The Chendai Ding Archive

An in-depth field investigation of the Chendai Ding Clan

By combining a review of existing academic research with firsthand field observations, my study examines how the Ding clan's identity today is shaped by historical survival strategies, modern government policies, and physical spaces like their ancestral halls and tombs.

Begin the Story Literature Guide

01. Who Are They?

Today, the Ding clan is recognized as a Hui ethnic minority, and they hold to their Arab and Persian roots that trace back to Middle-Eastern Muslims. [1]

Persian & Arab Ancestry

The Ding clan traces its ancestry to Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din. Lai Baolin’s account places Jiezai, the founding ancestor of the Chendai branch, in the Song–Yuan period and describes his move from Suzhou to Quanzhou for trade. This is a lineage account preserved in historical writing. [2]

DOCUMENTARY EXCERPT

“Jiezai, the founding ancestor of the Chendai Dings, was also Hui. In the Song–Yuan period, he travelled from Suzhou to Quanzhou as a merchant and settled in Wenshanli.” [2]

02. How Do Cultures Meet In Architecture?

Cultural relationships are not simple oppositions. We begin with location, overall form, and detail before asking where a form may have come from and how it was recombined.

Details of inscriptions and writing — Inscriptions & Writing

View of local temple architecture — Local Architecture

Stone Columns & Bases

The hall’s structure uses brick, stone, and timber. Its front entrance has a three-bay porch supported by four columns. In the main hall, the side frames use column-and-tie construction, while the central bay uses a beam system with fewer columns, leaving more space for ritual gatherings. [5]

Entrance & Plaques

The sheer size of the community earned them the historical signature “Tens of thousands of Dings in Chendai” (陈埭万人丁). [1] Inside the hall, “百代瞻依” hangs above the ancestral tablets, while “绥我思成” appears in the rear hall. These inscriptions connect the names of ancestors with the practice of remembrance. [5]

Auspicious Bird Imagery

According to the museum director, the image is formed by Arabic calligraphy, but its exact meaning is already unidentifiable. [1] A published heritage account also identifies the carving as a bird formed from Arabic calligraphy. The name “auspicious bird” records an interpretation of the image; it is not a verified word-for-word translation. [5]

Geometric & Botanical Motifs

Lai Baolin describes lotus-leaf-like carvings on the stone railings of the Ding ancestral tombs at Lingshan. These details can be compared with the tomb’s overall form, but a shared motif alone cannot establish a single cultural origin. [2]

Arabic & Chinese

Chinese plaques name the lineage and honour ancestors; Arabic calligraphic decoration preserves another layer of the hall’s history. “百代瞻依” expresses enduring reverence and reliance. Its literal wording is distinct from the ancestral-name associations discussed in the field report. [1][5]

Painting, Couplets & Calligraphy

The hall preserves plaques commemorating examination success and ancestral achievements, alongside couplets about local history, landscape, and family memory. These inscriptions show what the lineage chose to honour and pass on through its ritual space. [5]

03. From Public Service to Commerce

From Education and Public Service to Clan Governance

They adopted Confucian norms. The family actively participated in the imperial examination system, championing a philosophy of “following Confucianism while preserving Hui teachings”. [1] Education, official service, and the upkeep of lineage institutions were connected. Li’s study shows how genealogy, family education, and ancestral worship helped the Dings establish their position in local society. [3]

Education & Examinations

Genealogies celebrated examination success and made family education a lineage concern. Ding Zishen’s genealogical work highlighted relatives who held examination degrees. [3, p. 147]

Public Service

The field report identifies Ding Qijun as a late Ming political figure and Ding Gongchen as a later specialist in munitions. Their commemoration extended the hall’s public memory beyond examination degrees. [1][5]

Clan Governance

Li records that Ding Yii (丁怿, 1484–1573) contributed half the cost of building the ancestral hall and donated land to support ancestral offerings. Shared property helped sustain ritual obligations. [3, p. 147]

04. Exploring the Ancestral Hall

Choose six spatial hotspots to understand, layer by layer, how architecture, writing, motifs, ritual, and contemporary exchange bring multiple identities into one place.

Aerial View

05. The Ding Clan Today

Chendai

The local life and family space surrounding the ancestral temple.

Place Relationships

Interviews

Primary visual data was gathered through visits to the Ding clan’s settlements in Chendai, including the Ding Clan Ancestral Hall (which is also Chendai Hui History Museum) and the area around it. I observed the architecture, community layout, and local customs to see firsthand how the clan’s dual identity is expressed physically in their built environment. [1]

First-hand sources about history and demographics were primarily gathered through semi-structured interviews with four Ding clan members and key informants on the Chendai Hui Commission (陈埭回族事务委员会). All four members are engaged in foreign trade. [1]

To ensure the privacy and safety of the participants, particularly regarding nuanced topics of ethnic and religious identity, all interviews were kept anonymous. Participant names have been withheld or replaced with general descriptive titles. [1]

Temporarily unavailableRecorded Interview 01

Complexity in Identity

The history of the Chendai Ding clan demonstrates that ethnic identity is not static but rather a dynamic and strategic construct shaped by historical survival and modern sociopolitical environments. [1]

References

[1]
Haoning Luo (罗昊宁). “What Makes Identity: A Field Report on the Chendai Ding Clan.” Unpublished field report; February 2, 2026.
[2]
Baolin Lai (赖宝林). “A Brief History of the Hui Ding Clan in Chendai” (《略谈回族陈埭“丁”史》). Quanzhou Historical Materials Full-Text Archive (泉州文史资料全文库), October 1983; webpage published August 16, 2016.
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[3]
Guotong Li (李国彤). “Transforming Islamic Customs with Confucian Rituals: Flexible Identities of the Muslim Ding Family in Late Ming Quanzhou.” Ming Studies (《明代研究》) 26 (2016): 127–164.
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[4]
Quanzhou Municipal People's Government (泉州市人民政府). “The Chendai Ding Ancestral Hall” (《陈埭丁氏宗祠》). October 24, 2015.
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[5]
Jinpeng Wu (吴金鹏) and Cuie Gao (高翠娥). “Know Our Ancient City, Love Jinjiang: A Tour of Jinjiang's Nationally Protected Heritage Sites, The Chendai Ding Ancestral Hall” (《【知我古邑爱我晋江】晋江国保巡礼——陈埭丁氏宗祠》). February 14, 2021. Reprinted by Sohu (搜狐).
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[6]
Fangtong Ji (季芳桐). “A Study of Hui Economic and Cultural Development in the Process of Modernization: Observations from Seven Hui Villages in Chendai Town, Jinjiang City” (《现代化进程中回族经济与文化发展之研究——以晋江市陈埭镇七回族村为观察点》). Proceedings of the 10th Japan-China International Academic Symposium (第10回日中国际学术研讨会论文集), 2013, pp. 114–117.
Read source ↗
[7]
Jinjiang News (晋江新闻网). “Chendai Hui History Museum” (《陈埭回族史馆》). June 28, 2021.
Read source ↗