Picture Source: Taiwan News
How Taiwanese Researchers are Reviving An Ancient Text
In Context: Islam in Taiwan
Islam is called “回教-Huíjiào” in Chinese, and we refer to its ethnic practitioners as the 回 (Hui) ethnic group.
Islam has always been a minor religion in Taiwan. There are around 60,000 Muslims in Taiwan (0.6% of the 23.57 million population). Despite the small population, their culture is an indispensable part of Taiwan.
Taiwanese Muslims practice the same rules as with anywhere else. For example, believers refuse to consume pork in accordance to Islamic dietary law.
The temples that muslims regularly visit are called “清真寺-qīngzhēn sì.” 清真 means pure and true, representing Muslim culture since the Yuan or Ming Dynasties.
What is the Quran?
The Quran, Chinese translation 古蘭經, serves as the central religious text of Islam. The Quran consists of 114 chapters that present Arabic literature. Muslims believe that God orally revealed the Quran to the final prophet, Muhammad. The word “Quran” in Arabic means “he read” or “he recited”, which refers to the prophet’s life purpose.
The Book Rescuers
Islam is a precious and rare religion in Taiwan, making the recent accomplishment of The Taiwan National Library significant to the development of Taiwanese culture. On April 9th, Sean Scanaln from the Taiwan News reported that a 500-year-old handwritten Quran had been miraculously repaired by Hsu Mei-Wen-a, book restorer from The Taiwan National Library. The ancient Arabic language connects the Hui with their ancestors’ wisdom.
Book restoration is an intensive mission even for professional book restorers. When the Quran was handed to Hsu Mei-Wen, cigarette beetles were feeding on the pages. The first step of repair was hypoxic deworming to remove the insects. Therefore, repairing a single page can take half a day. Moreover, the preparation work takes up even more effort. For instance, Hsu Mei-Wen spent eight months finding linen fibers that were exactly like the ones in the book. One interesting fact about the Quran is that it contained 75 chapters and was completed between the 15th to 16th centuries. Four different people hand-copied the content of the Quran. Hsu Mei-Wen’s impressive effort is setting a milestone for Taiwan’s Islamic culture. She believes she can complete the Quran restoration by the end of April.
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