Huaisheng Temple

Huaisheng temple is located in the north and south, covering an area of 2966 square meters. On the main axis, there are three gates, the moon watching tower, the worship hall and the Sutra Pavilion; the light tower is in the southwest corner of the temple, and there are corridors and stele pavilions. The light tower was built in the Tang Dynasty. It is 36.3 meters high. It is made of green bricks. The tower is cylindrical and has a harvest upward. The surface is coated with lime sand. The tower has a rectangular daylighting hole. There are two spiral stairs inside the tower. The two stairs spiral around the center of the tower and each leads directly to the top of the tower. The original golden rooster on the top of the tower can rotate with the wind to show the direction of the wind. It was dropped by a hurricane in the early Ming Dynasty. It was rebuilt in 1934 with brick teeth at the top and pointed top. This tower is one of the earliest and most distinctive monuments of Islamic architecture in China. The light tower was built in the Tang Dynasty. It is 36.3 meters high. It is made of green bricks. The tower is cylindrical and has a harvest upward. The surface is coated with lime sand. The tower has a rectangular daylighting hole. There are two spiral stairs inside the tower. The two stairs spiral around the center of the tower and each leads directly to the top of the tower. The original golden rooster on the top of the tower can rotate with the wind to show the direction of the wind. It was dropped by a hurricane in the early Ming Dynasty. Built in the early Tang Dynasty, it is one of the earliest mosques established after Islam was introduced into China. In memory of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, it is named Huaisheng temple. It is located in the "Fanfang" where ancient Arabic merchants lived. The name of the temple "Huaisheng" means to remember the founder of Islam "Zhisheng" Muhammad. Because there is a bare cylindrical tower in the temple, it is also called Guangta temple. It was destroyed by fire in the third year of the Yuan Dynasty (1343 A.D.), rebuilt in the tenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, and rebuilt successively in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Huaisheng Temple

Huaisheng temple is one of the ancient Muslim temples in Guangzhou. It was built in the 15th year of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. It is the fourth oldest mosque in the world. The total area of Huaisheng temple is 1553 square meters. The overall building is in the typical Arabic architectural style. The temple has a dean's room, a scripture room, a worship hall and a light tower in the temple.

Huaisheng temple is located at 56 Guangta Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, China. It is the earliest mosque in China. In 1996, it was announced by the State Council as one of the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units

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Historical evolution

Initial construction

It is said that during the reign of emperor Wude of the Tang Dynasty (618-626), Muhammad, the founder of Islam, sent four disciples to China to preach. Abby wangesu, one of them, landed in Guangzhou via the maritime Silk Road in the early years of Tang Zhenguan and began to preach in China. In the first year of Zhenguan (627), Abu wangesu and the Arabs living in Guangzhou donated money to build this mosque. In memory of Muhammad, it was named "Huaisheng". In fact, in the early Tang Dynasty, Islam had not yet gained a dominant position in the Arabian Peninsula, and it was impossible to build a temple in Chinese tradition.

Renovation and reconstruction

Huaisheng temple was burned in 1343 and rebuilt seven years later. The existing buildings were rebuilt in 1695. After 1949, Huaisheng temple was repaired three times on a large scale, basically maintaining the original architectural style.

Scale system

In the temple, there are teachers' room, Scripture room, worship hall and water room for baptism. The light tower in the temple is 36 meters high. Its round body and pen pointed spire show the unique architectural style of Arabia. Before every worship, someone would climb to the top of the tower and shout "bunk" to ask the Islamists to come to worship quickly, so the tower was originally called "bunk tower". Because of the similar pronunciation of "Guang" and "Bunker" in Cantonese, the tower is also called Guangta. At that time, the Arabians used to climb the tower and light the lights at night to guide the course of Arab ships.

Huaisheng temple, also known as lion temple, commonly known as Guangta temple, is one of the four ancient mosques in China, and also the oldest existing mosque building in China. Located at 56 Guangta Road, Yuexiu District, it is listed as a key cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province. Since the Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou has been the main port of China's overseas trade. At that time, Guangzhou had the largest number of rich Arab businessmen. With the support of the local government, they built a grand mosque, today's Huaisheng temple. The name of the temple expresses the respect and memory of the Chinese and foreign religious people for the saint Muhammad. The main hall of worship of the temple is located in the front of the courtyard. It is a classical building with three surrounding corridors, Xieshan double eaves, green glass and bucket arch. It stands majestically on the platform with carved stone railings. It fully shows the noble dignity of the main hall and the different carvings on the stone railings. There are gourds, fans, umbrella covers, flowers, lions, fish and other things, which are extremely lively and vivid. The interior of the hall is white and bright, with wooden floors and three side sliding doors. Although there are few decorations in the hall, it is very neat and generous.

