XiaoTaoYuan Mosque

The famous mosque in Shanghai, also known as Xicheng Hui church, is located in XiaoTaoYuan street, Nanshi city. It was first founded in 1917. In 1925, with the active efforts of the famous Muslim jinjinyun in Shanghai, the mosque was rebuilt.

The temple is the largest modern Islamic building in Shanghai and the seat of Shanghai Islamic Association. Because the gate of the temple is facing XiaoTaoYuan street, it is named XiaoTaoYuan mosque. The worship Hall of XiaoTaoYuan mosque is majestic, which can accommodate up to 500 people to worship at the same time. The main hall is divided into two floors, with a large span vault structure, which is rare in domestic Islamic architecture. The temple was first built in 1917 and rebuilt in 1925. It is a mosque with garden top and Islamic architectural style in Western Asia. On the roof of the worship hall stands the symbol of Islam - the star moon pole.

XiaoTaoYuan Mosque

XiaoTaoYuan mosque, formerly known as the West Mosque of halal and the Hui Church in the west of Shanghai. Located at No. 52, XiaoTaoYuan street, Southern District of Shanghai, it is the center of religious, educational and cultural activities of Muslims in Shanghai. Because the gate of the temple is facing XiaoTaoYuan street, it is named XiaoTaoYuan mosque. The temple was first built in 1917. In 1925, it was rebuilt in the present site. It is a mosque with four garden roofs and Islamic architectural style in Western Asia. The temple also has Shanghai Mosque Management Committee, Shanghai Islamic Association and other institutions.

Historical evolution

Initial construction

Founded in 1917, Mr. Jin Ziyun invested more than 12000 silver yuan to buy a garden house covering an area of 2.4 Mu and donate it to the mosque.

Renovation and reconstruction

In 1925, with the active efforts of Jin Ziyun, a famous Muslim in Shanghai, the temple was rebuilt. At that time, with the support of hashoufu and Ma Yitang, Jin Ziyun took the lead in donating 10000 yuan, and raised more than 51152 liang of silver and 64320 yuan of silver from Muslims all over the country, including Hong Kong, to build a temple with Islamic architectural style in Western Asia.

Scale system

Temple size

The gate of the temple faces north and the courtyard is rectangular. On the west side is the worship hall, with an area of 500 square meters and two floors, which can accommodate thousands of people to worship at the same time.

It is the main temple of Islam in Shanghai and the seat of Shanghai Islamic Association. In 1917, it was set up by Islamic nomads in Shanghai, and the temple house was instructed by the religious friend Jin Ziyun. After reconstruction in 1925, it became a religious building with Islamic characteristics. The main building is a square hall of worship. In the center of the top platform of the hall, there are four corners of the moon Pavilion, and there are moon poles with Islamic symbols. After many repairs after liberation, Shanghai has restored its former splendor and become an important place for Muslims to hold religious activities in Shanghai and other places.

architectural style

XiaoTaoYuan mosque is a mosque with four roofs and Islamic architectural style in Western Asia. From 1919 to 1948, it was the distribution center of Chinese Muslims' Pilgrimage to Mecca by sea. It was renovated twice in 1953 and 1978. architectural composition

The gate of XiaoTaoYuan mosque is an arched latticed iron gate in the north. The word "mosque" is embedded on the forehead. A section of the Koran is embedded on the top of the gate. There is a large rectangular courtyard inside. On the west side of the courtyard is the grand worship hall, covering an area of about 500 square meters, which can accommodate nearly 500 people to worship at the same time. The main hall has two upper and lower floors, and the upper floor is the second Hall. It has a large span vault structure, which is rare in Islamic architecture in China. There are many arched windows with plenty of light. On the bottom floor, there is a plaque of "showing the orthodox" hanging on the forehead. Two mahogany Arabic Scripture couplets are inlaid between the doors, and a section of the Koran is built on the forehead.

The top of the hall is a platform watered with stones. There is a moon watching Pavilion on the central arch. The towering "star moon pole" stands on the top of the arch, which is one of the symbols of Islamic temples. There are four Arabian arched domes at the four corners of the platform, one stone platform and four benches at the southwest and northwest corners respectively for Muslims to chant and rest.

On the east side of the courtyard, there is a three storey building with Hall structure. On the second and third floors, there are libraries, reading rooms, collections of various versions of the Koran and precious Islamic cultural relics. On the ground floor is the lecture hall, in which there is a Chinese woodcut Koran of the Qing Dynasty and a huge Indian version of the Koran annotated in Urdu. The walls are decorated with naves and banners, as well as Scripture censers, incense tables and vases.

The north end of the courtyard is the dean's room, the reception hall, and the water room.

