Qingjing Mosque

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Wikipedia

Qingjing Mosque
清净寺
Religion
AffiliationSunni Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusMosque
StatusActive
Location
LocationTumen Street, Quanzhou, Fujian
CountryChina
Qingjing Mosque is located in Fujian
Qingjing Mosque
Location of the mosque in Fujian
Coordinates24°54′10″N 118°35′27″E / 24.90278°N 118.59083°E / 24.90278; 118.59083
Architecture
TypeMosque
StyleIslamic
Completed1009 CE
Specifications
Capacity300 worshipers
Dome1
Minaret2 (small)
LocationQuanzhou, Fujian
Part ofQuanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China
CriteriaCultural: (iv)
Reference1561
Inscription2021 (44th Session)
Official nameQingjing Mosque
清净寺
TypeCultural
CriteriaReligion
Designated3 April 1961
Reference no.1-87

The Qingjing Mosque (Chinese: 清净寺; Arabic: مسجد الأصحاب, romanized: Masjid al-Aṣḥāb), also known as the Ashab Mosque or Shengyousi Mosque, is a mosque located on Tumen Street, in the city of Quanzhou, Fujian, China.[1][2][3] Qingjing Mosque is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[4] The mosque’s Arabic name, Masjid al-Aṣḥāb (“Mosque of the Companions”), and its Chinese name, Shengyousi, are dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad’s companions, which in Chinese Muslim Tradition, traveled to Quanzhou and were buried in the nearby city of Qingyuan.[5] During the Song and Yuan periods, the mosque served as a central gathering space for the local Muslim population to worship and socialize. The mosque served an important role linking the local Muslim community to outside networks, often attracting merchants and scholars from across the Indian Ocean.[6] Qingjing Mosque is among the oldest mosques in China and the only example of a stone entryway to a mosque in mainland China. It is an example of cultural contact between Chinese Minnan style and Islamic style architecture.[7][8]

The mosque is also listed as a Chinese major cultural heritage site.[9]

Architecture

The Qingjing Mosque is an example of cultural contact between Muslim and Chinese groups, exhibiting features of both Arabic and Chinese Minnan (also known as Hokkien) architectural styles.[7] What remains of the mosque is the entryway attached to the southeast corner of the original prayer hall, with the Mingshan prayer hall on the northwest corner.

A plaque at the mosque depicting its floor plan.

The entrance to the mosque is the only example of stone entrances in mainland China, and is composed of diabase and white granite.[10] Due to the southward orientation and axisymmetrical construction of the entryway, the gate tower aligns with traditional Chinese architectural practices, especially those of religious spaces.[7][11] The passageway into the mosque consists of three interconnected vaults and arches, less than 5 meters in diameter each.[11] While it resembles an Iranian-style Iwan, its lower back wall is open for access to the original prayer hall.[12] Lotus relief decoration within the dome in the entryway represents respect for sanctity and purity.[10] References of Caisson Chinese style architecture suggest strong influence from the Southern Fujian Province.[7] The top of the entryway is covered with crenellations, surrounding a platform atop the tower used for lunar observation to determine the beginning of Ramadan.[12][10]

Interior of Fengtian Hall, the original prayer area of Qingjing Mosque.

The Fengtian Hall, which was the original prayer hall, and the mosque overall, have a layout that resembles Abbasid-era hypostyle mosques like the Great Mosque of Samarra or the Great Mosque in Kairouan.[12] At thirty by twenty-seven meters, Fengtian Hall once had a roof supported by three rows of four stone columns.[11] Facing the street, a granite wall with eight large windows provides a view from the hall to outside the mosque, though the mosque may have extended into what is now the street during the eleventh through fourteenth centuries.[11][13] The east wall has remnants of an indentation, providing evidence of a mihrab.[14] The street-facing wall and pishtaq archways around the mosque are features that are unique to this mosque.[14] Situated on the northwest corner of the mosque, Mingshan Prayer Hall contains features commonly seen in Southern Fujian (Minnan) architectural styles, as the structure shadows a central courtyard with open doors to the north, south, and east to improve ventilation and temperature. The use of red brick and raw soil in the outer walls assist with thermal insulation and moisture-proofing.[7]

Mingshan prayer hall, located on the Northwest corner of the mosque.

Early History

Due to its strategic positioning between the Fujian province and the Jin River, Quanzhou became an international trading center of Song Dynasty China, specializing in Maritime trade.[15] Quanzhou likely had the largest foreign population of any city during Song-era China.[11] Islam arrived in Quanzhou as the result of this maritime trade during the Tang dynasty, with Arab and Persian merchants establishing settlements along the southeastern coast of China.[16]

History of the Mosque

Constructed in 1009 or 1010 CE, the 2,500-square-metre (27,000 sq ft) Islamic style mosque is one of the oldest mosques in China, considered by some to be the second oldest surviving.[17][11]

Following Mongol conquest of China into the establishment of the Yuan dynasty, Quanzhou continued to function as a major center of international trade. Merchants from Arabia, Persia, and Southeast Asia continued to travel to the city, as the mosque was a popular congregation space, and acted as a meeting point for foreign traders. Inscriptions dating to this period recount a renovation project, funded by Ihamed B. Muhammed Gudeish of Shiraz, after the mosque sustained damages from natural disasters in 1310. East from the gate are two stone tablets that relay information regarding reconstructions of the mosque during the Yuan and Ming dynasties.[11]