Huaisheng temple is located at No. 56, Guangta Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou city. It covers an area of 2966 square meters from north to south. On the main axis, there are three gates, the moon tower, the worship hall and the Sutra Pavilion. The Guangta is in the southwest corner of the temple, and there are corridors and stele pavilions. The light tower was built in the Tang Dynasty. It is 36.3 meters high. It is made of green bricks. The tower is cylindrical and has a harvest upward. The surface is coated with lime sand. The tower has a rectangular daylighting hole. There are two spiral stairs inside the tower. The two stairs spiral around the center of the tower and each leads directly to the top of the tower. The original golden rooster on the top of the tower can rotate with the wind to show the direction of the wind. It was dropped by a hurricane in the early Ming Dynasty. It was rebuilt in 1934 with brick teeth at the top and pointed top. This tower is one of the earliest and most distinctive monuments of Islamic architecture in China.

In November 1996, the State Council announced that the pagoda of Huaisheng temple was one of the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units

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Architectural features

Style features

Huaisheng Temple adopts the traditional Chinese symmetrical layout, with three gates, moon tower, worship hall and Sutra Pavilion on the main axis. The chapel faces east from the West and faces Mecca. The proportion, color and decoration of the building are of Western Asian style.

Main buildings

The inscription under the beam of the main hall in the temple reads: "the Ding Hai Ding was built in the first year of Tang Zhenguan, and the Yi Hai Ding was rebuilt in the fourth year of the Republic of China on March 21." "In the 34th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Yihai was rebuilt on the 17th of December." In addition to the main hall, there are moon tower, east west corridor, Scripture room, stele Pavilion, light tower (Xuanli tower) and other buildings. The temple covers an area of 4.5 mu, with a total construction area of 1553 square meters, of which the main hall covers an area of 400 square meters. The light tower of Huaisheng temple is well-known at home and abroad, and is a valuable architectural monument. The whole light tower is made of brick and stone. The main brick wall is made of plaster inside and outside. The building plane is round. There are two front and rear doors, each with a Dengdao. The two corridors spiral up and meet at the upper exit of the open platform on the top of the first floor. In the middle of the platform, there is a small round tower. The top of the tower was originally a golden rooster flying to the Phoenix. Golden Rooster or Phoenix is a popular theme in Chinese classical architecture.

By the Ming Dynasty, the Golden Rooster in the pagoda had been blown down again and again by hurricanes. After the restoration, in 1669, it was again blown down by a hurricane. Later, it was changed to Hulu Baoding, and later to olive shaped. The total height of the exposed part of the tower is 35.7 meters. According to the investigation of experts, it is believed that there are still several meters of buried soil under the tower. According to ancient records, the tower is 16.5 Zhang high. Because the tower is too old, it has become increasingly inclined. In case of an earthquake, the upper tower will inevitably crash. This kind of ancient round brick tower, and the use of brick Dengdao spiral up, in China's ancient architecture is indeed very prominent. The most ancient brick pagodas in China, such as those in the Tang Dynasty, are mostly square and cylindrical buildings with wooden stairs and floors. In the coming generation, octagonal and brick pavements were often used in the construction of pagodas, but the construction is simple, which is far from being compared with the exquisite technology of round double corridor of light pagodas. Experts believe that the Dengdao technology of mosque minaret in China has influenced and improved the construction technology of brick Pagoda in China, which is not a small matter in the history of Engineering Technology in China. The date of the construction of the light tower has not yet been determined, some in the Tang Dynasty, some in the coming Dynasty, and some in the Yuan Dynasty. In 1350, Guo Jia believed that it was built in the Tang Dynasty, which is more reliable. There are more than 40 square steles and plaques from Yuan Dynasty to the Republic of China.

Located in the southwest corner of the temple gate, the official name of the pagoda is "Huaisheng pagoda", which is also known as "Bangka tower" because believers often chant "Bangka" in Arabic on the top of the pagoda when chanting scriptures. In Cantonese, "bang" and "Guang" are homonymous. In addition, the tower is located on the edge of the Pearl River. In the Tang Dynasty, lights were hung on the top of the tower at night to guide the ships, so it was called "Guangta" or "Fanta". Built in Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty, the tower is of Arabic style. It is 36 meters high and built with green bricks. The bottom is round, the surface is coated with lime sand, and there are rectangular holes on the tower body for lighting. There are two spiral stairs in the tower, which go directly to the top of the tower around the center of the tower. The top of the tower is built with brick teeth to lay the outlet feet. The original Golden Rooster stands on it, which can rotate with the wind to show the wind direction. It was blown down by a hurricane in the early Ming Dynasty, and was rebuilt into a sharp top in 1934.

Exchange and cooperation

Huaisheng temple is only open to Muslims at home and abroad. There are about 2000 households with more than 6000 people in the temple, most of whom are Hui people, and follow the religious rites of Gedi. Huaisheng temple is often visited by tourists from home and abroad. At the same time, it has received many high-level visiting missions from Muslim countries. Huaisheng temple is also the seat of Guangzhou Islamic Association.

Traffic information

Bus 1. Take bus No.58 and get off at Guangta Road station. 2. Take subway No.1 to Ximenkou station

Chinese PinYin : Huai Sheng Si