This is a list of notable mosques in China. A

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

is a place of worship for followers of the religion of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

. The first mosque in China was the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, built during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

in 627 CE. In of 2014 there were 39,135 mosques in China, in 2009 an estimated 25,000 of these were in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...

, a north-west

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy� ...

, having a high density of one mosque per 500 Muslims. In China, mosques are called ''Qīng Zhēn Sì'' (, "Temples of the Pure Truth"), a name which was also used by Chinese Jews for

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

s. Other names include ''Huí Huí Táng'' (, "

Hui people The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the ...

's hall"), ''Huí Huí Sì'' (, "Hui people's temple"), ''Lǐ Bài Sì'' (, "Temple of worship"), ''Zhēn Jiào Sì'' (, "Temple of the True Teaching") or ''Qīng Jìng Sì'' (, "Pure and clean temple"). During the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, at the mosque entrance of Hui Mosques, a tablet was placed upon which "''Huáng Dì Wàn Suì, Wàn Suì, Wàn Wàn Suì''" () was inscribed, which means, "The Emperor, may he live forever". Wansui means Ten thousand years, which means forever in Chinese. Westerners traveling in China noted the presence of these tablets at mosques in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

and

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

. Most mosques have certain aspects in common with each other however as with other regions Chinese Islamic architecture reflects the local architecture in its style. China is renowned for its beautiful mosques, which resemble temples. However, in western China the mosques resemble those of Iran and Central Asia, with tall, slender minarets, curvy arches and dome shaped roofs, as well as the unique multi-layered portals. In northwest China where the Chinese Hui have built their mosques, there is a combination of eastern and western styles. The mosques have flared Buddhist style roofs set in walled courtyards entered through archways with miniature domes and

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

s.Saudi Aramco World, July/August 1985 , page 3035 The style of architecture of Hui Mosques varies according to their sect. The traditionalist Gedimu Hanafi Sunnis, influenced by Chinese culture, build Mosques which look like Chinese temples. The reformist modernist (but originally Wahhabi inspired) Yihewani build their Mosques to look like Arab style Mosques. As the reformists become more influential in China, some mosques in Chinese Islamic style are reconstructed into Arab style, e.g. Weizhou Grand Mosque. It caused the dissatisfaction of Chinese government, and eventually led to a counteraction of re-sinification of mosque architectures in China.

List of mosques

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External links

Mosques in China
a gallery at the site of the Institute for Research and Studies of Muslim Minorities (IRSMM)

{{Religion in China

List of mosques

See also

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