Dongguan Mosque Explained

Dongguan Mosque
Native Name:东关清真大寺
Native Name Lang:zh
Map Type:Qinghai
Map Size:225px
Coordinates:36.6154°N 101.7953°W
Religious Affiliation:Islam
Location:Xining, Qinghai, China
Tradition:Sunni
Festivals:-->
Organizational Status:-->
Architecture Type:mosque
Year Completed:1380
Date Destroyed:-->
Elevation Ft:-->

Dongguan Mosque is a mosque in Xining, Qinghai Province, China. It is the largest mosque in Qinghai.

History

It was originally built in 1380 and had colorful white arches along the outside of the wide building. It had a green and white dome and two tall minarets.[1] The mosque saw renovations in the late 19th to early 20th century. Shortly after, the mosque suffered heavy damages caused by political conflict. However, it continued to undergo restorations throughout the rest of the 20th century.[2]

Generals Ma Qi and Ma Bufang controlled the Great Dongguan Mosque when they were military governors of Qinghai.[3]

In 1989, tens of thousands of Muslims gathered around the mosque to protest against a book that demeaned Islam & Chinese Muslims. In October 1993, Muslims in the mosque protested against another book; the Chinese army then stormed the mosque and evicted the protestors.[4]

In 2021, it was reported that the green dome and minarets of the mosque, which were built in 2000, were removed in a remodel, some reports said that it was done to make the structure look more "Chinese" in an attempt by the CCP at sinicization,[5] [6] and the others said that it was restored to its original Chinese localization style.[7] The management committee of the mosque said that the removed part was not part of the original structure as a cultural relic, and they remind not to create or spread rumors, and be misled by malicious people.[8]

Architecture

The mosque covers an area of 11,940 square metres. In the Ming period, the mosque consisted of a single courtyard with a worship hall and two multi-storey minarets. The modern mosque is built in Chinese Islamic architectural style and contains elements of western architecture.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: China. Eye Witness Travel Guides. 498.
  2. Book: Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. China's Early Mosques. Edinburgh University Press. 2018. 978-1-4744-3721-9. 249. en.
  3. Book: Devout societies vs. impious states?: transmitting Islamic learning in Russia, Central Asia and China, through the twentieth century : proceedings of an international colloquium held in the Carré des Sciences, French Ministry of Research, Paris, November 12-13, 2001. Stéphane A. Dudoignon. 2004. Schwarz. 3-87997-314-8. 68. 2010-06-28.
  4. Book: Chebbi, Leila . Brothers and Comrades: Muslim Fundamentalists and Communists . 2021 . 14.
  5. News: Feng. Emily. 24 October 2021. China is removing domes from mosques as part of a push to make them more 'Chinese'. en. NPR.org. 2022-01-13.
  6. Web site: Misra. Shubhangi. 2021-09-13. China removes green dome, minarets from 14th century mosque in Qinghai. live. 2022-01-13. ThePrint. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20210928190625/https://theprint.in/world/china-removes-green-dome-minarets-from-14th-century-mosque-in-qinghai/732562/ . 2021-09-28 .
  7. Web site: 远方青木 . 2022-07-05 . 拆除圆顶,中国清真寺全面中国化 . 2023-02-14 . k.sina.cn.
  8. Web site: 西宁东关清真大寺民管会致广大穆斯林同胞的一封信 - 趣闻轶事 - 穆斯林在线(muslimwww) . 2023-02-14 . www.muslimwww.com.