Sachiko Murata has given the growing field of Chinese Islamic studies a great gift and has made a major contribution to its future development. For the most part, scholars of Chinese Islam are trained in East Asian studies or Chinese history and at best have only secondary knowledge of Islam or of Islamic languages such as Arabic and Persian. Similarly, scholars of Islam generally have little interest in or knowledge of China. This is despite the fact that from as early as the late 7th century the two civilizations, the Chinese and the Islamic, have maintained vibrant economic, political, scientific, and cultural ties. Muslim settlements in China can be traced back to the 8th century, and the Muslim Chinese—the Hui—are today one of the largest “national” minorities in China.