The history of Islam in China goes back 1300 years. Arab people are first noted in Chinese written records, under the name 'Dashi' (or Ta'shi) in the annals of the Tang Dynasty (618- 907). The Dashi is the Chinese rendering of 'Tazi', the name the Persian people used for the Arabs. Records dating from 713 speak of the arrival of a Dashi ambassador. During the Tang Dynasty, a steady stream of Arab and Persian traders arrived in China through the silk road and the overseas route through the port of Quanzhou. The first major Muslim settlements in China consisted of Arab and Persian merchants. Not all of the immigrants were Muslims, but many of those who stayed formed the basis of the Chinese Muslim population and the Hui ethnic group. The Tang Dynasty's flexible and cosmopolitan culture helped the introduction of Islam through its intensive contacts with Central Asia and its significant communities of Central and Western Asian merchants resident in Chinese cities. The Arab and Persian immigrants introduced their culture, such as the faith, art, musical instruments, cuisine and knowledge of medicine to China. As early as the 9th century, a large number of products were made in China for export to the Islamic world. Porcelain and textiles were the most important trade goods, but refined works of art in other materials could also be sold, especially if they were furnished with Arabic inscriptions.

Probably made for a Chinese-Muslim clientele, this Chinese Incense burner dating to the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (Ming Dynasty, reigned 1505 to 1521 CE) illustrates a fascinating mixture of Chinese and Islamic craft traditions. These type of Incense burners were made in China since the Ming Dynasty both for sinicised Muslims in China and for export towards the Islamic states with which China was trading through the Silk Route.