Inter-Religious Marriages between Muslim Hui and the Majority Han in Urban China: Regional Variations and Structural Factors

Wei Xing, University of Toronto

Muslim Hui is the most urbanized minority group in China, constituting a very large proportion of ethnic minority population in most Chinese cities. This paper discusses inter-religious marriages between Muslim Hui and the Majority Han in urban China, using 1990 census data. In particular, we describe the variation of intermarriage rate in different cities and analyze the impact of city structural factors, namely marriage market conditions, on intermarriage rate. Exactly, demographic features, social stratification and residential patterns of cities are discussed using regression model. It has been found that, though proportion of Hui group, sex ratio, class diversity within Hui itself and class gap between Muslim Hui and the majority Han, each has some effect on inter-religious marriage rate of cities, residential pattern has the most substantial influence.