Since the founding of the temple, there have been various kinds of schools in the temple: in 1928, it was the site of Shanghai Islamic normal school in its early days (later moved to Qinglian Street). Later, it founded Jingtang education, as well as ordinary children's primary schools - Muslim national primary school, Mingcheng primary school, Chongben primary school and Shanghai Muslim orphanage center. From 1917 to 1937, the temple received Muslims from Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and all over the country who gathered in Shanghai for pilgrimage to Mecca holy land, and provided them with food and accommodation, as well as assistance in handling exit passport, exchanging foreign currency, purchasing foreign ship tickets, etc. it was a distribution center for Chinese Muslims to go to sea for pilgrimage.

Some famous Islamic figures, such as Akron maijunsan, Ma Zhengwu and Ma Yiting, once presided over the religious affairs in the temple, and spread the ikhwani sect thought of "respecting the classics and changing the customs" and the religious education thought adapting to the trend of the times.

Main landscape

The north gate of the mosque is an arched lattice iron gate with the golden "mosque" embedded in the forehead. Across the door is a verse from the Koran: "the religion that Allah delights in is indeed Islam." The East facade of the building is equipped with Tashkent style portico, pointed arch doors and windows, the center and four corners of the roof are equipped with Arabian arch dome, and the central dome is equipped with a moon Pavilion. On the dome shaped Pavilion of the moon watching Pavilion, there is a star moon pole rising into the clouds, which has become an important symbol of Islamic temples.

Inside the gate is a large rectangular courtyard. On the west side of the courtyard is a two-story square worship hall with Islamic architectural style. Its large-span vault structure is rare in Islamic architecture in China. Downstairs is the main hall with a clear height of 4.7 meters, and upstairs is the second hall with a clear height of 5.7 meters, which can accept 1000 Muslims to attend worship at the same time. On the ground floor, there is a plaque engraved with the four characters of "showing off orthodoxy". Two mahogany Arabic Scripture couplets are inlaid between the doors, and a section of the Koran is built on the forehead. On the west side between the ground floor and the upper floor, there is a long gap surrounded by copper railings. At that time, there was no sound transmission equipment, and the headmaster led the congregation to recite the Koran at the bottom. Through this gap, the upper class could also hear it.

The main hall has 3 spacious main doors, 12 glass steel windows with 25 patterns, 4 octagonal columns, chandeliers in the center, and Arabic couplets inlaid with mahogany between the main doors. The roof of the main hall is a stone platform, and the central part of the platform is the quadrangle moon Pavilion. There is a dome in the center of the platform on the top of the hall, which can also be heard by the upper class. The bottom floor of your highness is elevated two meters deep to prevent moisture, moth and deformation. In the center of the main hall is the moon watching Pavilion, and there are four Arabic arched pavilions in the four corners, each with a stone platform and four benches, which are specially used by devout Muslims to recite the Koran and rest here.

On the east side of the courtyard is a three story building with Chinese hall structure. 2. The third floor is now a library and reading room, in which there are various versions of the Koran at home and abroad.

Exchange and cooperation

The completion of the XiaoTaoYuan mosque is related to a pious Muslim Jinyun. Jin Ziyun is a native of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. When he came to Shanghai with his father, he became an industrialist. After the September 18th Incident in 1931, he broke off his business contacts with Japanese businessmen and instead trafficked cowhide from Sichuan and other places to Europe, where he also made more profits. There used to be a large peach blossom forest here. It was jinjinyun's private garden. In 1917, jinziyun invested more than 12000 silver yuan to purchase a 2.4 Mu garden house of a gentleman surnamed pan at 117 xicangqiao street in Nanshi, and donated it as a mosque. Six years later, jinziyun took out another 10000 yuan and asked the architectural design unit to draw drawings with Arabic architectural style, and sent them to the board of directors of halal to assist in the proper reconstruction project. His proposal was supported and sponsored by the majority of Muslims. The project took three years and was completed in 1925. The newly built XiaoTaoYuan mosque is a combination of Arabic architectural style and Chinese traditional architectural style.

Geographic transportation

Shanghai railway station takes subway line 10 to Laoximen station, 700 meters eastbound to 52 XiaoTaoYuan street, and nearby bus lines are 781, 42, 781, 782, 783, etc.

Transportation: 932 Road (Lishui intersection of Fuyou Road) terminal, 569 Road (Star Street entrance of Henan South Road) terminal, there are 11, 126, 736, 920, 926, 930 stops on Renmin Road (laobeimen station). There are 66, 929, and Fang Chuan lines on the South Henan Road (Fuyou Road Station). There are 24, 64, 581, 715 road stations on the Fuxing East Road (Yu Garden station).

Address: No.52, XiaoTaoYuan street, Fuxing East Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai

Longitude: 121.48969243625

Latitude: 31.22099456404

Tel: 021-63775442

Traffic information: take 932, 569, 11, 126, 736, 920, 926, 930, 66, 929

Chinese PinYin : Xiao Tao Yuan Qing Zhen Si