chinese	劉智
Simplified Chinese	刘智
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Zhì
Jielian (courtesy name)
Chinese	介廉
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jièlián
Yizhai (pseudonym)
Traditional Chinese	一齋
Simplified Chinese	一斋
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yìzhāi

Liu Zhi was born into a scholarly family around 1660.^[7] In his childhood, he received instruction from his father, Liu Sanjie (劉三杰). At the age of 12, he studied scriptures with Yuan Ruqi (袁汝契) at the Garden of Military Studies Mosque inNanjing, (which no longer exists). At the age of 15, he began a career of study in his home: for fifteen years, he studied Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism and "Western Studies." He consideredConfucius andMencius to be "Sages of the East" andMuhammad to be a "Sage of the West," and that "the teachings of the Sages of East and West, today as in ancient times, are one." He further believed that the scriptures ofIslam are also "generally similar to the intentions ofConfucius andMencius." From around the age of 30, he took up residence at the foot of Qingliangshan inNanjing, where he began to interpret and expound on theIslamic scriptures, usingConfucian studies, for a period of about twenty years. During this time, he twice brought his manuscript with him to visit and solicit advice and the opinions of bothMuslims and non-Muslims, leaving his tracks throughoutJiangsu,Shandong,Hebei,Henan,Anhui,Zhejiang,Guangdong, and other places. In his later years, he resided at his studio,Saoyelou ("House of Sweeping Leaves"), at Qingliangshan inNanjing.

He learned Arabic and Persian, and studied both Buddhism and Daoism. He also wrote several works on Islam in 1674, 1710, and 1721.^[8]

His writings became part of theHan Kitab, a collection of literature which synthesized Islam andConfucianism.

He said that Muslims were allowed to believe in theMandate of Heaven and serve theEmperor, because Allah allowed the Mandate of Heaven to exist.^[9]

After Liu Zhi's death, his tomb became a site of pilgrimage for Chinese Muslims, with thousands visiting his tomb annually.^[10]

• 天方性理 (Tianfang Xingli,The Metaphysics of Islam orThe Philosophy of Arabia).Šarḥ al-laṭā'if (شرح اللطائف) was the Arabic translation by Ma Lianyuan (馬聯元 andمحمد نور الحق ابن لقمان الصيني, 1841-1903)^[11][12]
• 天方典禮 (Tianfang Dianli,The Rites of Islam)^[13][14]
• 天方字母解義^[15] (Tiānfāng zìmǔ jiě yì,Arabic Script explanation meaning)^[16]T'ien fang tse mu kieh i
• 天方至聖實綠 (Tianfang Zhisheng Shilu,The Real Record of the Last Prophet of Islam)^[3] In 1921 it was translated into English byRoyal Asiatic Society member Isaac Mason as"The Arabian Prophet: A Life of Mohammad from Chinese Sources".

• Wang Daiyu, Chinese Islamic scholar, considered the first Han Kitab writer.
• Yusuf Ma Dexin, a later Chinese Islamic philosopher and reformist.
• Ma Zhu
• List of Hanafis
• List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
• List of Muslim theologians

• Sachiko Murata;William C. Chittick;Tu Wei-ming; Foreword bySeyyed Hossein Nasr (2009).The Sage Learning of Liu Zhi: Islamic Thought in Confucian Terms.Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series.Harvard University Asia Center.ISBN 9780674033252.

•   ChineseWikisource has original text related to this article:天方性理 (Tianfang Xingli)
• Liu Zhi: A Brief History of China's 17th Century Muslim Scholar (Archived 28 May 2024 atarchive.today)