The contingent of Chinese Islamic academic workers keeps growing. The institutions of higher learning came to attach importance to fostering a young generation of Islamic academicworkers, and some ethnic universities and colleges now offer major courses on Islam. Islamic institutes in all places also offer courses onIslamic doctrine,
philosophy, history and culture to foster a new generation of Islamic academic and religious workers. In this period of time, new progress was made on studies of Mosque Education, the Movement of Translating and Writing Scriptures in Chinese, sects and Menhuans, history of Islam, the roles that Islam played for the formation of the Huis and other nationalities, mosque and its social function, Muslims‘ social movements, religious system, historical documents, steles and inscribed boards concerning Islam in southeast coastal area and so on. Nationwide or provincial Islamic magazines and journals were resumed or started publication one after another, and have published thousands of papers on various aspects of Islam in China. Publishing houses throughout China have published hundreds of books on Islam and minority groups believing in Islam. Theoffices for sorting out ancient books of minority groups have been set up in some provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government and have published many ancient Islamic works. The China Islamic Association cooperated with several publishing houses and published the “Holy Qur"an” in 1980 with a subscription of over160,000, “Concise Tafsir”, “Pearls of Hadith”, a selection ofHadith from both Bukhari and Muslim, “Sharikh al-Wigayi”, ascripture on Islamic Law, “Khutbah”, “Life of Prophet Muhammad”, “An Illustration to Islamic Scriptures” translated by Ma Jian and “Nine Years in Egypt” written by Pang Shiqian and so on.
With great efforts from the China Islamic Association, “Chinese Encyclopedia of Islam” was published in 1994, which won the First National Dictionary Prize and the Second State Books Highest Prize in 1995 and 1996 respectively.
In the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government where Muslims live incompact communities, great importance is attached to studying and publishing Islamic scriptures. The Xinjiang government has presented 90,000 Holy Qur"ans and 100,000 “Sahih al-Bukhari” in the Uighur language to Islamic dignitaries and common Muslims alike. The Jiangsu Provincial Islamic Association has cooperated with the Yilin Publishing House in Nanjing and published the “Holy Qur"an” translated by Tong Daozhang. The Yunnan Provincial Islamic Association printed 2000 Holy Qur"ans from carved printing plates made during the Qing Dynasty, and has sorted out over 100 sets of such plates in the Chinese, Arabic and Persian languages, more than 70 of which are complete and usable. The Division for Studies on the Huis of Ningxia Social Academy has published many Islamic scriptures and works such as “A Guide to Islam”, “True Explanation to the Right Religion& Great Learning of Islam & Righter Answers to Truth-Seekers“, ”Sharikh al-Wigayi“, ”History of Islam in Arabia“, ”Fine Collection of Historic Chinese Islamic Newspapers“, ”Collection of Documents and Data on the Huis and Islam“, ”Abstract to the Written and Translated Works on Chinese Islam“, and ”A Faithful Record of Chinese Muslims‘ Pilgrimage“? The Gansu Provincial Islamic Association published ”Going around Kabah“ written by Yang Guangrong. The Shanghai Municipal IslamicAssociation undertook “Exhibition of Islamic Relics in Shanghai”? The provincial Islamic associations in eastern China have held seminars in Suzhou, Shanghai, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Jinan on Islamic literature and the history of the southeast coastal region. In July 1982, the Islamic Study Society was founded in Ningxia, and was followed by other similar mass cultural groups in the Northwest, such as the Islamic Cultural Study Society set up in Xi"an, which has successfully held three seminars on Islamic cultural since 1994, and compiled and published three collections of thesis called “Collected Essays on Islamic Culture”?