Beijing Huashi Mosque

Huashi Mosque

synonym

Beijing flower market mosque generally refers to the flower market mosque

Huashi mosque is one of the famous mosques in Beijing, located at 30 Xihuashi street, Chongwen District, Beijing. Huashi mosque was built in the 13th year of Yongle (1415) of Ming Dynasty, and then it was repaired and expanded many times. Huashi mosque covers an area of 2000 square meters. The overall style is Qing style architecture.

Huashi mosque is the main place for Muslim religious activities in Beijing and a cultural relic protection unit at district level.

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Historical evolution

Initial construction

Huashi mosque was built in 1415, the 13th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that it was originally the residence of Chang Yuchun (HUI), the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Later, it was changed into a mosque.

Renovation and reconstruction

According to the stone inscriptions in Huashi mosque, the mosque was rebuilt many times in Ming and Qing Dynasties, among which the scale of reconstruction was relatively large in the first year of Chongzhen (1628) and the 41st year of Kangxi (1702).

Yongzheng seven years (1729), given the temple stele, and built a stele Pavilion. In 1767, the temple was rebuilt again because of the fire in the nearby area.

It was rebuilt in 1899.

In the temple, there are wooden tablets of "halal" written by Prince Yu in the second year of Kangxi (1663) of the Qing Dynasty, and the tablets of "true one without two" in the fifty second year of Qianlong (1787), which are respectively hung on the walls on both sides of the open Hall of the main hall. There are also steles granted by the emperor in 1729, the seventh year of Yongzheng reign, and steles of rebuilding worship temple in 1770, the 35th year of Qianlong reign.

After the revolution of 1911, Song Jiaoren, Cai Yuanpei and others often held discussions here, supporting Sun Yat Sen's "five nationalities Republic, rejuvenating China" and opposing Yuan Shikai's restoration. On July 7, 1912, the Chinese Muslim progressive association was established in the temple. In 1984, Huashi mosque was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Chongwen District. The Islamic Association of Chongwen District is located in the temple.

It is said that the temple originally had a wide area and a huge scale, starting from nanyangshikou in the East, Xihuashi bath Hutong in the west, handkerchief Hutong in the South and Xihuashi street in the north. The original East Gate of Huashi mosque has a gate forehead of "Chijian mosque" above the gate. In the west of nanyangshikou Road, no one knows the architectural form. The north gate of Huashi mosque is clearly remembered. The gate seat faces south and has three gates, with a circle in the middle. The gate only opens in the big and small Eid al Fitr festivals. On both sides, there are smaller square gates for daily use, and there are Huakong wall bricks outside. It doesn't look like a temple on the outside. In fact, it is magnificent inside, spacious and has a far-reaching history. It is worthy of being one of the four famous temples in Beijing. According to the four famous temples built by the imperial edict in Beijing, they are Huashi mosque, Niujie worship temple, ertiao pushou Temple (no longer exist), and faming temple in jinshifang street. At present, the temple has wooden plaques with the word "halal" written by the first generation of Prince Yu of the Qing Dynasty, and three other wooden plaques, three stone tablets, and the "restoration of worship steles" in the 35th year of Qianlong.

After liberation, a democratic management committee was established in Huashi mosque, which seriously maintained the mosque every year.

Scale system

The largest building of the temple is the worship hall, which faces east from the West. There are three open halls in front of the hall, three wide halls and four deep halls, covering a total area of more than 500 square meters. On the top of the fourth floor, there are six corner Pavilion style skylights, and the walls are engraved with Koran scriptures. Huashi mosque is the main place for Muslim religious activities in Beijing and a cultural relic protection unit at district level. On the top of the fourth floor, there is a six corner Pavilion skylight, and the original Koran scriptures are on the walls. There is a square stele Pavilion in front of the worship hall. The original stele was given by Emperor Yongzheng. Now the stele has been moved out of the vertical wall.

The north and south walls of the front porch of Huashi mosque are engraved with Arabic scriptures, forming a huge circular pattern. The main hall is about 5 rooms wide and 10 rooms deep, with a row of ear rooms in the north and south. Enter the hall, there are octagonal pavilion for lighting, light is sufficient and bright. Below it is a lectern. The annual Eid al Fitr is celebrated by a famous Imam. There are five small arches on each side of the main hall, which can be used for single person worship. The main hall is decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, and the paint is bright, which makes it magnificent.

In front of the hall is a square imperial stele pavilion with double eaves. In the south, North and east of the courtyard, there are lecture halls, male and female bathrooms, Dean's room, storeroom, etc. There was the moon tower in the back hall, which was invalid due to disrepair. In the early years of the Republic of China, Ma Zhaobin built an additional platform in the southwest corner of the hall, and Ma Linyi, the then Vice Minister of the Ministry of education, inscribed the word "searching for the moon" on the platform, which was used to watch the moon during Ramadan every year.

Architectural features

Style features

The existing buildings of Huashi mosque are Qing style buildings, covering an area of about 2000 square meters, with a construction area of 1303.1 square meters. There are 81 houses of various types. The main building, the worship hall, is located in the west of the temple. The front porch of the hall is wide, the eaves angle is slightly tilted, and the stone steps are added to make the hall solemn.

Main buildings

According to the people in the temple, it is made of extremely precious wood for fear of birds. The wood is very heavy and can emit a delicate fragrance, which can prevent all flying insects and birds from entering the hall. As a result, there were no birds nesting in the temple for hundreds of years. At that time, Emperor Qianlong heard that the temple was afraid of sparrow wood, and wanted to take the opportunity of rebuilding the temple to make other wood to build the palace. When people in the temple heard the news, they asked craftsmen to nail the iron hoop around the front, back and middle of the two beams, indicating that the wood was not in good condition. Later, a palace minister was sent to discuss the matter with the deacon of the temple, and the dilapidated situation was played back to the emperor, which made Emperor Qianlong give up the idea of taking fear of sparrow wood. In our existing ancient buildings, the use of wood for fear of sparrow has been very few, which is also the precious place of Huashi mosque.

The main buildings of Huashi mosque include worship hall, stele Pavilion, Jinggu hall, bathing room, platform for searching, Scripture room, housing, etc. the platform for searching has been demolished.

Geographic transportation

address

Huashi mosque is located at 30 Xihuashi street, Dongcheng District, Beijing.

traffic

transit

Bus stops near Xihuashi Street: West of Beijing station, Xingfu street, west of Chongwenmen, inside of Chongwenmen, outside of Chongwenmen, north of Huashi intersection, east of Chongwenmen, Ciqikou (100m south of West Road of intersection), south of Dongdan intersection, west of Beijing Station West Street, east of taijichang intersection, North of yangshikou, Qinian Avenue, shuidaozi and west of Ciqikou.

Buses near Xihuashi Street: 127, 8, 103, 104, 110, 41, 44, 60, 673, 623, 9, TE2, 59, 622, 20, 685, 108, 111, 12, 43, airport line 7, airport line 3, 525, 715, 57, te7, etc.

metro

Take Metro Line 5, get off at Chongwenmen station (exit C2), and walk 730 meters.

Self driving line

Drive along East Chang'an Street - enter Zhengyi road - enter Qianmen East Street - enter Qinian Street - enter dongxinglong Street - Xihuashi street. Drive 390 meters along Xihuashi street to reach the terminal (on the right side of the road).

Address: No.30 Xihuashi street, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Longitude: 116.4244355

Latitude: 39.8972815