With the rise of Tang dynasty (618-907), Ningbo was an important commercial city on the Chinese eastern coast. Arab merchants had an important role in trade relations between China and the West. Ningbo mosque was initially built in 1003 during Northern Song period by Muslims traders who had migrated from Arab lands to settle in China. Through ongoing research of representative Muslim architecture, such as Chinese Mosques, this paper seeks to shed light on the artistic features of this mosque. Many of the key characteristics of this distinctive ethnic heritage are based on commonly held religious beliefs and on the relationship between culture and religion. This paper aims to study the characteristics of Chinese mosques architecture, through studying one of the most important planning patterns of the traditional courtyards plan Known as Siheyuan, and it will also make a practical study on Ningbo Yuehu Mosque. The result of this study shows that the Ningbo Yuehu mosque is like Chinese mosques which follows essentially the norms of Chinese planning, layout design, and wooden structures.
The Huisheng mosque in Guangzhou is one of China's oldest mosques; its initial construction dates back to 627. The minaret of the mosque is one of the surviving earliest examples of Islamic architecture in China. The Chinese minarets were built with a form of a wooden low-rise Chinese pavilion. In the case of Guangta, it was built by brick directly on the street with such a great height. The unique architectural form of Guangta raises many questions about its location, architecture, and function. The study traces the historical texts of the minaret to clarify its historical functions. It attempts to understand the minaret's meanings, the hidden symbolism, and its historical roles to serve the Muslim community as a religious minority in the city, on the one hand, as well as its cultural contributions on the other hand. There are several methods to achieve its objectives: the historical, the descriptive, and the comparative analytical approach. These approaches proved that the minaret played many roles associated with its form and architecture. In addition to its religious functions, it is entrusted to inform Muslims at prayer times. The minaret was also used as a control tower if the Muslim community in the city was exposed to external or internal threats and served as a lighthouse to facilitate Muslim maritime trade. Further, it carried a religious symbolism as it was a symbol of Islam itself within the local Chinese society that was not ruled by Muslims.
Undoubtedly, Islamic architecture in China was affected directly and indirectly by the heritage of Chinese architecture. This was reflected in the planning of Chinese mosques. As its layouts differed from those in the Islamic world. The mosques in Beijing followed the traditional Chinese layout with courtyards, which relies on the traditional Chinese courtyards, with their gardens, trees, huge incense burners, and fish ponds, overlooked by buildings and buildings that are independent of each other. In addition, mosques were characterized by the phenomenon of multiple courtyards in some mosques. Hence, we can consider Chinese mosques as Chinese architecture in the first place, influenced by Islamic architecture. In the same context, The plan of prayer halls in mosques varied, as well as the mihrab halls with multiple layouts. The study seeks to analyze the layout of Chinese mosques on the one hand, and also tries to discover the reasons affecting their architecture, and compares them with each other on the other hand, in order to understand the philosophy of their architecture and development.
As a part of ongoing research on representative Muslim architecture, including Chinese Mosques, this paper seeks to shed light on the cultural development and artistic features of ancient architecture of Chinese Muslims. The objective of this paper is to explore the characteristics of design and architecture of Chinese mosques. This article first depicts mosque history and architectural characteristics (planning, direction, internal structure, material, art performance and construction subsidiary, etc.). The mosque under consideration has a long history since its earliest construction during the Tang dynasty. It consists of a group of buildings forming introverted courtyard enclosed by halls and external walls which are known as Siheyuan. Chinese mosques are characterized by architectural forms different from the Islamic world architecture. Chinese Islamic architecture blends Islamic culture and content with traditional local Chinese heritage. This particular mosque is considered a typical ancient mosque, not only in Xi'an but also in China in general.
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