Mosques in China's Hinterland: Part 1

The Islamic faith was brought into China during the Tang Dynasty. at that time a sea route was developed for trading, and it was called the Maritime Silk Road . The Arab merchants, who were Muslims, became the pioneers of China s Islamic Faith. They came via the sea and left behind a legacy of Islamic art in the mosques that they built.

In the early period, the mosques built in the hinterland were directly influenced by the architectural style of Central Asia, such as Shenyou Mosque in Fujian s Quanzhou. The dome of the mosque was constructed aventurine, the prayer hall was laid out crosswise, the windows are simple and undecorated, and a mihrab with Arabic scripts engraved on it- all are similar to Central Asia s architecture.

With the assimilation of Han culture, China s mosque began to make use of the techniques, materials, carpentry and traditional layout of Han architecture to create a uniquely Chinese Islamic architecture, in accordance with Islamic teaching. It became a norm then that a mosque would inhabit traits of Arabian architecture styles and Chinese architecture elements. For instance, the domes and tipped roofs are of Arabian influence, where as the hexagonal and octagonal tile roofs are of Chinese influence.

To a certain degree, the traditional religious buildings of the Han Chinese such as the Taoist temples are variations of the common residence, built against the layout of a courtyard house. Such buildings emphasize a symmetrical layout, and the components such as wooden beams, tiled roofs, and elaborately carved beams.

These features are seen in the mosques built in the later period. The mosque is a place of worship for the Muslims and it is not a place where they consecrate their god. The only difference that is found in the mosques and traditional courtyard houses is the direction that they face. For the mosques, it has to be facing the direction of Mecca in the west, where as the courtyard house is laid out on a north-south axis.

Huajuexiang Mosque in Xi an is a typical example of a courtyard-type mosque.

source: Chinese Architecture, published by China International Press