Niujie Hui Community Anthropology Return Visit

The paper makes use of the anthropological perspective of "return visit", to describe the field research conducted on the Muslim-Hui community in Beijing "Niujie (Oxen Street)" taking the investigations made by the American anthropologist Dru C. Gladney during the 80s along the same area as a basis for further analysis. It tries to show the changes occurred in the community nearly three decades since the "economic reform", and at the same time it probes into Gladney "ethnic identity" theories.This paper consists of seven chapters, the content of each is portrayed as follow:The first one is an introduction. It explains the reasons underling the selection of such a topic, as well as the results obtained in previous researches, the theoretical framework and the methodological approach used.The second part provides some basic information about "Niujie" Muslim community and its historical process of formation and development, together with a small review of Gladney's past fieldwork project.The third chapter is a sort of interpretation of some "Recurring Texts" to concern with identity of Muslim people in "Niujie". Taking some of the topics selected by Gladney - the legends of foreign origins, the Muslim "qingzhen" lifestyle, religious holidays and other matters dealing with urban Hui identity - as the focus of this analysis, it tries to explain how Hui people preserve their identity in a multi-ethnic background of a city like Beijing.The fourth chapter deals with Muslims marriage and family structure. Through the investigations in the field of intermarriage, kinship and related rites, it emphasizes the big changes happened in Hui family and marriage in these last few years. This demonstrates how the intermarriage is slowly becoming more and more a universal tendency also in Islamic societies.The fifth chapter talks about education and urban adaptation. Making a comparison with Gladney surveys on the topic, "Niujie", it shows the educational gap between Hui and Han people. It notes also that the attitude towards ethnic-groups educational system as it has been investigated by Gladney is slightly different.The sixth part analyzes the emerging of a new group:the migrant Muslim. Because of any kind of restriction, Gladney did't take into consideration Muslim people outside "Niujie" area. This particular group of people, which settled in the downtown has undergone significant change in their way of living, played a catalytic role in strengthening and reshaping Muslim identity.The last one is the author's reflection and annotation on the dialogues had with people. The paper advances the idea of a "double-way" identity and the acculturation phenomena concerning Hui people. It is also a kind of introspection on the Gladney's work, as well as an attempt to find a linkage between "national consciousness and ethnic identy" and Gladney's approach.