Ibn Battuta — "The Chinese are skilled in crafts, but they are not a people of religion."
The Chinese are skilled in crafts, but they are not a people of religion.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"The people of this country are very skilled in archery, and they can shoot an arrow with great accuracy."
"Their women are of surpassing beauty, and are shown more respect than the men. These people are Muslims, punctilious in observing the hours of prayer, studying the books of law, and memorizing the Kor…"
"The people of this country are a good people, but they are ignorant of the religion."
"In Mali, I saw a man eat an entire roasted sheep by himself, and then drink a bucket of sour milk. The people there have stomachs like camels."
"The women here are beautiful, and they do not veil themselves. This is a strange thing in a Muslim country."
About Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
Moroccan Muslim scholar and explorer whose Rihla (travels) covered ~75,000 miles across the Islamic world from Mali to China — the most-traveled person of the medieval world. Closely associated with Marco Polo (his Venetian counterpart, traveling 50 years earlier in the opposite direction). For an intellectual contrast, see medieval European Christian insularity, the sheltered monastic-feudal worldview of 14th-century Latin Christendom — Ibn Battuta's 30-year journey demonstrates that the 14th-century Dar al-Islam was a single intellectual ecosystem from West Africa to Beijing, while medieval Europe was still tribal and parochial. The cleanest 'connectedness vs insularity' contrast in pre-modern history — Battuta could find a familiar Maliki judge in any city from Mali to Sumatra.