Sinicizing Islam: Translating the Gulistan of Saʿdi in Modern China

Abstract This article examines the translation and domestication of an important piece of Persian didactic literature, the Gulistan of Saʿdi, into modern Chinese. We address all of the Chinese translations of this text, focusing on Yang Wanbao’s translation published in 2000. Yang transforms the tex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Islam in Asia
Authors: Jabbari, Alexander (Author) ; Tsai, Tiffany Yun-Chu (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2020
In: International Journal of Islam in Asia
Further subjects:B Translation
B Sinicization
B Sexuality
B Chinese Islam
B Gulistan
B Hui
B Saʿdi
B Persianate
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:Abstract This article examines the translation and domestication of an important piece of Persian didactic literature, the Gulistan of Saʿdi, into modern Chinese. We address all of the Chinese translations of this text, focusing on Yang Wanbao’s translation published in 2000. Yang transforms the text according to the imperatives of the Chinese state, altering the homoerotic scenes of the original and rendering Sufi Islamic concepts into a Confucian or Buddhist idiom. The result is a translation that serves as a significant text for the Jahriyya Sufi order in China, but also an articulation of Chinese Islam countenanced by the People’s Republic.
ISSN:2589-9996
Contains:Enthalten in: International Journal of Islam in Asia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/25899996-01010002