Essay · 4 min · EN
Ti-Yong and the Iranian Crisis
Viewing the structural collapse of the Islamic Republic through the lens of Chinese political philosophy.
Writing
Essays and field notes
Essays, field notes and research by Noam Backner on China, Inner Asia, Buddhism, the Silk Roads, food, agriculture and the lived experience of place.
Islam (9)All writing
Essay · 3 min · EN
The Double Skies of Chinese Islam
A meditation on the life of Ma Dexin, the resilience of faith, and the delicate art of belonging to two worlds at once.
Essay · 4 min · EN
The Tulip Cult of the Turks
Many flowers once graced the gardens of Islam, but above the fragrant rose, the sapphire hyacinth, and the heady narcissus, one stood alone: humble, low-lipped, and divine.
Essay · 3 min · EN
To the Sufis of China
The Menhuan is the Chinese expression of the Sufi Tariqa—a spiritual lineage tracing back to the Arab and Persian sheikhs who first brought Islam to the Middle Kingdom.
Essay · 8 min · EN
To the Valley of Unity: The Sufi Path
Sufism is often regarded as a third branch or a parallel current to the two main streams of Islam, Sunni and Shia, with its expressions moving in and out of the boundaries of orthodoxy depending on time and place.
Research · 2 min · EN
The Archers of Islam
For a millennium, the art of mounted archery was the defining military discipline of the Islamic world, especially across its eastern frontiers.
Travel Journal · 17 min · EN
The Jewels of Badakhshan
Ismaili Islam, four-layered ceilings and dying luthiers in the river valleys of the Pamirs.
Essay · 8 min · EN
Architecture #3: Gates, Domes, and Eternal Tears
The Muslim conquest of Iran and Central Asia (633–751) fundamentally transformed the region's social order, yet its architectural legacy remained deeply rooted in the past.
Essay · 7 min · EN
Architecture II: Fire, Wind, and Silence
Asia is the cradle of the great faiths—Buddhism and Brahmanism, Islam, Christianity, and Confucianism.