Sunday, May 16, 2010

ISLAM IN CHINA

Islam in China

700-YEAR-OLD KORAN DUE REPAIR
XINING, China – Chinese experts will begin repairing a 700-year-old handwritten copy of the Koran, the sacred book of Islam. The 867-page two-volume set, the oldest of its kind known in China, was brought to China when the Salar ethnic
group moved east from Maracanda, the ancient name of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, about 700 years ago. Experts believe the text was completed before the 13th century. "The books have been seriously eroded and are in danger of rotting," Ma Weimin, deputy director of the Qinghai Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau, told China View.




PICTURE....This is an undated photo released by Christie's auctioneers of a 13th century Quran which has sold for a world record at the London auction house Tuesday Oct. 23, 2007. The religious artifact went under the hammer for 1,140,500 pounds ($US 2,321,770) - the highest amount paid for an Islamic holy book. Written in 1203, the tome is the earliest-known complete, dated Quran, transcribed in gold and was part of a sale of art from the Islamic and Indian World. (AP Photo / Christie's,ho)

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