Earliest Chinese version of Koran unearthed

Muslim culture researchers in China have found the earliest Chinese version of the Koran in the country's northwestern Gansu province.

Muslim culture researchers in China have found the earliest Chinese version of the Koran in the country's northwestern Gansu province.

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Ding Shiren, the head of the Muslim Culture Institute of Lanzhou University, said that the Koran is believed to have been translated into Chinese by Sha Zhong and Ma Fulu, two noted imams and Arabic calligraphers.

"Zhong and Fulu began translating the Koran in 1909 and completed their work in 1912," Xinhua quoted Ding, as saying.

Zhong then copied out the Chinese text and made three handwritten books, which were widely used in Lanzhou.

Ding said the translation by Zhong and Fulu is faithful to the Arabic version, though parts of the Chinese text used Lanzhou dialect.

According to experts say Islam was introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty.