Xianmen Menhuan (saintly lineage) is a
branch of the famous Khufiyya Menhuan in China. The founder of the sect was Xian
Meizhen, and the sect was named after him.
Xian Meizhen (1661-1739) was a native of
Qinghai Province in Northwest China. He used to learn from Ap¨Ąg, who was leader
of the White-Mountain Muslims and a famous Islamic scholar from Arabia. He
learned creeds of Khufiyya Sect and then disseminated his religious beliefs in
Xining area and other places.
In religious views, this sect lays stress on
Tariqah instead of Wugong (the Five Pillars of Islam, which are the
framework of the Muslim life: faith, prayer, concern for the needy,
self-purification, and the pilgrimage to Mecca for those who are able).
It requires the believers to sit still in meditation. In some religious rites,
there is a sense of mystery. For example, when they have Amal (service), they
should do it with the doors and windows closed and participants should burn
incense and recite prayers, hold the religious leader's hands and kiss his palm,
and there should be no other people present.
Later, the sect was divided into several
branches. At the beginning of the 20th century, a branch migrated to Xiji of the
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region led by the grandson of Xian Meizhen, who founded
Xijixianmen Menhuan. After 1949, the fifth leader of Xianmen Menhuan migrated to
Xinjiang area with all of his kin, and from then on, the succession of the
sect's leader came to an end.