Entanglement between religiosity and ethnicity: Matchmaking activities as a resilient practice among Hui Muslims in contemporary China

This article explores how Hui Muslims in urban Kunming, China, have navigated religious suppression and increasing secularization by transforming matchmaking activities into a resilient social and religious practice. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, it reveals how marriage events, initially secular, gradually came to integrate Islamic teachings and missionary elements, especially through the influence of movements like the Tablighi Jama’at. While the revival of Islam since the 1980s fostered stricter religious practices, state-led urban redevelopment simultaneously eroded traditional Hui communities. Under Xi Jinping’s administration, with intensified religious control, overt Islamic activities have diminished. However, matchmaking activities continue, subtly maintaining Hui ethno-religious identity through improvised adaptations – such as de-Islamized language and unofficial organization. The study argues that the entanglement of religiosity and ethnicity allows the Hui to sustain Islamic values and community ties, not in defiance of the state, but through ambiguous, socially embedded practices that evade direct political confrontation.