Ibn 'arabi Society

When Chinese Muslims began in the 17th century to write about their ancestral religion in their native language - that is, Chinese - they produced a body of literature that is a synthesis of the Neo-Confucian and Islamic worldviews. On the Islamic side, they drew largely from Sufi teachers in the lineage of Ibn 'Arabi. Sachiko Murata, one of the great specialists of this insufficiently known but fascinating syncretic tradition at the crossroads of two great civilizations, shares her insights about this unique religious culture and how two such seemingly different approaches to life as passionate Sufi mysticism and Confucian discipline can coexist.