Chapter 42 Section 5 Quanzhou Qingjing Temple

Quanzhou Qingjing Mosque, also known as "Aisuhab Great Temple", is located in Tumen Street, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province today, covering an area of ​​2,100 square meters. Quanzhou is a major port in ancient my country and one of the earliest areas where Islam was introduced by water.According to the existing Arabic stone tablet in Qingjing Mosque, the temple was first built in the 400th year of the Muslim calendar, that is, the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu in the Northern Song Dynasty of China (AD 1009). It was the earliest holy temple advocated by Muslims living in the area.It was rebuilt in the second year of Zhida (AD 1309), the tenth year of Zhizheng (AD 1350), and the thirty-seventh year of Ming Wanli (AD 1609).

The main buildings of the existing temples include the temple gate, Fengtian Temple, Mingshan Hall and so on.These buildings were all built in the form of the Damascus Islamic Chapel in Syria, and they still maintain the style when they were founded.The gate of the temple is 20 meters high and 4.5 meters wide. It is made of blue and white granite. It is a domed arch with the architectural style of medieval Arabic mosques.The gate is divided into outer, middle and inner floors, and the top of the gate is used as a platform, called the moon-watching platform.The original Moon Tower and minaret were destroyed in the early Qing Dynasty.The three sides of the moon-watching platform are surrounded by "Hui"-shaped piles, like battlements.The original Zhusheng Pavilion on the east side of the temple has been destroyed, leaving only the platform foundation.There are rebuilt inscriptions written by Yuan Wu Jian and Ming Li Guangjin, which are precious historical materials for studying the history of this temple. Unfortunately, the handwriting has been peeled off and difficult to distinguish due to years of weathering.

Fengtian Temple is on the west side of the temple gate. The roof has already collapsed, leaving only four stone walls.The main entrance is on the east wall, and the protruding part in the middle of the west wall is called the pulpit.There is a pointed arched alcove in the altar, with two doors on the left and right, facing each other from the north to the south.There are six small niches and four rectangular doors juxtaposed on the left and right sides of the altar.There are eight large rectangular windows on the south wall, but only one on the north wall.The outer wall of the south wall of Fengtian Temple and the niches inside the altar are inlaid with stone carvings of scriptures in Arabic, which are well preserved.

Mingshan Hall was rebuilt in modern times after Fengtian Temple. It is quite large in scale and is a two-entry Chinese-style brick and wood structure building.This is the main hall where believers worship.On the west wall of the hall, there are several squares of ancient Arabic stone carvings from the Song and Yuan dynasties, and an ancient stone incense burner in front of the hall. The stone tablet of "Yongle Shangyu" issued by Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty in the fifth year of Yongle (1407 A.D.) preserved in the temple, the content ordered to protect the temple and Islam.

The Qingjing Mosque is the earliest existing Islamic building in the coastal areas of my country. It is a historical witness of the long-term friendly and cultural exchanges between my country and Arab countries. It is also a precious object for the study of Islamic architectural art and Quanzhou's overseas traffic.