The Tongxin Great Mosque () is a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Tongxin County Tongxin County (, Xiao'erjing: طْوثٍ ثِيًا) is a County (People's Republic of China), county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Wuzhong, Ningxia, Wuzhong in the central part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of Ch ...

Wuzhong City Wuzhong (; Xiao'erjing: وُجْو شِ) is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It was known as Yinnan Prefecture (; Xiao'erjing: ءٍنًا دِٿِيُوِ) before it was upgraded to a pre ...

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The mosque is the oldest and largest mosque in Ningxia.

History

The mosque was likely built in the fourteenth century during the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

. It was originally a Mongolian Buddhist temple that was eventually abandoned after the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368. It was reconsecrated as a mosque during the early

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. The mosque underwent major renovations in the sixteenth century, in 1791 and in 1907. The mosque was further expanded in 1936. When the

Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

went on a westward campaign in 1936 liberating areas in Ningxia, they held a meeting with the local people at the mosque. They also set up the Yuhai County People's Government in Shanganning. In 1983, it was recognized as the National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...

. Today, the mosque is affiliated with the

Yihewani Yihewani (), or Ikhwan (), (also known as al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, which means Muslim Brotherhood, not to be confused with the Middle Eastern Muslim Brotherhood, or Ahl al-Sunni) is an Islamic sect in China. Its adherents are called Sunnaiti. It is ...

sect.

Architecture

The mosque was built in Han style and decorated in Islamic style, which showcase the combination of Han and Hui culture. All of the buildings were built on a cyan platform, seven meters high. There is an imitation-timber work entrance wall, decorated with brick carvings, at the front gate. The main building, consisting of the main prayer hall and two connecting halls, accommodates 1,000 worshipers. Behind the mosque lies a cemetery which also contains the shrines of two Sufi saints (or ''Shaykhs).''

Transportation

The mosque is accessible by bus from the

Yinchuan Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...

Railway Station.

References

{{Mosques in China Buildings and structures in Ningxia Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Ningxia Ming dynasty architecture Mosques in China Wuzhong, Ningxia

History

Architecture

Transportation

See also

References