Journeys of Knowledge: the Role of a Chinese Sufi gongbei in Generating Mobility between China and Iran

Abstract

This chapter provides a case study of the motivations and expectations amongst the students and chujiaren taking part in this process. It discusses the travel undertaken to the Middle East by past leaders in the gongbei, and how this history continues to shape the emphasis in the gongbei on education, both at home and abroad. The chapter then focuses on the perspectives of young students and chujiaren in the Chinese context that are travelling between the cities of Linxia, China and Qum in Iran. Fundamentally, the Sufi gongbei site aimed to encourage and enable study and learning for individuals in order to improve levels of religious knowledge amongst the Muslim community as a whole. The experience of travel, of mobility, was an important element in the constitution of their religious authenticity and authority as future teachers and leaders within this community and elsewhere in China.