Chapter 15 Section 6 Characteristics and Functions of Chinese Mosques

The functions of Chinese mosques and foreign mosques are not the same.Chinese mosques are not only places of worship, but also places for mass activities and gatherings of Muslims, as well as places for Muslims to hold wedding and funeral ceremonies, sacrifice animals and deal with civil disputes. Several famous mosques in the Mainland during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, such as Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou, Zhenjiao Mosque in Hangzhou, and Worship Mosque in Yangzhou, all contain the name of the builder and the whole process of construction in the historical records and inscriptions, so they are undoubtedly private buildings.However, local Muslims can come here for worship and other non-religious activities.The number of mosques built by imperial edict (official repair) increased in the Ming Dynasty.Since then, the mosque has probably changed from private construction to official construction or construction based on funds raised by the congregation.

The architectural composition of the mosque, no matter it is hall-style or Arabic-style, generally has a worship hall. There are caves on the west wall of the hall, and in front of the caves there is a "minbair" (a podium with steps and handrails), which is used to preach the teachings. Use; there is a water house (mu room), where you do wudoo before worship.As a mosque, there must be at least the above two parts of the building.In addition, some mosques have a taller tower building in front of the mosque, called Xuanli Building.Some mosques have sutra rooms in the mosque to store classics; there are also places for imams and students to work, study, rest and stay.There are absolutely no idols in the mosque, and the interior and exterior decorations are mostly abstract patterns composed of Arabic characters, geometric patterns and flower patterns, without any patterns composed of human and animal shapes.