North mosque in Songpan

North mosque in Songpan

Songpan Muslim North Temple is a Chinese palace style building, located in the north corner of Songpan County, facing the Minjiang River, sitting West to East.

The temple was built in the Qing Dynasty and rebuilt in 1919, which has been more than 200 years.

The temple is the main Muslim temple in Songpan area where Muslim people gather and gather.

A brief history of Muslims in Songpan

Songpan county is located in the northwest of Sichuan Province, northeast of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, with a long history. According to Tang Huiyao, because Huihe people had made great contributions in calming the rebellion between an and Shi, the Tang Dynasty allowed them to pay tribute to Ma Yi tea. At that time, Songpan (then called Songzhou) was an important border town in the Tang Dynasty. It governed most of Aba Prefecture today, and was far away from Gansu and Qinghai. It was the largest commercial distribution center on the ancient tea horse road in Sichuan in the Tang Dynasty. Persian, Arabian and Huihe merchants entered Songpan from suzong period of Tang Dynasty and participated in tea horse trade and the business activities of Yima Shu brocade. This is the first Muslim ancestor to enter Songpan.

In 1364, the people of Songpan rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty and expelled the descendants of Hui people. Dongshan temple and city were destroyed by fire. In 1379, Ding Yu, the general of pingqiang in the first year of Ming Dynasty, calmed down the chaos on the South Road of Songpan. Later, he conquered Songpan and set up Songpan guards in panzhou and Songzhou, which opened up the business road between Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai Along the Fujiang and Minjiang rivers, the ethnic group entered Songpan and engaged in horse trafficking and other businesses. Many of them lived and built mosques.

In 1409, in order to encourage the Semu people to build the city, Zhu Di built the halal Xiasi (the original place of children in Chengguan). In 1747, the Hui people in Weinan of Shaanxi Province entered Songpan and built Shangsi, which made the Islam in Songpan develop. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid the difficulty of religion, some Hui people in the northwest migrated to Songpan. In the 11th year of Xianfeng, because of the resistance to the tea tax, the officials fled, and the Hui people in Songpan suffered disaster. More than 4000 people died. In the first year of 1911, more than 1000 Hui and Han people died because of the turmoil. However, Islam still developed, and at the beginning of Tongzhi, North mosque and Gongbei temple were built. There are 11 mosques in the county, of which the North mosque and Chengguan mosque are located in the county. Songpan is a county where Tibetan, Qiang, Hui and Han nationalities live together, but Hui people pay more attention to personal and environmental hygiene.

The ancestors of the Songpan Hui people lived in the west of Congling before the Yuan Dynasty. In the process of settling down for more than 700 years, they now have a population of nearly 10000 people, most of whom believe in Islam. The county and the nearby villages are the places where Hui people live together. Because the people live in "Fang" relatively, their beliefs and customs are well preserved.

There are two mosques in Songpan County: the North mosque and the Chengguan mosque.

North mosque in Songpan

architectural style

The temple is magnificent and planned according to Islamic tradition. It is composed of gate building, Chapel, Nanjing hall, Beijing Hall, Xuanli building, bathroom and other wooden structures. Surrounded by high walls and covered by ancient poplar trees, it is really a resort. The main hall (the auditorium) is located from west to East, with three rooms wide and two rooms deep. The top of the hall is a single eaves Xieshan style, with a simple and majestic shape. Each column and each bucket arch on the building have the same standard and proportion. On the left side is the South Sutra hall, which is three rooms wide with wooden tables and benches for Muslims to learn palindrome. On the right side is the North Sutra hall, which is two rooms wide with exquisite design, hanging with palindrome Bible, paintings and photos. There are sofas, tea tables, tea sets, vases and so on all around, with elegant layout. This is a place for members of the Islamic Association to study and gather.

The temple is the most complete preserved mosque in Songpan county. In recent years, the government has allocated funds to renovate the old temple. Overlooking the temple, the shadow of the pagoda is misty and the shadow of the poplar tree is mysterious and quiet.

Annex: Chengguan Mosque

Chengguan mosque, located in Chengzhong street of the county, was built in 1379 A.D. after Ding Yu conquered Songzhou, which was donated by the three surnames of songpansha, tie and Chang. It was destroyed in the war of the late Ming Dynasty. During the reign of Daoguang, Qi Youde donated money for reconstruction, xianfenggeng applied for war and was destroyed by fire, Tongzhi period was rebuilt, Xuantong was destroyed in 1911, and in the sixth year of the Republic of China was rebuilt.

The temple is a traditional Chinese architecture. There are front hall, front courtyard, worship hall, kiln hall, North and South scripture hall, bath water room, etc. In the Ming Dynasty, the fire wall, Dou Gong and arched gate were well preserved. It can accommodate seven to eight hundred people. The site is still alive.

Address: near the Muslim ancient Temple (south of Shunjiang village committee, Jin'an Hui Township), Shuncheng North Road, Songpan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

Longitude: 103.599526

Latitude: 32.642526

Ticket information: free.