The Arab-China Communication: From the Silk Road to the Dialogue of Philosophy

Abstract

Abstract The Arab-China relations go back to the second century BC. The Silk Road was the most important link that enabled the early Arabs to get to know China far from their own countries. In the modern era, a new dialogue began between the Arabs and Chinese, especially after China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, which was the official announcement of the establishment of a new Silk Road linking China with the Arab world and the rest of the world. This was preceded by exchanged intellectual, cultural, literary and philosophical dialogues, translations and seminars between Arab and Chinese intellectuals and academics based on a new understanding of Chinese philosophies such as Daoism and Confucianism, as well as the work of Chinese Muslim translators to translate Qur’an, jurisprudential books, interpretations, poems and Islamic writings from Arabic into Chinese, which paved the way for a continuous dialogue and an ongoing and open-to-the-future encounter between the two cultures.