Author Archives

  • Islamic Soundscapes of Khotan

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    Mu Qian (Research Student, Department of Music, SOAS, University of London) Khotan is situated on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. It is an area still dominated by Uyghurs. According to the national census in 2010, Uyghurs account for… Read More ›

  • Reciting Hikmat in Uyghur Villages: the circulation of texts and performance

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    Rachel Harris Audio 1. Khetme ritual, southern Xinjiang, 2012 A khetme ritual conducted by a group of pious village women led by a qushnach: a village ritual specialist who deal with funerals and sickness. The bulk of this khetme ritual is… Read More ›

  • Women from the Xingyang Nanzhan Mosque

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    Women from the Xingyang Nanzhan Mosque 穆斯林妇女在荥阳南站清真寺首届学员结业庆典上赞圣，念经歌。 These clips present extracts from a planned major documentary film on historical and modern jingge/zansheng recitals and their part in a thriving female-led expressive Islamic culture in central China. Filmed on 12th of August… Read More ›

  • The Jiyuan Community Women’s Group (1)

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    The Jiyuan Community Women’s Group (1) 穆斯林妇女在荥阳南站清真寺首届学员结业庆典上赞圣，念经歌。  These clips present extracts from a planned major documentary film on historical and modern jingge/zansheng recitals and their part in a thriving female-led expressive Islamic culture in central China. Filmed on 12th of August… Read More ›

  • The Jiyuan Community Women’s Group (2)

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    The Jiyuan Community Women’s Group (2) 穆斯林妇女在荥阳南站清真寺首届学员结业庆典上赞圣，念经歌。  These clips present extracts from a planned major documentary film on historical and modern jingge/zansheng recitals and their part in a thriving female-led expressive Islamic culture in central China. Filmed on 12th of August… Read More ›

  • The Silent Loud: Voice, Faith, and the Practice of Listening in China’s Jahriyya Sufism

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    Guangtian Ha  (SOAS, University of London) (Please do not cite or circulate without the author’s permission) Though many Jahriyya Sufis in China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region would hesitate to designate their daily recitation as a form of musical performance, they… Read More ›

  • Islam by Smartphone: the changing sounds of Uyghur religiosity

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    Rachel Harris (SOAS, University of London) Aziz Isa (Independent scholar) Over the past few years, localised violent incidents have become commonplace right across Xinjiang. State media blames the ongoing violence on the spread of Islamic jihadi ideals via the Internet… Read More ›

  • Special Issue of the journal Performing Islam: ‘Sounding Islam in China’

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    Special Issue of the journal Performing Islam: ‘Sounding Islam in China’  http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-issue,id=2887 Introduction and selected articles from this issue are now available for free download from the publisher’s website: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=209 Burning incense at the Great Shrine, Linxia, Gansu. ©Ruard Absaroka,… Read More ›

  • Ending (liao) the Mukhammas

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    Xijitan Daotang, Xiji County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China (35°53’04.8″N 105°44’35.5″E) Recorded by Ha Guangtian, March 10, 2015 This is the ritual of liao Mukhmmas at Xijitan Daotang that bears a quintessential shanqu dawr. Xijitan Daotang is perhaps the most important… Read More ›

  • Project People

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      Rachel Harris (Principal Investigator) Reader in the music of China and Central Asia, SOAS, University of London rh@soas.ac.uk Rachel Harris is an ethnomusicologist teaching in the Department of Music at SOAS. Her research focuses on musical and ritual practice… Read More ›