The origin of Taiwanese Muslims

Quanzhou in southern Fujian, China, opened as a port in about the 1350s and became one of China's major external ports at that time. At that time, not only the Yuan Dynasty, which believed in Islam, introduced its Muslim ideas to the area, but also businessmen from far away Arabia introduced their religious propaganda. Therefore, many Han people converted to Islam and became Muslims. In 1368, the power of the Yuan Dynasty established by the Mongols subsided in Quanzhou, Fujian, but there were still a certain number of Muslims in Quanzhou.

In 1661, Zheng Chenggong, a Han from Fujian, captured Taiwan, which was then ruled by the Dutch. The Fujian soldiers and civilians who landed in Taiwan also included many Muslims. Most of them are Han Chinese with the surname Guo from Quanzhou. According to legend, they are descendants of Guo Ziyi, a famous general in the Tang Dynasty. The Muslim Han Chinese, mainly the Guo family, not only settled in Lukang, but also built Taiwan's first mosque. However, due to the lack of imam talents to promote the religion, the number of local Muslims who maintain the Islamic faith is not large.