Chapter 41 Section 4 Yangzhou Huihui Hall and Puhading Tomb

Yangzhou Huihuitang is located on the east bank of the canal in the south of the Jiefang Bridge (tu sound rabbit, referring to the part of the bridge that slopes toward the flat ground) in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province. It was founded by Puhadin, an Arab Islamic missionary, during the Southern Song Dynasty.The existing buildings include the mosque and Puhading Cemetery built in the middle of Qing Dynasty. The mosque is composed of a prayer hall, scripture hall and bathroom. The reason why the Yangzhou Huihui Hall is famous is not the worship hall and other buildings, but the Puhading Cemetery in the hall.

According to legend, Puhadin is the 16th descendant of Muhammad, the founder of Islam.During the Xianchun period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1265-1274 A.D.), Puhading came to Yangzhou to preach. He died of illness on July 20 in the first year of Deyou (1275 A.D.) in Tianjin.According to his will, people buried him on a high hill beside the ancient canal in the east of Yangzhou City. Puhadin's tomb is an Arabic-style building with a square plane and an area of ​​about 14 square meters.After the Southern Song Dynasty, the scale of Puhading's tomb gradually increased and developed into a cemetery.Next to the passage at the entrance of the cemetery, there is a stele of the "Historical Records of the Sages" in the 34th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1908 A.D.), on which Puhading's life stories are engraved.On the outer wall and door of the tomb, there is a stone inscription "Puhading's Tomb of the Western Regions Sage" during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty (1723-1735 A.D.).On the top of the center of the cemetery is a 3.5-meter-high four-cornered pavilion with brick walls and an arch on each side.The tomb is located underground in the center of the pavilion.The tomb has a five-level rectangular bluestone tomb top, with scriptures carved around it.

In addition, in the Puhading Cemetery, there are Arab tomb pavilions and pavilions embedded in large-capped low walls that came to Yangzhou to preach during the Jingyan period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1276-1278 AD) and the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty (1465-1487 AD). Eight tombstones of the Arabs of the Yuan Dynasty.These are historical witnesses of the friendly exchanges between the Chinese people and the Arab people.