An Ancient Mosque In Ningbo, China “Historical And Architectural Study”

Abstract

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.

Xi’an Daxuexi Alley Mosque: Historical and Architectural Study

“…The use of wood as a construction material has emerged in some architectural elements of mosques, such as ceilings, triangular wooden cables Quètì (雀替), beams Liáng (梁), frieze yán (檐), doors, windows frames, Columns, and pins Ménzân ( 簪 门 ) [12]. In the same context, we find that most of the ancient Chinese mosques built according to the style of Chinese temples, which depend on the planning of courtyards with enclosures and the use of traditional Chinese entrances [13]. Although the architecture of Chinese mosques follows the forms of local Chinese architecture, its different purpose and function from the Chinese temples have significantly distinguished it.…”

“…Although the Southern-Northern orientation is a dominant feature of traditional Chinese architecture, the layout of mosques in China defies traditional Chinese planning. However; Chinese mosques have been affected by another factor that is more important and inevitable: the orientation of Mecca [11], all Chinese mosques had to face west [13], which is imposed by Islamic faith; so the direction of Daxuexi Alley mosque is East-west. Like other traditional Chinese temples and mosques, the Daxuexi Alley mosque has three main axes: a central axis that bisects the site and two parallel axes of the mosque entrance.…”

“…Architecturally, a prayer hall could be divided into three parts: the platform, the building, and the roof [11]. The main function of a platform Táijî (台基) [38] is to protect wooden architectural elements such as columns from erosion due to moisture [11], so it is always higher than the level of the courtyard floor The plan of prayer hall is known as tûzìxíng (凸字形) [12,13]. This is the most widespread plan in Chinese mosques.…”

“…Flat roofs are uncommon in traditional Chinese architecture while gabled roofs are quite widespread [13]. Like many local Chinese mosques, Islamic roof forms d e were absent from the mosque and were replaced by traditional Chinese roofs.…”

“…Since the establishment of that embassy, contact between the Arabs and Chinese became more frequent [10]. During the Abbasid era (750-1258), there were diplomatic relations between Arabs and the Tang dynasty [11][12][13], the most important of which occurred in 757 when Emperor Suzong (肅宗) (756 762) asked the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (754-775) to help quell an internal Tatar revolt. The Caliph accordingly set a military campaign of 10.000 soldiers [11].…”