Tablets describing the history of the mosque during the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

During the Ming dynasty, restrictions on maritime trade led to the gradual decline of the foreign merchant population in Quanzhou, though the Qingjing mosque still persisted as a place of worship. Imperial records from the Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) indicate the provision of protections for the mosque and local Muslim communities.[8] Later, repairs and additions to the mosque were made during the Ming and Qing dynasties, which brought about new boundary walls and modifications to the Mingshan Hall. In 1761, the roof of Fengtian Temple was destroyed in a typhoon. The primary prayer hall was then moved to the Mingshan Hall.[7]

Archeology and UNESCO Designation

In the 1950s, local construction projects near Quanzhou resulted in the uncovering of dozens of tombstones and grave monuments. Several of these artifacts were stored in the Qingjing Mosque before their relocation to the Quanzhou Maritime Museum.[18] During the late 1980s, excavations uncovered pottery dated to the Song period, along with traces of Yuan period wooden construction.[14] The Qingjing Mosque was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside Quanzhou at large in 2021.[4]

See also

Qingjing Mosque
Traditional Chinese清淨寺
Simplified Chinese清净寺
Literal meaningTranquil Mosque
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinQīngjìng Sì
Southern Min
Hokkien POJChheng-chēng-sī

References

  1. ↑ Versteegh, Kees; Eid, Mushira (2005). Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics: A-Ed. Brill. pp. 379–. ISBN 978-90-04-14473-6.
  2. ↑ Pearson, Richard; Min, Li; Guo, Li (March 1, 2002). "Quanzhou Archaeology: A Brief Review". International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 6 (1): 35–36. doi:10.1023/A:1014881309593. hdl:2027.42/44540. ISSN 1573-7748.
  3. ↑ Glasserman, Aaron (August 3, 2022). "Islam in China By James Frankel". Journal of Islamic Studies. 33 (3): 41. doi:10.1093/jis/etac038. ISSN 0955-2340.
  4. 1 2 "Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on February 1, 2025. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  5. ↑ Glasserman, Aaron (August 3, 2022). "Islam in China By James Frankel". Journal of Islamic Studies. 33 (3): 49. doi:10.1093/jis/etac038. ISSN 0955-2340.
  6. ↑ Wang, Qiang (April 2020). Legendary Port of the Maritime Silk Routes: Zayton (Quanzhou). Peter Lang. p. 139.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jin, Siqi (October 31, 2023). "Indigenization of Mosques in Ancient China in the Context of the Maritime Spice Route". Communications in Humanities Research. 8 (1): 155–158. doi:10.54254/2753-7064/8/20230989. ISSN 2753-7064.
  8. 1 2 Wang, Qiang (April 2020). Legendary Port of the Maritime Silk Routes: Zayton (Quanzhou). Peter Lang. p. 4.
  9. ↑ "国务院关于公布第一批全国重点文物保护单位名单的通知 (1st Designations)" (in Chinese). State Administration of Cultural Heritage. April 3, 1961. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 Wang, Qiang (April 2020). Legendary Port of the Maritime Silk Routes: Zayton (Quanzhou). Peter Lang. p. 142.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Steinhardt, Nancy (May 14, 2019). Chinese Architecture: A History. Princeton University Press. pp. 214–215. doi:10.1515/9780691191973. ISBN 978-0-691-19197-3.
  12. 1 2 3 Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (September 1, 2008). "China's Earliest Mosques". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 67 (3): 47–48. doi:10.1525/jsah.2008.67.3.330. ISSN 0037-9808.
  13. ↑ Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (September 1, 2008). "China's Earliest Mosques". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 67 (3): 42. doi:10.1525/jsah.2008.67.3.330. ISSN 0037-9808.
  14. 1 2 3 Steinhardt, Nancy (December 31, 2024). Yuan: Chinese Architecture in a Mongol Empire. Princeton University Press. p. 189. doi:10.1515/9780691253350. ISBN 978-0-691-25335-0.
  15. ↑ Von Glahn, Richard (2016). The economic history of China: from antiquity to the nineteenth century. Cambridge, United Kingdom New York, USA Port Melbourne, Australia Delhi, India Singapore: Cambridge University Press. p. 394. ISBN 978-1-107-03056-5.
  16. ↑ Houissa, Ali (2016). "LibGuides: Exhibition: Islam in Asia: Diversity in Past and Present: Islam in China". Cornell University Library. Last updated Nov 20, 2025. https://guides.library.cornell.edu/IslamAsiaExhibit/IslamChina
  17. ↑ Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (September 1, 2008). "China's Earliest Mosques". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 67 (3): 38. doi:10.1525/jsah.2008.67.3.330. ISSN 0037-9808.
  18. ↑ Wang, Qiang (April 2020). Legendary Port of the Maritime Silk Routes: Zayton (Quanzhou). Peter Lang. p. 104-105.

Further reading

  • Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (September 2008). "China's Earliest Mosques". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 67 (3): 339–341. doi:10.1525/jsah.2008.67.3.330.
  • Media related to Qingjing Mosque at Wikimedia Commons
  • "Fuzhou's Historic Qingjing Mosque". amoymagic.com.