It obliged itself to cultivate qualified teachers, enlighten the Huiswith knowledge, develop Islamic culture, and undertake to train school masters, Imams and leaders of Muslim organizations. To foster qualified teachers who were well versed in both Islamic knowledge and Chinese culture, in addition to the major courses on Islam, the school also of fered courses on Chineselanguage, Chinese historyand geography, natural sciences, pedagogy and psychology to train the students to read Islamic scriptures in Arabic and understand the Holy Qur"an and Hadith comprehensively, and make allow them to acquire the ability to study Islamic philosophy, laws, ethics and history. In 1932, the first group of students graduated from Chengda, among whom some were sent to Azhar University in Egypt for further study, being the firstgroup of students abroad in the history of Chinese Islam. Chengda Normal School practiced a schoolmaster responsibility system under the leadership of the board of trustees. It was a typical new type of Islamic school in the modern era of China, which played an important role in Chinese Islamic education and modern Arabic teaching. When the People"s Republic of China was funded in 1949, Chengda Normal School was merged with Northwest Public School into Hui Min College, the first institution of higher learning for the Huis in China.
2)? Muslim Organizations and Their ActivitiesDuring the period between the end of the Qing Dynasty and beginning of the Republic (the early 20th century), motivated by the thought of “saving the country, saving the nation and saving Islam”, a group of Muslim intellectuals educated in new schools were active in initiating nation-wide or local Islamic organizations. These organizations were different from ordinary ones because they were not involved directly in religious services, but acted as a media in strengthening the contact and unity of the Muslims, promoting academic studies on Islam, and carrying on activities of saving the country and Islam. They engendered considerable social effects.
a)? Cultural Groups and OrganizationsThe China Muslim Association for common Progress initiated by Wang Kuan, Hou Deshan and others in Beijing in1912 was one of the representative organizations of this kind, which pursued “uniting the Huis at home, developing Islam, promoting the Huis‘ education and improving the Huis welfare”? By 1936, it had set up more than 200 branches in almost all provinces, and became a nongovernmental Hui cultural organization enjoying the greatest fame and widest coverage within China at the time. It was active in launching variousactivities, such as inviting Wang Jingzhai, a well-known Imam, to translate the Holy Qur"an, running Muslim primary and secondary schools and Arabic school, universalizing education for the Huis, running factories to improve Hui life, and developing charities. As its members were mostly Hui officials, businessmen and Imams, this organization exerted a considerable influence on Hui Muslims.
In addition, there were other organizations such as the China Huis‘ Council in Beijing, which was a nongovernmental organization that appeared first and was named after the Huis, and the China Islamic Cultural Association in Shanghai.
b)? Academic Groups and OrganizationsThe Islamic Society, established by the students of Jingshi Muslim Bi-Level School in 1917, took as its objectives to pursue academic studies and expound Islamic doctrine. Any Muslim adults capable of study could join the Society. It was one of many academic organizations in the modern history of Chinese Islam. Besides, there were other organizations such as the China Islamic Society in Shanghai.
c)? Religious Groups and OrganizationsAmong the religious groups and organizations the China Islamic Trade Council was of considerable influence, whose objectives were to develop Muslim brotherhood at home and abroad, improve the welfare of the Huis, unite all Muslims in China and assist the country. There were also other groups and organization of this kind such as the Islamic Federation of the Republic of China in Nanjing, the Tianjin Islamic Federation in Tianjin and the Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association in Hong Kong.
d)? Educational Groups and OrganizationsGroups and organizations of this kind appearing then were: the Lanzhou Islamic Society for Encouraging Learning (renamed as the Gansu Provincial Islamic Education Promotion Council afterwards), the Ninghai Islamic Promotion Council in Qinghai (renamed as the Qinghai Islamic Promotion Council afterwards), the Changde Islamic Education Assistance Council in Hunan and the China Hui Education Promotion Council in Nanjing. The Changde Islamic Education Assistance Council in Hunan was typical among them, which devoted itself to reforming Mosque Education into one that offered courses on both Chinese and Arabic. It encouraged mosques to set up common primaryschools, and published various Islamic scriptures to provide reading material on Islamic knowledge for Muslims who could not read Arabic, such as the 12-volume Elementary Chinese Reader and 1-volume advanced Arabic Reader, both of which were bilingual in Arabic and Chinese.
e)? Youths Groups and OrganizationsThe China Islamic Youth Society was funded in Nanjing, whose members were mostly Muslim youths who had received secondary or higher education. It was active in uniting Muslim youths to launch various academic activities on Islam. In Guangzhou, Taiyuan and Shenyang, there were organizations of this kind too. In addition, with the purpose to “unite the Hui women and expound Islam”, He Wenyu, a young Hui woman in Shanghai, along with others established the Shanghai Muslim Women Association, and published “Muslim Women” magazine.
f)? Charitable Groups and OrganizationsThe Guangdong Islamic Society for the Aged was a Muslim charitable organization that worked for mutual help among the aged of the Huis. Essentially as form of life insurance, it only took on religious features afterwards.
